Dear Rick,
I love you. Let’s hug.
Stacey
http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/5/22-Days-of-Snow-Days
One of the things I have learned in the last 10 years is that anyone who posts comments on the Internet is a jerk.
I know that’s a strong comment, but I stand by it. Remove the constraints of accountability, and even the nicest people – the grandmas next door, the mother with the adorable kid, the straight A student – will spout off, insult people, and act like a complete ass.
Sometimes, I think the sound that goes with the old dial up modem shouldn’t be the screech of electronically transmitted data, but the bray of a donkey.
What prompts me to write these bitter, frustrated comments? My job. I love my job, to be honest, but every once in a while (daily), it makes me shake my head and wonder at people.
Fan-fiction time. This is set on Shadow Council, an RP server in World of Warcraft. I run an RP-guild named Pox on the Horde side, and my character, Shryn’Dael, is suffering from post-partum, the loss of her husband, and a crying baby boy with magical powers.
God, I’m such a drama llama.
I haven’t been updating this blog as often as I should, and now I have not just an update-post to write, but an update-book. A lot has happened to me in the last almost-year since my car accident, so below the cut there’s a long, long post that shares my recent story.
I’m now working for Northern Life, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.
I had my first ever car accident, totalling out my brand-new car. I hit a rock cut twice and just missed hitting a transport. Needless to say, it was one of the scarier experiences in my entire life, one I never, ever want to repeat. It’s also the last thing I really chronicle on my blog, so I suppose I don’t need to go into it.
Bell Mobility, along with partner-rival Telus, are entering the modern cellular age by upgrading its networks to HSPA.
For years, Bell and Telus have been parading their antiquated CDMA technology as state-of-the-art and robust and powerful, never to be replaced. The two companies praised how CDMA phones do not require SIM cards, therefore making them harder to steal and re-use.
Whatever. Within hours of switching on their HSPA network, Bell’s mobility website is offering the iPhone, trying to make up for years of being behind the curve.
HSPA is a higher speed upgrade to GSM technology, and has been long used by rivals Rogers and Fido. Rogers-Fido unveiled their HSPA networks in the Golden Horseshoe in 2007, and have continued to expand the network since then. Rogers also shut down its older, similar-to-CDMA TDMA network.
Rogers-Fido’s use of the HSPA network have allowed them to sell cutting-edge cell phones from companies such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, and of course, Apple’s iPhone.
Bell and Telus haven’t been able to offer the latest and best technological options because of their old and out-dated network. It has also proved to be a hindrance to Bell consumers who want to roam, as very few other countries use CDMA technology.
It’s yet to be seen if Bell’s rural coverage will continue to beat the stuffing out of Rogers, however. The one thing that has kept me a loyal Bell Mobility customer all these years is that I can get coverage in areas where Rogers doesn’t cover. Rogers praises how they cover the most people, and it’s true if you live in a big city. Bell has a lot of rural coverage, so while they might get less people, all those people can use their phones in places Rogers can’t.
And hopefully Bell will avoid the 3G problems Rogers had.
I'm a Northern Ontario girl with a passion for brain-numbing literature, news-media, and technology. I am a reporter, website co-ordinator, and WoW-junkie (FTH!).