Putting the Blog Up on the Pedestal-Social Networking and My New Employer

July 25th, 2010 Thomasso

Graduation is less than twenty weeks away, and the countdown between no more classes and the search and choice of who my future employer are starting to gain momentum. Time is flying by now. At last check, I have three weeks left this term and 14 for the next, plus the couple of weeks in between semesters called the breaks and finals. I am writing this post to tell you all that I have embarked on a huge social Networking plan, at the request of a few agencies who are very interested in having me on board their teams. That last phrase was code for employers are asking me to come in for job interviews and a job market looks very promising with them–but they want more.

This networking blitz gives me a chance to show off my technical skills and all the lovely education that I have amassed over the last six years. Added to this that I have a fully functional web site and active social networking do-dads all over it now, I think I am on the right path.

With over 1250 posts to view, anyone who reads this will see that I am very active in the community and with networking.

This is a graphical representation of what I think the shiny new blog looks like now, the golden “T” is the new look behind the scenes.

Posted in General, Photographs, University classes | No Comments »

Is It Time to Revamp the Vancouver Police Department?

July 25th, 2010 Thomasso

Lets start off with a woman named Sandy. When we talked about this after class on back Thursday, which was fittingly a class about human rights, I was applauded, shocked and embarrassed from both watching and hearing the news about the women in the Vancouver Downtown East Side who was pushed to the ground by a Vancouver Police Officer because she walked into him. The embarrassment escalated when it was discovered that the women has cerebral palsy, and because of this she has difficulty walking at the best of times.

The British Columbia Civil Liberties (BCCL) are an organization of lawyers who volunteer their time that fight for the rights of those who otherwise could not, or challenges our legal and moral values that have being corrupted and that treat people unfairly. They released the video from a street cam that takes video for the purposes of surveillance along Hastings Street where there is no doubt a high concentration of the poor and homeless, and where drug addicts and malcontents gather. Ironically, that same video is what brought justice, the public’s view as in this case, to the forefront.

The public outcry has been deafening in my circles of friends. I have not heard so much outrage about the police since the Robert Dziekanski Tasering murder at the Vancouver Airport back in October 14, 2007 by four RCMP Officers.

The impact that video has is immediate and stands on it own in the public’s mind. Unlike paper that can be censored by government, special organizations and the courts, or testimony that is based on memory that is tainted with objective spin and well rehearsed lines, video is the ultimate eye witness, even when there is no audio to accompany it. It is very difficult for the pubic to see the extenuating circumstances, and to allow legal ambiguous speak to interfere with the actors’ case who is trying to change public’s opinion as the legal system is constantly under attack by the public from all angles.

Does the moral compass of the VPD and other police forces need to be fixed? This was one of the questions that we debated back on Thursday. With the riggers of police training, one would assume that police would be more attuned to the area that they are serving. As one colleague put it, “all it takes is one bad apple…”

Here is the email I sent after class:

Things That Make Canada Questionable in its Stance on Human Rights and the treatment of the Weak and Disabled.

Last night in one of my classes we debated the aspects of what transpired from an incident that occurred along Hasting street in Vancouver, BC on about July 1st 2010. We focused on the communication by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), not what the media is saying. At present, the VPD is saying very little as it seems that the department is still reviewing the case; however, they are satisfied that the officer did apologies, but the three officers have not comment on their conduct before, during and after the incident occurred.

Have an opened mind when viewing this video. Reflect upon it, and then ask yourself these questions, what would you do if you were the police officer, and the person with the disability? How would you react? If you were a bystander, what would you do? There were Good Samaritan’s along the sidewalk, but would you look the other way, or would intervene regardless that it was police offers who started the action?

Courtesy of CBC NEWS

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/07/22/bc-civil-liberties-police-push-ms-woman-video.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/07/22/bc-woman-shoved-sandy-police-downtown-eastside.html

Just blowing off of some steam when I see imbalances in power and misuses of authority.

Please go to these links:

CBC New Website -

“Police Shoving Woman On Video Raises Questions.”

