Conveniently, our landlord is just polishing up a brand new, fancy store.  It promises all the features of the old store with much more space, polish, and room for expansion.  Like the old store it’ll only house a certain number of customers, but the landlord is working on neighbouring properties so we’ll be able to allow more customers in anytime we want for a price.  We’re hard-pressed to pay the large amount being asked since, in spite of needing improvement, we remain unsure that the advantages outweigh the cost.

Both stores had the restriction (not uncommon in this particular line of business) of a certain number of distinct products.  We could offer variations of each of these products but had a restriction on the core number.

Additionally, unlike the old property, the new one comes with shelving and in-builts that allow space to be shifted around.  We no longer have to keep the aisles clear at all times to account for a specific number of people, but rather we can make the space for our customers on demand.

We decide to go ahead with the purchase.

We get a walkthrough of the property and determine (mostly) that all is in order.  A few things need fixing up and there’s confusion on our part as to how to effectively use the shelving, but for the most part we’re fine.

Some time later, we’re prepared to move in and show up to do so only to find that the front doors won’t open, even unlocked.  We call up the landlord who is also unsure of the answer.  We spend a great deal of time trying to work it out, put the moving crews on hold, and finally work on some other projects.

After a week the manager suggests that it may be related to the security system and we should try entering through the neighbouring property.  Success.  Once in, we rewire the security and begin the move only to find that things we expected to be in the lease were not in fact present.  Checking with the landlady again, we find that there are many crazy unspoken items that we apparently agreed to which were not in our original terms at the old store and which we never saw in writing prior to moving in.

• We were told that the building was constructed with new materials, but we were not given the whole story.  The building was indeed constructed with new materials but not up to recent standards.  The construction is not as strong as buildings other firms are constructing these days, but no one else has constructed a building as well suited to our industry so we’ll have to bite the bullet and accept the shortcomings.  It still appears to be a better structure than the last.

• Each of our products could only ever come from a single supplier.  If we wanted to use backup suppliers we would have to pay for those separately.

• At any given time we could only ever advertise and sell 100 distinct products or variations thereof.  In fact, to achieve this at least 75% of the window space has been blocked off.  We could sell multiple of each of these but all other products would have to remain hidden in our store unless we paid for additional licenses to sell them.  Since we have over 380 products and variations in our inventory, this is clearly sub-optimal.  Additionally, of the 260 customers we’re allowed to have in our store, how many of them will only be interested in the 100 products available?

• In our old building we used to use a free line to send information about store operations to a 3rd party accounting firm.  On initial inspections, no similar line existed in the new building so we did not account for that in the lease terms, however since then a line has been installed and is not in use.  Unfortunately, the landlord has now seen fit to charge an additional fee for access to that line (the particulars of operating with which are left to us to fund and explore).

In addition to recreational cycling I commute to and from work on fair weather days, which is a short distance of 5 to 6.5 km in each direction depending on the route I take.  I’ve now gotten used to driving on the road in spite of drivers who are either too nice or not nice enough.  It didn’t end up being as difficult as it was made out to be, which isn’t to say it doesn’t involve both finesse and attention, but it isn’t the great terrible beast I had anticipated.  Drivers are generally pretty decent and respectful.  As with cyclists and bikes, it’s the few bad drivers who often instil a sense of dread when being around cars and trucks.

I’ve been in a few minor situations I feel I should make note of for drivers and cyclists alike. These all take place at the T-intersection of 42 Ave SE (4 lane, 2 in each direction) and 1st SE (2 lane). The latter has a stop sign and there are no lights:

1. Truck passes me on the left when I’m in the straight/left turn lane
   As a cyclist (slow moving vehicle) I am supposed to be as far right as practicable, however if I must make a left turn I have to be in the correct lane. In this case, I anticipated my turn by moving to and taking the centre-most lane. As I was approaching the intersection I was overtaken closely on the left (he was in an oncoming traffic lane) by a pickup truck. The driver was obviously frustrated that I wasn’t moving fast enough for him, but had I been a car he would have had to wait for me to make my left turn anyway. I doubt he would have exhibited the same behaviour for a car.
2. Trucks with the right-of-way pause for me to turn left at intersection
   After reaching the intersection to make my left turn, I have to signal and wait for a break in the two lanes of oncoming traffic before turning, as would any car. That day the driver of a large truck in the centre-most lane stopped for me, ignoring his right of way and looking at me expectantly. Unfortunately, I had no visibility of traffic in the other oncoming lane as his truck was blocking the way. I gestured for him to pass and two cars later another truck attempted the same and I had to wave it on as well. In these cases, while I’m sure the drivers had best intentions, it would have been dangerous for me to turn. Had they treated me like a vehicle in the first place, nobody would have been delayed and I could probably have turned very quickly after they passed.
3. Car at stop sign turns left onto 42nd at the same time as me
   After waiting for my opening to turn left and beginning to move, the driver waiting at the stop sign on 1st St. also starts moving into the intersection for a left turn. He ends up passing my rear tire by about .25m. Eye contact was made and I was directly visible in the direction he was headed, so I can’t imagine it was anything but an attempt to spook me. Had he miscalculated my speed (I may even have sped up considering the situation) it could have been pretty nasty.

