tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211683202024-03-07T14:00:33.725-05:00ReubenspotSorry to be heavy, but heavy is the cost. Heavy is the cost.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.comBlogger418125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-51854527954131376962017-02-09T08:00:00.000-05:002017-02-09T08:00:11.725-05:00RingCentral Review - Is it worth it?For the last ten years our phone system in the office has been a typical small office PBX system from Nortel with service from Bell. The problem was the service was never that good. We tried everything to try and boost the volume on calls but nothing worked. It was also awkward and annoying to change any settings.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNerCWkDQ9Fkr0nBjVs7NvWgEh5950nhAa6Hi5jiRKlB6oeO1Ie2hRNP7MLIU8VOIVDDaDsr2rXkcuhlgXTSCHsl127Bk0AKJvHHO8tvj9YXSg9kAsJr9uHJH6SgTMsXU_ZRxJ/s1600/IMG_20150402_115113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNerCWkDQ9Fkr0nBjVs7NvWgEh5950nhAa6Hi5jiRKlB6oeO1Ie2hRNP7MLIU8VOIVDDaDsr2rXkcuhlgXTSCHsl127Bk0AKJvHHO8tvj9YXSg9kAsJr9uHJH6SgTMsXU_ZRxJ/s400/IMG_20150402_115113.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So after doing research several times over the last few years we decided to go with RingCentral. They advertise on TWiT and other podcasts and seem to stand out from that crowded marketplace as the largest and most reliable with a major presence in Canada.<br />
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After using the product for more than a year most of the office is now using the regular features quite fluidly.<br />
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Here are some of the growing pains we experienced while switching:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Porting our number over from Bell worked easily enough but did take a week or so.</li>
<li>Plugging the phone in and registering every user was quite simple but we did have major issues getting the phones to display the correct date/time. This turned out to be an issue with Bell.</li>
<li>Bell did not make it easy to connect through their modem/router. We had to disable the router part of the box (put it in bridge mode) and use our additional exterior router (which is what we were using anyway).</li>
<li>The users in our office struggle with any interface changes on machines they use everyday (I understand this is a normal IT problem).</li>
<ol>
<li>Putting people on hold now is called "Park" and that requires you to memorize a number to dial into any phone to get the call back.</li>
<li>Transfering calls to someone else is a better system however it is different than before so had to be learned through use. It annoys me that when you transfer a call to someone else the CallerID looks like you are calling that person (which you technically are) and so the person just thinks it's an internal office call.</li>
<li>The PolyCom phones we bought are quite basic and only have two lines, In order to set up conference calls you must use the cloud based system and email codes to everyone. On the plus side you can have huge numbers of people in your conference call. This is not to be confused with 'RingCentral Meetings' which is a Zoom or Google Hangouts competitor.</li>
<li>Checking voicemail on the hard phones now requires inputting several menu commands and a password. It just takes too long compared to the preprogrammed buttons we had on the old phones. You will really want to use the desktop or Android app for this but then you need headphones/speakers for your computer.</li>
</ol>
<li>Most of the really useful features are too hard for some people to learn as they rarely have the chance to practice. You really need one person in to be in charge and set things up and answer questions as required. It really is not plug and play in that everyone will instantly know how to use every feature.</li>
<li>Outgoing CallerID took several tries and many calls to tech support before they finally flicked the right switch to activate it.</li>
<li>Tech support from RingCentral was initially quite good when setting up the system. I had several very helpful people directly in contact with me and helping me with every step. However, once the setup stage was complete I had to start an issue by submitting my problem on the RingCentral help site. This would be fine but they would initially try to help by email which was too slow, then eventually over the phone but only at the lowest level of support. Eventually I would be in contact with Level 2 support which would usually solve my issue.</li>
<li>Incoming Caller ID: This seems to be resolved now but initially they told me we had to upgrade the service to get CallerID. We tried getting around it by syncing all our contacts and the desktop app with our generic office email Outlook. You could do the same with Gmail.</li>
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That leads to the biggest issue we have:</div>
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<b><u>Sharing Contacts Company Wide:</u></b></div>
