Zorro the cat is doing fine and likes investigating new things such as owner flossing his teeth and UFOs flying around the room. These "UFOs" appear only on sunny winter afternoons and are caused by my computer disk platters hanging in the window as wind chimes.
Anything Goes
Whatever occurs at the moment
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Tuesday, November 01, 2022
R.I.P. Bix The Cat
A few weeks ago, Bix stopped eating and drinking. He was on Prednisolone for two years and blood tests revealed an improper amount of a certain protein. The Vet suspected Bix might have cancer. So we decided to put Bix gently to sleep.
Bix, seen here guarding my keyboard, was a fine companion animal. Sometimes he was a pest but in a nice way. Mostly, he liked to lounge on the sofa or nearby where I happened to be. (Oct 14)
.....[ Buffy, Brownie, and Bix ]
Thursday, May 05, 2022
Empire Dreams From Russia
Russia has eleven percent of the world's landmass. It is almost double the size of Canada, China, or the United States but with only half the population of the US. Yet the Putin Regime believes it is necessary to annex or obliterate the land of other countries which were once part of the old Russian empire. But we see that England, France, Spain and other countries have given up most of their colonies, if not all. Empires are obsolete in the modern world because they cannot be managed and are doomed to collapse.
The Putin Regime allegedly poisons or kills anyone who protests. There is no free press to call truth to power. There is only propaganda such that the common people do not believe reports from relatives outside of Russia. The Russian Army is apparently the last refuge of brutes and murderers.
I believe Russia does not need more land .. it needs more people. There are plenty of people looking for a country to live in peace where their families can thrive. But first Russia must shut down the war machine. It needs to replace the vinegar of war with the honey of peace.
- Establish a free press
- Scrap the war machine
- Rights and Freedoms for every citizen
Monday, February 07, 2022
Freedom Convoy Is Free-Dumb
Monday, January 10, 2022
Labatt Beer Shelf Life
Labatt and some other beers have a six month shelf life. I wrote to Labatt asking how to interpret the date stamped on the box of twelve bottles. It means that the case I bought at the beer store was only two weeks old.
Hello Robert-
Thank you for taking the time to reach out. I am sorry for the delay in response. We appreciate your patience. Please see below for a breakdown on how to read the label on your bottle of Labatt Blue.
Ex: M06L14-03:50
M = Month (December)
06 = Date
L = Brewery (London)
1 = Year (2021)
4 = Production Line
03:50 = Time Stamp
This translates to your beer being bottled on 12/6/2021 at our London brewery. After this date, you bottle has a shelf life of 180, or 6 months, so your beer will be freshest enjoyed before roughly 6/6/2022. Beer is okay to be stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator. The main thing is that you want to keep it stored out of direct sunlight or in heat for prolonged periods of time. Hope this helps clear things up. Let me know if you have any further questions.
It's always a pleasure serving you. Write back any time, and thank you for reaching out to our Contact Centre.
Cheers
The format is awkward because date and location codes are mixed. I would prefer to see something like:-
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Quebec Bill21 Has Religious Bias
There has been much media chatter recently following the reassignment of a Quebec Grade 3 teacher for wearing a hijab. Objections to Bill21 are reasonable because the Quebec law violates the principle of religious neutrality.
Religious or cultural symbols such as hijabs, crucifixes, and turbans are only special to people who have certain beliefs or cultural traditions. Everyone else should call them clothing and jewelry.
Thursday, September 09, 2021
Go Hard, Go Early
The COVID-19 pandemic has been with us for what seems like forever. Will it ever end? New Zealand, for example, has a "go hard, go early" strategy which works better than the "go late, go easy" practised in Ontario. Lockdown wrestles the virus to the mat but stopping too soon lets it rise again.
A small but loud segment of the population have gone nuts about health practices. Not only are they unvaccinated, but also unmasked while gathering in mobs to protest at political events. They even mob at hospitals or homes of people they don't like. The police have been lenient with them so far.