Again, the majority of drivers have been pretty good but there are definitely a few questionable ones.  My main complaints on the road are probably:

• Drivers passing too close on the left
  You are allowed to cross the yellow line to pass!  Don’t pass if it’s unsafe, just slow down!
• Drivers honking, passing closely on the right, and angrily speeding away when a bike is waiting to turn left ahead of them
  Generally these drivers wouldn’t act the same if it was a car waiting to turn.  I can confirm that drivers behave differently when the queue is largely comprised of motor vehicles and I just happen to be among them.
• Not being treated as a vehicle
  The only way me being in traffic works is if I’m treated as a slow moving vehicle.  Preferential treatment creates disorder and confusion in everyone around.
• Bicycles disobeying the law
  I’ve now seen cyclists riding on sidewalks, crosswalks, diagonally across intersections, and against traffic in the same lane as me.  This is stupid.  If I can be on the road, you can too.

That said, commuting by bike has been fun.  If I go along the pathways a stretch I get to see (and get hissed at) by geese along the river.  I get fresh air (as long as I’m not too close to exhaust pipes), I get exercise, and with summer approaching (finally) I probably won’t need to purchase a monthly transit pass again until September or October.

Back to talk of fitness tracking applications, I’ve tried three Android apps in particular:  RunKeeper, SportyPal, and Google My Tracks.  These apps allow you to record your path using your phone’s GPS and record your statistics along the way. They each have a web interface on which you can view and share your tracks and progress. Here is a mini-review of each app:

RunKeeper by FitnessKeeper

Pros:

• Best Web UI of all three hands down. Very clean and intuitive, most everything working as you imagine it should,
• They have a fairly comprehensive online reporting component allowing you to track your own progress and compare it with your friends,
• Solid integration with Facebook and Twitter.
• Not my thing, but they have a partnership and integration with Withings wifi scale.
• Ability to predefine routes, create activities from routes, and align activities to routes for comparison.

Cons:

• Slow response on support issues (forums are not well suited to bug filing),
• No GPX import function,
• Broken GPX export function,
• No Android 1.5 or 1.6 support for older devices.

SportyPal by CreationPal

Pros:

• Clean, quick client software,
• Client is Android 1.5 and 1.6 compatible for older devices,
• Client is available for numerous mobile devices other than Android and iPhone including Blackberry and Windows Mobile,
• Web interface includes GPX import and export functions.

Cons:

• Buggy, somewhat counterintuitive web interface,
• Slow support response (again, forums).

My Tracks by Google

Pros:

• Integration with Google My Maps and Google Docs,
• Adaptive/customizable GPS sampling,
• Direct GPX export from client software.

Cons:

• No GPX export option from web interface (Google Maps),
• No community-related features,
• Minimal realtime statistics shown.

View Commute #1 in a larger map

I was back and forth between SportyPal and RunKeeper for awhile due to RunKeeper’s lack of Android 1.6 support. I’m now on Android 2.1 (by way of CyanogenMod 5) and using RunKeeper again. I’m still exporting data to SportyPal using RunKeeper’s (broken) GPX export function, a GPXFixer script I wrote, and SportyPal’s GPX import function. I really like RunKeeper, but also want to see what SportyPal comes up with and keep it around as an alternative.

Using fitness tracking software of this sort has definitely been a good incentive to go out and ride. It’s encouraging watching my distances and speeds increase. Through the use of a bike mount I purchased for my phone, I’ve also been able to use it as a GPS bike computer of sorts.

I’ll be participating in the 1 day MS Ride (~85km) in a couple of weeks, which I’m excited for. I’m hoping for good weather from now until then so I have opportunities to train.

In the end, between a lack of maintenance and storage in the back yard, the bike fell into disrepair and I ended up getting rid of it.  That was 8 to 10 years ago.

For the past couple years, I’ve contemplated getting a new bike but never got around to looking for one.  This year Jodie and I decided we both wanted to go biking and as soon as the weather started showing signs of warmth the two of us went out in search of bikes.

I noticed three major things about bikes since the last time I had one:  1) bikes were cheaper when I was a kid, 2) the workings (gears, shifters, etc) appear to have vastly improved since then, 3) there seem to be many more categories of bike to choose from.  Was I after a utility, mountain, road, hybrid/urban, comfort, or cruiser bike?  Did I want disc or rim breaks?  How many gears?  Derailleur or internal gear hub?  Gaaaaah.

