I want the ORIGINAL Coca-Cola, you know, the one made with coca leaves and cola beans? I hear it's illegal now for some odd reason, but everything old seems to become new again so we might stand a fair chance of seeing it... oh wait... ZOMG DRUGZ!!!!1!!1!!
Have you ever gone outside when it's -40 (C or F, it's the same)? The air is so cold that it hurts to breathe, but I love it. There is nothing like it. The humidity from your breath sticks to your eyelashes and they freeze together and you have to pick the ice off so you can open your eyes. It's amazing human beings even live here.
MTS is not bad, but you have to live in Manitoba. We live in a small town about 30km from Winnipeg and we get 8/1 DSL. In the city it's a bit better upload, but it sure beats dial-up or satellite, because there's really nothing else out here (aside from a couple fixed wireless providers). Luckily they don't seem to give a shit what you download or how much. This month I've burned through 56gb downloading about 30-40 torrents. They seem to be acting like a "dumb pipe" which is great for me. No caps, no throttling that I've noticed. Unlike Shaw (their only direct competitor), they don't seem to cap or throttle.
However, MTS does have a telephone line monopoly in Manitoba. Not long ago it was a Crown Corporation, but it was privatized in 1996 I think. They could be jerks if they wanted to I guess, but I suspect a good chunk of their customers might jump ship to Shaw for phone, internet and TV. Shaw is too much of a competitor in every area except cellular for them to really start floundering around and doing stupid shit.
Also, as far as I know, MTS doesn't allow anyone else to offer DSL (à la local loop unbundling) so there is no Teksavvy & co. here just yet, but I suspect that may happen at some point.
I would imagine that many judges are inclined to hear out both side's arguments fully, in order to give the case a fair shake. This probably involves listening to a lot of stupid blathering over the course of a career as a judge. If you just dismiss everything outright, I would think that would make the case more likely to be appealed.
I'd be inclined to agree with that. On the TV shows like Judge Judy and the like, the judge actually listens to what both parties have to say, every time, no matter how ridiculous the stories or how batshit insane the people are... they kind of have to don't they? The legal system wouldn't make sense otherwise. You might as well just toss a coin if that were the case.
Many people in the Slashdot universe also seem to forget or ignore the fact that they're biased as hell against the MAFIAA (even calling it that shows incredible bias... I'm not trying to hide mine) and when they see them attacking Mr. Ray "Knight in Shining Armour" Beckermann, OF COURSE it's wrong and they should be thrown out of court! How DARE they?!?
For what it's worth, I too think the MAFIAA is being rather hypocritical and litigious, and I heavily dislike their tactic of apparently suing the incredibly vulnerable (poor, old, etc) due to the increased likelihood of winning or settling. Their other tactics are also disgusting, but no need to repeat them for the umpteenth time. Hopefully the tables will turn at some point and they will lose a huge, high profile case WITH prejudice and become the laughing stock of the world for decades to come. That day can't come quickly enough. However, it's not for us to decide the frivolousness of their claims. That's the judge's job, and to do so he/she has to hear both sides, as ridiculous as they may both be.
AFAIK, in Germany the cops can ask for your papers at any time. I think Germans are required to have their National ID Card on them at all times. I've met some hold outs who refuse to get one and would rather spend time in jail. A British friend of mine was just walking down the street one day in Germany and some man popped out of a shop doorway and was like "Hey, hey, you there, hey, hey, stop!" and my friend just kept walking thinking the guy was trying to sell him something or whatever, but the man persisted and he finally turned around and was like "F off man I'm not interested!" and the guy was like "Show me your papers. I'm a cop," and flashed his badge. My friend was like "Uhh, I'm just an exchange student, I left my passport in my flat." I think he said he ended up showing him his bank card from the UK or possibly his National Insurance Number card and eventually the guy let him off with a strict warning to always carry ID.
Once here in Canada my friend was pulled over for a burnt out headlight and the cop asked us both for ID and whether or not either of us had any outstanding warrants for our arrest. I replied "I hope not!" I know legally as a passenger in a vehicle that I don't have to give them anything but my name and date of birth, but we didn't want to spend half an hour at the side of the road arguing with the power-tripping asshole. Thankfully that particular police force has been dissolved and replaced by the RCMP for intentionally screwing up an investigation of an off drunk duty cop plowing into a car and killing the driver.
Oh and the whole no-passports-required thing in the EU is called the Schengen Area. For the most part, every other full member country agrees to accept your entry if the first country you enter accepts you. AFAIK the UK is not part of the Schengen Agreement because they want to control and implement their own border policy independent of the EU's directives.
I know your post was tongue in cheek, but it's not like they took a real bunch of zombies, put them in a laboratory setting and shot at them or hit them with bats to find out the most effective ways to kill them. Lobbing off the head might not actually kill a real zombie. Does it need a brain? Does its heart beat? Does it matter if it loses blood? No one knows because there's no such thing as a zombie.
