bonjourgoodbye

free calls & Google voice in canada

2011-10-23T01:11:00.004-04:00

Probably worth pointing out that the technology has moved on. No need for messing about. Just get a working google voice number, see below or google how, then use acrobits softphone app (android or Apple) and set it up in there. There are quite a few others that'll do it too, talkatone, talkonaut, these two have the advantage you can text to Canada and the states for free. You can get incoming calls and dial out but be warned, quality is crap. It's good for shouting a quick message but not for long calls unless you're on very good wifi connection or 3G.

Find lost ipod

2011-10-23T00:23:00.003-04:00

Problem with ipods you can't call them right? However if you lose them at home, and you have wireless and you lost it up to a week or so ago you maybe in luck.

Get onto your wireless router config page and find the list of devices. On Tomato there is a device list that has a quality indicator that shows how strong signal is. If you can't identify which device MAC Addres is the ipod (look for a OUI tab), and turning stuff off doesn't help, search the first 6 digits of MAC adress here (capitals, no colons or spaces.
Lynksys might be here, you need to hunt it down
1.Go to the Setup tab.
2.Scroll down to 'DHCP Server' enable it.
3.Click on the "Status" tab and then on "Local Network".
4.Click "DHCP Clients Table".

Then you need to move the wireless router switched on but not plugged to internet around your house and look at signal strength of the router configuration page. point the antennae towards where you are looking. Compare what you get with laptop or cellphone to give you a guide as to what 'hot' is. If you are getting say 8 and everywhere in the room is the same then no good, move on. Once you are up to 30 then you're warm:hot. If you can't seem to get a hotspot but you have a consistently high value in one room it is likely inside something in that room. Sudden wierd hotspots like in the middle of the room in the air means it is obscured but not completely, in between things, e.g. books and you are crossing a 'line of sight'. Good luck.

Free UK number that diverts wherever

2011-09-10T20:14:00.002-04:00

Do you want a number that is free for people in uk to call and can get you wherever?
Do you have VoIP, sip, Internet phone? If yes read on
If you need VoIP try www.VoIP.ms
Sign up for your free 0330 number at
http://www.numbergroup.com/products-services/telephone-numbers/uk-wide-03-numbers
free to set up no fees, just divert to sip

0800 number UK

2011-09-10T15:17:00.002-04:00

Ever need to call your bank in UK? Can't get through on 0800 or 0845 or 0870 numbers?
Here is solution
Dial this number +442002220700
then dial your 0800 number

Sure it's not free but at least you can get through.

watch UK TV and US Netflix

2011-02-17T00:40:00.003-05:00

Not free but damned reasonable

check out usvideo.ca
$5 a month. Cheaper than a dvd hire.

iplayer works fine, couldnt download shows to watch later but could watch fine.

US netflix just great. 1 month free trial. You need prepaid credit card from super C or Metro supermarkets, details on how to register that at a US address are at USvideo but basically you call them up and tell them you live in the states and give a us address, any old address.

Hulu plus? Meh. I dont like US TV much so there's not much point, and expensive.

To connect your computer to the TV try one of these if your computer has s-video out.

And you are good to go, enjoy, just makesure you have the bandwidth to watch film after film after film.

World cup on iPhone $4.99, candada, watch world cup, fifa, listen world cup

2010-06-18T08:42:00.005-04:00

I looked everywhere for radiostreams so I could listen in the car/at work. Ca n'existe pas.

But the tvuplyer app is $4.99 and you can watch matches from there on the iPhone. I heard Rogers have some deal too but I think it's more expensive. Quality is OK, bit blurry at times, better than nothing
Here's tvu player http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tvuplayer/id323640984?mt=8

Also best world cup info app is from the Telegraph. You get scores and start times by push notification
Telegraph http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/telegraph-world-cup-app/id375226158?mt=8

right! Ingerland!

you can check out how it looks down here:

iphone to phone free N America

2010-02-28T17:01:00.004-05:00

OK so you will need the following
1) Google voice number (see here for how to set up from Canada)
2) an Ipkall number from here
3) a Sipsorcery account here
4) a softphone installed on your iphone, like whistle phone, fring
Total cost = $zero

Then,
1)Register google voice at your ipkall number. You'll need a voip account to do that. There are loads to choose from, you just need a sip account name, password and proxy for a day. Probably you can get a free one say voipcheap that gives you a couple of minutes free trial. You need to forward your ipkall number to your voip account so you can answer it. Google calls you and you have to dial the two numbers they show you on the screen. After that you don't need voip account and google will think ipkall is your home number.
2)Forward ipkall to your sipsorcery account, username, proxy is sip1.sipsorcery.com
3)Register your softphone to sipsorcery account
4)put this dial plan in sipsorcery, numver 10, simple plan. Change the bits they tell you to change.
5) Now you can call from your softphone to the whole of north america for free, civilization at last...

Free Calls to States & Canada

2010-01-27T01:41:00.002-05:00

So soon I'll get this phone call thing out of my system.

My latest find is google voice..

Unavailable in Canada..no but yeah but, if you accept the invite when you are logged into this then all is good.

Google voice is a callback service and you need a US number to set it up on. Solution is to buy one in Canada, say here for a couple of dollars. Then register for a free US number with IPKALL and register the Canada number to IPKALL number.

So it goes...google to IPKALL to Canada number.

Then you can call the states AND CANADA! for free* as well. You get some nice features, text transcribes of voicemails, SMS and recording.
*Well you pay incoming on the canada number, not figured out that leg for free...yet but it is 1c/min.

