While helping my brother look for a new place downtown with Craigslist, I received a few emails looking like this:

Hello

     My name is Rev Way the owner the home and also want you to know that it was due to my transfer that makes me my wife and Son to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own. So for now, We are here in west Africa, our new house and put all my worries off concerning the maintenance of the apartment for, since i am not residing there for now.I left behind some Facilities and electonics which include the rent, and a DVD player, air conditioning, alarm system. The kitchen is fully equipped with all necessary cooking utensils, arefrigerator-freezer, four-hob and oven, microwave,dishwasher and washing achine, My Computer Connected with Internet Acess Also the keys to the House are right here with me, and the lease document. Which i can send to you after all necessary agreement has be accepted.Our apartment location 989 Nelson St,Vancouver, BC, Canada. Also i will like you to know that the rent charges is not really the issue ,but your absolute maintenance of my apartment is most important thing so will want you to get back to me with the Application form below.

RENT APPLICATION FORM

1. Your Full Name
2. Your Full Address & Phone Number
3. How old are you?
4. Are you married?
5. How many people will be living in the house?
6. Do you have a pet?
7. Do you have a car?
8. Occupation?
9. When do you want to move in
10. How long do you want to stay in my apartment
11. Pictures of all the Occupant that will stay in my apartment

One Mr Brasson called me about the apartment,I told him that I can't give him the apartment because he loves smoking,drinking and dont want him to get drunked and damaged my property one day so If you are still interested, Note that the rent is going to be $745 Per month No extra fees.I will like you to give me a call on this effect to know how serious you are.I personally will actually come visiting you sometimes during the year as our new tenant.Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you. Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the keys of the house to you.

and this:

Thanks for your email and it is my gladness to hearing from you.I am Coleman Andy,the owner of the Apartment you are making inquiry of.Actually I resided in the apartment with my family,presently we moved away due to my transfer from my working place,my apartment is Located in 1200 WEST GEORGIA STREET DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER BRITISH COLUMBIA and presently my apartment is still available for rent for $660 per month including the utilities like hydro,washer and security,it is furnished.More so Now, I went for a Crusade in the West Africa and i will like you to get in touch with my wife in the states for more discussion as She is with the keys and the documents to the Apartment.Please i want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also i spent a lot on my property that i want to give you for rent,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this apartment and want you to treat it as your own,is that taken,I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i come for a check up.I do that once in a while.I want have trust in you as i always stand by my words.Where are you located? let us know how soon you are willing to move in.Email my wife Mary, on( myhomerentals@gmail.com )and she will attend to you better..

Thanks for your interest.

Coleman Andy

If the above doesn't sound fishy to you, it should. They're clearly both scams, so I thought that I'd post them here. If you're looking for a new place (apparently, especially in Vancouver), here are some good markers of scammyness:

• Ridiculously low price. Both examples above are underpriced by at least $400
• Poor spelling/grammar
• No phone number
• Owner lives in Africa, claims wife has authority by email etc.

Basically, that rule of "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" is very much applicable here. Happy hunting ;-)

Found via The Blomsa Code, Margaret sent me this little gem. I should mention that the embed code the thing gave me appears to only include <embed> data and not Exploder's <ojbect> tags so I can't be sure it'll work in their browser.

I just watched this amazing video on the future of how we'll use the Internet. For the nerdy among you: remember how people are always saying stuff like "this will make it a web service that other people can access for whatever they like"? Well this is the end result:

The problem with the way the web stands now, is that I have to go to services to use them.

Such a brilliantly simple observation. These guys are doing a great job.

As those of you who have been sending me occasional emails may have noticed, I've not been doing a very good job in replying to them. In fact, if you were to go back through this blog only a few months, I'm sure you'd find a few posts talking about how overwhelmed I am with stuff I have to do and specifically, emails to which I want to respond. The problem, at least as I've seen it, is that I just don't have enough hours in a day to get everything done. I work long hours, come home burnt and only wanting to veg out and do nothing... and even then I spend hours at home writing code for the office some nights.

Donat Group is a big fan of "work/life balance" a concept I'm familiar with, yet have not really taken advantage of lately. To remedy this though, I've decided to try something that may sound insane to some (hell, I'm not even a big fan of it): I'm going to schedule everything.

The plan is to schedule my work hours so I'm not inclined to stay as late as I usually do, then schedule making dinner and yes, even responding to all those emails. The theory being that if my laptop tells me that it's time for "x", it'll help me focus on the job at hand.

Maybe it's insane, but at the moment, I'm approaching desperation. Nothing in my life is working lately and frankly, I want my life back. I just wish my mind didn't keep drifting back to Seven of Nine scheduling "fun".

In 2006, Jane Pitfield, one of Toronto's mayoral candidates had mentioned the possibility of selling naming rights to subway stations as a way to help fund the system. As insane as it may sound to some, this idea did gain traction among some supporters in council and the media. At the time, I'd toyed with the idea of creating a corporate-sponsored subway map to raise some awareness around this woman's position, but as it became clear that she was unlikely to win, my interest faded.

