So you have a mobile phone but don’t want to pay for a texting (SMS) package or can’t afford the ~ $0.15 per message the carries are charging? There’s a really simple way around it. Most wireless carriers provide an online web form where you can send messages to any of their customers, free of charge (to send but watch out in case the recipient gets charged for incoming messages).

Here are the links:

• Rogers (apparently works for Fido customers too)
• Telus Mobility
• Bell Mobility
• Koodo
• Solo

I only have experience using the Telus service because my wife is a Telus Mobility subscriber so I can’t guarantee any of the others work. I guess one can’t complain too much because it’s free.

This is for all the Stargate fans out there! A teaser from the upcoming Stargate Universe series.

Inspiration comes from the weirdest places. This time it came from a plurk that I posted saying “TheNerd wishes he could open source his life“. AaronMSB responded with the following statement “isn’t your life a little open source already. You learn and take mannerisms and stuff from the people around you”. This was quite an inspiring statement and is what this post is based on.

Life really is very similar to open source. Just think of how we adapt and change based on the actions of other people around us. We do it, for the most part, unknowingly. We absorbe this information and process it subconciously and, still subconciously, adjust our behavious accordingly. We all know this is what happens when you finally meet your “significant” other and settle down. Settling down is exactly what I am talking about. Most people don’t say “I’m going to settle down now”, it’s just natural progression and no one really even notices or questions it (there are obviously exceptions).

Not all of this information is absobed completely unconciously. Sometimes we have the choice to make a decision on what information we absorbe or reject. In this case we can be seen as the “Lead Developer” of our own “personality software” project. We make decisions based on what we see best fits the roadmap or vision of the project. Just like a newbie developer that has his latest patch evaluated and rejected because of errors, we tend to evaluate the people surrounding us and reject those which do not follow the coding guidlines or are just plain old poorly written.

But what does this really have to do with life? It has lots to do with it I think. If we were to live our lives with a good understanding of this concept I think we could make better decisions about how we act and treat other people. Life is all about learning and creating a product that you are proud of and can show it off to others, just like you would show off a new piece of software that you are proud to have been a part of. Understanding this concept would also allow you to better contribute to the other “personality software projects” of those around you. We all know that open source software is most successful when there are many dedicated people who are working towards a common goal. Life is very similar in that if you surround yourself by good people, who are dedicated to your friendship, it creates a better product in the end.

Give it some thought.
~TheNerd

That’s right, please fuck off and leave me alone!

Four years ago when you called and asked for a $20 donation I thought you sounded like a noble and respectable organization that would not sell my number or continue to harass me (at least that’s what you told me). Boy was I ever wrong.

The two years following the donation I was polite and asked you nicely to remove me from your calling list. But you never did, and kept calling me four or five times a year. Each time you called I continued to ask to be remove but in a more stern and aggravated manner. You would call and leave me voice mails with a return number that when I called, I got a recording saying that I needed to call another number to be removed from the call list. I called this second number and got another voice recording saying I needed to punch in my number to be removed. I promptly did so, numerous time,  but the calls still kept coming.

You ask me why I got mad this time? Well if you were smart enough to figure out that you are annoying me and wasting my time you would understand. Yes, I can be an asshole and I am not very tolerant of this sort of action so I swore at you. What are you going to do about it? If I have no legal recourse to stop you from harassing me then a few “recorded” swear words won’t go very far on your end either.

The thing that made me the most mad about this call is that you tried to tell me how I should not speak to you. What right do you have to tell me how to talk to you when are the one that called and bothered me? Why don’t you just hang up and never call again? Why do you need to stay on the phone and tell me it’s being recorded and then threaten to tell your boss? What is your boss going to do? Call my mom? Boo fucking hooo! My mom hates you just as much, I’m sure.

I have never understood these organizations that call and ask for donations. I was weary of donating the first time because they required a $20 minimum donation. Who in the right mind asks for a specific amount over the phone? That’s just disrespectful. I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt and donate anyway and the only thing it did was land me here. The end result is that I will never donate another cent over the phone to anyone. So not only did you ruin my view of the CPPA, you also ruined my view of anyone who asks for donations over the phone. I apologize to the other guys, so if you have any quandaries with this please feel free to call the CPPA and tell them they cost you a donation.

I really think there should be penalties for this type of harassment. Why is it that the government thinks it’s ok to have people call you and solicit anything over the phone. The first thing I see when I go to the mall are signs saying no solicitors, I see the same thing on apartment building doors and other public and private areas so why is this OK over the phone or in the mail? These idiot organizations don’t even give you proper channels to contact their call centers or corporate office to complain or get removed from the list. It’s obvious the government favors these organizations over the general public’s privacy.

Anyway I was long over due for a rant.

Cheers!
~TheNerd

In my previous post “If I were a TWiT who would I want to be?” I said I would like to be like Steve Gibson. While is is who I would like to be, I’ve been told that I am already like one of the regular TWiTs. Can you guess who? For those that know me the answer would be John C Dvorak.

Yes that’s right, I’m a cranky geek! (sorry for the trademark infringement).

~TheNerd

1. Everyone knows what I am up to – Does “John the Janitor” at my old elementary school really need to know what I’m doing?
2. All the notifications are annoying – I know you can turn them off but that’s not the point.
3. People upload and tag photos of you – then you have to approve or deny them (takes too long)
4. It’s the only way to communicate with some people – What happened to email or the telephone?
5. It’s ugly as hell! – enough of the blue already!
6. Too many applications that are useless yet people still spam you with them
7. Beacon – the Facebook boogyman
8. People get angry when you don’t accept their friend request
9. Everyone assumes I log in to Facebook as much as they do and think it’s the only way to contact you. If you have notifications turned off you may never know you were invited to “Joe and Betty’s Super Cool and Totally Rad House Party”.
10. Last but not least… Zuckerberg. It bothers me when he speaks, he should stay behind the keyboard.

…but for some strange reason, I keep logging in. It’s beyond me. I guess that’s why it’s been nicknamed Crackbook.

~TheNerd

Just in case you were wondering, I do moderate the comments on this blog. You wonder why maybe? Well I would have to say that at very least 90% of all comments posted here are complete spam. I guess this might be because I display the “You Comment I Follow” logo and have the Do Follow Word Press plugin installed.

As long as your comment pertains to the post there won’t be a problem with me approving it even if you post a link to your site. But, if you’ve commented here and it never showed up it could be that I thought it was spam and deleted it. If you think I have wronged you feel free to drop me a line and let me know.

Cheers!
~TheNerd

My brother-in-law and friend Mike (from DropTheMike.com) has published a short article I wrote for his blog. It’s a post about upgrading to Windows Vista from Windows XP.

I have yet to see the reasoning one would want to upgrade to Vista. I’m not even sure it should be called an upgrade. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s better. Anyway if you want to see what I wrote click here.

Cheers!
~TheNerd

For those of you living under a rock, TWiT is a Netcast (aka Podcast) network created and maintained by the infamous Leo Laporte (formerly of The Screen Savers on TechTV). Some shows on the network include Security Now, Jumping Monkey, this WEEK in TECH, FLOSS Weekly, and more.

If I had the choice to be like any one of these guys it would definitely have to be Steve Gibson. Why would I be like Steve? Well first of he’s pretty darn smart (no offense to the rest of you awesome folks). He is an expert on security, which happens to be an interest of mine and is a great entrepreneur. It’s always been my passion to have my own business that can sustain me and my family.

I’m sure some people would have other things to say about it but whatever. I’m a nerd, I listen to nerds, and I want to be even nerdier .  Hence the nick.

~TheNerd