New sipbroker numbers

2010-01-20T01:48:00.004-05:00

Sipbroker just added a ton of new numbers that work from Italy, UK, S America, Netherlands

Check them out http://www.sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/pstnNumbers

you can use these for 25c a month
buy virtual did from voip.ms
set that up to be registered at Montreal
and forward it to say your home number
use *9783 access code
dial your weird virtual number et voilà

google wave invite

2010-01-17T21:06:00.007-05:00

Anyone want one? send email ether by comment (not published) or to the name of this blog @gmail.com

don't know yet what it does exactly so can't comment on usefulness The geeks assure us it is REALLY useful...lets see I can barely be bothered .......Something about those grinning smug 30 somethings make me want to smack 'em..maybe I jealous....maybe not

Cheap cellphone international calls voip sip voip.ms callback ipkall sip uri

2010-01-03T11:38:00.002-05:00

I am trying to get cheap calls from my cell. Experimenting with callback feature in voiP.ms This allows you to set up a call back feature. So you call a number and get a busy tone. You hang up and you get a call back and when you answer there is a dial tone. From there you can call at voip.ms rates. If you have unlimited incoming local calls then on the cell it costs nothing. If you want a real phone number it'll cost you 1.50 a month but I just discovered virtual numbers that voip.ms offer for 25cents a month. The problem then is how are you supposed to dial it from a cell? The answer is you get a free number in the US from IPKALL.COM and set that up to forward to your virtual number. Set callback to your cell and away you go. Should be no charge to call US since number is busy so no connection.

Free telephone number Montreal. Free Canada DID. Get a free phone number. Free fone

2009-12-29T10:56:00.003-05:00

Possibly my final discovery for you in 2009 is http://www.freephoneline.ca. Here you can get a free Montreal number. The cool thing is you can set it up in followme mode and have it forwarded to the Canadian number of your choice. The second cool thing is you can call all of Canada for FREE. Or you can call globally unlimited for $14 a month. Check it out!

2010 ComunAuto

2009-12-27T13:03:00.004-05:00

CommunAuto is a late find.
Basically it is like Bixi (boooo) for cars.
I have some friends who rate it highly

I will try it in 2010 and report back.
They reckon it costs $500 returnable membership, $500 anual fee and a further $500 in mileage costs...
So $1000 a year..sounds a lot? Well it includes gas and insurance. Insurance is $1000 a year at least anyway and gas maybe $1000 a year or more so it is not a lot is it? Checked on a saturday afternoon and there were 9 cars available within a 3 minute walk.
Unlike stupid bixi, (where is it now?), this is sensible and practical and a great scheme if you need a car occaisionally (shoping, going out etc)...

I'm a bit unsure on the parking thing and where you pick it up...but let's see.

For now here are the rates...seems similar to car rental prices but has advantage of local drop off and pick up and can be booked by the hour..Access to AB&C require the $500 deposit.

Free Phone Calls to Canada (or wherever)

2009-12-27T12:30:00.006-05:00

This enables people to call you for the price of a local call from wherever they are (and often local calls are free)

What you will need.

1) a Voip account with a DID number, that means a telephone number that people can call you on, (see http://www.voip.ms/ voipbuzzer, voxalot, callcentric etc). Currently if you are in Montreal I can recommend http://www.voip.ms/ After some time you'll figure out why....

If you don't have one it will cost you $1.49 , yes that is one dollar forty nine cents per month...
(Top Voip.ms tip...pay by paypal and there is no tax on top)

Assuming you have all that sorted, (see previous post)

Step 1. Find the access code for your voip company..here

So for example if you type voip.ms in the provider name box then you get the following results

which if you can't read it says *9783 for sip.us4.voip.ms

this is the New York server.

Step 2. Register your DID to the new york server sip.us4.voip.ms (if you are in Montreal with voip.ms)

Step 3. Find the local phone number for your friends and
family..Here

So if your sister lives in London she calls
020-71006747

then she dials *9783 (in this example...from Step 1)
then your phone number 1-514-123-4567 , (example number is montreal 514-1234567)
then #

et voila...they will be connected, you will not be charged...all is good....isn't it nice?

Army Surplus, Winter Clothes

2009-12-27T12:21:00.003-05:00

I begin to end 2009 by sharing with you my latest find, see below

This shop is on Notre Dame, 1 block west from Atwater Market

It sells as the name suggests uniforms, but also thermal undies, shoes, boots, coats, gloves, hats etc to keep you warm in winter at a cheap price...Forget Canadian Tire, even if you don't like uniforms you can go there to step back in time, long wooden counter, servers with tape measures...in short a Great Shop! Perrier approves, go there and you will be pleased. I think from now I will buy everything from there.

going going nearly gone

2009-09-14T01:49:00.006-04:00

At the risk of turning this into a dieting blog, a while back I posted my gut and attempts to get rid of it. Here it is again, I lost a stone or more by combination of running and calorie counting, and I am sticking my gut out as far as it can go so no one can think I'm sucking it in....

week 1

Week 3

week 8

Week 31

Week 54
so I am 13 stone and could lose another 10lbs or so take 5 weeks unpleasantly or 10 weeks less unpleasantly..So a year back i had just started jogging and was told i'd have to be on statins

it has been v tough and has required being very anal at times but doable the worst thing is wanting results fast....

Militant Cyclists, abuse from pedal rage

2009-06-17T00:29:00.002-04:00

Just wondering, has anyone else been verbally abused by rather over possessive cyclists while running along the bike path? (AKA outside downtown the white line and a few flexi poles) I spoke to some friends, they all had been.

Can they not see the irony? They cycle about the wrong way down one way roads at night with no lights, they cycle on the pavements. But to manoeuvre round a runner well you'd think their very tiny worlds had stopped. I think it is years of being beeped at and nearly (and actually) killed by crappy motorists that frustrates them, so when a non-wheeled moving object enters their path it is finally revenge time. I have profiled them to be 20-40 yrs old, mainly male anglophiles. What they seem to forget is that runners can kick them off a bike no probs.

I know it is annoying to have drunk tourists taking a stroll down maisonneuve bike lane from Crescent, slurping B&Js but its not the same thing is it? I notice too that the cyclists are too scared to start verbally assulting them when out numbered... Lighten up bikers..please, cars bad..human powered good, for Pete's sake I can run faster than half of them pedal. Mybe they abuse slow cyclists too, 'hey speed up or fuck off asshole....'the whole point in car rage is that you are protected by a metal box so usually you can get away with abusing total strangers, unless you are a shit brickhouse of a psycho I'd say a cyclist engaging in this most attractive form of socal engagement is likely to get them pushed off and kicked..