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We were told that contacts could be shared across the company but it turns out that it can't be done. The RingCentral forums are full of people asking for this feature over the last several years. It seems clear that they have lost business by not adding this feature. If there could be a central location for all contacts to be stored it would save a lot of time because one person could edit a contact and it would be fixed on everyone's account. This should be possible as everything is stored on the RingCentral servers anyway.<br />
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We ended up getting around it by linking our generic office email account with all it's contacts to everyone's desktop phone app. Not perfect but it does work.</div>
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So, would I recommend RingCentral? Yes but be aware that it isn't as simple as it looks on the website. It also has more features than we will ever use. For instance, they added this app called Glip that seems interesting but will never catch on. I wish they would just focus on fixing the features they already have.</div>
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Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-12814645376178742812017-02-01T15:48:00.000-05:002017-02-01T15:48:29.204-05:00Google Drive vs. Dropbox - Episode 272With the <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/30/14435582/dropbox-paper-business-app-launch-date-ios-android-web">news</a> that Dropbox is opening up access to it's cloud editing software this week I thought it would be good to revisit my never ending comparison between the two products.<br />
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In my ongoing comparisons between Google Drive and Dropbox I've come across a huge win for Google Drive. When two users both have access to a file in Dropbox that file takes up space in both user's accounts. This means that if you are working with someone and they load up a shared folder with little regard for the storage space it takes up you could get locked out of your account and have no option but to delete that shared folder from your account.<br />
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That is because Dropbox locks your account (Google probably does the same) when you go over your storage limit. The problem here is you have no control of someone else's files counting against your limit.<br />
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In Google Drive the file size only counts towards the owner of that file. So if you share a folder with someone their storage quota will not be affected.<br />
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Another great feature of Google Drive is that any Google Docs / Sheets or / Slides files do not even count against your storage quota. I have not tested Dropbox's new cloud software or if it takes up your storage space but given how stingy they are I'm willing to bet that it will.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-75535893145872136232015-05-07T11:58:00.001-04:002015-05-07T11:58:55.210-04:00Google Drive vs. Dropbox - Episode 258Someone commented on my last post about <a href="http://reubenspot.blogspot.ca/2015/03/google-drive-vs-dropbox-episode-237.html">Google Drive vs Dropbox</a> and said that only Drive requires people to sign in when you send them a link to a folder. This is untrue.<br />
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When I share a dropbox link to someone without a dropbox account and they click on it this is what pops up:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2rjrXCgXDjaoPtFDi250o5kr32cw-5LpZJqtzcyethPORWpmgnFyA-_nXfAoF3tN_8GhFgqKHeeK-tprmvIotgbY8E16qlpVrYP5oGjT1Y9zmXO5Uias0D3j5N4ivfGfqABX/s1600/Dropbox+Link+-+Not+Signed+In.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2rjrXCgXDjaoPtFDi250o5kr32cw-5LpZJqtzcyethPORWpmgnFyA-_nXfAoF3tN_8GhFgqKHeeK-tprmvIotgbY8E16qlpVrYP5oGjT1Y9zmXO5Uias0D3j5N4ivfGfqABX/s1600/Dropbox+Link+-+Not+Signed+In.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2rjrXCgXDjaoPtFDi250o5kr32cw-5LpZJqtzcyethPORWpmgnFyA-_nXfAoF3tN_8GhFgqKHeeK-tprmvIotgbY8E16qlpVrYP5oGjT1Y9zmXO5Uias0D3j5N4ivfGfqABX/s1600/Dropbox+Link+-+Not+Signed+In.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2rjrXCgXDjaoPtFDi250o5kr32cw-5LpZJqtzcyethPORWpmgnFyA-_nXfAoF3tN_8GhFgqKHeeK-tprmvIotgbY8E16qlpVrYP5oGjT1Y9zmXO5Uias0D3j5N4ivfGfqABX/s400/Dropbox+Link+-+Not+Signed+In.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The user <i>can</i> click the 'x' and proceed to click the very useful big blue "Download" button. So it is not true that Dropbox requires you to log in (I never claimed that) but it does ask if you want to sign up which is still annoying for non-dropbox users. It gives the illusion that they <i>have</i> to sign up in order to get the files.</div>
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However, when I share a Google Drive link to a folder and someone without a Google account clicks on it this is what they see:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xzSMDVJkar03UgtXT4wQp5jiIkdjyhyXh76JwiX_7fi9qypvJetx24BlaS9WfmRRWoDDBwnLKhNIXqbG6ru6GkrXQTVaInCc8ZXAdZEbM2IXvmJcETzxf887nAMfNmVQGQDT/s1600/Drive+Link+-+Not+Signed+In.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xzSMDVJkar03UgtXT4wQp5jiIkdjyhyXh76JwiX_7fi9qypvJetx24BlaS9WfmRRWoDDBwnLKhNIXqbG6ru6GkrXQTVaInCc8ZXAdZEbM2IXvmJcETzxf887nAMfNmVQGQDT/s400/Drive+Link+-+Not+Signed+In.jpg" width="385" /></a></div>
