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Ok, that is a geeky title. Let me assure you that this is more of a therapeutic post for me than anything else. I need to blow off some steam or I might walk up to a department, start yelling and throwing my blackberry at them (yes, throwing as in throw at person, pick it up again and throw at another person – I’m just that annoyed).

So, I have a work blackberry. I’ve had it for a few months now and it’s been good (not great since I have to carry two phones but it’s a manageable solution). I used the blackberry for three things: (1) Work email and work calendar, (2) BlackBerry Messenger to communicate with co-workers (and friends) as well as (3) some random games. During my onerous morning commute or in between meetings and buildings I usually use it for any one of those purposes. The good thing for the company is that when I do (2) and (3) I usually end up also checking my email and taking care of some work business while I’m at it. It allows me to work and generally these days because of the blackberry I’ve been working a little bit more outside of my core work hours (bad for me but generally a good thing for the corporation) and to be honest, I don’t mind it at all.

Enterprise blackberries are usually configured through some enterprise install process so that they can control the updates and keep a somewhat corporate image. It’s really a first step in making all of us have the same bowl haircut, wear the same clothes and speak at the same time in the same monotone language.

The latest corporate update to the blackberry removed two things. They removed the blackberry messenger and they also removed the games! It’s a trust issue and it impacts on the users in a very negative way.

What I would’ve done? Well, if the expectation corporately was to not allow blackberry messenger; I would not have installed it from the very first image. Don’t even show the users that it’s available. In this particular case, it would be better if they just limited the use of the bbm application to just corporate contacts instead of turning it off immediately. Better yet, find a way to tie it in with Office Communicator (the corporate instant messenger) so that it’s all integrated. Make the features better, put the correct limits instead of just taking it away.

Taking features away tells the user that you don’t trust them and that you’re punishing the population for something that a few people might have abused.  Gah!

On Friday Feb 12, 2010, our little yellow house got demolished. Just around the time the olympic torch was running through the neighborhood a large crane came and took our house apart piece by piece. Why? Well, we’re rebuilding our home larger spaces with a better layout (and hopefully better material).

I didn’t think that I’d be that emotionally affected by it but when I saw the video tearing into the house piece by piece it became a little hard to watch. I did get a bit teary eyed. There were a lot of memories in that place: drinking and Guitar Hero with Ced and Lindsay, workouts with Jaime, Vancouver poker tour, living with Cheryl and a whole lot more.

I had always known that the little yellow house was a temporary fixture in my life. I bought the house because I loved the view (it overlooked Vancouver because it was on top of a hill), it was close to my workplace (and downtown Vancouver) and I was itching to get out on my own (again). So when I got married looking at larger accommodations seemed like the next logical thing to do. We looked at buying a new place but larger scale homes are expensive in this day and age. Building a house was slightly cheaper but required more effort on our parts so the choice was obvious. We’re familiar with hard work.

So as a result we’ve recently moved back to mom and dad’s in Richmond causing my driving rage to increase exponentially (so I’ve started utilizing public transit to get myself to and from work). We try to stop by to take as many pictures and video as we can but here are a few that you might find fun.

Ok, I know when I’ve been pwned and this show has owned me in a big way. I haven’t stopped watching it since I discovered it a few months ago. I think shaw has warned me that I’m close to exceeding my download quota for the month.

I’ve been watching an insane amount of episodes of this show. I started with Season 7 (yes, I’d like to start at the end) and now I’m (slowly) making my way throughout the first through sixth seasons. I haven’t been this obsessed with a show like this since the first three seasons of 24 where I didn’t go to sleep moving through the episodes. I’m really giving the TV set up a run for it’s money.

The show is intelligent. It doesn’t assume that subjects need to be dumbed down to be explained and just keeps the topics and plot lines as complex as they are. How accurate it is? I wouldn’t know, it isn’t like I’ve been to the white house first hand to make an accurate comparison. It just makes for entertaining TV. I like the characters, their complex quirks and flawed personalities. I enjoy the subtle humor that happens when dialog is exchanged as well.

Best quote from the episode that I’m watching while I’m writing this post:

“Nature is to be protected from. Nature like a woman will seduce you with its sights, with its sense, with its touch.. and then it will break your ankle. Also like a woman.”

Oliver Babish White House Council (Oliver Platt)

PS. Don’t blame this show because of the lack of updates on the blog. I’ve just been a horrible blog master.