The first store we checked out was BikeBike.  We showed up at the end of the day on a Saturday and they were obviously closing shop but they let us look around a bit first.  Their offerings seemed mostly to be in the European-style utility and road bike category from what we saw on display.  While simple and functional, these didn’t really appeal to me.  While I realized that most of my riding these days would be on the road, I still longed for the ruggedness and versatility of my long gone mountain bike.  Nothing wrong with the store or their offerings, but this was just a first stop and there were more stores to examine.

We searched fruitlessly for The Bike Shop (I hadn’t remembered the exact address) and ended up instead at Mountain Equipment Co-op.  I was very impressed with their offerings if not their price tags.  The selection was all house-brand frames with name brand parts.  I was very impressed with the MEC Desire but $750 was more than I had intended to spend.  Aside from the Internal Gear Hub (which is exceedingly cool), the Desire didn’t seem to have any appealing features to justify the price tag.

No decisions were made that day.  One evening later in the week, I stopped in to Ridley’s Cycle on my own and was impressed both by their prices and selection.  I didn’t look long, but asked a few questions and the knowledgeable sales associate assured me that I was likely looking for a hybrid or comfort bike based on the type of riding I was planning on (pathways and streets largely, with occasional sprints through the grass or alleyways).

I went home and spent the next week or so researching, contemplating, and generally obsessing about bicycles and bicycle parts.  I decided that the type of brakes wouldn’t be a big issue at this point as I was intending to be a fair weather cyclist, the internal gear hub wasn’t as important as price, and, for comfort’s sake, suspension would be an asset.

One sunny Friday we decided we should get while the getting was good and the two of us went to Ridley’s after work.

We discussed, we looked, we sized, and in the end quite happily purchased two similar bicycles (at a discount for buying two!).

I bought a Trek 7100 (pictured above) while Jodie bought a Norco Vermont.  Both bikes have front suspension, seat suspension, 700 x 35c tires, and rim brakes.  My bike is a 21 speed and Jodie’s is a 24.

We’ve taken them out a few times; once around the river, a couple of times around the downtown streets and paths.  I’ve ridden mine to work once so far.

General complaints:

• My cycling skills have weakened with disuse, unfortunately.  I’m noticing it most in my balance, which is also largely due to the increase in bicycle height in concert with the large 700 cm tires.
• I’m finding I’m at a disadvantage on the road on account of having seldom ridden it as a teenager and never having driven a car.
• I’m scared of gravel (of which the streets are full) thanks to a notable cycling accident in my teens.
• I’m too out of shape to make it to work and back (had to walk my bike the final stretch last time).

There, complaints done with.  All the above said, I have a strong like for my Trek 7100.  None of my complaints have anything whatsoever to do with my ride, which is shiny and new and performing very well.  Additionally, none of the above complaints are beyond mending through practice and repetition.

I’m looking forward to a good spring, summer, and fall of riding.

By way of Carson Brown comes a link to Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-40: Implementation of wireless Phase II E9-1-1 service. Phase I, defined in 2003, provides ILECs (Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers, aka ‘local telephone companies’) a 911 caller’s location cell within the mobile network and phone number. Phase II E9-1-1 service appears to be the evolution of that technology given the prevalence of GPS in mobile phones:

The level of information required by Telecom Decision 2003-53 is referred to as Phase I. Phase II, which has not yet been widely implemented in Canada and is the subject of this decision, provides PSAPs with Phase I information plus more accurate longitudinal and latitudinal (X,Y) information regarding the location of wireless E9-1-1 callers.
- CRTC 2009-40/Introduction/2

Further, this technology requires that GPS functionality be automatically enabled:

automatic enabling of cell phone Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality where GPS technology is being used; – CRTC 2009-40/Issues/I/7

This is subdivided into two stages of implementation:

1. “Provision of X,Y coordinate information and location system parameters that PSAPs use to determine a caller’s location.” – CRTC 2009-40/Issues/I/7
2. “Provision of mid-call location updates, plus provision of wireless Phase II E9-1-1 service for roamers and unsubscribed handsets, to be deployed as technology solutions become available.” – CRTC 2009-40/Issues/I/7

While no strict timeline appears to have been defined for Stage 2 implementation, Stage 1 is very clear:

All WSPs are to complete their respective implementation of wireless Phase II Stage 1 E9-1-1 services by 1 February 2010, wherever wireline E9-1-1 service is available across Canada. – CRTC 2009-40/Issues/III/20/3

So it seems that not only has Rogers fallen behind on its ability to provide even a basic Phase I level of wireless e911 service on the HTC Dream and Magic, but they are treading the borderline of failing to meet Phase II Stage 1 implementation timeline demands by the CRTC (and other interested parties) as well.

This might give insight as to why Rogers decided to disable data in late January for HTC Dream and Magic users before their deadline came up, and why they have become increasingly persistent in their warnings, even to the point of hijacking all outbound calls.

This may also explain some of Rogers’s misgivings about non-standard firmwares as the degree of compliance of 3rd party software to the Phase II requirements can’t be accounted for by Rogers.