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There is no requirement to sign in which is great. But you <i>will</i> note, however, that there is still no clear way for people to download the files from the Drive folder. All people see is the big blue "Sign In" button. This button ends up doing the same thing that Dropbox does. It insinuates that the user must Sign in to do anything with those files. They do not realize that they can click on each file individually and click an obscure looking download button to download each file at a time. </div>
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This is what it looks like when a user clicks on a file:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVA-dxtCBq0YgomAk_6iFFxIsNn3qRuopHL39H1_uJuw2i5BCC02kI4QHkArm-KiXRwvRWeFGmyI0pzUBC0lKevKpAuZrxcfD2dKTsIPeaIOaMuF3B0Piu_7z387dVc6O8ziNu/s1600/Drive+-+Download+Button+is+Not+Clear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVA-dxtCBq0YgomAk_6iFFxIsNn3qRuopHL39H1_uJuw2i5BCC02kI4QHkArm-KiXRwvRWeFGmyI0pzUBC0lKevKpAuZrxcfD2dKTsIPeaIOaMuF3B0Piu_7z387dVc6O8ziNu/s400/Drive+-+Download+Button+is+Not+Clear.jpg" width="385" /></a></div>
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The interface is nice and it actually works great. The usability is far nicer and slicker than Dropbox but the lack of a "Download All" button for people who are not signed in is a real problem. This is the problem I covered in my previous Drive vs Dropbox post.</div>
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It really needs to be addressed though.</div>
Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-74679385891850239002015-04-01T12:44:00.002-04:002015-04-01T12:44:22.432-04:00Google Drive shows Google+ Photos: It's 3/4 Baked<div>
While I'm on the topic of Google Drive, they announced that your Google+ photos will now appear in your Google Drive (<a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/30/8314309/google-plus-photos-video-in-drive">the Verge</a>). This is one thing I've been waiting a long time for. However there is a catch.... really it is just copying the photos to a new location. They aren't the same file. </div>
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This means that if you edit a file in the new drive folder it will sync between the web and your drive folder on your hard drive BUT it will not sync to the Google+ album.</div>
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This is what it looks like:</div>
I took some pics on my phone and they uploaded to G+ Photos. I check in Drive and see the Google Photos folder. Yay they are in there.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZsNh06ZKhfJfdpzR_cj_-SxobFsyQnsfkJMKPHAqtTWy1Pqoc1tE9DZrZGSNDQcGHJ8LY2VvAptJIEe-xHT9XdwGZ8LxorkcABtYo_Hc5k1Wz6-W3elbX-fjp8v84_0-CJzB/s1600/Drive+-+Pics+on+Comp.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZsNh06ZKhfJfdpzR_cj_-SxobFsyQnsfkJMKPHAqtTWy1Pqoc1tE9DZrZGSNDQcGHJ8LY2VvAptJIEe-xHT9XdwGZ8LxorkcABtYo_Hc5k1Wz6-W3elbX-fjp8v84_0-CJzB/s1600/Drive+-+Pics+on+Comp.bmp" height="400" width="360" /></a></div>
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<br />Then it asks me if I want to link Google Photos to my Drive so I say "Sure". Then it copies them to my Drive folder and they sync to my computer! - I'm getting excited.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpQXjW_vGoyzGc-4yWOs7yJrGKE04eGWh4nwePvLV-mq9YkdfqrQY6OisRhWXKd8PA2OExcPw0RPRI6w83vM5A6Lp8JUtRD48-3Ti-9ZD7TcMXQOYuPHK2ej2u8gVpy8AutWe/s1600/Drive+-+Pics+on+Web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpQXjW_vGoyzGc-4yWOs7yJrGKE04eGWh4nwePvLV-mq9YkdfqrQY6OisRhWXKd8PA2OExcPw0RPRI6w83vM5A6Lp8JUtRD48-3Ti-9ZD7TcMXQOYuPHK2ej2u8gVpy8AutWe/s1600/Drive+-+Pics+on+Web.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />I edit one of the photos on my hard drive and save it. Then check Drive online and the saved photo was eventually synced. Okay....<div>
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Now I check Google+ for the same photos. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO68ieHkBG_xJ-WpQfXeUiVcrM61Q2epd6yrKA-p80F_EEzb3X6vmkvGUgNoXOMKynJE9-NObNkJO7eGW-NxEH0XXvcfVC3WtKHhog34wCUDN_9O7h-79Rx8GHynQ7VSi4hP0i/s1600/GPlus+-+Pics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO68ieHkBG_xJ-WpQfXeUiVcrM61Q2epd6yrKA-p80F_EEzb3X6vmkvGUgNoXOMKynJE9-NObNkJO7eGW-NxEH0XXvcfVC3WtKHhog34wCUDN_9O7h-79Rx8GHynQ7VSi4hP0i/s1600/GPlus+-+Pics.jpg" height="303" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nope the edit was not made. So that confirms that the file is different and when pictures get added to Drive from Google+ and added to Google+ from Drive (another feature they added last year) it is really just <u>making a copy</u> of the same picture.<br /><br />So yeah it is half-baked at this point, maybe 3/4 baked but not done.</div>
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If they did sync the same photo everywhere then you could have your <b>edited</b> albums synced to G+ and show up on the Chromecast and be backed up on Drive.<br />
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Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-51126685383306910192015-03-30T14:20:00.003-04:002015-04-01T12:53:58.049-04:00Google Drive vs. Dropbox - Episode 237Over the past year of using both Dropbox and Google Drive to send files and folders to clients and consultants we work with I've encountered some strange things.<br />