Well, if this battle royale is taking place in California, aren't non-compete clauses invalid there? There are exceptions, but I doubt the managers and sales staff are partners in the firm or anything extremely high-level like that.
Copying a piece of code or a program is trivially easy, and your ability to create code has nothing to do with your ability to use the copied item.
Following a recipe to make food depends entirely on your ability to cook.
With the code, you already have the finished product (or very close to it, might need compiling, etc), whereas with the recipe, you simply have a list of instructions on how to get to the finished product, which may or may not turn out depending on your culinary abilities and/or experience.
Ah that makes sense. We did have a monitored alarm already in place when we moved into the house, but we were unwilling to pay for the monitoring service. It should have been enabled already but I guess it wasn't. Thanks for the info!
I know what you mean. When Canada implemented the National DNC list, millions of people signed up for it and then the list was made available for sale to Canadian companies subject to the new law. A ton of fly-by-night operations set up shop, bought the damn list and then fled the country. They got their hands on a list of guaranteed good, working numbers. The only real problem is that each and every person on the other end of the line is most likely going to be pissed off to receive calls from them. I guess they don't care, because with the extremely low cost of making calls using VoIP, if they get one bite from say 1,000 or 10,000 calls, they make money.
The only problem with "just hanging up on them" is when the robocaller ties up your line for the duration of its message, whether you've hung up or not.
I got one from the NDP during the last Canadian election. I picked up the phone and it said "Hi, this is Jack Layton and I need your support..." blah blah blah, so I hung up on it right away. I picked up the phone about a minute later to make a call and it was still going on and on. I tried dialling random numbers on the phone to make it shut up and it wouldn't work. I hung up and tried about a minute later and I got a dial tone.
I recorded all the details about the call that I could and wrote the phone company and told them that this call from the NDP tied up my line and I'd like to file a complaint about it because I might have needed to dial 911 or something during that time and would have been unable to do so, never mind being unable to use the phone at all, which we pay for, not the NDP. Someone from the phone company got back to me fairly quickly asking me for a bit more information and then a technician called me and said that he had just made some changes to our line to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future. We haven't had a robocaller for a while now as far as I know. I don't know what he did exactly, but I'd like to know. Maybe someone familiar with the phone system could shed some light on it.
I also added the IC SIT (disconnected/non-existant number tone) to the beginning of our answering machine message in the hopes that it would reduce the number of robocallers and telemarketers that phone during the day. I know quite a few of them are unfortunately ignoring it because too many people caught on to the trick.
Just to add to this, if you've ever crossed into the US (land/sea/air, doesn't matter), you may have been asked if you've ever been arrested, charged, or been in court, etc. That information is right there on their computer screen as they ask you. They usually just want you to verify it.. "Why yes officer, I have in fact been to court, but the case was dismissed and no charges were laid."
Also, if you've ever applied for a foreign visa (I have), that country's intelligence service will probably ask your home country's intelligence service for any information on you to see if they actually want you there in the first place. It's just part of the application process. That's one of the main roles of CSIS actually, to provide that information, and also to receive it from foreign countries whose nationals are applying for visas and other stuff in Canada.
I wouldn't necessarily agree that our (Canadian) health care is any better than care provided in the US. Sure, if you don't have enough money, it's better than nothing, but if you can afford it or have insurance, the American system (when it doesn't randomly dismiss your claims) is often better in a lot of respects.
For instance, my parents took a 2 day trip down to the US last weekend for some shopping and my dad woke up at 2:30am the first night almost unable to breathe due to pulmonary embolisms. My mom, a nurse, took him into the nearest hospital and he was being treated within 10 minutes of showing up at the door. I'm not sure it would have been any different to here up to this point. Within an hour, he had a CT scan, ultrasound on his legs to determine the source of the clots (turned out to be his right ventricle) and an echo cardiogram done. My mom, who knows the wait times here very well, said an echo would have been about a 6 month wait, a CT scan at least 6 hours, probably closer to 10. He was put in a private room, basically a penthouse suite. When he was describing it to me he kept calling it a hotel by accident. It's a LOT different when you're a paying customer. Luckily they both had Blue Cross travel health through work, and between both plans and the provincial govt's portion (they pay the American hospital what they would have paid had he been in the hospital here), they should be covered 100%. We haven't heard anything yet so hopefully that's the case.
His only complaint was this social worker or something kept trying to get him to admit he was an alcoholic by asking pointed questions. First she asked if he drinks at all and if so how much. He said 1 or 2 a day usually. Then she says "Due to your excessive heavy drinking, blah blah..." and he says "Whoa, lady, who said anything about excessive heavy drinking?" and she wouldn't give up on that and they fought about it the whole time he was in there. Come to think of it, that's probably how they get claims denied in the US.. get the social worker to classify everyone as an alcoholic.