As far as I can tell, however, there is no provision either in the CRTC file or by Rogers themselves for 3rd party hardware. If an unlocked phone from a 3rd party doesn’t support Phase II Stage 1 e911 services, what is the process? Will this regulation allow wireless carriers to lock out “unauthorized” hardware?

In light of this information, certain answers given by @RogersMary make a lot more sense:

@bradarsenault Not sure. I know we don’t support unlocked or rooted phones b/c we can’t guarantee how they device will work on our network.
@mcantelon Hi. We can’t support rooted/unlocked phone b/c we don’t know how those devices work on our network. Custs should d/l the bug fix.
@4Lou We cannot support unlocked devices b/c we can’t guarantee how that will impact the device on our network.
…

The above has been the standard line and has been perplexing to many of us who understand that rooted and unlocked phones as such do not interfere with the network. If the firmwares are simply not known to work with Phase II Stage 1 e911 services and Rogers is required to have phones on their network comply, however, it makes more sense.

What does this mean for the future of modded phones and even ordering unlocked (standards-compliant) handsets from out-of-country? Will they be subjected to the same restrictions?

Why can’t we simply waive our right to Phase II e911 and have this issue solved?

Of note also is that the payment model for e911 services (eg: that they are paid for by the wireless providers) has not changed, and it’s possible we will see an increase in costs on account of this implementation.

Thanks again to Carson for the link. It provides much to consider.

Updates

2010-02-10 @ 3:00 PM – Rogers Waiver

Posted by Joniel, not 10 minutes ago, a link to a new 911 waiver form for HTC Dream and Magic customers who refuse to “upgrade”.

I really have to wonder if this (fairly well viewed) post had any impact on the decision, but I guess I’ll never know.

The first report of this today on the XDA-Developers Forum Rogers Mandatory Update thread clearly states that this redirect is, in a spectacle of comic irony, preventing 911 calls as well. As ben.selinger put it [minor punctuation fixes]:

Rogers is rescanning phones again and blacklisting non-1.5 phones. The voice services are then being diverted to Rogers support. Better, they’re diverting 911 calls! When I realized they’d diverted my first call, I promptly hung up and called 911 to see if it would also be diverted. It was.

Later in the thread, and similarly on Twitter, @RogersMary states:

Hi This is Mary with Rogers online communication team. To clarify, this is not so. Safety is always our primary concern and while customers are being directed to Care to ensure they are aware of the bug fix, this in no way impacts their ability to call 911 direct.

Perhaps it hasn’t been completely tested, or if 911 was being redirected it’ll be solved shortly, but I for one am willing believe ben.selinger. I don’t see any real reason why someone would lie about that. Additional confirmation would be useful though. If anyone has encountered this redirect on a call they’ve had to place to 911, please post here.

Fortunately, still running CyanogenMod 1.4.13 with bcrook’s netfix3-dream after having had Rogers perform a “network refresh” back when they were allowing us to, my data still works and I have not had calls redirected. I still, however, get the phone calls and text messages at least once every day telling me to “upgrade”.

This latest move on Rogers’ part is just nonsensical. It’s bad enough that we’ve had our data plans disabled, but now to not even be able to make outbound phone calls? Ridiculous. Yes, we get it Rogers, you take 911 seriously and don’t want to be blamed for a failure to act on your part (in spite of being 4 months late to act), but pissing off your customers is not the way to do it. The fact is that those of us who refuse to downgrade to Rogers/HTC’s 1.5 firmware from our up-to-date, fully functional, and 911-friendly 1.6 and up firmwares are being punished by Rogers for not complying in the campaign to make them look good in the face of 4 months of neglect.

I’m not on board, Rogers.

Update: Some links to other mentions and discussions of the issue:

• Howard Forums
• Blistov’s Tech Review: Rogers disconnects data services to G1 users! Rogers tech support swamped with angry calls !

Android and HTC Phones

Before I get into the details, it helps to know some things about the above phones. First, these are both Android phones. Android is a phone operating system that was released over a year ago by Google. The HTC Dream (aka: the G1) was the first Android phone released in October of 2008. Since that time Android has been updated constantly and new versions of the operating system have been released with new features and bugfixes. The HTC Magic (aka: Sapphire/MyTouch) was the second phone released (in April of 2009). That phone was released with Android 1.5 (cupcake) on T-Mobile in the US. In May, the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) was given an update to Android 1.5 as well.

Rogers didn’t carry either of these phones until June, 2009. Prior to Rogers carrying these phones there had already begun to be a large ‘modding’ community whose purpose was generally to modify existing firmware to operate better, allow more user control, and fix bugs in the operating system that were being neglected by carriers. When Rogers brought Android phones to its network, it was only natural that the modding popularity would spread up North. One popular modification is CyanogenMod which is currently based on Android 1.6 (Donut). In spite of the fact that T-Mobile in the US has already distributed Android 1.6 for their G1 and myTouch phones, HTC and Rogers made a joint statement that the Dream and Magic would not be getting 1.6 upgrades.

