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Well, it’s time I said goodbye to my Dad.

Last night I helped him hook up high-speed Internet. Now he doesn’t have dial-up anymore, he’ll be on the computer all the time.

It’s a new experience…high speed Internet. I know when I moved to Ottawa I was amazed.

It’s also kind of amusing to think that I’ve had something for the past 8 years which Dad only got yesterday.

Dad, don’t forget to CANCEL your dial-up Internet!

Today’s guest blog entry comes from my cousin Troy who sent me this note via email concerning 911 and VOIP. Troy is currently 911 dispatcher by day and a musician by night. One day we will tour under the name of ‘Palmer & Palmer’.

“Here’s a thought for you to ponder. When you call 911 from a land based line, and some cell phone service providers, your info (address, name, phone number) immediately “spills” into our dispatch centre. You do not have to speak for emergency services to respond. VOIP doesn’t allow this to happen….in fact a wrong address, name and phone number will most likely be “dropped” to the police causing us to go to the wrong location if you are unable to verbally confirm the information The general public is not informed as to the safety factor…they just look at the cost. You would be surprised how frequently we receive a 911 call with no voice contact that results in a life threatening situation.

This is a great point brought up by Troy. I was surprised to hear that a high number of calls to 911 don’t have any voice attached to it…I imagined myself in a coherent state while dialing 911…but who KNOWS what can happen to you when you need to call them?

I know that I’ve checked into a few VOIP providers and they DO provide information on how 911 works, but they don’t really come out with a warning flag for you. It’s more like it’s a clause to read in your contract. People should be more aware when dealing with VOIP.

As for myself, I will continue to look into VOIP, but only if they offer Enhanced 911 (aka, when I call from my house, the dispatch will have my name and address).

I’m sorry, but no one deserves to adopt a child if they continue to do Dr. Evil impersonations.

iplaying: In the Moonlight – Pearl Jam: Lost Dogs (man, it’s been awhile since I’ve listened to some tunes while blogging)

Stay tuned tomorrow morning for an important blog entry concerning VOIP and 911 calls. I got the scoop from my cousin Troy who saves lives daily as a 911 dispatcher.

Read Kevin’s entry here.

Have you read it? Alright, come on back.

Hi, do you like it better over in Palmer’s World? Yes, I thought so. Pull up a chair…heck pass me a beer while you’re at it. Thanks. *pshhht*

Printed media will eventually have a significant drop. Is this a bad thing? Well…it would use a lot less trees, that’s a fer sure.

Let’s look at the state of affairs right now in the world of publishing:
Most printed media has a corresponding website. Some of them have the full articles out there to read (vicemag.com, ottawasun.ca), some give you a taste and ask you to subcribe to their website to read the entire thing (essentially the same price…if not lower(? haven’t done any research on this) than a regular newspaper subscription).

I cancelled my subscriptions to a few magazines over the years for the sole fact that I can read the same stuff on the Internet. Let’s take Maxim…I cancelled it because I thought if I wanted something funny to read in the land of men, I could always just check out askmen.com. Other than that, what is the magazine good for? Sure, it’s nice to have something to read in the backyard, or on the can, but other than that, all the information within the pages are available on the Internet somewhere.

So, in my eyes, the only times I ever buy a magazine are:

1. When I’m stuck somewhere and have nothing to read.
2. When I do have that urge to have something in my hands to read rather than sitting in front of a computer screen. I have a feeling that a lot of people fall into this category still, which is fine.
3. If they offer something DIFFERENT than what is on the Internet.

Point 3 brings up the surefire way for print media to still give us something we want. In terms of news-based magazines and papers, ain’t going to happen. News is news. It will be released on the Internet instantly. In my eyes, the printed news form is like that Kraft Dinner that you’ve kept in the fridge for a week but you can’t bring yourself to eat it again.

But for the magazines/papers that focus on non-news stories, the sky is the limit. Let’s take our ever faithful Star Wars Magazine. With my subscription to the magazine, it offers me articles/short stories/whatever that will not be put onto the Internet. (!point: Let’s not get into the debate of how somewhere out there I could probably find a scanned copy in the recesses of the Internet world.). They entice me to get the magazine so I can get the scoop on stuff.

Magazines should move towards this format. Offer up different things than what they release on their official websites. On the Sports Illustrated website, you could have a great interview with Michael Jordan but if you pick up the SI magazine, you get the candid “What was your favourite movie?” talk. Alright, I’m really stretching here, but you get my drift.