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Usually it's someone who can't comprehend the fact that the file isn't in the email and subsequently has problems with clicking on the link and not understanding that they have to download the file.<br />
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I think both Drive and Dropbox ask people to sign in when they click a shared link which is annoying and unnecessary. But where Dropbox has the edge is when you go to download you can either save the files to your personal dropbox or download the files as a zip file.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL2UXPT2OL4GI90AfkDRAIzPo-gXDr1SY2GE4Pxi_HQxLoHMhV78GujHyv3RdNzglMVbi_9S7Nybeooe9NpOomV34lqNWD9q36gHE8vu1OPelfcVchQQiYvrmSdlHVQ_pxNUWn/s1600/Dropbox+-+Test+Folder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL2UXPT2OL4GI90AfkDRAIzPo-gXDr1SY2GE4Pxi_HQxLoHMhV78GujHyv3RdNzglMVbi_9S7Nybeooe9NpOomV34lqNWD9q36gHE8vu1OPelfcVchQQiYvrmSdlHVQ_pxNUWn/s1600/Dropbox+-+Test+Folder.jpg" height="640" width="609" /></a></div>
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They give you the choice! Imagine that!<br />
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But Google Drive just says "Open in Drive" which completely confuses people who don't use or have never heard of Drive. There should be another blue button beside it that says "Download".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTgdEsxpmV0ZZtSgw7jszvnrjeO5qAu110zWUmj4-SjY7mLXn42EvueTV6KC5igCgs2T8HrllVQa4yi4ChlZ6Z_3gkXaj4OTyJGsTU6WJWAlNF3ma1C7Hi8Qg22IhRb_6T3t7v/s1600/Drive+-+Most+Current+Drawings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTgdEsxpmV0ZZtSgw7jszvnrjeO5qAu110zWUmj4-SjY7mLXn42EvueTV6KC5igCgs2T8HrllVQa4yi4ChlZ6Z_3gkXaj4OTyJGsTU6WJWAlNF3ma1C7Hi8Qg22IhRb_6T3t7v/s1600/Drive+-+Most+Current+Drawings.jpg" height="640" width="564" /></a></div>
So the only way to download multiple files is to go into each file and click the download button. This can take forever if there are several files.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVpqe5eLPCdYLGOejRO2XC7D1LUxXkWx6HcuexWjqXiJcvYSX-X86W-zrWlPauVW4lsN5vToLvICVNo3Z4Aa3u0eFzDGPmoiwEhyphenhyphenBDdqokCnaC3yCEdqQ3GC4Ir1-lwFQbdx_/s1600/Drive+-+Canopy+Renders+-+Google+Chrome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVpqe5eLPCdYLGOejRO2XC7D1LUxXkWx6HcuexWjqXiJcvYSX-X86W-zrWlPauVW4lsN5vToLvICVNo3Z4Aa3u0eFzDGPmoiwEhyphenhyphenBDdqokCnaC3yCEdqQ3GC4Ir1-lwFQbdx_/s1600/Drive+-+Canopy+Renders+-+Google+Chrome.jpg" height="604" width="640" /></a></div>
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They have to slowly ease people into this new world order of cloud storage rather than force them to learn how cumbersome it can be.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-40220224130528510082015-03-12T18:04:00.003-04:002015-03-12T18:18:51.774-04:00Sperry Software: Attachment SaveMy office uses email a lot and we push it to it's limits. Much to my chagrin my coworkers and other offices continue to insist on sending emails of drawings, products, photos etc. all of which are large attachments.<br />
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In the early years this would have been less of an issue if we used Google Apps as the file size limits and the inbox limits are much larger. However because of legacy and systems (too long to get into) we are still using Microsoft and Outlook. Recently we switched to Office 365 which was an experience in itself (<a href="http://reubenspot.blogspot.ca/2014/12/office-365-warning.html">read about that here</a>) and I thought these issues would basically go away. They say that your inbox can be 50GB so I figured this would be huge. No longer would we have to worry about large attachments, at least not for several years, when I assume that limit will go up.<br />
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BUT I was in for a surprise when Microsoft Tech Support told me that Outlook doesn't like to sync more than 3-4 GB onto your computer from the cloud. So it was back to our old way of doing things.<br />
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We have used Sperry Software's <a href="http://www.sperrysoftware.com/Outlook/attachment-save.asp">Attachment Save</a> Outlook add-in for years and it has always worked with the various versions of Outlook that we installed. So I installed it on Outlook 2013 and it seemed to work perfectly. But I discovered a bug where you can lose all the text from an email.<br />
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Steps to recreate issue:<br />
1. Click ‘reply’ to an email in our inbox (or presumably anywhere in outlook)<br />
2. then start typing up a reply.<br />
3. Close the reply but save the draft<br />
4. Delete/Discard the draft<br />
5. Go back to original email in inbox and the body and subject text has disappeared. Any attachment will still be there.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Windows Version: Microsoft Windows 8.1 <br />Outlook Version: 15.0.0.4675 <br />Engine Version: 5.1.5250.14242 (32-bit) <br />Language: English</span><br />
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<i>TL;DR</i><br />