Overall, we're looking at this as a blessing in disguise. He might still be in the hospital waiting for a test or treatment if this happened here.
If you're considering Canada, a better option is Manitoba. We are among the least recession-affected provinces, if not the least affected. Many companies are growing, not closing. I'll start with the nice things.
For work, it all depends what you do, but you should be able to find it in Winnipeg. There's agribusiness, genetics, a level 4 biohazard lab, oil & gas (#1 in Canada, #21 in the world for investment at the moment), tech, TV, film production, manufacturing, engineering, construction, long haul trucking, communications, higher education, government... the list goes on.
The cost of living is remarkably cheap compared to the other provincial capitals. House prices are on the rise though, so if you are serious, get in sooner rather than later. That said, I think the average selling price right now for a single family detached home is about $209,000 (roughly £100,000). Our housing market is very stable and doesn't suffer the insane booms and busts like Calgary does. Population density is much lower, and homes generally have large front and back yards in comparison with what you usually get in the UK (if you get one at all). Also our electricity rates are among the lowest in North America and it's all hydroelectric, with some wind, and comes to about $0.06/kWh.
Manitoba has very beautiful wilderness and nature, literally within minutes of Winnipeg. Outdoor summer activities like fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, swimming, windsurfing, laying on the beach, and more are all possible. In the winter there are a couple halfway decent downhill ski slopes (it's the Prairies not the Rockies, give us a break!) and countless cross country ski trails, outdoor hockey/skating rinks and frozen rivers to ice skate on, tobogganing, and much more. Manitoba is more than 2.5 times larger than the UK so there's all kinds of room to play. We've also got some really great festivals: Folklorama, Festival du Voyageur, the Fringe Festival and the Folk Festival are some good examples. The MTS Centre (sports arena) is one of the busiest venues on the continent and hosts nearly all the bands and shows that tour North America.
Now for the criticisms (my gf is British and she loves it here but YMMV). We used to be the auto theft and murder capital of Canada, but not anymore thankfully! It gets COLD here in the winter, and DREADFULLY so. We're on the open prairie so the winds can whip up and drop the temperature like a stone. -40C is not unheard of, and we almost always get -40 windchills at least once during the winter. It's not always that cold though. It can snow a lot as well, but varies year to year. We do have excellent snow clearing though. In fact our Mayor was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 during the snow storm fiasco you guys had. The interviewer was asking what was necessary to have a good snow clearing operation, and he was saying none of it was really feasible for London anyways. In the summer it can get really hot here, 30C or higher is not uncommon, but 20-25C is usually where it's at. Winnipeg is one of the sunniest locations in Canada too. However, with all the nice warm weather comes MOSQUITOES, so many the city often has to larvicide and fog against them. If you're prepared (i.e. long sleeves, light coloured clothing, bug spray) you're generally fine. In terms of natural disasters, we get floods (1950, 1997, 2009), tornadoes, thunderstorms, hailstorms and blizzards. No hurricanes or earthquakes so far.
Traffic is considered a problem by most people who live here. Keeping in mind that Winnipeg is unique among North American cities its size because it doesn't have a freeway system, the most common criticisms are the timing of the traffic lights and construc
Tell me about it... for the record I thought Europe was strange for measuring drinks in centilitres which is a measurement NO ONE ever uses here in Canada, but I got used to it (divide millimeters by 10, not hard).
The grocery stores sell here produce by the pound, but have to list the price/kg on the sign, usually in fine print near the bottom. Price/lbs is always a nice number like $1.99 or something, per kilo it's like $4.46. Home construction (probably commercial and industrial too) is still in imperial units (2x4's, 4x8 sheets of plywood, etc). Property frontage is in feet, home size in square feet. Temperature is in Celsius, but older Fahrenheit-thinking people like my parents always say crap like "Oh it's 90 above outside!" which, to me, means that water must be almost boiling. At least we can all agree when it's -40 out (for real!). Driving speeds are in KM/H and distances in KM and meters, but western Canada was surveyed in miles, so we have mile roads, townships, acres, etc. Vehicles are marketed in miles per imperial gallon for fuel efficiency. They do list in L/100km too but never advertise in those units. FYI, imperial gallons are 4.55L, 20% larger than the 3.78L US gallon, which just adds to the confusion since American channels (who also advertise vehicles) make up a huge chunk of our TV offerings. Power is measured in Horsepower, not kilowatts, and torque in Pound-Feet not Newton-meters. Liquids are usually sold in the metric equivalent of whatever ounces or gallons it is in the US. What should be a 1L bottle of engine oil is actually 946ml. A bottle of beer is 341ml, a can is 355ml. A jug of good juice like Tropicana is typically 3.78L (a US gallon since it's imported), but jugs of milk (product of Canada) are 4L. People are measured in feet/inches and generally weighed in pounds, sometimes in kilos though. Bars serve shots in ounces, and it's been my unfortunate experience that when asking for a pint of beer in this country to receive the lowly 16oz (473ml) American pint, not the proper 20oz (568ml) Imperial pint. Have we forgotten our heritage so quickly? Naww.. it's just bars being cheap and making you pay for that extra 4oz of beer but not giving it to you.. jerks.