“Woman Shoved By Police Says, ‘He Has No Right.‘”

You can watch the video for yourself, and you be the judge, “was it provoked, or a bad move on the officer’s part?”

Sincerly

Posted in Criminology, Diatribe, General, Law, Law and Order, Social Justice, University classes, Video | No Comments »

The Discovery of the Opposite Sex – Enlightenment and Truth: A Young Boy’s Tail – Very Funny.

July 24th, 2010 Thomasso

For us boys, girls were the weirdest thing. I believed that girls had us figured out, so it seemed, but they really didn’t, as time would tell becuase they acted totally different from the way we acted. When I discovered that they had different parts, or plumbing as I my father would tell me, that just threw me over the edge – how do they pee? I found this you-tube clip from a classmate’s post on the class blog in my Communications 3100 class I am taking this semester. Her post was on the 60-something steps for breaking up with your girl friend, but I also found this little gem from the same you-tube author.

Enjoy!

Tom

Posted in General, Humour, Video | 2 Comments »

Reflection, Refraction, Redirection and the Turtle at the Surrey Campus

July 23rd, 2010 Thomasso

I was walking back to the “G” building, and the path took me by the pond in front of the “D” building, which is where the turtles live. In the corner of my eye I spotted one of them. I unloaded my books, laptop and took out my camera to get some shots.

While I took a few shots, I decided to sit and just watch the reptile laying there catching the sun. He/She was obviously enjoying the heat becuase for ten minutes as he/she did not move from the piece of wood floating on the water.

The pond was so relaxing. The wind blew nice cool air from off the water and from where I was sitting there were other more interesting looking species walking about too. There were some smoking hot human females too checking out the pond, and I am sure that if it were not for the slime, they would have jumped in the water to cool themselves off. I can only imagine that hundreds of male humans from all around would have converged at the pond too for the sights.

I had the pond all to myself; just me and the turtle. There was peace for me, however, I can not Imagen what the turtle felt with a human watching its every move and a camera–”damn voyeurs.”

Posted in General, Photographs | No Comments »

Papers, Presentations and Paperclips – Intellectual Lingo

July 22nd, 2010 Thomasso

As the weirdness scale climbs for this semester, so to does my enthusiasm as the calendar starts to count down to the last days of my undergraduate status. I am writing this in the C2801 room with just one other person who is doing some casual studying, but she is not in my next class. On the whiteboard, printed in blue lettering is, “Eschew Obfuscation,” which is Latin for “avoid confusion,” do not use big words when a little ones will do, a very fitting statement for most students who are asked to write papers that are in a mandatory length format.

Last week it was my group’s turn to present, and we did, but it was a disaster. I met with the next presenting group on my way up to the class room, and it appears that the same thing happened to them as it did with us. They looked totally lost, tired, as we did. I felt sorry for them, but at same time I felt like they are going through a rite of passage as we did when it was our turn. I laughed, but only as a sign of respect because I know the pain that they are going through, and about to endure.

Nothing is as it seems when doing these presentations. You can plan every minute detail, but nothing can prepare you for the unknown. We like to think that we can predict every possible problem and build contingency plans for each predicted disaster scenario. But the truth is, you cannot.  From the heckling voyeur to the meddling professor, there are forces that you cannot control.

I was given our copy of the group’s manifesto, with notes and remarks that were made by each of us from just after the presentation last week. The cover page only had a few hand written notes on it, nothing too terribly important, but what got me was the paperclip that held all the documents together. It was a bright yellow thick plastic clip with two orange stripes down each side of the length of wire. At one end of the clip was a rhinestone flower with a happy face in its centre. A fitting gesture for such a dramatic event for the five of us. How such a symbol for joy and happiness could be placed along side a document of terror and disbelief. But of course, I have a tendency of putting way too much emotion into insignificant events such as a botched presentation. I will never forget the paperclip.

Now that I am seeing this in hindsight, the vision is in 20/20. There was nothing that we could have done. The deck was stacked, and this was the test, it was not the content but a lesson on listening and following orders and instructions. We would have paid dearly for our efforts it they were based on anarchy and radical concepts. Perhaps what the good professor really taught us was that if you want the good grade, then you follow like the sheep; do as the Roman’s do when in Rome, but if you decide to travel the path least taken, then you will pay a hefty price.