<i>The Sperry add-in is causing a bug that deletes all the text from an email if you view the draft it deletes all the text from the email.</i><br />
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This is a major problem for us as emails are legal records of decisions made and we are required by law to keep them on file for 7 years.<br />
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I have since started a bug report with Sperry and they say they are looking into it which is nice but it's been a couple months and I haven't seen any progress. </div>
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I could try another add-in as there are several that do the same thing (<a href="http://www.slipstick.com/addins/auto-process/attachment-management-tools-for-outlook/">here is a list</a>). But that would mean training everyone and buying another product. They say they are working on a fix but we are getting desperate. Losing emails is bad for business.</div>
Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-55326458807381784862015-03-04T18:00:00.000-05:002015-03-04T18:00:01.344-05:00WARNING: Canadians Renting Cars with Expedia & HertzRecently we went to Grand Cayman and had a great time. However the rental car experience was not so great.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvizJQCe8iiy-pXPGvZHT1vXc0n1uqER-vHcbGsWmoZdSE3WJxpMqGwlACvczAhyYSdfporwyoRkfHDapcg9s-38ZYobX8_eHDkWt9KoNFSk6Ybty_DHJvdjnbWAoRs4H0ODgN/s1600/P1200216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvizJQCe8iiy-pXPGvZHT1vXc0n1uqER-vHcbGsWmoZdSE3WJxpMqGwlACvczAhyYSdfporwyoRkfHDapcg9s-38ZYobX8_eHDkWt9KoNFSk6Ybty_DHJvdjnbWAoRs4H0ODgN/s1600/P1200216.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
The car we rented was clearly the cheapest car on the island but that wasn't the issue. The issue was we reserved the car on Expedia.ca which gave us the final cost in CAD. So that was what we expected to pay.<br />
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One unexpected surprise is that Hertz (and probably most companies on the island) make you pay a $20 USD licence to be allowed to drive. They say it is a government fee but it was not on any documention that Expedia sent us.<br />
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But the bigger surprise came when upon returning the car to Hertz they charged us in USD instead of CAD. So because of the exchange rate on our credit card and the extra licence the cost of the rental car went from $270 CAD to $340 CAD.<br />
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So I called Expedia and after sitting on hold and talking to a rep for almost 2 hours they told me that they could not refund me. It would have to be Hertz since they are the ones who charged me. So he said they would talk to Hertz for me and gave me an expedia email address to send my documentation to.<br />
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So I crafted an email and included the Expedia quote and the Hertz bill. The next week I get an email saying that this email does not support Canadians and Expedia.ca and they gave me a 1-800 number to call which matched the original number that I called.<br />
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Apparently I am stuck in a vortex of corporate game of "screw the customer"<br />
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Needless to say I will never reserve a car on Expedia again. I think it is unethical that they can give you a quote and then completely change it when you show up to pay.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-61500395878124896152014-12-11T22:00:00.000-05:002014-12-11T22:00:01.023-05:00Office 365: A WarningI recently went through this month long saga of switching our office email system from Bell Microsoft Hosted Exchange to Office 365 Exchange Online. This was because Bell was shutting down their system and pushing everyone to Microsoft which you could conveniently buy through them. I couldn't handle that thought so we went to Microsoft directly. This is a warning.<br />
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Switching the DNS settings turned out to be relatively easy despite it being the part I was most worried about. Since we use GoDaddy we could use a special app that does the switch for you. There was a bit of a hiccup when it seemed it wasn't switching but it soon became clear that it takes several hours for the change to fully come into effect.<br />
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That resolved I started to install Office 365 and the latest version of Outlook on the office computers. I took the exported pst file (all 5.5 GB of it) and imported it into the new Outlook. Then I waited for it to upload and sync to Office Online.<br />
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I may have been a bit naive about this working but I figured if it worked on Bell's old system then surely it would work on the new and improved and much touted Office 365. After all they are giving me 50GB of space and Bell was only offering 5GB.<br />
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Needless to say I realized very quickly that not everything was syncing and even more worrying emails were not going out and being received consistently. Fairly quickly I switched everyone to use outlook online which seemed to be sending and receiving just fine.<br />