I'm sure there's more absurdity, but despite what some may think, you can get used to the silly hybrid system. Most new tape measures have inches on one side and centimeters on the other, so things are changing slowly I guess.
The thing I find the most confusing is clothes sizing. Nearly every single country has a different scale or numbering system. Shoe sizes are even worse. Why they can't come up with a UNIVERSAL clothes sizing guide for every place is beyond me. Why can't they have a standard SI Size 10 Mannequin or SI Size 10 Shoe Form that stays in the vault with the kilogram weight and the meter stick in Paris there that all the world's size 10 mannequins have to be a copy of? One for every size in both genders. Who's with me? Who's bloody with me? SI prevails because I say it does. Good guys win, bad guys lose, SI prevails!
Yes, I realize that there are as many different body and foot shapes as there are people, it was more tongue in cheek than anything else, especially given the V for Vendetta reference.. still it would be nice to standardize this stuff to some extent.
I didn't mean to say that all death metal guys are bastards, just the ones that burn down churches for the fun of it.
I know some crazy metal people, some of whom look the part, some of whom don't, but they're nice normal people all around. I would love to go to Wacken one day with them, except I'd need to bring a spare liver or I don't think I would make it home hehe. I'm not a metal fan, but the party is apparently fantastic.
I'm assuming you mean "we" as in everyone except all those crazy death metal bastards who burn down churches, right? Those guys are SCARY. Fucked up shit happens everywhere... Norway is no exception.
Full disclosure: I'm Canadian, and I think we're fairly sensible most of the time too, but then you hear about the white supremacist parents drawing swastikas on their kids, the revolving-door youth "justice" system, the bus beheader, the deadbeat drunk who left his young daughters outside to freeze to death in -40 C in nothing but diapers, Karla Homolka & Paul Bernardo, Robert Pickton, the Mayerthorpe Massacre... the list goes on and on and on...
The big story where states are going to soak people for taxes is when Congress allows them to do sales tax on every single purchase.
Uhm up here in Soviet Canuckistan we have GST (Goods & Services Tax - Federal) at 5% and PST (Provincial Sales Tax) anywhere from 0% in Alberta (thank the black gold) to 10% in PEI where they even tax the GST (Quebec taxes tax too).
Here in Manitoba (PST = 7%) there are very few untaxed things. Food at the store tends to be untaxed, like milk, eggs, flour, sugar, bread etc. If it's junk food or processed stuff I think you have to pay. I'm not 100% on the rules for that and they probably vary by province anyway.
Also pretty much every European country has some form of Value Added Tax (VAT, MWST, etc) that's leveraged on every purchase, and some are scary high too. When I was living in Germany a couple years ago they raised it to 19%. In much of Scandinavia the rate is 25%! They, however, post prices with the tax already in.. something I really like and wish we did here.
You'd think it's that easy to just have your kid remember which bus they're supposed to be on...
This exact same thing happened to me very early in grade school, I think in Grade 1 or maybe even Kindergarten.
First day of school, end of the day. The school bus made 2 runs, one for one neighbourhood and one for the other. The kids going to the second neighbourhood (where I lived) just played in the school yard until the bus came back empty. I was told by the supervising teacher that I was on the first bus, so I get on and I don't see anybody who I knew lived in my neighbourhood. I told the bus driver and she looked at her list and told me that I'm in the right spot. As the last few people were getting off I was really scared and went to the bus driver who asked me why I hadn't gotten off yet, and I told her that I don't live here and I don't know where I am. She asked where I lived and told me not to worry because she's going straight back to school to pick those kids up. The next day the teacher was there with the list again, and made me get on the bus again. Same thing happened. On the third day, she practically dragged me to the bus, but I was crying and telling her that I want to go on the second bus and then I think the driver told her what's going on and she was like, oh, fine then run along and play with your friends.
Moral of the story: Maybe this guy's daughter was in the same situation as me. Maybe she knew something was wrong, but no one would listen. People have a tendency to listen to an authoritative figure. Teacher said I'm supposed to be on this bus, but I have a feeling that something's wrong because no one who gets off at my stop is actually on the bus... but teacher said, so...
Slashdot Mirror
So true! At least we have something mildly interesting to look at, like a tree once in a while, maybe a lake.
I want the ORIGINAL Coca-Cola, you know, the one made with coca leaves and cola beans? I hear it's illegal now for some odd reason, but everything old seems to become new again so we might stand a fair chance of seeing it... oh wait... ZOMG DRUGZ!!!!1!!1!!
lol not around here my friend.