This left many Rogers Dream and Magic users installing 3rd party modifications (including CyanogenMod) in order to gain the Android 1.6 experience their providers refused to give them. The tradeoff? No operating system support from Rogers. This can be likened somewhat to Jailbreaking and modifying an iPhone.

The 911 Issue

On January 15 of this year, I (and many other users of the Dream and Magic phones) received a text message from Rogers. It read as follows:

Rogers/Fido service message: URGENT 911 Calls: Please disable GPS location on your HTC Dream device to ensure all 911 calls complete. HTC is urgently working on a software upgrade and we will provide details shortly so you can re-enable GPS. Instructions: Select Menu – Select Settings – Select Location – Uncheck Enable GPS Satellite

This is, indeed, an urgent bug. The real surprise was that neither Rogers nor HTC had fixed it yet considering it had been fixed 4 months prior in the Android Open Source Project. The fix was submitted on September 17, 2009:

author	Mike Lockwood <nobody@android.com>
	 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:29:17 +0000 (07:29 -0700)
committer	The Android Open Source Project <initial -contribution@android.com>
	 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:29:17 +0000 (07:29 -0700)
...
AI 151388: Fix null pointer exceptions that can occur if the GPS is started due to E911

From there, the patch would be in every subsequent version of Android. Immediately after entering Android Open Source, the patch was incorporated into CyanogenMod and other mods.

In fact, this was one of the important fixes discussed by T-Mobile in their press release for 1.6 back in October [emphasis added]:

The rollout of Android 1.6 (Donut) to T-Mobile’s G1 and myTouch 3G customers is now underway, and provides new features and software enhancements. The update also includes an important fix for isolated instances of system reboots after dialing 911. We have worked with Google and HTC on a solution, and the rollout of Android 1.6 is being accelerated to ensure the system reboot fix is rapidly delivered to our customers.

The update was released by HTC as an over-the-air update. Users received notification that there was an update on their phones and had a choice whether or not to install.

This is pretty damning evidence that Rogers has been out of touch not only with the Android community, but other vendors as well. I’m inclined to say that HTC dropped the ball on this one too since they were clearly aware of the issue at the time of T-Mobile’s 1.6 update.

Okay, so large fault on their parts, but fortunately it didn’t affect me or any of the other individuals who had already upgraded our phones to 1.6 or higher firmware by way of mods. Clearly Rogers needed to take action to help those of their users who were still on stock Android 1.5.

The Great Disconnect

The evening of Friday, January 22, many of the users of Rogers Dream and Magic devices (though not all users) received a text message similar to the following:

Rogers/Fido Safety Message: URGENT 911 Calls HTC Dream software update: Mandatory software update is now available to help ensure 911 calls are completed from your phone. Please go immediately to rogers.com/dreamsoftwareupdate on your PC to download. In order to help ensure 911 calls are completed internet access will be temporarily disabled on your phone at 01/24/10 6:00AM EST. To minimize loss of internet service, please complete your software update immediately. Upon completion, internet access will be re enabled within 24 hours. For users of Macintosh and Windows 7, please call 1-888-764-3771(1-888-ROGERS1) for update instructions. We apologize for the inconvenience but we prioritize customer safety above all.

In short, internet access was to be disabled for all users of HTC Magic and Dream unless an update was completed 24 hours prior to 6AM Sunday morning, January 24. The ‘update’ was a 1.5 firmware with the following main modifications:

1. The requisite 911 fix.
2. ‘Fixes’ to the kernel to prevent exploits from functioning (the kind of ‘exploits’ used to allow modders to gain “root” and install their own mods)
3. A new radio and recovery image that continue (in the same vein as the original firmware) to prevent modders from flashing new versions of Android onto the phone.
4. SenseUI, an “improvement” by HTC on the Android interface. There is some contention over whether or not it is actually an improvement, and many prefer the simplicity of the original Android interface.

In short, while providing a much belated and important fix along with some interface changes to those on their stock firmware, Rogers is imposing a downgrade (and preventing re-modding) upon those of us who do not have the 911 issue and do not want or desire HTC Sense UI (some users already have Sense UI through other 3rd party modifications).

Of course, come Sunday morning those of us who had not installed the Rogers Mandatory Update or CursorSense 1.2 (a mod based on the Mandatory Update) were left without data access on our phones.

The most official reason for the forced disconnect comes from @RogersMary:

You’re right that disabling GPS fixes the issue and allows 911 calls to complete. So does disabling data.

While it’s understandable that Rogers did have an obligation to take action and a responsibility to its customers, what’s not clear is why those of us with a fixed version of Android are being subjected to the same treatment. If Rogers has the ability to detect out-of-date firmware on their network, it should be equally easy to detect more recent firmware and exempt it from disconnection.

In response to my assertion that all 1.6 firmwares were safe and that CyanogenMod had this fix already, I was told by @RogersMary,

Hi Aron. I can’t offer assistance on rooted devices. For customer safety, all customers need the 1.5 fix downloaded to device.