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NOTE: The only account that seemed to have issue was the account that is shared among everyone in the office and where all the email gets stored while projects are ongoing. The individual accounts (with less data) were working fine.<br />
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So I called up Microsoft and was helped by a some nice people, notably Shane who elevated me to Margo. They ran me through several tests and we had a lot of back and forth trying different things over the course of a month.<br />
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Finally in one of my Google searches of frustration I came upon <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/exchange-online-limits.aspx#MailboxFolderLimits">this site</a>. Even though I had asked Microsoft about limits such as this being a problem they had dodged my questions. Now I sent them this link and asked them again: "Is the limit on number of folders really 900?" After a few days they finally confirmed that yes this could be the issue. <br />
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Now because of our filing system we had probably 10000 folders so I had some work to do. We redid our filing system and archived many older projects and brought it down to 500 folders. Now the system seems to be working and everyone is somewhat happy.<br />
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Apparently the flat, white UI of the new Outlook is annoying to some people....Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-88955812295027870292014-12-09T10:11:00.001-05:002014-12-09T10:11:48.327-05:00AutoCAD and Network: Why so slow?This is some of my musings on the IT systems in my office. I will you take down the rabbit hole of why our office network is slow. (Spoiler: I have no idea). These are basically notes to myself to record what I decided at a certain point in time and figure out if any improvement happened. That said, if anyone stumbles on this site and has some insights it would be greatly appreciated.<br />
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Over the years in our office we have adopted the incredibly useful AutoCAD tool called Sheet Set Manager. However as you add references to your drawings and link everything up (I've learned to do this towards the end of the project) it really slows down AutoCAD.<br />
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Over the years I've searched online for solutions to this but only recently did I stumble on <a href="http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Improving-performance-of-Sheet-Set-Manager-s.html">this page</a>. Yes, it turns out that Autodesk is acknowledging that it is slow and they blame it on slow network speeds.<br />
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I have followed their advice and now disabled the auto refresh (which will be annoying, no doubt) using the <a href="http://exchange.autodesk.com/autocadlt/enu/online-help/ACDLT/2012/ENU/pages/WS1a9193826455f5ffa23ce210c4a30acaf-4e73.htm">SSMSHEETSTATUS</a> system variable set to '0' and I will report back with any speed increases I find.<br />
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BUT the second issue I'd love to address is our <b>network speed</b>. We use a standard peer to peer network with Cat5E cables. The computers are all set up for gigabit speeds but I doubt we actually get it. I am unsure as to what the bottleneck in our network actually is. I used to think that it was the hard drives with all our data (and this post seems to confirm that) but I have my doubts now.<br />
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I'd love to know of a good way to test network speeds if anyone stumbles on this site and knows an easy way to do that..... I found <a href="http://www.totusoft.com/lanspeed1.html">this software</a> but do I trust it?<br />
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I'm also wondering if switching to a Synology drive system would speed it up.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-4551264303314486942014-09-16T14:44:00.000-04:002014-09-16T14:44:05.070-04:00The Ultimate Cross Canada Motorcycle TripMy friend Mike recently completed an incredible month-long trip from Ottawa to Vancouver on mostly TCAT trails. You can read about it <a href="http://westboundndown.blogspot.ca/">here</a>. I highly recommend it.<br />
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I put together a google map of his trip and intended to embed it here or on his blog. It turns out you can't embed Maps Engine maps which is crazy so I just did a screen shot.<br />
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If you want to see the actual map you can check it out <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zQksgeXL84b0.k2L--mfQzDzY">here</a>.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-38647258277924986942012-07-31T13:30:00.000-04:002012-07-31T13:50:17.310-04:00Aaaaannnd I'm Back....maybeI just <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/30/3205202/blogger-google-plus-tab-sharing">noticed today</a> that Blogger now has Google+ integration. I am actually surprised it took this long.<br />