Have you ever gone outside when it's -40 (C or F, it's the same)? The air is so cold that it hurts to breathe, but I love it. There is nothing like it. The humidity from your breath sticks to your eyelashes and they freeze together and you have to pick the ice off so you can open your eyes. It's amazing human beings even live here.
MTS is not bad, but you have to live in Manitoba. We live in a small town about 30km from Winnipeg and we get 8/1 DSL. In the city it's a bit better upload, but it sure beats dial-up or satellite, because there's really nothing else out here (aside from a couple fixed wireless providers). Luckily they don't seem to give a shit what you download or how much. This month I've burned through 56gb downloading about 30-40 torrents. They seem to be acting like a "dumb pipe" which is great for me. No caps, no throttling that I've noticed. Unlike Shaw (their only direct competitor), they don't seem to cap or throttle.
However, MTS does have a telephone line monopoly in Manitoba. Not long ago it was a Crown Corporation, but it was privatized in 1996 I think. They could be jerks if they wanted to I guess, but I suspect a good chunk of their customers might jump ship to Shaw for phone, internet and TV. Shaw is too much of a competitor in every area except cellular for them to really start floundering around and doing stupid shit.
Also, as far as I know, MTS doesn't allow anyone else to offer DSL (à la local loop unbundling) so there is no Teksavvy & co. here just yet, but I suspect that may happen at some point.
In Germany they usually say the www, but never the dots, so the website would be: www bild de
I always thought that was odd.
I would imagine that many judges are inclined to hear out both side's arguments fully, in order to give the case a fair shake. This probably involves listening to a lot of stupid blathering over the course of a career as a judge. If you just dismiss everything outright, I would think that would make the case more likely to be appealed.
I'd be inclined to agree with that. On the TV shows like Judge Judy and the like, the judge actually listens to what both parties have to say, every time, no matter how ridiculous the stories or how batshit insane the people are... they kind of have to don't they? The legal system wouldn't make sense otherwise. You might as well just toss a coin if that were the case.
Many people in the Slashdot universe also seem to forget or ignore the fact that they're biased as hell against the MAFIAA (even calling it that shows incredible bias... I'm not trying to hide mine) and when they see them attacking Mr. Ray "Knight in Shining Armour" Beckermann, OF COURSE it's wrong and they should be thrown out of court! How DARE they?!?
For what it's worth, I too think the MAFIAA is being rather hypocritical and litigious, and I heavily dislike their tactic of apparently suing the incredibly vulnerable (poor, old, etc) due to the increased likelihood of winning or settling. Their other tactics are also disgusting, but no need to repeat them for the umpteenth time. Hopefully the tables will turn at some point and they will lose a huge, high profile case WITH prejudice and become the laughing stock of the world for decades to come. That day can't come quickly enough. However, it's not for us to decide the frivolousness of their claims. That's the judge's job, and to do so he/she has to hear both sides, as ridiculous as they may both be.
AFAIK, in Germany the cops can ask for your papers at any time. I think Germans are required to have their National ID Card on them at all times. I've met some hold outs who refuse to get one and would rather spend time in jail. A British friend of mine was just walking down the street one day in Germany and some man popped out of a shop doorway and was like "Hey, hey, you there, hey, hey, stop!" and my friend just kept walking thinking the guy was trying to sell him something or whatever, but the man persisted and he finally turned around and was like "F off man I'm not interested!" and the guy was like "Show me your papers. I'm a cop," and flashed his badge. My friend was like "Uhh, I'm just an exchange student, I left my passport in my flat." I think he said he ended up showing him his bank card from the UK or possibly his National Insurance Number card and eventually the guy let him off with a strict warning to always carry ID.
Once here in Canada my friend was pulled over for a burnt out headlight and the cop asked us both for ID and whether or not either of us had any outstanding warrants for our arrest. I replied "I hope not!" I know legally as a passenger in a vehicle that I don't have to give them anything but my name and date of birth, but we didn't want to spend half an hour at the side of the road arguing with the power-tripping asshole. Thankfully that particular police force has been dissolved and replaced by the RCMP for intentionally screwing up an investigation of an off drunk duty cop plowing into a car and killing the driver.
Oh and the whole no-passports-required thing in the EU is called the Schengen Area. For the most part, every other full member country agrees to accept your entry if the first country you enter accepts you. AFAIK the UK is not part of the Schengen Agreement because they want to control and implement their own border policy independent of the EU's directives.
I know your post was tongue in cheek, but it's not like they took a real bunch of zombies, put them in a laboratory setting and shot at them or hit them with bats to find out the most effective ways to kill them. Lobbing off the head might not actually kill a real zombie. Does it need a brain? Does its heart beat? Does it matter if it loses blood? No one knows because there's no such thing as a zombie.
Man, that gave me and my co-workers an excellent great start to the day today.
Best list ever! Funny as hell.
