Jason's Notes About Stuff

Note: This is a guest blog post from GrumpyOldMan123. Dear younger generation, As many older generations have done before, I humbly offer you some sanctimonious , unsolicited advice. When you encounter a minor obstacle , never, ever make any effort to find a solution by yourself. If you can't immediately find someone else to solve a problem for you, don't even consider researching it on your own. Instead, amuse yourself with distractions . Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are all great resources for this. If anyone asks you about the problem, complain loudly that you "just can't figure it out," and ask "why is this so hard?" When you suffer the inevitable consequences, be sure to explain how you were "going to do it eventually," and say: "It's not my fault!" And rest assured, this attitude has no adverse impact whatsoever on your career and personal life . You're still entitled to the best of everyth...

Dear Toronto, Your streetcars have always caused me a lot of grief. First, their schedules are so inconsistent . You don't see any for a half hour, then there's like 3 in a row. Second, they're slow. Like, really slow. The east-west routes on busy streets are often much slower than walking  at times. Third, they're dangerous . You often have to cross a lane of traffic to board and disembark, so you risk death quite a lot. These problem have existed for decades, and nobody seems to care. Meanwhile, the main east-west routes (ie. King, Queen, Dundas, etc.) could be fixed tomorrow in 3 easy steps. 1. No street parking on main routes. Toronto is not (supposed to be) a pissant little rural town where you just drive in and dump your car on Main Street to visit the General Store. The never-ending stopping and parallel parking causes so many problems, it's ridiculous. This is supposed to be the downtown core of a "world class" city. Park t...

Do you have any problems? I sure do. Tons of them! Everyone has problems. You might even call them "challenges" or "puzzles" or "opportunities". I use an incredibly complex, patent-pending 3-step methodology for dealing with them: Identify Plan Do This may seem like a very  simple idea, but I assure you, most people do not follow this. Everybody gets step 1. Most people know their problems. Then then add: Step 1.a) Worry about the problem. Step 1.b) Complain about the problem. Step 1.c) Make up excuses for not addressing the problem I call this the WCE problem-solving methodology -- pronounced "wuss" ;) I have news: WCE does not work. They are unnecessary steps. A few people get to step 2, the planning stage, but never complete that step. What about step 3: Doing -- the one that really matters? Hardly anyone ever makes it there. They're still too busy cranking out excuses. So next time you come across a pr...

Last January, I bought a Panasonic Lumix camera when living in New Zealand. I was wary of buying something expensive overseas, but was assured that it came with a 1-year "worldwide" warranty . When the camera went dead in Thailand, I phoned the Panasonic support numbers in New Zealand and Canada (which of course both routed to India). They asked where I lived, and told me I should deliver it to a Panasonic authorized repair center in Canada . Very inconvenient , but I that's what I did once I returned. However, after I sent it to the repair center, Panasonic decided they wouldn't pay for anything unless I could send them a copy of the warranty card that came in the box. So now I have to pay for the repair estimate (they determined it was unrepairable) and shipping both ways. I have the original receipt , the manual, and all accessories. The warranty is still valid through next month. Why should a photocopied piece of paper make any difference? Oh right...

These days, I'm seeing more and more people who have trouble differentiating between things that are urgent , versus things that are important . I was reminded about this by a recent posting over at Business is Pleasure . Software and devices generally have a "do not disturb" setting that silences them and sends calls to voicemail. Use these features! If you're having lunch with someone and talking to them, don't try to answer emails and texts at the same bloody time! Urgency does not necessarily imply importance! In fact, they can often be inversely correlated. The most important things in your life often have little urgency attached to them, so it's up to you to keep track of them and make sure they don't get smothered and forgotten in the minutia of the day-to-day. So every day, take some time to turn off your cellphone , shut down your email , stop tweeting and twittering, sit down, and do something that's actually important ! Or...

There's a very common misconception that great ideas have great value . This simply isn't true. An idea with no action or implementation is worth exactly zero dollars and zero cents . I have ideas all the time. Most are complete crap. Some are decent. But none of them have any value at all until I actually do something about them. Some will argue, "but if I have a great idea and patent it, I can sell that patent to a big company for millions !"  That's fine. Patents  have value. The ideas behind them are still worthless on their own. Derek Sivers explained this quite nicely back in 2005: It’s so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas. (People who want me to sign an NDA to tell me the simplest idea.) To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions. An idea is certainly a  prerequisite  for a valuable endeavor, but until you add the  action  and  implementation ...

I was a bit annoyed today reading through a few of the comments on this article in the Globe and Mail today. Every time there is a debate about copyright law , there are always a slew of comments like the following: "I walk into HMV and try and pocket a CD, DVD or game chances are I will be arrested and charged. Tell me how is it any different than doing the EXACT same thing while sitting at home in front of my computer."  Ok. I'm going to tell you exactly how it is different . This is such a moronic argument, and it's just not amusing anymore, because people are starting to believe it. So here it is quite simply. If you steal something, in the physical world, the original owner suffers a true and physical loss .  They no longer have the thing you took. On the other hand, if you make a copy of something, in the digital world, nothing is lost.  In fact, there has been a net gain ! In the digital world, you can literally create something of value (co...