Bike paths are there to be run on. Anyone up for a mass cycle lane run/jog/stroll just to piss them off?

Bell Rip Off, VOIP, cheapest Phone

2009-06-13T17:42:00.007-04:00

So I am sick of Bell, somehow it costs a fortune, the internet works erratically and finally I will do something about them. I have figured out cheapest solution and unpicked the geek speak so you don't have to.

My plan is to get internet and cable tv only through VDN . Then I will run a VOIP phone from the internet. This will work out at about $58 per month.

So far I have got as far as trialling the VOIP phone. If it runs trouble free for a month then no more Bell.

So the deal with the phone is you register at VOIP.ms . This is fairly painless but it is not very user friendly, but worth it.... Once you register you get a username and some password stuff, you also need to know the IP address of the montreal server which is on their webpage but nowhere blindingly obvious, it is 67.205.74.164 for montreal.
the you deposit funds by credit card.
To use it by computer you just download a free phone program like this one (X-lite). You enter your VOIP account details and off you go, you can make calls.
You can get a montreal phone number for $2 a month. You get free voicemail and lots of nice features. The X-lite phone can record conversations too. If you want to call 911 then that costs $1.50 a month. In short Voip.ms is pretty high powered and very customizable and cheap. The price you pay is some head scratching, but the customer support by web chat is pretty good and available most of the time, they talked me through some setup questions..

That's all fine, but what you really want is a real telephone, not to be sat at the computer to make a phonecall.

Well then you need an adaptor. I bought a thing called HandyTone 486 by ebay for about $42. In fact I went to the seller direct and picked it up. Saved waiting and post charges...

It worked fine at work but I had some bother getting it to work on my Bell-Sympatico Speedstream Modem. I fixed this by following these instructions.
You need the bell account name b1xxxxx and password.

So I have a $15 Dollarama phone hooked up to my modem and it works a treat...So far so good. I have switched modem on and off a few times, everything still works..Get voicemails sent to my email...

Soon I will check out VDN and disconnect from Bell.....hooray!The X lite phone is pretty good and cheaper than Skype, voice quality with VOIP.ms blows skype out the water...plus you can upgrade call quality for really important calls if you want...Like I said tons of features...
You can buy local international numbers in UK etc, not done it, but could be handy...

where are montreal speed cameras

2009-06-01T02:17:00.007-04:00

They are here

Red is red light camera, blue speed, yellow mobile

And really...who cares? At least speed cameras don't apply the law at random, I am surprised Quebec has been so slow to take advantage of this free money, walk down sherbrooke at rush hour and no-one respects the red lights, and what is the big deal with slowing down near schools? Fuss about nothing, bring it on...

Get on yer Bixi, montreal bike rental scheme

2009-06-01T01:46:00.003-04:00

I think I am not alone in thinking this is a complete waste of time and as there are 300 stations I'd say that's 600 parking spaces wasted.

Bixi is the new Montreal bike renting scam whereby you can be lumbered with a rubbish bike at $250 liability to you and 30 minutes are free and its $80 a year plus no doubt deductible tax (so why charge it morans?)

Don't get me wrong I'm all for less cars but just buy a bike from Canadian Tire and create some real jobs, they cost $100 (plus non-deductible tax......go figure) and it's really cool you can lock it up wherever you like and even take it home and the first 3 years is FREE.

The stupidity of it makes me want to kick the spokes in, but that would be childish...I can't believe the Observer didn't sack their monkey of a journalist for making them pay her to come here and write a pile of crap about how good it is. It's the same scheme they had in Paris some years ago.

I understand it is a private scheme so they better not have used one $ of my tax to pay for this lunacy, or else I'll swear a lot.

Modified Corn Syrup, Fructose-Glucose, high fructose corn syrup

2009-05-30T13:51:00.003-04:00

Well in canada it is called Fructose-glucose or something

there is a large body of evidence that it not only is bad for you but it actually stimulates fat deposition.

I'd say steer clear if you are a little 'well-built'

see all this:
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=966
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/139/6/1257S

The lengths they go to to avoid paying out our pensions...

Family Doctor Scam

2009-05-30T12:48:00.003-04:00

So I finally figured it out. They give you a doctor but then you can never get to see them, they just keep postponing the appointment. I have been waiting since the begining of september and they have postponed the appointment three times. Others I have spoken to have experienced the same thing at other clinics. So thanks to the overpaid twerp of a public 'servant' who thought that crap up, nice way of dealing with the problem, thanks....

Gold trading live calls

2009-03-09T00:48:00.003-04:00

I have been playing at gold trading on and off for some years and am now live with real beer tokens. I am posting my trades in the comments section of this post. This last week has been pretty good, around 40% profit. I am using an oanda account geared at 10:1, so I'm buying an ounce of gold for about $100 and make $10-15 per trade. I can't share my trading system because I'm not sure I understand it. Most trading systems can work as long as you have covered the what if I lose scenario..Most people don't like to think about that...and when I say most people I mean you, me, citibank, lloyds, bank of scotland and other amateurs. Anyway what with the ups and downs of the world there's money to be had. Of course this is not a recommendation to trade and my trades are as a record to myself only so I can analyse performance. I would not encourage anyone to follow what I do, but they're there if anyone has any feedback on the performance etc..

Costco cashback

2009-03-03T00:32:00.003-05:00

So afer a year I got $200 back from Costco and $250 from the Costco Amex (see money for nothing post) which is about a month of 'free' groceries. I use the Amex all the time when I can.

I guess it almost makes up for having to visit the 7th level of hell once a fortnight and having a feeezer full of frozen pork or whatever I can't eat from the $20 megapack...

My additional challenge is to get a free lunch there, the pizza samples are OK but it cracks me up seeing grown men and women queuing up to try a 1 inch square of mmmmmmm bread and butter or AN olive, you have to be discerning and take like 5 samples of the good stuff and come round and do it again...

flock of crows

2009-03-03T00:07:00.002-05:00

This has nothing to do with money but has anyone else seen thousands of crows flying at night around Park King George? I am sure I'm not imagining it, every now and then there are swarms of them at night

View Larger Map

They are quite eerie but somehow beautiful to see as long as you don't think about the film...