Well, if this battle royale is taking place in California, aren't non-compete clauses invalid there? There are exceptions, but I doubt the managers and sales staff are partners in the firm or anything extremely high-level like that.
I'm talking recipes, you know like this, a recipe for a quail dish with a raspberry sauce.
What you suggested is hardly a recipe. Well, maybe for some people it is, but I'm not part of that unfortunate crowd.
Copying a piece of code or a program is trivially easy, and your ability to create code has nothing to do with your ability to use the copied item.
Following a recipe to make food depends entirely on your ability to cook.
With the code, you already have the finished product (or very close to it, might need compiling, etc), whereas with the recipe, you simply have a list of instructions on how to get to the finished product, which may or may not turn out depending on your culinary abilities and/or experience.
Ah that makes sense. We did have a monitored alarm already in place when we moved into the house, but we were unwilling to pay for the monitoring service. It should have been enabled already but I guess it wasn't. Thanks for the info!
I know what you mean. When Canada implemented the National DNC list, millions of people signed up for it and then the list was made available for sale to Canadian companies subject to the new law. A ton of fly-by-night operations set up shop, bought the damn list and then fled the country. They got their hands on a list of guaranteed good, working numbers. The only real problem is that each and every person on the other end of the line is most likely going to be pissed off to receive calls from them. I guess they don't care, because with the extremely low cost of making calls using VoIP, if they get one bite from say 1,000 or 10,000 calls, they make money.
The only problem with "just hanging up on them" is when the robocaller ties up your line for the duration of its message, whether you've hung up or not.
I got one from the NDP during the last Canadian election. I picked up the phone and it said "Hi, this is Jack Layton and I need your support..." blah blah blah, so I hung up on it right away. I picked up the phone about a minute later to make a call and it was still going on and on. I tried dialling random numbers on the phone to make it shut up and it wouldn't work. I hung up and tried about a minute later and I got a dial tone.
I recorded all the details about the call that I could and wrote the phone company and told them that this call from the NDP tied up my line and I'd like to file a complaint about it because I might have needed to dial 911 or something during that time and would have been unable to do so, never mind being unable to use the phone at all, which we pay for, not the NDP. Someone from the phone company got back to me fairly quickly asking me for a bit more information and then a technician called me and said that he had just made some changes to our line to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future. We haven't had a robocaller for a while now as far as I know. I don't know what he did exactly, but I'd like to know. Maybe someone familiar with the phone system could shed some light on it.
I also added the IC SIT (disconnected/non-existant number tone) to the beginning of our answering machine message in the hopes that it would reduce the number of robocallers and telemarketers that phone during the day. I know quite a few of them are unfortunately ignoring it because too many people caught on to the trick.
Just to add to this, if you've ever crossed into the US (land/sea/air, doesn't matter), you may have been asked if you've ever been arrested, charged, or been in court, etc. That information is right there on their computer screen as they ask you. They usually just want you to verify it.. "Why yes officer, I have in fact been to court, but the case was dismissed and no charges were laid."
Also, if you've ever applied for a foreign visa (I have), that country's intelligence service will probably ask your home country's intelligence service for any information on you to see if they actually want you there in the first place. It's just part of the application process. That's one of the main roles of CSIS actually, to provide that information, and also to receive it from foreign countries whose nationals are applying for visas and other stuff in Canada.
I wouldn't necessarily agree that our (Canadian) health care is any better than care provided in the US. Sure, if you don't have enough money, it's better than nothing, but if you can afford it or have insurance, the American system (when it doesn't randomly dismiss your claims) is often better in a lot of respects.
For instance, my parents took a 2 day trip down to the US last weekend for some shopping and my dad woke up at 2:30am the first night almost unable to breathe due to pulmonary embolisms. My mom, a nurse, took him into the nearest hospital and he was being treated within 10 minutes of showing up at the door. I'm not sure it would have been any different to here up to this point. Within an hour, he had a CT scan, ultrasound on his legs to determine the source of the clots (turned out to be his right ventricle) and an echo cardiogram done. My mom, who knows the wait times here very well, said an echo would have been about a 6 month wait, a CT scan at least 6 hours, probably closer to 10. He was put in a private room, basically a penthouse suite. When he was describing it to me he kept calling it a hotel by accident. It's a LOT different when you're a paying customer. Luckily they both had Blue Cross travel health through work, and between both plans and the provincial govt's portion (they pay the American hospital what they would have paid had he been in the hospital here), they should be covered 100%. We haven't heard anything yet so hopefully that's the case.
His only complaint was this social worker or something kept trying to get him to admit he was an alcoholic by asking pointed questions. First she asked if he drinks at all and if so how much. He said 1 or 2 a day usually. Then she says "Due to your excessive heavy drinking, blah blah..." and he says "Whoa, lady, who said anything about excessive heavy drinking?" and she wouldn't give up on that and they fought about it the whole time he was in there. Come to think of it, that's probably how they get claims denied in the US.. get the social worker to classify everyone as an alcoholic.