I don't understand why the income tax system (in Canada and the US) has to be so bloody complicated . Why can't they just tax gross income -- both on individuals and corporations? Instead there are 30,000 rules about what you can deduct when and how. Even the best accountants don't understand all the intricacies. It takes complicated computer software to actually track and optimize your refund. Why are there even refunds in the first place?  Why not just deduct the right amount of tax upfront? Here's the solution: Eliminate deductions and adjust the marginal rates to compensate. It would all be so simple then! So much wasted time and effort.  Argh!  Why, why, why?...

I think one of the the biggest challenges with management (and perhaps life in general) is dealing with people who happen to be feeling lazy, and just don't give a sh!t at the moment. This seems to be particularly difficult with "boring" jobs, like call centers, retail, etc. How many times have you called up a company to get some information, do some calculations, fix an error on your phone bill -- but they just aren't into it ? Perhaps they haven't had their coffee yet, or stayed out too late the night before.  Who knows. Whatever the cause, you can tell they really and truly don't care one bit about what you need them to do. When it comes down to it, motivation might be the most important aspect of management. You could have the best processes in the world, but if people have no incentive to follow them, they won't . So what's your advice?  How do you manage people who are feeling Lazy And Don't Give A Sh!t?

2010-08-08 Update: Perhaps online privacy is important after all? The recent Google Buzz fallout has me confused. Why does everyone get so bent out of shape about public privacy ? Don't get me wrong -- I'm a big advocate of personal privacy .  People should be able to do whatever they want in their homes, behind closed doors  without being harassed -- as long as it's legal, of course :) Your online activities, however, are by default not really that private .  Maybe people just don't understand this. Even if you're using a brower's "privacy mode", anonymous proxies, etc., you're still leaving a digital trail behind you. Clearly things like credit card numbers , social security numbers, health information, etc. need to be protected, and that's what strong encryption and privacy laws are for. Likewise, it should be illegal for unauthorized snooping -- key loggers, spyware, etc. are like phone wiretaps and should be treated sim...

Feel like nothing is going right for you lately? Let me assure you: God is not punishing you for missing church last week. Allah is not angry about you sneaking that cookie during fasting time. Zeus is not being vengeful since you missed your last goat sacrifice. The stars are not mis-aligned. It's not a big conspiracy. There is no "secret." It's you. Seriously. Don't get me wrong: There are unexpected situations (good and bad) that come up periodically. It's a little something called life . But in the end, you are the one in control of your destiny. No matter what comes your way, you always have options. Don't sit there hoping, wishing, or praying.  Don't "try" to do something.   Do it! Want a better life? Make better choices and take action ! It's really as simple as that.

I was recently watching a series called " Ancient Inventions ". It is hosted by one of the guys from Monty Python and is reasonably entertaining and informative. It was amazing to see how many things were invented thousands of years ago, completely lost and forgotten, then re-invented recently. It got me thinking about all of the technological progress we've made in the past couple hundred years. There have been a number of amazing inventions that have changed the world, like trains, planes, cars, radio, telegraph, telephone, and many others. But what world-changing inventions and technologies have surfaced since the 60's? Computers? Ha. That's 1930's technology. The microwave oven? Mobile phones? 1940's . Solar cells? Fibre optics? That was way back in the 50's . But what about the Internet ? Nope. We were online in 1969 -- 40 years ago. What life changing technology has been invented since then? It starts getting really thin. Liposuc...

So today I received my Fido bill and noticed a new charge called "Other minutes." I was confused since I have a 150 minute plan and only used about 60 last month. I phoned in to customer support on my cell phone to inquire about the charge. The rep wasn't really sure, and had to put me on hold a few times to look things up, but guessed this was due to calls made "out of my zone." Now, I have a grandfathered plan from years and years ago (Sprint Canada before it was acquired) and I never used to have a "zone." Ever since Rogers acquired Fido, they've slowly (and without notice) modified my old plan to bring it in line with the current plans, which cost more and give you less . The hugely ironic thing: Just as she was starting to explain to me exactly my "zone" was -- the call was dropped . So I went to my online banking and paid the bill. Even if I wasn't leaving the country in a month, what could I really do? Switch to a new prov...

I've often referred to my "banned companies" list. This is a list I keep of companies that have caused me sufficient harm that I refuse to do business with them. A few companies have been put on the list and then taken off again, usually because they improve or enough time passes. However, two have done me sufficient wrong to earn lifetime bans : Rogers: These anti-competitive frackers have screwed everyone for so long that they have their own popular hate site: http://www.ihaterogers.ca -- That alone says something. My personal vendetta is for them cutting off my Internet years ago for "using too much bandwidth" back when they I had their "unlimited" plan. Apparently they thought they could advertise "unlimited", then make a limit -- but not tell you what the limit was , or how much you had used -- just that you used too much and that you should cut back some amount, or your service will remain suspended -- with no refund. Yes, this wa...

Driving to Toronto one evening, I was very annoyed with how traffic was moving, and decided it might be therapeutic to rant about it. Here is the raw, unedited (but slightly censored) result: People need to be taught how to drive in stop and go traffic. For some reason, people think that the most efficient way to drive through stop and go traffic is to accelerate as fast as possible, and then slam on the brakes. And then, accelerate as fast as possible again, and then slam on the brakes all over again. Now, countless studies have shown that the most efficient way to move traffic is actually everyone going at the same speed in a nice smooth, fluid manner. And, slowing down when you see the car in front of you slow down, and leaving enough space in-between the cars to act as a bit of a buffer. And in fact, if people drove like this, you wouldn't actually have stop and go traffic. You would have always going traffic, just going a little bit slower. But people insist on this, and t...