When I saw them people were nearly crashing the car as they were driving around looking up out the windows..

The trees were black with them, pretty cool..

See Doctor Today

2009-02-12T23:59:00.000-05:00

So another recent find was the McGill Sports clinic. If you are physically injured and say it was sport or exercise related you can see a doctor very fast here.

(514) 398-7000

http://athletics.mcgill.ca/sportsmed_home.ch2

It is not free and McGill people get it on insurance apparently but it is quick and if you are in pain maybe $50 is worth paying....basically they offer lots of physio after check-up by doctor.

It is open to the public.

gold going down

2009-02-08T20:37:00.001-05:00

At the bottom of blog you can watch gold prices, it seems like it is going down. At the risk of being officially a bad opinion giver I'd say if it breaks below 900 it will go further down. Money to be made...maybe. Money to be lost too, at 20:1 leaverage you can buy an ounce for $50 or so, dangerous though, but silver is crashing now and the spike from 880 was just people moving money about during the crash news

3 days later

That was crap advice, I made $10 by luck. If I had bought instead well that would have been good....that dollar keeps dropping...

25th Feb, well I've been making $10 a day for the past week on an investment of $100, (1 oz levered at 10:1 through Oanda).
11pm sell 1 unit@ 952.3 tp @ 935
26th 8.10 am, quit position if further increase in price

Dying for the snow to go away, fatal 'accidents' an annual event.

2009-02-08T14:04:00.000-05:00

Well I warn visitors to Montreal that the snow removal people are total cowboys who are irresponsible at best and darn right aggressive at worst. I have to dig out press clippings to prove that they kill someone every winter and after visitors have had the pleasure of some prick ing a mini snow tractor AT them at 60 km/h., they soon realise that snow clearance is best avoided if you'd like to live.

Well this winter they surpass themselves, 4 dead and 3 more months to go. It is pretty clear what that limp dicked mayor needs to do but of course he'll do nothing, because what's a few dead when there are private drives to be cleared...

They even have the nerve to give us instructions on how to assist them. My only interactions with them have shown them to be rude, agressive and ignorant, so I say do what you can to piss them off, like hit the emrgency off button, throw snowballs at them and drive really slowly in front of them..Mind you they might kill you for daring to inconvenience these overpaid morons.

Talking of pavement clearance I want point out that the quality of it depends on where you live. Westmount is a pleasure to go running in on clear ice and snow free pavements and NDG has a 5 inch thick layer of perma-ice welded to the pavement. I am sure if those lazy buggers tried clearing it instead of trying to beat the land speed record for minitractor racing then we could do crazy shit like go for a walk. Perhaps they should be paid on square feet of clear pavement, then they's be pretty cheap. Oh, hang on these are the guys who smashed the windows of the homes of councillors who tried to sue them for not doing their jobs properly about 4 years back...Errr..Sorry then I meant great job, worth every thousand of those reasobale city taxes.

restore, photos, undelete, pictures, memory card recover, Picassa, Google, picassa help, Camera get back my photos fotos videos

2009-02-08T13:42:00.001-05:00

So I borrowed a camera and the new version of Picassa made it look like all the photos had been uploaded to hard drive, I pressed delete...and in one click and woosh had erased all my friend's photos and videos. No, not in recycle bin, gone.

Sadly for me they had great value and I had to get them back. Picassa help page recommended a program that cost $110. No fanx.

Anyway I found a good program PC Inspector Smart Recovery which is free and works.

Just select JPG or AVI and off you go, takes a while but who cares?

XXXXXXXXX2 APRIL 09XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Just found a better one called Recuva
http://www.recuva.com/
It is a ton quicker and has quite a good function to make deleted files unrecoverable, quite useful if lending out memory sticks cameras etc

Also they do a defrag program that helps freshen up a bulging computer HD.
http://www.defraggler.com/

And of course Ccleaner is nice...

reservation rewards tiger direct

2008-12-09T01:02:00.000-05:00

So I was buying an external harddrive when a window at tiger direct pops up...would you like $20 off next purchase?

Yes please I say and get rediected to Reservation Rewards I get mildly suspicious when they ask for a credit card number to 'refund' me with. Turns out the whole fkin thing is a scam and the only thing you get is a monthly fee of $12. Silly me for not reading pages of small print and assuming Tiger Direct would deal with reputable firm.

What assholes they are...I will complain bitterly.

DO NOT SIGN UP TO RESERVATION REWARDS
****UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND YOU WILL BE CHARGED MONTHLY****

A quick google search will show them up to be total crims. Now I see why the UK card was refused and only residents of canada could apply...because only Canada is so backward that it does not prosecute these peenarses.

Savings Acounts for Kids

2008-10-20T01:13:00.000-04:00

RBC = rubbish

Took my 4yo to the bank to get into the concept of saving.

So the deal was no charges, a little paying in book that doesn't even have name on, we declined the bank card......

After handing over our cash we got $5 bonus. Then I asked about the interest...........

wait for it

0.1%

Current inflation rate 3.5%,

So in 10 years of diligent saving the $50 will be worth $35.

Great.

They refused to handle our pot of change unless we 'rolled it ourselves', note to RBC we don't freaking roll. You buy a freaking coin counter or stop being tight and let us use yours..
Go roll your coins......is this a Canadian hobby?

Apparently Loblaws has a coin counter....great we'll just mosey on down to Loblaws, and while we're there we may as well invest our money in propane or food or something that will be worth more in a few years..

Crap.

I looked on the Canada govt web page and they have some bond things that are also rubbish
premium bonds 10 yr bonds that pay less than inflation, canada savings bonds, similarly bad.

This is half decent but not many 4y0 have 500$ saved up..