I can accept that no assistance or support would be granted to someone using a non-standard version of Android, however I was not asking for support any more than I asked to have my data connection disabled. The only thing being asked for is the data service that is already being paid for.

To be fair, in an extended version of the announcement, Rogers has stated that they will be offering one month of data service in compensation for the outage, but again there is no provision for those of us who do not require the update to have working 911 service. Compensation is not service.

Reconnection

There are still many questions regarding the disconnection and reconnection process. Callers to technical support have gotten mixed answers as to whether they can have their connections reactivated while using non-standard firmware or if a reinstated connection will last. It seems not every support agent is even familiar with the situation.

What is clear is that this can legally be no more than a temporary measure. As Ben Selinger put it in his blog post yesterday,

Some of you may recall legal precedence for this kind of issue, dating waaay back to the 70’s when Bell (then Northern Telecom) tried to force its customers to use Bell branded phones, and tried to attach a special fee to modem/fax use. The courts ruled against Bell, and the CRTC jumped in and made all sorts of rules to prevent telecom’s from requiring proprietary hardware, on standardized networks. This does, legally, carry over to GSM carriers. GSM is GSM. If your phone supports GSM on the frequency of a carrier, the carrier must provide a signal. Period.

Rogers would face an uphill battle trying to maintain their hard-line against those who refuse to upgrade and there is already talk in the community of presenting a case to the CRTC.

Additional Updates

2010-01-26 @ 12:02 PM – Additional downsides to the Rogers Mandatory Update

• SenseUI apparently drains the (already poor) battery on an HTC Dream at a higher rate than the stock firmware does.
• Voice dialing not functional for some people after updating. This makes it illegal in some provinces to make phone calls while driving using these phones. Hat tip to @IWMOPS and @gervai5
• Multiple reports of Fido customers having to enable Roaming Mode in order to have access to data after performing the update.

2010-01-26 1:53PM – Free Magic deal called off due to 911 fix?

It seems the Free HTC Magic deal that was available for a limited time to Dream owners has been called off for dubious reasons. The deal was originally offered by Rogers as a good faith gesture to Dream owners who were disappointed that their devices did not have enough storage space for the Android 2.1 update Rogers was planning for eventual release. This announcement was made no later than January 9.

We had heard a few days ago that this deal was on pause until the 911 issues were worked out on both the HTC Dream and Magic, which have both been pulled from shelves, but now it seems Rogers is claiming that the deal only existed due to the 911 issue. Remember from my post above that the text message sent out regarding the 911 issue was on January 15, 6 days later!

Via Tyrell’s comments below come some excerpts from Rogers support emails,

I am pleased to inform you that the issue with the HTC Dream has been resolved; as such, the promotional offer for an upgrade to the HTC Magic is no longer available.

Thank you for your most recent email. I have contacted our technical department and they have advised that in the beginning the 911 issue was only affecting customer with the HTC Dream. However, within hours we received confirmation from HTC that this issue was also affecting the HTC Magic. Once it was brought to our attention that this issue was affecting both devices the promotion was placed on hold until further notice.

So, which is it Rogers? If the promotion only existed because of 911 problems then why didn’t we hear about the problem sooner?

2010-01-26 4:17 PM – More confirmation of the cancelled Magic upgrade

From this comment by Lee:

I called into Rogers and asked the CSR about the Dream to Magic upgrade, and was told they are no longer offering it since the mandatory software update fixes the problems the Dream had.

Edit: From Calvin’s comment below it would seem that the confusion over the Dream to Magic upgrade pause is simply misinformed support staff and that the deal will resume when the 911 issue is resolved.

2010-01-26 4:20 PM – Additional problems with the mandatory update

Looks like more problems with the new firmware have been observed including:

- Fido customers report their phones now constantly say they are roaming (data I believe)
- Some people report various FCs and spontaneous reboots
- One person says he was unable to delete icons from the home screen (including Rogers icons)… has anyone else encountered this?
- Photo gallery error (GBD)
- Task manager “end all” causes FCs (GBD)
- Possible problem with MS Exchange (via Twitter)
- Twitter user XBrav is having problems with freezing, buzzing, and calls not completing.
- Flash player not always working
- Battery possibly draining faster
- Some apps previously available in the marketplace are now not available.

More information on I Want My One Point Six.

2010-01-27 12:51 PM – Magic upgrade plan just delayed

Tweet from @RogersMary in response to @bcrook88, confirming the purpose of the upgrade and that it’s just on hold:

The upgrade is just temporarily on hold. It was set up for Dream customers who wanted a new OS. Hope that helps.

2010-01-28 7:29 PM – Not much has changed

Things still appear to be the same as a couple of days ago, though I hear via rumour that the support tickets are piling up at Rogers. A couple of nights ago the issue was featured on Slashdot which sent a lot of hits this way and hopefully increased public awareness of the issue.