Posted in Criminology, Diatribe, General, University classes | No Comments »

This is Just a Little Test Post to Get My Twitter-feed Working – Not Important

July 21st, 2010 Thomasso

I’m setting up my Twitter Feed to work with the blog. This is tough getting everything just right with so many settings, yikes.

Lets see if I can get this damn thing to tweet for me.

Added: Success! It worked! Yeah!

Now when I post, my Twitter feeds are send out to alert everyone that I have posted. Am I doing the world a favour by broadcasting my blog posts and jumping on the social media bandwagon, or is all this internet stuff just a complete waist of time and energy? Well, I kind of like it, and I am paying for it.

Heh heh, it appears that there are some who are anti-social media. I guess not everyone is a fan of networking. Hey-this is how you get the “better” employer to notice you, as compared to the social Luddite employers who are still stuck in the 80′s.

Posted in Blog Problems, General, Nifty Plug-ins | 5 Comments »

Nothing Really to Write About

July 19th, 2010 Thomasso

The last two days have being uneventful. This is nice because they were very stress free and I got a lot done around the house. I can honestly say that having a hum-drum couple of days were almost a prefect way to enjoy the summer days of July.

Even work was at a minimum, which is a nice change from the chaos and pandemonium that it has being over the last few weeks. With the near cataclysmic death of the forklift, the dead server and mysterious worker who wrote a letter of criticism that caused some to run for cover, the last couple of weeks were hitting new records for highs and lows. Between Friday until today, work has been really nice and peaceful.

So, what did I do over the weekend with new found time? I started my last term paper for my human rights class, and began work on my final group project in my communications class.  So I kept busy, stayed out of trouble and read a few high impacted books that I otherwise would have never have read in the course of my normal life. Oh, and I did a little art and graphic work too for my personal enjoyment on the computer. Hard to believe that today is only Monday—like it.

Posted in Art, Diatribe, General | No Comments »

Now I Can Say, “I Told You So, So Take Your Credit and…”

July 17th, 2010 Thomasso

As you have read if you are frequent visitor to my blog, then you know my stance on the Banking industry, and how much I think they are bunch of parasites, and that they have lost their one primary function which is help you store your money – and even that is something to question. Well, from an unlikely source, I was given an email last night that came from my University. What was interesting was the direct comment they used on spelling out the high cost of a service called a merchant’s account. The email said that after August of 2010 they will no longer take payments for tuition by domestic credit cards, and that you now must pay in other ways. I personally like cash, but that is me.

A merchant’s account is the credit card user account that a business must have to use and process credit cards from customers who enjoy spending on credit. The customer then pays later on to the credit card company to settle their debt. This is based on the rule of convenience whereby the customer does not have to carry around large sums of money, and has some form of security when being robbed. However, the card holder is “dinged” twice by the credit company for the use of this plastic instrument of debt. First, by an interest rate applied to the balance if you carry the debt over a certain period of time, and second, and service charge for the point-to-point transaction. Some accounts work differently, but this is the basic charge that the customer gets. The Merchant gets a charge also for using the card. It is like a back-end fee for taking the card as payment—and the Merchant is not allowed to pass that fee back to the customer! Funny, eh, how both the user and end user are charged a fee?

Sadly, the credit card, or merchant’s account user has depended on the “card” as a lifeline when faced with limited income, and who wishes to make a purchase that is well beyond the means of their income. This is where the term credit debt, or personal debts comes in. So credit cards are believed to have caused of the super fast and high economy leading up to 2008, and the consumer side of the of the 2009 downfall with massive credit debt.

Here is a copy of the email I received last night:

Kwantlen Polytechnic University will no longer accept credit cards for domestic registration fees and tuition payments starting for the Fall 2010 semester.

If you planned to pay your domestic student registration fees and tuition by credit card, you’ll need to do so before August 3rd or choose one of the many other available payment options we offer.  We will continue to accept credit card payments for many other fees and purchases.