Green Laser Pointers etc

2008-10-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

This place on Cavendish in NDG is pretty good, quite cheap. Good presents for boffin types.

www.apinex.com

very powerful, locally based so great for last minute purchases etc,

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

2008-10-13T21:00:00.000-04:00

I should have known someone cleverer than me would have done this.

Someone has changed googlemaps to look at running routes and have a calorie burn calculator.

I'd say the only drawbacks with it are
1) it does not snap to the roads so you need to click lots of small segments, it just does a straight line between points.
2) none of the help stuff works so it took me a while to figure out how to use it.
so here you go:
1) press start recording, double click to add a point, double click at every corner etc
2) when finished add you weight

not sure what elevation is doesn't seem useful, what is cool is it allows you to save a route with its own link like this one

*******Update*******
They guy fixed it like he said he would, it is really much better now
You can do snap to road, straight lines whatever..
Very good, thanks Mr gmap-pedometer

Finding distances of running routes on Google maps

2008-10-13T01:27:00.000-04:00

Well this is pretty straightforward if you run in a straight line as the directions function will do if for you.

Even if your route is a bit wiggly you can just drag the blue line, but if it is really wiggly it gets messed up. Tonight I learnt a new feature

lets start with a map of tdm

View Larger Map

First right click and define the start point

then you right click on the next segment and set it as destination

then you go to next segment and add as new destination

then you just keep adding them so you might have a route like this

giving you total distance in miles.

If you want a specific distance then just move the letters about and as you move them a box pops up telling you how far, e.g. 10 miles, see below

Important research on CuNTs

2008-10-06T00:35:00.000-04:00

OK forget the ignoble awards and other geeky attempts at self deprecation I have found the most important paper of the new century

entitled Electrochemical synthesis of metal and semimetal nanotube–nanowire

heterojunctions and their electronic transport properties by D. Yang et al. in Chemical Communications 2007 they discuss Copper (Cu) nanotubes (NT).

I show you a figure from the paper, if you don't eant to see broken CuNTs and CuNT roots then please leave this site.

Now either Scientists are so dull they have neutered themselves by years or staring down microscopes or the editors of this english journal had great fun at the expense of their Chinese authors. Either way makes a very dull paper very funny to a puerile person like me.

Forget grey goo, this may finally make science mildly sexy or sexual, but I doubt it.

injured

2008-10-04T17:39:00.000-04:00

Bloody running eh?

So I was just starting the mile build up part of 'the plan' when I got pain in ankle, ran on it again and that REALLY hurt so I am off. However as per usual the answer is on youtube
found a physio video for sprained ankle. In a week I am able to do the toe raises pain free, now need to do them one footed.

I am worried though that there is something weird with the way I run that just makes my ankle sprain because I don't remember any particular event such as a twist or fall that set it off.

I lost 7lb or so from doing the first running training scheme....I actually miss it....

Jon Lajoie

2008-09-29T09:49:00.000-04:00

OK my ignorance is over, went to see Jon Lajoie at the National on Ste Catherine last night. Great show, is this man one of the best things to come out of Quebec recently apart from Celine?

Quite possibly

Seems like he can only be caught in Boston and New York this year

ripping youtube videos

2008-09-24T21:00:00.002-04:00

So you find a nice you tube video, maybe you want to use it in a presentation or edit it down..who knows..how do you save it?

Well look no further, here is the answer, if you know about firefox and add-ons then go to step 3

1) use firefefox browser, if you never heard of that then it's time you did, it's a browser, better than windows explorer download for free here

2) Next you need to get a thing called an add-on, these are things that add extra functions, so from firefox open you go:

tools--> Add-ons

then a window opens and att the top there are two icons, a jigsaw piece that says extensions and an artist's palate that says themes

click on extensions

bottom right click on Get Extensions

this opens a window with a searchbox for add-ons

type downloadhelper

then restart firefox, skip step 3 go to step 4

3. Fore firefox people just add download helper here

4. go to your youtube page say for example

little britain usa

5. then you'll see an icon that looks like this on the firefox toolbar.

If you dont then fiddle with toolbars customisation

6. Then click on the arrow next to the icon and select the flv file, then save it somewhere

7. flv file>??? what use is that? none. so need to convert it

8. here

9. this program is the dogs with regards to conversion to mpg avi etc

no funny business with watermarks and partial conversions etc

so there you go

more free stuff for nothing as per usual from perrier

by the way, no one has asked me about a family doctor

does anyone want one or not? let me know the guy's not taking new patients foreverer

be good

Song for Dads

2008-09-20T10:42:00.000-04:00

Seems like everyone embeds a you tube clip these days to compensate for boring content so here's one that is quite funny, for dads anyway

Anyone want a family doctor? Beat the queue / Tout le monde veulent un médecin de famille? Gagnez contre la file d'attente

2008-09-08T00:21:00.000-04:00

I heard on the grapevine of a doctor in westmount who is open to new patients as of now (8th Sept). If you want to know how to contact and you had better call pdq then leave me a comment with your contact email..(don't worry I wont post your email, it'll get emailed to me for moderation. I'll delete the email) I'll delete this post in a week or two too as he'll be full soon.

Edit post...just email me at bonjourgoodbye@ gmail.com

Thank me later, I think I rename quebec queubec..

J'ai entendu à la vigne d'un médecin de Westmount qui est ouvert à de nouveaux patients dès maintenant (8e septembre). Si vous voulez savoir comment vous contacter et mieux extremement rapide appel puis me laisser un commentaire avec votre e-mail de contact .. (ne vous inquiétez pas. Je ne vais pas envoyer votre e-mail, il vous obtenez par e-mail à moi pour la modération. Je vais supprimer l'e-mail) Je vous supprimer ce poste dans une semaine ou deux de trop, il y aura bientôt plein. Merci moi plus tard, je crois que je renommer québec queubec .. 'file d'attente'bec en anglais

Edit post...juste envoyez-moi un courriel a bonjourgoodbye@ gmail.com

Paediatricians Pediatricians how why where?

2008-09-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

So welcome to Quebec. You are paying the highest taxes in north america for world class roads, schools, hospitals, policing and ameneties..