In general, Rogers is still telling callers that the update is required and as many tell it, they’ve stopped issuing network resets/refreshes when asked as well.

NYC

My pal Dave and I set for New York in May to take part in the celebration/memorial for the birthday of Frankie Manning. This was my first time in New York and it was definitely among the most amazing cities I’ve been to. The two of us stayed on 32nd and Broadway and spent the first few days of our trip exploring the city.

Manhattan was far more dense than I’m used to and built upward at heights that ensured my head was tilted back in true tourist fashion while walking down the street for most of my stay. I rode tour buses around both Manhattan and Brooklyn and hopped off and on at my convenience. I managed to take in Central Park, the Empire State Building, Times Square, Grand Central Station, and more. Dave and I even went to see Guys and Dolls with Oliver Platt and Lauren Graham on Broadway. I managed to take a few hours one day to explore Crown Heights in Brooklyn, home to a large population of Chasidic Jews. In Harlem, Dave and I found the Savoy Ballroom marker and enjoyed some amazing chicken.

The dancing portion of the trip was also fantastic. The event ran for almost 5 days. The primary venue was the Manhattan Center including both the Hammerstein Ballroom and Grand Ballroom. On the first full day there was a memorial service for Frankie followed by a second line to Central Park where we danced outdoors all afternoon. Other venues over the 5 days included panels with those who knew Frankie Manning over the years, dance workshops, tributes, competitions, and of course dances every evening.

I learned a lot about dance during my trip and had the opportunity to take instruction from some living legends like Chester Whitmore and Chazz Young. I met Norma Miller and had the opportunity to watch these and other masters dance. Most notable was the dance on stage one night between Chester and Dawn Hampton wherein the two demonstrated how enjoyable dancing could be without being overly complex or athletic. The two were having fun dancing.

While the event was about Frankie Manning and largely Lindy Hop, watching people dance (especially the older dancers in the scene) made it more clear to me than ever that dancing is just moving to the music and having fun with it. Going to workshops and studying moves and technique (as well as being such a beginner as I still consider myself) has made me over analytical about Lindy Hop. I decided then that I would work on rhythm and movement as basic elements independent of Lindy Hop and just have fun with social dancing.

Gaming

This year marked a return to gaming on a more regular basis. Jodie and I started playing World of Warcraft again in the first half of the hear though our interest has dwindled again recently. I became quite addicted to Fallout 3, and have more recently been ignoring it in favour of Dragon Age: Origins which is proving to be one of the best role playing games I’ve played in years.

A group of Calgary swing dancers got together several times to fight for freedom (and gold) and battle supernatural creatures in the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition universe. Our DM is running the War of the Burning Sky Campaign Saga. We’ve been playing infrequently but it’s been a good time. For someone as nerdy as I am, it’s odd that I’ve played so little D&D in the past. Finally my old dice (and some new ones) are being put to use. Hopefully things pick up this year.

Moving

In September I moved to a nice new apartment in another corner of downtown Calgary. Jodie is sharing the place with me. Aside from still missing some furniture, decorations and the like, we’ve settled in quite comfortably. One of the criteria we were looking for in an apartment was the potential to have a cat and this place fit the bill nicely. This year we’ll be filling in the missing bits.

Jodie

Because she’s also awesome. We’ve been together over a year now and don’t hate each other so I take that as a good sign. We went to Edmonton together this year and saw a number of concerts in Calgary including Dragonforce, Blue Man Group, and Video Games Live. I travelled with her to Ontario to meet her family over the holidays. Great people (and cat) and a nice trip on the whole.

Work

Things continue to go well at work. Busy as always and projects are varied. I have more responsibility these days and more opportunities to learn about interesting technology.

Computers

My 2.5 year old Macbook Pro has been flaking out for the past few months. I suspect it’s this issue and now have a case number assigned and a warranty exemption for service. All signs point to the video issue but I need to go to a service centre to confirm. It started as graphical corruption while playing WoW that would crash the software and cause system slowdowns. Now when the corruption occurs, it hangs the whole system and on reboot I get the multilingual kernel panic. I am only able to boot my system again after I repair my partition in Target Disk mode using a second system and reset the PRAM. I’ll be taking it in tomorrow most likely.

Janus, by contrast, saw early the futility of standing in his brother’s shadow. He did not go out of his way to get along with the neighbourhood children and spent little time engaged in typical childhood games and fantasy. In the public gatherings he was often carted off to with his parents and brother he would pay little attention to the people around him. His attention was grabbed by the little things that fell beyond the notice of ordinary people such as the movement of a spider on the ground below or the shapes of the clouds. As soon as Janus could read he began absorbing the books in his household library. These were mostly books of history and mythology and, while he couldn’t yet understand all the words or grasp all the concepts, he reread all the books many times over.

