Oh and another thing…

3G aint so cool. I’ve been looking at the numbers and basically, if you don’t use up all the MB you paid for in your data bundle, after 31 days they are forfeited… And if you use more than the MB in your data bundle you get molested with stupidly high “out-of-bundle” per MB fees, some (most) as high at R2 per megabyte. (A megabyte should be costing anything from 10 cents to 40 cents)

Why do companies take advantage of their customers like that? It’s just pure greed. It’s like walking into Pick and Pay and buying 100 tins of tuna and instead of them saying “wow, cool, here’s a discount” they say “Oh, 100 tins… you must have money, that’ll be 2000% more per tin, kthx”

Does anyone know what I get charged for 3G use on my vodacom phone? I “enabled data” a few years back and now that my new phone supports 3G I’ve been using that a bit. I never bought a data bundle or anything. I asked in a vodashop and they were amazingly unable to answer the question, but gave me a phone number to call.

I should go to bed, I’m starting to get moody.

j.

Email feature…

How about this for an easy to implement feature that will save hoards of people from looking like fools.

If you are composing an email that has the phrase “I’ve attached” or “Attached you’ll find” or anything that seems to imply that the composer of the email intends to attach something to the email, when they click send check whether there is indeed something attached and if not ask them if they’re sure they want to send.

Is that too MS Paperclip’ish?

Just a thought.

I love my Camera

I own a Canon 20D. When I bought it it was state of the art and cost a small fortune. Now, a couple of years later it has been replaced by a few generations of better cameras; and I must admit that I do have camera envy when I look at the new stuff on the market.

But then I take a picture like this and I’m all happy again. I love you 20D.

Dark Sunset

Shameless link to my flickr stream

Do not go gentle into that good night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

– Dylan Thomas

———————

No no, no one died… I just believe that perhaps deaths door is a little too late to begin raging… plus, I like the poem.

I should blog more… GeekDinner 5 – Eccentric Eggplant

GeekDinner 5 - Eccentric EggplantNo really, I should. I have a really good blog post chomping at the proverbial bit… Even Adrian would approve. (probably not, but a man can have hope)

Anyway, it’s GeekDinner time again, and this one, “Eccentric Eggplant” promises to be a good’un for two reasons… Firstly, I might finally be able to get Derek the marketing guru to do his now – way – too – over – hyped – and – yet – not – delivered – on speil – about – the – old – world – vs – new – world – advertising, and secondly, but most certainly not leastly, my friend Jennie will be talking about her experiences in the world of game development. Yes, she’s a real girl, and yes, she’s a real game developer currently working on something to do with Maya and the Wii. (I like how that rhymes with Maya The Bee).

Sign up here http://wiki.geekdinner.org.za/wiki/Cape_Town_November_2007

Later, Aligator!

j.

Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Release Party

<copy-paste>

Hi All

The “Ubuntu 7.10 – Gutsy Gibbon” Cape Town Release Party has been finalised.

The venue has been set as Cantina Tequila in the Waterfront. We’ll be
outside in the sun on the benches (which are undercover and heated in
case the weather gets crap).

Be there at 2pm for 2:30pm this Sunday (21 October).

Cantina Tequila is “under” the big flagpole in the waterfront facing the water.
http://www.cantinatequila.co.za/images/map.gif

If you *still* can’t find it you can give me (Jonathan E) a call on
082 xxx xxxx.

PLEASE RSVP SO WE CAN RESERVE A TABLE!

kthxbai


j. </copy-paste>

ps. Mail me arbitraryuser at gmail dot com to rsvp.

Letter to a well meaning friend…

She asked why I listed my religion as “Pastafarianism”:

Pastafarianism is the belief that the universe is controlled by a flying spaghetti monster. It is a theoretical belief closely linked to the philosophical concept of Russell’s teapot. In case you’re wondering, no, I don’t believe the universe is controlled by spaggethi, and yes, I am trying to make a point.

Do I believe in God? Who knows… Which one are you talking about? There are too many gods out there to believe in… and many, including the Christian god, have a lot of things going against them… I meet too many well meaning, well educated Christians who, despite their university educations, believe that evolution is “made up”, homosexuals are “going to hell” and George Bush is “doing what God is telling him to do”.

I don’t for a second think that any of us are just a coincidence. But I do believe it is, and excuse me if I offend you here, coincidence that you grew up in Pinelands, with Christian parents (I think?) and Christian friends, in an environment where being anything other than a Christian was a bad thing… You could have been born in outer Mongolia and believed in Baluti the Sun God.

It is however not a coincidence that, given the environment that you grew up in, you became a Christian.

I believe that we all get to make a choice for ourselves… and more importantly that nobody has the right to inflict their religion on anybody else.

I am just like you, I chose to not believe in the plethora of gods out there… we both ignore Zeus, Allah, Pulika the great, etc etc etc… except I take it one step further and feel that, given the option of thousands of gods to believe in, believing in the one I coincidentally grew up with is just too damn convenient to “surrender my life to”.