If you believe that then you've not come from Europe or USA or you are severely deluded. You are in fact paying to keep armies of talentless bureaucrats and mob-like unions ungainfully employed to keep the dream alive..but I digress...

Paediatricians...if you have a kid then you must have one. Why? To get shots, to have somewhere to go 7 days a week apart from emergency when your littl'un has a temperture of 41C and starts talking in tongues, to check development etc etc.

Emergency is a disgrace if you have to go (Atwater Children's Hospital) then you better take a book and some food and a load of cash for parking. Took a 9 month old baby having difficulty breathing, took 4 and half hours to see doctor, this is normal, you don't want to be doing that unless you really have to, and if you really have to then just pray, best to go by ambulance at least you might see a doctor that day.

So, you need a peadiatrician. Easy peasy? Of course not, this is Quebec, welcome to the queue, and that's if they'll let you queue. So to try to help those who are new I post a list of paediatricians mainly west of centre, if someone has the other parts please post. You basically have to call all of them and ask if they will take your kid. Might have to wait some months to finally get on list so do it now, don't wait til a problem comes up to be turned away. Don't got time for addresses and all these are 514 of course

westmount 9312524, 9338437, 9317430, 9324975

cotes des neiges 9337189, (7381770, 7377751, 7310772), 3420385, 7354305, 7354932, 3429208, 341132, 3413733, 7337381

cote st luc/ndg 4878565, 9334490, 4817167, 4866656, 7480912, 7480111

tdm 7330681

plateau 9870080

others I am not sure of region

3714 Kent 9339261

2850 Kent 3413286

1392 Serbrooke est 5251112

1801 Dollard 3645229

4647 Verdun Av 7653600

5824 bl monk 7675307

257 rue St Jacques St. Pierre 3671913

6212 rue Clanarad 7376687

2301 rue Belanger

Good luck, you should find one eventually...

Bloody Wasps

2008-09-01T00:58:00.000-04:00

Last summer I tried drowning them in my jam-water wasp trap. This year I try the "get lost wasp" thing. Basically it is like one of those paper lampshades but shaped and couloured like a wasps' nest. Apparently that scares them away. Got it from Canadian Tire, forget how much, $10 or so but I got two. So far no wasps...but its too early still to say for sure

Best Running Shop

2008-08-03T22:06:00.000-04:00

OK OK what do I know having been a runner for about 4 weeks doesn't qualify me to say anything. But I read it somewhere else and I went there recently,

Endurance

I'd say it is excellent, they know their shit and take it seriously, my shoes are great..Brooks, feel like I'm barefoot. No surly salespeople here, go there, tell me if you don't agree. Took a while to choose them had me running around, measurements the lot. Also gave me a 25% discount. Why I'm not sure but I'm pleased, a happy camper.

Cut the gut, belly's gunna get ya

2008-08-03T21:29:00.003-04:00

I have a beergut or maybe its a winegut. I have never bothered trying to lose it seriously but having been diagnosed with high cholesterol and finding myself middleaging and puffing up hills I figured the excuses were running out.

I met a guy aged 50 who started running at 43 and he seemed OK so I figured I'd give it a shot.

So join me in my self improvement bid and hopefully the 'how many months?' smart Alec's can eat their hats.

I am running this program as it seems reasonable. I started at week 7 as i am terrified of knackering my knees and am too proud to just go out walking but in hindsight it might have been better to walk for a week just to build the legs up a bit.

It's kind of embarrassing running down the street and stopping at the end and then going for a 28 minute walk but it passes and now I am a few weeks in and am jogging about quite a bit.

I want to post my gut, not for anyone to see so much as to see if it makes any difference at all and maybe it will help other lardy arses and if it doesn't work then you can just say told you so.... They say it won't work but I don't believe you can run around so much and not lose any I lose about 3 pints of sweat so that's 3 pounds gone.. So in these photos I am sticking it out as far as I can to give a worst case scenario, its normally smaller..errr..honest..

So here goes, goodbye pride and self esteem

Week 1

Week 3

Seems about the same so far, check it out, I'll post it every 2 weeks. maybe in 9 months it will have gone away, eitherway I'll be fitter..or have crippled myself.

Week 8

Dec 30th: So did injure knee as I was terrified of, but not cartilage just legs not balanced , just need some stretching. Gave up on internet physio discovered the McGill sports clinic, good.

The ice is keeping me housebound, will those numpties please clear it.

Running getting easier at 7 miles now, it's no problem just the pavements in such a state..only going once a week it's not enough,

my conclusion so far is you need to run about 16 or more miles a week to lose weight with no change in what you shovel in.

June 7th: Hurt my knee in Feb nothing serious, IT band, over doing it.., was out of service til April, back into it now, at 8 miles, controlling calories, lost 7lb in 2 weeks which doesn't sound healthy, mayne need to eat more...booze is the problem really with weight gain and bad blood lipid profile...I am aiming to lose about 20 lb

free airline tickets

2008-07-05T14:52:00.000-04:00

Well not exactly...have you ever had a return portion of a ticket that you could not use? Maybe it expires befor you can use it or is going the wrong way.
Don't throw it away, here's how to keep it valid:

Book your return flight on or near the expirey date on a day you judge the flight might be full, (friday night, sunday night etc).and turn up at the airport well before departure time with your passport, (no luggage).
Go to the ticket desk, (not check in desk) and thell them that you have changed your mind and you don't want to fly today and ask them to issue you a voucher for the flight. If they agree then bingo and go home.
If not then check in and go to the departure gate and tell them again you don't want to fly today and ask for a voucher but tell them if they can't do it then you will fly today. If the flight is full, don't take the first no, ask again every 30 mins or so.
If they refuse then hang around until near take off and then go home.

If the flght is empty it might not work, but remember they usually overbook flights and bump people so having you volunteering is saving them money and time. This worked at Dorval with air canada on a flight to London, UK.

Big Memory Sticks

2008-06-28T00:40:00.000-04:00

**Latest**

I bought a Kodak 16Gb SDHC high speed card for about 30 dollars in Walmart in Angrignon Dec 26th. They're listed at $80 something on the webpage, they were selling like hotcakes.