Between Crius and Clothildis, neither could relate well to Janus as he grew older. They knew he had a keen mind, but could not understand why he wouldn’t apply himself to making friends. Æðelric was by the age of 16 being groomed to a life following in his parents’ footsteps. He had a wide circle of friends and was already showing signs of leadership. He was also a smart child, but like his parents showed little concern for affairs outside of Gate Pass.

Janus, 12, already believed he saw the bigger picture. While Gate Pass had only been conquered once, there were many much older historical accounts of such trade cities between nations having been conquered repeatedly. Janus shared none of the nobility’s delusions of safety. He hadn’t the tact to argue this with his parents much less anyone else but silently observed and studied.

As Janus grew older, his thirst for knowledge only increased. As soon as he began to receive an allowance he would visit the Saraswatin once a month and read until the librarians went home. On account of his age, the librarians would generally overlook his meager donations on each visit. It was at the Saraswatin he learned of the goddess Ioun and felt a greater affinity to her than he had ever felt to his family god, Bahamut. He kept his devotion secret from his mother and father and payed tribute through his dedication to knowledge.

Still, his parents tried to fit him into their world. At parties they insisted on him attending, he would be as gracious as he could manage (which was mostly being quiet until they forgot about him) before seeking the first opportunity to retreat to wherever the host stored his or her collection of books and read until it was time to leave. At one such party, larger and more lavish than most, he made his usual escape only to find that someone had beaten him to the house library (which actually was a library in this particular estate). In a low chair seated by a large shelf of particularly old looking books was a skinny old man wearing a red robe. The red robe was generally a marker of a student of Gabal’s school but this man’s robe looked almost as old as the man himself and was slightly (only slightly) more ornate than usual.

The man glanced up from his book and gave Janus a grunt and a glare. Janus contemplated just for a moment whether or not he should continue into the library but quickly fixed his resolve and found himself perusing the shelf of antique books, ignoring the continued glare of the robed man. Reading the titles, he saw that a large number of these were written in other languages and even many of those in his own tongue had practically incomprehensible titles. Quite a find. He grabbed the first whose title made any sense to him, “Exploration of the Arcane,” and quickly found a seat across the library. The man appeared to have gone back to his reading, but Janus could swear he felt the man staring more than once. A few pages in (and only a fraction of the words understood), the man in the robe spoke, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

Janus looked up and met the man’s eyes. “Only a little,” he answered honestly.

“Whose son are you?”

“Crius and Clothildis Finglonger’s,” Janus again answered honestly. The man was blunt and Janus saw no reason to hesitate.

“Are you interested in magic?”

“Yes,” answered Janus, again honestly.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

With that, the man stood, replaced his book on to the shelf and left. Janus returned to his book.

Two days later, Janus’s mother and father told him they would be sending him to Gabal’s School. His father explained rhetorically that while they had wished for many better opportunities for their son, if they had to have a wizard in the family it would look good for them to have him study under such a famed evoker as Gabal. Besides, it would serve their relations with the school well to give in to Gabal’s request to teach the boy.

Janus’s adjustment to life in the school was surprisingly easy. He was among a small group of younger students but many of the classes were all-ages and for a change he was not pressured by those around him to be social or make appearances. Initially, he had to maintain a strict schedule and was encouraged to do as he always had and study hard. Most of his classes involved book learning and lectures with only occasional practical classes. He spent occasional vacation weeks with his family and while he never became more social, he would often appease his parents by performing little tricks of arcane magic at parties.

At age 18, Janus graduated and for practical reasons decided to give up the comfort of the school and its libraries for an apartment not far away. He maintained his affiliation to Gabal’s School and continued to study there, but he had come to realize that if he wanted to accomplish something good in the world he would have to practice applying his knowledge. Janus worked for a year or so doing odd jobs around town and, owing to both his silence and reliability, he made occasional income running bribes to certain city officials and politicians on behalf of the school. While not an outright public activity, such passing of bribes was understood as simply a part of the mechanics of city governance.

One evening after assisting a local farmer in ridding himself of a large wild dog that had been tormenting his animals, the farmer invited Janus in for supper and told him of the Resistance. Janus had heard of the Resistance. It wasn’t something people discussed on the streets in daylight, but it was something most were aware of. War was on its way, the man warned, and Janus’s skill could be put to better use in assisting the cause than in (rather majestically, he admitted) burning barnyard nuisances into oblivion. To this point, the thought of joining such a resistance hadn’t really crossed Janus’s mind, but the need for change was evident to him. The people of Gate Pass, while concerned about how little they’d been hearing from the outside world, held fast to the belief that nothing could touch them in their mountain pass town. The farmer told Janus who he could talk to about joining before paying him and sending him on his way.

The next day, Janus arranged to meet with this individual and offered his assistance to the movement. One year later, the real story began.

We have a Logitech wireless keyboard here, but found no wireless adapter to go with it.  Please send a new keyboard or an adapter for this one (see attached image).
- Anonymous Co-Worker

The amusing part should be evident within a few seconds of looking at the pic.