Overall, we're looking at this as a blessing in disguise. He might still be in the hospital waiting for a test or treatment if this happened here.
Perhaps not, but they do have wild boars to worry about. They might not come through the windshield but they will write off the car!
If you're considering Canada, a better option is Manitoba. We are among the least recession-affected provinces, if not the least affected. Many companies are growing, not closing. I'll start with the nice things.
For work, it all depends what you do, but you should be able to find it in Winnipeg. There's agribusiness, genetics, a level 4 biohazard lab, oil & gas (#1 in Canada, #21 in the world for investment at the moment), tech, TV, film production, manufacturing, engineering, construction, long haul trucking, communications, higher education, government... the list goes on.
The cost of living is remarkably cheap compared to the other provincial capitals. House prices are on the rise though, so if you are serious, get in sooner rather than later. That said, I think the average selling price right now for a single family detached home is about $209,000 (roughly £100,000). Our housing market is very stable and doesn't suffer the insane booms and busts like Calgary does. Population density is much lower, and homes generally have large front and back yards in comparison with what you usually get in the UK (if you get one at all). Also our electricity rates are among the lowest in North America and it's all hydroelectric, with some wind, and comes to about $0.06/kWh.
Manitoba has very beautiful wilderness and nature, literally within minutes of Winnipeg. Outdoor summer activities like fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, swimming, windsurfing, laying on the beach, and more are all possible. In the winter there are a couple halfway decent downhill ski slopes (it's the Prairies not the Rockies, give us a break!) and countless cross country ski trails, outdoor hockey/skating rinks and frozen rivers to ice skate on, tobogganing, and much more. Manitoba is more than 2.5 times larger than the UK so there's all kinds of room to play. We've also got some really great festivals: Folklorama, Festival du Voyageur, the Fringe Festival and the Folk Festival are some good examples. The MTS Centre (sports arena) is one of the busiest venues on the continent and hosts nearly all the bands and shows that tour North America.
Now for the criticisms (my gf is British and she loves it here but YMMV). We used to be the auto theft and murder capital of Canada, but not anymore thankfully! It gets COLD here in the winter, and DREADFULLY so. We're on the open prairie so the winds can whip up and drop the temperature like a stone. -40C is not unheard of, and we almost always get -40 windchills at least once during the winter. It's not always that cold though. It can snow a lot as well, but varies year to year. We do have excellent snow clearing though. In fact our Mayor was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 during the snow storm fiasco you guys had. The interviewer was asking what was necessary to have a good snow clearing operation, and he was saying none of it was really feasible for London anyways. In the summer it can get really hot here, 30C or higher is not uncommon, but 20-25C is usually where it's at. Winnipeg is one of the sunniest locations in Canada too. However, with all the nice warm weather comes MOSQUITOES, so many the city often has to larvicide and fog against them. If you're prepared (i.e. long sleeves, light coloured clothing, bug spray) you're generally fine. In terms of natural disasters, we get floods (1950, 1997, 2009), tornadoes, thunderstorms, hailstorms and blizzards. No hurricanes or earthquakes so far.
Traffic is considered a problem by most people who live here. Keeping in mind that Winnipeg is unique among North American cities its size because it doesn't have a freeway system, the most common criticisms are the timing of the traffic lights and construc
Tell me about it... for the record I thought Europe was strange for measuring drinks in centilitres which is a measurement NO ONE ever uses here in Canada, but I got used to it (divide millimeters by 10, not hard).
The grocery stores sell here produce by the pound, but have to list the price/kg on the sign, usually in fine print near the bottom. Price/lbs is always a nice number like $1.99 or something, per kilo it's like $4.46.
Home construction (probably commercial and industrial too) is still in imperial units (2x4's, 4x8 sheets of plywood, etc). Property frontage is in feet, home size in square feet.
Temperature is in Celsius, but older Fahrenheit-thinking people like my parents always say crap like "Oh it's 90 above outside!" which, to me, means that water must be almost boiling. At least we can all agree when it's -40 out (for real!).
Driving speeds are in KM/H and distances in KM and meters, but western Canada was surveyed in miles, so we have mile roads, townships, acres, etc.
Vehicles are marketed in miles per imperial gallon for fuel efficiency. They do list in L/100km too but never advertise in those units. FYI, imperial gallons are 4.55L, 20% larger than the 3.78L US gallon, which just adds to the confusion since American channels (who also advertise vehicles) make up a huge chunk of our TV offerings. Power is measured in Horsepower, not kilowatts, and torque in Pound-Feet not Newton-meters.
Liquids are usually sold in the metric equivalent of whatever ounces or gallons it is in the US. What should be a 1L bottle of engine oil is actually 946ml. A bottle of beer is 341ml, a can is 355ml. A jug of good juice like Tropicana is typically 3.78L (a US gallon since it's imported), but jugs of milk (product of Canada) are 4L.