For the printed media to survive (read: evolve) they have to offer something different than what is available in other forms. So far, newspaper does this in comparison with television because a news program cannot cover every article written inside the newspaper (especially obituaries. Who wants to see a list of that on the 6 O’Clock News?). But the Internet is a different story.

So, this is how I see the future unfolding:

Present:
Printed media will still be king. It’s still mainly used, most likely due to the older generation stuck on newspapers and televisions. I would like to see the numbers in terms of how much printed media has dropped/increased since 1995 (the birth of the Internet as we all know it.)

Future, let’s say 50 years:
You’re now looking at a generation who are tech savvy. Who know where to find their information on the Internet.
I see a very low number of printed newspapers (or if they ever come up with the electronic newspaper…heck yeah!) being replaced by Internet articles, handheld devices, etc. The printed form will never die. I don’t think it should die. In terms of short articles, I am fine reading it on a screen…but a book? I don’t know. I would have to try one out to see if I didn’t mind it. I’ve seen e-books being read on the bus and they don’t really appeal to me.
Anyhow, a definite decline in magazines in the next 50 years unless they start offering up different information.

Advice to Masses Who Read Palmer’s World: Take a look at the magazines you buy. Now, see what content is in them and see if you can find the same content on the Internet. I may have just saved you a couple of bucks if you don’t mind reading it on the Internet. For example: Gossip columns. Why buy them off the news stand? They’re already old news in terms of the Internet. Check out thesuperficial.com for your up to date celeb news. (plus I love the sarcasm).

It’s getting sporadic in here in terms of updates due to some MAN trying to stick it to me.

Here’s an update for you.

You can dial 911 on your cellphone even if you don’t have any service provider.

I’m assuming this is news to you all who read this blog or else you would have told me when I was debating getting Voice-Over IP (VOIP) as my phoneline. But I didn’t bother because if the power went out, I would not have 911 access.

Well, it doesn’t matter anyhow. As long as I have my cell phone charged up and in a place I’ll remember, and the power goes out and I need to call 911, voila, I just dial it and it’s good to go.

Or, alternatively, if I need it in the car. Throw it in the glovebox and if I need to dial 911, just do it.

So, I’m now going back to look at options for getting VOIP for a phone line.

What are the benefits of VOIP? Let me just put it this way.

How much do you spend on your phone in a month?

Alex found a place where he pays $2.50 a month for his phone service. Granted, he also has a cellphone that he uses regularly. But $2.50 a month (plus $0.04 cents a minute for calls outside the network (this means places outside Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal aka all the big southern cities) or $0.011 cents for calls within the network) is not something to be scoffed at.

I’m going out on a limb and encouraging YOU, my faithful reader, to look into VOIP for yourself.

Here are some starting points in terms of companies:
http://vonage.com – your standard run of the mill high advertising campaign companies
http://www.get3web.com/ – courtesy of Mike. We’re looking into this. Phone plus free Internet for $39.95? Shawing!
http://unlimitel.ca/wholesalevoip.html – This is the one Alex uses for $2.50 a month.

Caveat emptor people! Do a lot of research if you’re going to switch to VOIP. For example, take a look at your old phone bills and determine things like:

1. How many minutes to use the phone?
2. How many minutes are dedicate for long distance?
3. Do I need to purchase anything like a $150 modem/router/gadget to get the service?

If you do your research before jumping in, you may find out that you are still going to save quite a bit of money over the month (perhaps even half your bill!)

I never realized how much I am like my father until yesterday.

Dad has been looking for a truck for…close to a month now. With the Internet, this makes it an almost insane task since you are bombarded with so many choices.

He bit the bullet and picked up one down south in Campbellford. To do this, he hopped on a bus to Cochrane, took the train down to Toronto. Spent the night in Ajax with his sister then they drove him out to Campbellford and he bought the truck, then drove it back to Kapuskasing.

Whoa. That’s quite the trip for a vehicle.

But, I can say that I would do the same thing for something I had my eye on. I enjoy the hunt. The adventure for something. That’s half the fun!

I remember collecting the Matrix action figures a few years back and Benoit, Claude and I were always on the hunt for this super rare ‘Twin 2’ action figure. I ended up finding one via Benoit in a pawn shop but had to buy the entire lot of action figures (which I already owned) but ended up selling them to Benoit who didn’t have them yet. