Talking Coffee on Shaw GO Island · Tuesday January 15, 2013 by colin newell
Had a blast talking to Dan Kahan of Shaw community cable on Go Island South – great show…
The topic: Coffee culture… at its best, right here in sleepy Victoria B.C. Canada.
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The fun of electronics and the bomb scare that never was · Sunday December 2, 2012 by colin newell
I had a couple of 1st year students (apparently from the music department) come in to my shop a few weeks ago seeking advice on soldering some parts together to make a “pocket theremin” kit — a noise maker that is light sensitive.
Neither of them had much, if any experience in electronics or soldering things together. Their bag of parts included two integrated circuits, resistors, capacitors, a speaker, some light sensitive cells and a battery. They were missing several bits of modern electronics to hold it all together – a circuit board.
I gave them a primer on soldering and electronics and we all mutually decided that it would be in our best interest for me to assemble the circuit quickly using some modern technology. Which I did. I assembled the circuit successfully (and threw in a electronic engineering development circuit board) and much to my delight, it worked like a charm. In the dark, the little unit was completely quiet. As it was exposed to light it would squeal like a demon.
The gals reappeared within a few hours and checked out my creation.
They were delighted. Smiles and squeals all around, the gals vanished with the device (ostensibly for a project in their department…) and that was the last I heard of it. I never even got their name but I did leave them with a couple of personal cards if they needed any additional assistance – and I put the circuit in a cute little box… that had my shipping info on it.
The following Monday I got a call from a senior student in the music department that found the device outdoors near an entrance to one of the University buildings. Look at the video. It could have been mistaken for a small bomb – but it was not. The box that had the device in it I had provided for the circuit. It has some contact info on it – my contact info. Ironically, I recognized the University student who discovered the device and brought it to my attention. His 5 minutes of fame were from a recent viral hoax he and a friend had created. This whole thing started to smell like a fish market on a summers day.
I can just imagine a panicked call to campus security and the bomb squad – which was averted because a smart student found it first. Police. Bomb squad. Media. Yikes! Not good.
Moral of the story – be more careful about who you build and hand out electronic circuits out to. They seemed like good kids – and maybe the project was completed and they were discarding the product. Maybe they were trying to scare some friends. Maybe they wanted to create a viral video and everything went haywire. Who knows.
This was a perfect example of a University bomb scare that never happened because of some common sense responses from sensible people or foolish curiosity of a student or two. Still, I learned a lesson about giving out advice and technology that could potentially be misused.
Lesson learned.
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Talking Geisha coffee on Newstalk 1010 in Toronto · Thursday November 29, 2012 by colin newell
Talking coffee on CFRB 1010 Toronto!
We were talking to Jim Richards, affable and chatty host of Newstalk 1010 AM Toronto’s afternoon show.
The topic was coffee, $7 coffee at Starbucks – Geisha coffee – the exotic beans from Central America, what they are worth – who is drinking it and why.
Enjoy!
If you cannot see the audio thing above, click here for the mp3.
Frausters at work in B.C. Budget Rent-A-Car · Tuesday November 20, 2012 by colin newell
I think it’s odd with Budget Rent-a-car being in the news lately… allegedly scamming victim after victim to the tunes of tens of thousands of dollars — with nothing happening… no police investigation or law suits… that any one person could walk into a Budget Rent-a-car (and I am NOT advocating that anyone try this…) and say: “Give me $1000 right now and I will not ‘punish’ you…” Again: Do not try this… ever!
I am pretty sure the person would be tracked down and thrown in jail for 5 years or more – for theft, attempted theft, behavior contrary to public order etc…
Which I get. You would not do this in a bank or a Starbucks… and I believe that theft is theft.
Or (and I am not suggesting this…) if someone were to stand outside a Budget rent-a-car and bounce the occasional crab apple off of their windows –
I am pretty sure this person would be incarcerated and given a psych evaluation.
So. What is so upsetting about this, is that hundreds, if not thousands of British Columbian residents may have been victimized and scammed by a small assortment of rental car places in B.C. – and nothing happens to them – the excuse being tossed around: “Car rental companies are not regulated in British Columbia…”
Say what? I think criminal behavior is regulated in B.C. — I know it is for me and you… So why not Rental Car agencies? Word on the street this is more widespread in Canada.
From my personal experience: I have been renting from the same Rent a Car agency since the mid-eighties (AVIS rent a car) and I have nothing but gushing praise for them, hundreds of rentals and nary a blip — so, the bottom line is, these companies are capable of great service…. but somewhere along the way, some companies lose their moral compass – and I am not sure why.
Some more stories on this issue from the good folks at the CBC – Budget employees reveal
BC Budget Rent a Car repair scams
Bottom line avoid Budget Rent a Car in B.C. until this issue is sorted out…
and PLEASE, do not hassle the hard working staff at Budget Rent a car and do NOT throw apples… and if you have been scammed, make sure you harass the crap out of your credit card company and be firm with your car agency – Some tips upon rental include – do a walk around with the rental agent and take lots of pictures with your iPhone – and be prepared to contest any fishy charges.
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