===========

It must have caught your attention that memory sticks, flash drives or whatever you call them are getting big. Almost as big as portable hard drives but obviously much smaller.
Here I will post best prices I find
to start
8Gb for $25,
32Gb for $130

32Gb for $60!!!? see note below

Best so far

8Gb for $18.25

That offer has long gone but here is a new one from Walmart with no rebate rubbish

8Gb $19.83

imagine how much that would have cost in 1983....

Seems like they're trying to sell of the 2 and 4Gb ones, seen 32Gb for less than $80 so we're at about $1.25 per Gb. Given 1Tb externals are down at about $150, that's $0.15 per Gb, so there's a long way to go before they get comparable.

This puts me off buying from Hong Kong though,
Anyone done it? Good or Bad?

Best Virus Checker

2008-06-28T00:31:00.000-04:00

Well assuming you already have all the usual free ones, AVG etc, the best I found, and by that I mean the one that could find the bloody virus and get rid of it was
NOD32.
You can get a free trial here, I think I had to download it from work and run it from a memory stick my home computer was so screwed..

It was so good I actually subscribed to it for money and I rarely do that. But if you have had the headache of your computer not working you will gladly pay not to sort it out again

Since installing it I have had not one virus despite many attempts by people hooking up infected drives to my computer

Free music, films, audiobooks etc

2008-06-28T00:08:00.000-04:00

If like me you don't like using P2P then the solution would seem to be to google what you are after and add the terms rar and -torrent.
For example

if you type
revolver beatles rar -torrent
into google, you wll after a bit of clicking about find this link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/19284223/Beatles_-_Revolver.rar

some things like films come in many parts and you have to have winrar a free program to unzip

ahh yes you say but there is download limit,

this can be got round by
1) delete cookies/clear private data
2) switch modem off and on again
3) if you know how to access modem you can do this step 2 from the computer without switching off modem
For example if you are with Bell you type
http://192.168.2.1/
click on advanced, enter username and password usually admin and admin, then go to advanced, then internet connection, then click disconnect and then connect, do this in a separate browser to the one you are downloading in, say firefox and opera then you don't need to keep putting your password in everytime

Money for nothing

2008-06-16T18:44:00.000-04:00

One of my interests is making money by doing as little as possible, like everyone I guess.

I have succeeded once on a cashback for balance transfers that was a ridiculously generous 5% in the UK and I just kept taking the money out and putting it back again. I managed 3 times before the offer expired and made a few hundred pounds. I recently found this website where the guy is a bit more hardcore and less risk averse than me.

The problem in Canada is getting the guaranteed rate of return. Any ideas on that?

Another quite risky approach is to buy currencies that pay high interest with ones that have low interest. For example buy british pounds with yen and do this in a levered account at say 20 or 30:1. There is a long forum entry on a guy who doubled his account by using a fairly idiot proof method though these days the future is a bit unsettled. The risk is that the currency you buy becomes lower in value despite paying 5% pa...

As the price of gold and other metals rockets so people's catalytic converters become the targets of theft. Less illegal is to strip gold from computers, but you need time and a free source of many, (scores), old computers. There is a place near Eastman where you can go gold panning, always fancied it but I hear Val d'Or is the place...

Not paying for things is another way of achieving the same, for example using a business to avoid paying tax on things or by requesting free commercial samples, though this can enter the grey zone if you do not follow advice or know what you are doing. Living next to the US where sales tax is very low and electronics are better and cheaper I see potential, your entitlement is $400 for 48h outside Canada and $750 after 7 days. Is there such a thing as a service for having goods mailed to a border town so you can pick up easily? Surely these limits will go up as it seems to have been stuck here for years.

Having kids can provide some money for example each one in daycare is eligible for $1000 a year from the fed. it only took me 3 years to figure this out.

Currently I am using Costco with the Amex card. It is a peculiar place... too tight to use video cameras to stop theft despite selling them. I seem to end up spending a fortune there regardless and am suitably disgusted at their lack of italian pasta and tinned tomatoes etc, but then again I was delighted to find kg packs of REAL parmesan reggiano. Not some powdered muck from Ontario...swings and roundabouts. I will let you know how much money I get back but judging on the year so far not much is the answer. It is cheap for nappies though so somehow I came out on top.

Hypermiling..well if you can't afford gas then maybe sell the car. I recently started to try it though, stopping is about the worse thing you can due for fuel efficiency and seeing as montreal uses stop signs and clockwork traffic lights as the only traffic control system this is bad as you will have doubtless watched the dumb significant minority accelerating towards red lights or stop signs only to jerk stop and speed off again. I did question the wisdom in switching my engine off and free-wheeling through about 5 stop signs late one night and wondered whether the police would buy my saving the environment argument. Indeed stopping is pretty hard with no power brakes..It did seem to make a difference but we won't get rich.

Feel free to post more money making/saving tips

Pregnant in Montreal

2008-06-15T13:19:00.000-04:00

Based on some experience here are some tips on what to do if you think you're pregnant

Get a letter from a general doctor (walk in clinic will do, there's one on Guy/Ste Catherine or in Westmount Square) confirming pregnancy
Go to the 2nd floor of the Royal Vic women's pavilion ( at the top of the hill on University St) and register there with a consultant or get doctor to refer you to one. Since you will probably have the baby there it kind of makes sense.
Daycare!!!! Get registered now!! Yes Quebec has a legion of foetuses waiting for a space. look here . Call them and tell them that you are pregnant, no need for a name or sex.

Also very important is to start taking folic acid or get prenatal multivitamins that contain it ...immediately

Avoid eating fish (because of mecury) especially shark, tuna, and other carnivores, BUT white fish is good, sardines, salmon, trout, etc good
Don't be paranoid, the odd tuna steak is OK but regular consumption is ill advised, check here

No unpasturised cheese (e.g. brie etc) and yoghurt, ( no liver..chicken liver, calf liver etc, ( too much vit A can cause birth defects)) no booze, no smoking.
No shellfish (disease susceptibility) and if you have a cat try to segregate it from the pregnant one and don't let her near the cat poo, (preg women prone to toxic plasmosis)

Also make sure to get lots of calcium..e.g. milk etc as she will soon be growing a new skeleton and in the absence of sufficient calcium you will lose bone mass

Eat healthily lots of fruit and veg..