However, the idea didn't die with Pitfield's campaign. Toronto City Hall has continued to toy with the idea of selling off the naming rights of public spaces to corporations, so Jayme Turney and Jonathan Goldsbie from the Toronto Public Space Committee started work on a campaign called City for Sale -- an advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the result of this line of thinking as well as push council on considering other options. When I heard about this, I contacted Jonathan to let him know that I had a fun idea in mind that might help them out, and after roughly a week of off-hours toying with Inkscape, and lots of help from the City For Sale volunteers with logo acquisition, "The Wrong Way" was born:

Full size version  |  Original source file (Inkscape SVG)

I keep meaning to write about this and life keeps getting in the way.

I suppose that I should predicate this whole post with the statement that this is one of my many ideas. Stuff that occurs to me out of the blue, or in this case, on a long bus ride between Kelowna and Vancouver. I post it here because I think that this idea has promise, and with the knowledge that it obviously needs work. If you're going to post comments about how the idea will never work etc. I'm just going to ignore you. As the saying goes: "Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it" ;-)

The Problem

Cities across the country are being burdened by more and more civil responsibilities and somehow, with their limited budget and tax-base, they're expected to support these services happily. We've all seen the results: ad-funded infrastructure, selling the naming rights to public buildings, reduced reliability of services and everyone's favourite: higher taxes.

The commonly-held solutions to these problems are multi-faceted, resting in part with an uploading of the financial burdens to the provincial and federal levels as well as widening the taxing powers of the cities while diminishing those of the higher levels of government. This is a good start, but I think we can do better before we go down that road.

The Collective

We have to start treating our cities not as a single element with unique needs, but rather a generic element with common needs. All cities require transit, roads, sanitation, water reclamation, and security, albeit in varying capacities. The city of Oakville for example obviously has very little in common with Vancouver, but perhaps it may have a great many things in common with London, Ontario. Similarly, Calgary and Edmonton share a great deal, and Vancouver has much in common with Seattle.

Currently, each of these cities must act alone when looking to improve its services. All too often, cities are offering RFPs to private business for everything from garbage collection to transit infrastructure, to what software will reside on the computers at City Hall. Corporations are then asked to bid against each other for the contract, but the costs are always exorbitant. Why not extend the powers of collective bargaining to the municipal level?

This would open doors for all kinds of collaborative projects:

• A transit system in Baltimore could be using the same technology as Boston trains reducing the cost of production and increasing interoperability.
• A waste reclamation project in Toronto could be linked to the surrounding cities to allow for a centralised sorting and processing facility at a shared cost,
• A cross-continental police exchange programme could help train officers regarding what works and what doesn't in the rapidly changing environment of the downtown core.
• Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon could agree that while producing street furniture independently may be too expensive, building it for all three would create jobs where they're most needed and drastically reduce the costs involved.
• BC Hydro, a long-time producer of hydro-electric power could lend it's expertise to the building of a new dam in Washington state in exchange for a favourable rate for electricity in BC's lower mainland.

It's important to note that alliances of this type are never meant to be permanent. A transit deal between Vancouver and Seattle may be a good plan, but that doesn't mean that they'd have to work together for waste management. Maybe Seattle would work with San Francisco on that one instead while Vancouver would handle that task independently. The idea is to facilitate the exchange of intelligence and forge collective bargaining agreements for the purpose of reducing cost and increasing interoperability.

Opposition

Nationality: Some people might take issue with the way I've tied cities together across national borders here. Politically, this may be a problem, but as I see it, cities with similar needs should work together to satisfy those needs collectively.

Identity: Another objection is likely to come in the form of a need for uniqueness from city to city. This is a valid concern and it should be addressed as part of the collective RFP. Where appropriate, cities should decide to either act independently or amend the collective agreement to accommodate their individual needs. The preference however should always go to working with others, since that will always produce the greatest benefit.

Corporate: This system is not in the best interest of the corporations bidding on these contracts as it further pits them against each other and drives down their profit margin. I'm unapologetic for this.

Next

If this is to work, it will require an intermediary. A person, (or in the long run, a non-profit organisation) that keeps track of who needs what and brings those bodies together. I want to do more than just offer the idea here to be swallowed by Internet noise on this one. I want to make this happen. Maybe one day this will be a reality and I'll be able to quit my day job and Use My Powers for Good full time. We'll see.

The first step is to locate a good test "site". Find two smaller cities who could benefit from working together on a small inconsequential project and make it work. Obviously, it'd be crazy to try this sort of thing on a large scale to start. It's hard enough to pitch an idea this complex to the council of a city of 3 million people without it being your first time ever. A smaller city, like Kelowna or Surrey might make for a better start -- though their needs are admittedly not as well served by this model. Suggestions for cities and/or projects are welcome.

