Gestapo Tactics Tuesday

I've been warned by previous Shaw High-Speed Internet users that Shaw is quick to target users that download quite a bit more than their average user - which I assume is someone duped into thinking that a high-speed account is necessary to check their email once a day and browse oatmeal cookie recipes on chatelaine.ca

Here's the scaremongering tactic they recently used on me, via a concerned customer service email:

Dear Shaw Internet Customer

In order to provide all Shaw Internet customers with an optimal Internet experience we proactively assess our network. Through our analysis we have noticed that the level of activity on your Internet account is more than 30 to 50 times that of our average Internet user.

We would like to help identify the cause(s) of the heavy traffic that may be affecting your computer’s performance and most importantly your Internet experience. Often a file sharing program can be the cause of high amounts of traffic. Not only will this affect the flow of traffic on the Internet it also puts a major strain on your computer’s resources.

For more information about how large quantities of Internet traffic can adversely affect your online experience please click here:
http://support.shaw.ca/assistance/filesharing

If you need assistance please click here to find your local Shaw telephone number:
http://support.shaw.ca/contacts.htm

PLEASE NOTE:
We ask that the account holder reply indicating they have read this e-mail and will address this issue.

To view the Acceptable Use Policy please visit:
https://secure.shaw.ca/policy/Use-Policy.asp

Thank you for your cooperation.


Internet Assistance Team
SHAW) Internet Services

I was touched to see that they were so concerned with my computer's performance and the quality of my online experience. Well, my unlimited high-speed account couldn't be better, and between streaming internet radio through iTunes, downloading music, movies, and TV shows, and even playing a few online games like UT2K4, I'd say that I'm making the most of what high-speed has to offer!

Only 30 to 50 times that of the average user!? That's almost insulting! I shall strive evermore to increase those statistics, so help me God.

Currently listening to: The Trews - Black Halo

Ring of Fire

This past weekend, saw another Easter Sunday come and go, and with this special time, another family dinner of astronomical proportions, where family and in-laws are to be avoided at all costs, and the presence of left-overs is completely unacceptable.

With my parents heading for the hills to visit my sister in Revelstoke, and my other sister heading down to Calgary, it looked like I'd have to fend for myself, though this situation turned out to be easily rectified. In the welcoming comforts of Nicole's family, I gorged myself on ham and turkey, mashed potatoes and salad, and enough gravy to enlarge your heart. What made this meal even more special was that it was pot-luck, and Nicole and I's contribution was the East Indian dish Aloo Gobi. It was our first time preparing the dish, and through luck or skill, it turned out to be a hit.

It's a simple vegetarian dish that doesn't cost all that much to make, and has the capacity to fill you up quite nicely. Depending on your tastes it can pack a decent amount of heat, and it's the perfect compliment to tandoori chicken or whatever else you desire. I got the recipe off my sister, and through I don't quite think she divulged all her secrets, she certainly put Nicole and I on the right path.

I look forward to experimenting a bit more in the kitchen, as Shake'n'Bake is starting to gross me out, and cereal shouldn't be considered a "meal" more than twice in one day.

Currently listening to: Rage Against The Machine - Wind Below

Pure BS or Pure Genius?

Ha-zah, I say! Ha-zah! I received one of my most favourable marks this past week, and it concerns a commentary paper I was writing for my Globalization course. I'll be completely honest - this assignment had me on the ropes. I didn't really know what I was going to talk about, and I didn't really make a solid outline before hand, so I kinda winged it during one frantic night of caffeine-fueled typing.

When all was said and done, I was left with 4 pages of what could be considered pure bullshit or pure genius. There really was no middle-ground, as far as I could see. Now that I've received my mark, I can officially declare that it was pure genius...or a level of bullshit so incomprehensible that my professor had no choice but to reward the ballsy endeavour with an equally absurd mark: 19.5/20.0

Currently listening to: Bush - Monkey

Ralph's A-okay

I'm not about to begin arguing politics here, or try to sway your perception of Ralph Klein's provincial government here in Alberta, but I'd like to state that they've been nothing but kind to me when it comes to my student loans. During the summer, as I was getting ready to start making a few payments, I was informed that the provincial government had paid off my entire outstanding balance with Edulinx, a debt load of nearly $7000! I made sure to get a conformation of that in writing, as I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I hadn't applied for any special debt relief, and I'm not even finished with school yet - I was simply taking a year off.

Then this month I get a statement from Royal Bank, who holds the other half of my student loans. Once again, the provincial government, seemingly out of the blue, has seen fit to pay nearly $5000 off my loans! I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm sure not complaining about it.

Who knows, if I stay in University long enough they might just clear up all my debts!

Currently: Shaking and mumbling from not having gone to bed yet.

Caffeine is Brain Juice

Ah yes, the magnificent final weeks of another academic semester at the University of Alberta. What precipitates this particular point in being so poignant, you ask? Why, it's the necessity to push your body and your mind to extraordinary plateaus in order to complete end-of-term papers and cram your noodle with enough knowledge to ace final exams, that's what!

Now, I may be a humble Arts student, and a wishy-washy Sociology student at that, but I've got my fair share of pressures during this time of the year. There comes a time when I have to complete those essays I've been putting off "until I'm hit with a surge of creativity," and finally crack open those over-priced textbooks I bought, a time which incidentally happens to be right about now. So if it seems like I'm avoiding you, or have dropped off the face of the earth, please don't take it personally, because it's simply that I'm engrossed with schoolwork. I've enjoyed a particularly long and eventful university career up to this point, but I really have no particular desire to prolong it for much longer.

So between now and the middle of April, I look forward to drinking more coffee than is good for me, sleeping when I should be awake and being awake when I should be sleeping, all the while contemplating the inherent injustices of the world in a manner that can be easily transcribed on 3 - 4, double-spaced pages, in a 12-pt font.

Currently listening to: My erratic heartbeat from half a dozen cups of black java.

Communist Plot

Short post this Friday.

If it's the intention of the National Hockey League to ensure a great percentage of Canadian university undergraduates perform poorly on their final exams and term projects, then I say they've been dangerously successful. Why in their right mind would they schedule the most important part of the hockey season for April!? What makes this year's hockey season even more distracting is the way the Edmonton Oilers are vying for a playoff spot. I swear, this team will be the death of us, the way they wait until the last game of the season to potentially seal the deal, playing havoc on our stressed-out nerves at every turn.

Bah! I'm so far behind on schoolwork it's not even funny - maybe it's best that they don't make the playoffs. For my GPA's sake.

Currently: Ploughing through an insane amount of readings