Look after the gums because they can go a bit weak and bloody ... but be wary of having treatment unless necessary... No amalgam fillings and avoid white ones too

Unlike the rest of the Quebec health system the Royal Vic maternity stuff is pretty good, no need to worry you are in good hands. Not sure about the other hospitals. The Royal Vic has classes for parents to be, if you can't bear that then at least take the guided tour (in English or French) as it will orientate and reassure you.

Good Luck

Fridges

2008-06-14T17:49:00.000-04:00

If you ask me....and you didn't...this person should have won the Nobel Prize, not that Al Gore.
I am sooo tired of the consumer being blamed for wasting resources when it is the manufacturers who give us our consumer choices.

The fridge..not modified since the 50's, open the door...whoosh out comes the cold air. Look what this guy achieved..100Wh per day! Why can't GE manage this? The only choice we have now is the colour. We should demand more efficient products and there should be legislation to enforce it.

I point to the average fuel economy of cars in the states that only went up after Carter made it the law, ( as I learnt from the film "who killed the electric car?") as discussed here.

Manufacturers who design products to fail after warranty should be strung up. It is not buying things that is the problem it is that they are designed to be thrown away and no thought is given to how they are thrown away. I still use an ironing board from my parents that pre-dates me, the other new ones have all been and gone, flimsy crappy things that became unusable and unrepairable in a few months.

On that note I see that propane conversion of SUVs in Montreal seems to be unheard of..my next project is to look into this, I only found this one in Montreal...
Entreprises Climauto Ltée (Les)
11390 Avenue Arthur-Nantel
Montréal, QC H1E 6V2
514-494-7393
514-494-7394 (télécopieur)

I am thinking to get a VW like this guy and convert it... One day.....follow the instructions

Electronic Fax and Message service

2008-06-14T13:52:00.000-04:00

The best I found was
Maxemail

For $24 I got a phone number in Chicago with fax and voicemail for a year. You can personalise the greeting and the fax header.
Support reply quickly and at weekends.
Faxes are sent as pdf and voicemail as wav and you can email files to fax numbers
You can include a few email addresses so you can share the account. Plus you can have all messages saved for a year, (costs extra).
In short it's good.

Cheapest way to wire money AND EFT electronic funds transfer

2008-06-14T12:54:00.000-04:00

Here is the cheapest way to change money that I have found
1. Open XE trade account
2. Set up your bank accounts to make and accept payments by EFT, (you do this through the XEtrade website)
3. Off you go

Real example, I wanted to change USD to get 10,000CAD, (both accounts at same montreal branch).
With the bank's 'free' transfer I got 10,000
Through XEtrade I got 10, 350.
Wire charge from bank (no EFT) was $50 and XE charged $18 to wire money back..
BUT with EFT all wire charges are gone, finally a free banking service in Montreal..

Oanda has apparently better rates, but is fiddly to send money to, but you get a good rate of interest from them though..might be worth considering as an alternative to the ridiculous ING thing.

Montreal Banks

2008-06-14T12:37:00.000-04:00

***See? I told you they were particularly crap***
I found this bank, no fees, free cheques, an almost normal bank

filling in the application form....over 18 yes, resident yes..what's this? Available everywhere except Quebec!!!!!!!!!

Proof in my opinion we are being screwed over for no reason
==================================

Wow, what a rip off! Charges for using ATM, charges for paying bills, charges for online banking, laughable interest rates, charges for just having the account..charges for everything.

To me the banks here typify why Canadians should be less nice. Thanks for robbing me, have a nice day..Note to Canadians, this is not the wild west, money is electronic now, you don't actually pay them to guard it for you, they make a bomb out of investing your cash (badly as recent events show), giving you crap rates on loans etc, they should pay you to keep your money. You laugh but this is the norm in some European countries. The BBC even had a campaign to help people sue their bank for charging them too much for services.

I heard a story about a run on a bank in the plateau by some newly arrived greeks? who were unable to withdraw a large sum of cash which led to panic and lots of people complaining and milling around outside. The manager of the bank across the street saw an opportunity and welcomed the disgruntled to his bank and promised no such silliness.
Q. what happened to this bright entrepreneurial bank manager?
A. he was sacked for breaking the unwritten code that all Montreal banks should treat their customers equally badly, thereby removing any need for them to help their customers .

So I was not amazed to find that my bank charges a flat fee for wire transfers..(OK so far)..PLUS a % commission !!! Exsqueeze me? Just help yourself to my cash..doubtless they will intoduce tips for bank clerks next. Anyway this led me to discover EFT..see next post

GPS

2008-06-14T12:11:00.000-04:00

Well the first question I had was what's he difference between a $100 Tomtom and a $400 Magellan. The answer is pretty hard to find because there aren't (m)any direct comparisons.

I wanted everything for nothing, great maps, warnings about roadworks and accidents etc. The closest I could find was MSN direct wich is basically a GPS receiver that plugs into laptop, PLUS it gives you cool? stuff from MSN all for about $140! Works in Montreal too! Bargain...? Uhh not really since it seems the technology does not work reliably according to reviews..

Well maybe it is the future...there are similar things with live traffic updates etc. For now then it seems best to wait until they give them away in cornflakes boxes and settle for old technology..but without some kind of real time information you may as well just buy a map...

So I settled for a refurbished Garmin 660 from tigerdirect. I have never bought from them before and if it can go wrong it'll happen to me. Why this one after days of searching the net? Well it has the traffic update and bluetooth. Lets see if it is worth the extra $100 over the Garmin 350. I want it to have pedestrian mode, altitude, but no way to find out..

I will post what happens and whether it is a waste of money when it arrives.