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This post is basically just to test that and see how it all works. I'd actually like it to be possible to post to my blog from G+ since the interface is so much nicer and it would be easier to share stuff. I used to post to facebook from this blog but good ol' facebook killed that to force bloggers to use their own in-house blogging/notes feature. I think that was the beginning of my real dislike of facebook. I want integration!<br />
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I still read blogs occasionally (primarily through Google Reader for Android on my phone and now nexus7) but the number of regularly updated blogs is diminishing. I switched to Twitter for a while which is great for following interesting people and getting news fast. But although hashtags are cool tweets of links are boring to look at so when Google+ came out I jumped on that even though there wasn't much on it. Now there are some huge communities being built and I have met some very interesting people. The stream is beautiful (especially on my new nexus7) and it is so much easier to use than facebook.<br />
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I still have a facebook account because some people only use that for contacting them. I guess it has it's place. I heard a neat quote 'Facebook is for people you like and Google+ is for people like you' and I guess that is why I will need both for a while I'm sure. And now that Flipboard for Android is out, I can now read twitter (and google reader) from a much nicer interface.<br />
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So where does that leave this blog? I don't know yet but if it gets more integrated with G+ you might see more action here.<br />
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More action like this:<br />
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Yes this is an actual product that exists. Why?</div>Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0Ottawa, ON, Canada45.4215296 -75.697193145.0649016 -76.328907100000009 45.7781576 -75.0654791tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-32582876056230670612012-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:002012-01-25T09:09:59.219-05:00Why is ACTA Bad?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.<br /><br />Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and <b>will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”</b><br /><br /><br /><b>Even if your country is not listed above you should care because this will spread worldwide after it passes and even if your country doesn't sign it will indirectly affect you.</b><br /><br />1) ACTA isn't the European SOPA. Its nearly Global, and will apply to every country that signs the treaty.<br /><br />2) ACTA is far more aggressive. ACTA will not simply affect websites and have them blocked out of the internet - it's measures go as far as to surveillance of anything you share through private channels.<br /><br />3) ACTA doesn't have a campaign against it that is as widespread and organized as SOPA. This is DANGEROUS, as there is less time between now and the final signing of ACTA.<br /><br />4) ACTA has effects on healthcare, trade and even tourism.<br /><br /><b>The biggest problem right now is that your ISP's (Internet Service Providers) can report you for anything that "could" be copyright infringement and they will monitor you constantly.</b><br /><br />- ISPS will now watch what you download, and tattle on you if you download a music track/ any data / rapidshares / torrents etc.<br />- ISPS will tattle on you, when you do anything which goes against "Governments policy".<br />- ISPS will be able to document and store EVERYTHING you do online. nothing will ever be private again<br /><br />What this all means for you is <b>no privacy</b> whatsoever<br /><br /><b>Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA</b>.</span><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N8Xg_C2YmG0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-25530051424467402142011-10-26T18:03:00.000-04:002011-10-26T18:03:00.453-04:00New GoPro Hero2 AdvertisingIf you want to see the new GoPro camera get some serious action.....<br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GUEZCxBcM78?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-61605591911500845452011-10-26T08:07:00.000-04:002011-10-26T08:07:17.338-04:00Trampoline off a WallThis looks like really good times.<br /><iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fj_zn2N4qWk?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />Also, it is the only acceptable instance for filming in portrait orientation.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-74446291795368077242011-10-24T07:56:00.000-04:002011-10-24T07:56:54.559-04:00Dare to Fight the Ninja!?One of the best Urban Improvs ever (and it is from Toronto). <br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0t71cexWzvM?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />So you accept the sword to fight the ninja.....? Better be ready for his secret weapons or make sure you are drinking coffee.