People are measured in feet/inches and generally weighed in pounds, sometimes in kilos though.
Bars serve shots in ounces, and it's been my unfortunate experience that when asking for a pint of beer in this country to receive the lowly 16oz (473ml) American pint, not the proper 20oz (568ml) Imperial pint. Have we forgotten our heritage so quickly? Naww.. it's just bars being cheap and making you pay for that extra 4oz of beer but not giving it to you.. jerks.
I'm sure there's more absurdity, but despite what some may think, you can get used to the silly hybrid system. Most new tape measures have inches on one side and centimeters on the other, so things are changing slowly I guess.
The thing I find the most confusing is clothes sizing. Nearly every single country has a different scale or numbering system. Shoe sizes are even worse. Why they can't come up with a UNIVERSAL clothes sizing guide for every place is beyond me. Why can't they have a standard SI Size 10 Mannequin or SI Size 10 Shoe Form that stays in the vault with the kilogram weight and the meter stick in Paris there that all the world's size 10 mannequins have to be a copy of? One for every size in both genders. Who's with me? Who's bloody with me? SI prevails because I say it does. Good guys win, bad guys lose, SI prevails!
Yes, I realize that there are as many different body and foot shapes as there are people, it was more tongue in cheek than anything else, especially given the V for Vendetta reference.. still it would be nice to standardize this stuff to some extent.
I didn't mean to say that all death metal guys are bastards, just the ones that burn down churches for the fun of it.
I know some crazy metal people, some of whom look the part, some of whom don't, but they're nice normal people all around. I would love to go to Wacken one day with them, except I'd need to bring a spare liver or I don't think I would make it home hehe. I'm not a metal fan, but the party is apparently fantastic.
We're just, well, sensible.
I'm assuming you mean "we" as in everyone except all those crazy death metal bastards who burn down churches, right? Those guys are SCARY. Fucked up shit happens everywhere... Norway is no exception.
Full disclosure: I'm Canadian, and I think we're fairly sensible most of the time too, but then you hear about the white supremacist parents drawing swastikas on their kids, the revolving-door youth "justice" system, the bus beheader, the deadbeat drunk who left his young daughters outside to freeze to death in -40 C in nothing but diapers, Karla Homolka & Paul Bernardo, Robert Pickton, the Mayerthorpe Massacre... the list goes on and on and on...
What if you get blindsided by a Mac truck when you are going through a green stop light?
That'd be a Mack truck, unless Steve Jobs has diversified into the trucking business...
The big story where states are going to soak people for taxes is when Congress allows them to do sales tax on every single purchase.
Uhm up here in Soviet Canuckistan we have GST (Goods & Services Tax - Federal) at 5% and PST (Provincial Sales Tax) anywhere from 0% in Alberta (thank the black gold) to 10% in PEI where they even tax the GST (Quebec taxes tax too).
Here in Manitoba (PST = 7%) there are very few untaxed things. Food at the store tends to be untaxed, like milk, eggs, flour, sugar, bread etc. If it's junk food or processed stuff I think you have to pay. I'm not 100% on the rules for that and they probably vary by province anyway.
Also pretty much every European country has some form of Value Added Tax (VAT, MWST, etc) that's leveraged on every purchase, and some are scary high too. When I was living in Germany a couple years ago they raised it to 19%. In much of Scandinavia the rate is 25%! They, however, post prices with the tax already in.. something I really like and wish we did here.
You'd think it's that easy to just have your kid remember which bus they're supposed to be on...
This exact same thing happened to me very early in grade school, I think in Grade 1 or maybe even Kindergarten.
First day of school, end of the day. The school bus made 2 runs, one for one neighbourhood and one for the other. The kids going to the second neighbourhood (where I lived) just played in the school yard until the bus came back empty. I was told by the supervising teacher that I was on the first bus, so I get on and I don't see anybody who I knew lived in my neighbourhood. I told the bus driver and she looked at her list and told me that I'm in the right spot. As the last few people were getting off I was really scared and went to the bus driver who asked me why I hadn't gotten off yet, and I told her that I don't live here and I don't know where I am. She asked where I lived and told me not to worry because she's going straight back to school to pick those kids up. The next day the teacher was there with the list again, and made me get on the bus again. Same thing happened. On the third day, she practically dragged me to the bus, but I was crying and telling her that I want to go on the second bus and then I think the driver told her what's going on and she was like, oh, fine then run along and play with your friends.
Moral of the story: Maybe this guy's daughter was in the same situation as me. Maybe she knew something was wrong, but no one would listen. People have a tendency to listen to an authoritative figure. Teacher said I'm supposed to be on this bus, but I have a feeling that something's wrong because no one who gets off at my stop is actually on the bus... but teacher said, so...