So that's the whole plan. What are your thoughts?

A financial adviser and friend of Noreen's sent me a message a couple weeks ago as a sort of follow up to previous conversations we'd had in the past. Obviously, he was looking to expand his client base and had found my name while flipping through his contact history and so I got a polite email asking if I was interested in investing with him any time soon.

Knowing that having an investment portfolio is supposed to be the smart thing, I gave it a shot. I replied that I had reservations about investing any of my money in funds where my money could be used for "evil", so if I were to do any kind of investment, I'd need fine-grained control over what money went where to ensure a clear conscience.

Like a professional, he responded with a few suggestions based on my tastes, but then he let that professionalism slip when he went on to defend Microsoft as a liberator of the impoverished. He did point out though that even the most ethical of funds he could find leaned heavily on Canada's "Big Five" banks -- institutions which would only re-lend my money to companies like Bruce Power, Shell, and Sony. This, coupled with my less-than-mainstream ideas of "good" and "evil" corporations leaves me with few options.

So I won't be joining the investment train. At least, I won't be going there until I can find a way to square it with my morals. Two things just keep repeating themselves over and over in my head, and until they're satisfied, mutual funds and the like are pretty much off limits:

1. Capitalism rarely, if ever, does the Right thing
2. The money we get from investments isn't free. Someone, somewhere is paying for that dividend and it just doesn't feel right to profit from it.

The following was in the Vancouver Public Space Network newsletter today and I thought that I might share it here for those who might be interested. This segment touches on something I mentioned a while back called Ciclovía, an event in Bogotá, Columbia. Apparently, the brain behind that event and others like it down there is doing a talk here in Vancouver. Space is limited, so register now if you're interested:

We are now facing a “perfect storm” of increasing global warming and environmental degradation, growing traffic congestion, an obesity crisis and other public health concerns, soaring energy costs and slowing economic growth. It is time to go beyond baby steps and take some major leaps. We must re-position walking and cycling as key parts of the solution to these major challenges.

As Bogotá has shown, creating great public spaces for walking and cycling contributes enormously to creating healthier, happier, more thriving communities. Hear former Bogota Commissioner of Parks, Sport and Recreation share his experiences and his lessons for Vancouver. The evening is being co-sponsored by Translink, the SFU City Program, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Public Space Network.

Event takes place Wednesday, August 20th at 7:00pm, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street. Admission is free but reservations are required.

• To register - 778-782-5100 or email cstudies at sfu dot ca
• For further information see vancouverpublicspace.ca.

I've been assigned to a junior-level programmer here at the office to teach her how to write code for the server I've been labouring on over the past six months. The system is my brainchild, my baby and it's with a mix of relief and aprehension that I'm taking on this new apprentice for this project.

And then I saw this at the top of her first class file:

<?php



	/**
	*
	*   Author: Coworker's Name (coworker@donatgroup.com)
	*  Licence: GPL-3 "Information wants to be free"

Granted, she forgot to capitalise "Free" but it's a pretty good start ;-)

Over the past few days, I've been trying to switch from KDE to Gnome. It's faster, Free-er and in many ways, prettier than KDE, so I thought that I'd give it a shot... but it's not going to happen and here's why:

1. Nautilus doesn't support bookmark folders. It's pretty impressive really, but when your filesystem browser is expected to be able to connect to local drives, network drives and remote drives over SFTP, assuming that a user is only going to have 6 or 7 bookmarks is unreasonable.
2. Terminal is lame. It may be more responsive than Konsole, but you can't move between tabs with the keys and wrap from the last to the first, and you can't paste from the highlight-copy clipboard with the keyboard while Konsole will let you use Ctrl+Shift+Ins for the highlight copy, and Shift+Ins for standard copy.
3. No suitable replacement for Kwallet. Gnome stores some of your passwords with its keyring manager, Firefox stores its own (unencrypted) and Thunderbird stores its own (encrypted). In KDE, I login, give my master password and my encrypted password db is available to all programs for which I need it.
4. No suitable replacement for Klipper. I got Glipper installed, but it's nowhere to be found.
5. No decent text editors / IDEs. I tried Gvim, GPHPEdit, and Bluefish and they all suck in comparison to Kate, KDE's simple text editor and we're not even trying to compare KDevelop here. The big killer for me: no predictive text handling.
6. Firefox may be more functional than Konqueror, it's still way ugly by comparison.

Frankly, I've found Gnome to be sorely lacking in what I would consider key areas. People want their passwords and things memorised and they want them accessible in one easy step. I have well over 100 filesystem bookmarks and I'm a programmer -- I need a good text editor. If I wanted a prettier Vim, I wouldn't be using a GUI.

Maybe I'll try again next year but until then, KDE, though it may be slow and bloated, at least does what I think a GUI should.