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-6038308124008553412011-10-13T07:57:00.001-04:002011-10-13T07:58:37.150-04:00Guy jumps over a LamborghiniI don't know who is dumber: the guy driving (who could end up with blood and dents all over his sweet car) or the guy jumping (who could obviously get pretty hurt if he is taken out at the ankles).<br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KlZwNmAVXiE?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />You decide.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-40581628211986500942011-10-11T06:50:00.000-04:002011-10-11T09:49:36.984-04:00Mountain Biker vs Buck<iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S2oymHHyV1M?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Mountain Biker, Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa got taken out by a RED HARTEBEES at amountain bike race at Albert Falls Dam. Check out this crazy footage which was taken by team mate Travis Walker."</span>Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-78183884576406952682011-10-03T07:50:00.000-04:002011-10-03T07:50:04.116-04:00Space Saving FurnitureWell designed quality products that are really useful. So what do they cost?<br /><iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dAa6bOWB8qY?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />I want to move into a one bedroom apartment right now just so I have a reason to buy this stuff.<div><br />(Thanks CvP)</div>Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-48115783349864834272011-09-26T07:00:00.001-04:002011-09-26T12:31:47.805-04:00If this guy missed.....A few weeks ago this video was making the rounds (please excuse the annoying music):<br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TWfph3iNC-k?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />I never posted it because it seemed like everyone had already seen it. Anyway, if you think that one is nuts (which it is) at least he has a chance to turn away if he isn't going to make it. In the next video he doesn't have that luxury. Please excuse the annoying announcers.<br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t6KmxvEnkuU?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-36148682193471413542011-09-15T19:54:00.000-04:002011-09-15T19:54:00.616-04:00FloatingCheck out this awesome free falling video. The slo-mo shots near the sides of the mountain are spectacular.<br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/29017795" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><br />I love that those GoPro cameras have become so cheap that videos like this are starting to pop up everywhere but the editing on this one is pretty epic.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-86506724544646481342011-09-15T07:48:00.001-04:002011-09-15T07:50:50.935-04:00Where's Waldo? Movie TrailerThis has got to be the best Where's Waldo faux movie trailer yet.<br /><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/arP1YKAyR_g?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />I love the ending.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-19834155410699306412011-09-14T22:47:00.000-04:002011-09-15T07:50:03.609-04:00The Loudness WarThis is interesting. <br /><iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3Gmex_4hreQ?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br />It might explain some of the appeal of regular pop music over remixed classic old school music. Also, I am sure that most professionally recorded but independently released music is probably done the right way.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-87945740697773175882011-09-12T05:00:00.000-04:002011-09-12T09:42:17.531-04:00This Tablecloth Magic Trick Goes RightI feel like this might be staged but it's still really funny.<br /><iframe width="480" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AEPvSo8bE2I?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />Way to go kids.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-46118411643196847312011-09-09T19:26:00.001-04:002011-09-09T19:26:00.540-04:00Serious Surfing: TEAHUPOO TahitiThese guys are not messing around. Apparently these waves are 40-50 ft high. I don't want to know what that feels like when it crashes down on you. This location is quite dangerous because of the shallow reef too. It seems pretty stupid to me but it does look cool.<br /><iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3XOTCA8UpeU?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe><br />Also if you think these waves are big, apparently there are guys like Laird Hamilton who surf waves closer to 90 feet.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21168320.post-73874591019854440172011-08-30T18:57:00.001-04:002011-08-30T18:57:00.316-04:00The Accidental Sea: An ApocalypseHere is a video of a failed city in a barren wasteland. I love this stuff....I always feel like that is how all of north america will look in 100 years if we continue on with our obsession with suburbia and walmarts.
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<br />"There but for the grace of God go the rest of us"
<br />
<br />In any case, the future is going to require more people to join the "maker" culture and join communes. This guy knows what I'm talking about:
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<br />I'd better practice my welding skills.Reubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12736720393642911703noreply@blogger.com0