Each year Kwantlen pays a significant amount in transaction fees to credit card companies. The change is aimed at reducing operational costs at Kwantlen without cutting services or programs for students. In fact, $250,000 expected from the savings will be put towards additional scholarships and bursaries for students this year.

For more details, other payment options, and Q&As, visit: Kwantlen.ca/creditcard

Some final words.

I have no idea how much this will effect some students. I know for myself this will have little effect as I have never paid using credit. But this story speaks volumes as I see it as the writing on the wall and the state of our economy. Not only has this card made monsters of debt out of all of Canadians, but it is also part of the cost of business that is sucking all of us in like a black hole.

I applaud the University for taking this initiative and mandating this tough decision. I know many businesses who are very reluctant to give up their merchant’s account because that is all the disposable income that their patrons have to buy with. They would go under if it were not for the credit card industry. But some day everyone will have to pay that

Posted in Diatribe, General, Photographs, Social economics, University classes | 1 Comment »

Why Ebay is Going Down the Tubes – Thomasso’s Opinion

July 16th, 2010 Thomasso

I just tried to buy some stuff on Ebay, and had back out of an agreement before I could make the buy. It was too bad because I really wanted this item, and had to scoured the net looking for it. But, there are limits to what I will do when buying.

Why do I think Ebay is going down the tubes? Simple, because of their PayPal service. It involves credit, and sharing of too much private information with them, and they are too expensive for the services they offer. It is sad, I think, that so many sellers are caught with the dilemma of selling their goods using Ebay and Ebay’s PayPal services because there are so many costs and inconvenience attached, and they use the excuse of security, but it is really about securing their money from both the buyer and seller. Trust is out of the question, and having the middle man, seems to me, where Ebay makes their profit.

So, to the poor seller who has the item, I want to say that I am sorry. I have gone else where to make my purchase, and I was able to find it and pay for it with a money order. This way I do not loose any personal private information that could involve identification theft, and the seller gets paid–without question in a timely manner!

To Ebay, you are loosing so much in competition because of your PayPal issues. You have lost another customer. Perhaps when you change your policies, I will return to buy from your vendors again, but for now, the rest of the net is alive and well.

Posted in Diatribe, General | No Comments »

My Home Made Mess

July 16th, 2010 Thomasso

OK, I feel better today. After last night, I am still a little shaky, but tired. I will survive.

My place is a mess. I mean, I have neglected it for so long that if I needed to find something, it would take a whole day just to find it, and I may not guarantee that I could. I have books, papers and stationary laying around everywhere. This is all from jumping from one major project to another and only focusing on work with little time for general duties of home care. Between classes, taking on legal work and doing research, my neglect has created a total chaotic mess in my kitchen living room and bedroom. You cannot see my table, couch and living room floor from all the books scattered around and laying on them.

If I were married, I would probably be in Divorce Court right now due to this mess and neglect, thus the reason why I do not have a partner, I am saving myself until my grueling quest of graduating is completed. (That just does not sound right for a male)? And not to many people could live with my routine and demanding schedule. Heck, even my beloved government, big brother, is feeling the neglect from my absents from the real world—but that is another story for another time.

I have a research paper due in two weeks, which is plenty of time to clean up my mega-mess. Also, there is another group project from my communications class, which is far less demanding compared to yesterday’s group effort. So, A whole day should do it if nothing else pops up that will take me away from it. I need to see my couch again.

And you are probably thinking, “you lazy guy—just get off your butt and do some cleaning…”   Well, if you seen how many books I own, you will probably declare my living room as a disaster area. In my jurisdiction there is probably a By-Law which lists how many book one can own? (That was a joke, OK, please do not take the By-Law remark seriously).

The purpose of this post is simple: part venting, and part complaining. Maybe they, venting and complaining, are the same thing? I am still tired from last night and getting the day going is a challenge. I am typing because that is the only part of my body that still works – the fingers and brain.  I need a life.

Posted in Diatribe, General, Humour, University classes | No Comments »