From a software programmer perspective, current society seems to be caught in an endless loop of viral desperation.
- Virus mutates and becomes pandemic.
- Government imposes restrictions to limit spread
- Health care practices are eased too soon.
- "Free-dumb" mobs resist vaccines and masking.
- Virus mutates and spreads among the unvaccinated.
- Goto 2
- Pandemic ends eventually
- Wait for next pandemic, goto 2
Jacinda Ardern Tower of Song(Cohen)
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Vaccine Games
Got another Pfizer dose from the Richmond Green Sports Centre. The clinic was perfectly organised just like before. However, getting appointments in Ontario continues to be difficult for almost everyone because the software is very poor quality. Toronto has pop-up clinics when delayed vaccine shipments finally arrive. These do not require appointments but thousands of people start lining up at 1:00am for an 8:00am opening. Many are disappointed.
Wednesday, June 02, 2021
Risky Login To CRA With CellPhone SMS
If CRA needs to contact you, they do not send the content of your concern, they post the content to your account and notify by email that you need to login and read the content. This avoid exposing your personal information in email. So they care about security.
It is probably ok to use SMS passcodes for social media and other amusements where money is not involved. However, billions of dollars flow through CRA which is an attraction for bad-actor hackers. And hackers have tools to capture SMS codes while logging in as you. Cell phone networks have security bugs so information passing through them needs to be encrypted. This can't be done with SMS which is plain text.
Google "risk of sms for authentication" and it's all bad news. The best advice is don't use SMS for 2FA/MFA. It actually weakens security for CRA business.
Monday, May 31, 2021
The Toronto Maple Leafs Protected Their Vacation Time
Since golf clubs are opening soon, the Leafs went on vacation and brought in some beer-league look-alikes to take their place in the playoffs. Just kidding.
The Canadiens could beat the Leafs because they are a big, determined team backed by a super goalie and that team could defend the entire ice rink. They gave the Leafs little time and space to make plays. It does not matter what skill the Leafs have unless they have an answer to whatever tactics the other team tries. I only watched a part of game 7 and I saw a lot of small mistakes. Generally, the Leafs were slow and clumsy as if they were in an unfamiliar environment . Playoffs require a special energy, not just skill.
It is insane to bring in high-salary players just to repeat the games of old. The Maple Leaf organization needs a fresh perspective starting with a name change to one that suggests energy or power. Consider names like Lightning, Avalanche, Bruins, Golden Knights, or Jets. They have energy to blow away the wimpy Leafs. How about a name like Toronto Tornadoes.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Doorway Pull-up Rack For Home Exercise
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Pfizer Jab Against Covid-19
Got the Pfizer jab for covid19 yesterday. The clinic was in a sports complex and was very well organised. It took 10 minutes to walk through the various check points, get the jab, and then linger for fifteen minutes in case of shock. I was pleasantly surprised given that there has been much grumbling and frustration concerning the vaccine rollout. This whole week was fully booked as soon as the online portal opened last week but I was lucky to see a few slots open when I made a random check this week. However, only two percent of Ontario people have been vaccinated and another lockdown is looming.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Kindle PaperWhite For Reading Comfort
Amazon provides two devices for reading ebooks. First there is the Fire or other tablet with the Kindle App. It's pretty good but the display is inferior to the Kindle Paperwhite which has a reflective screen with no glare. It does have a light with five LEDs but they do not shine in your eyes. They are at the bottom of the screen near the 'kindle' label and they shine across the screen. They are not noticeable.
The displays of phones and computers have thousands of red-green-blue LEDs. All these LEDs are emitting to produce white which is the default color for web pages. The blue component is not good for your eyes.
The blue in sunlight provides some healthy stimulation during the day but humans did not evolve to live in constant blue light. So we should minimise exposure to device screens after sundown so that relaxation and a good night's sleep will follow.
The Kindle does emit some blue light but it is much less intensive than the blue level from phones and tablets.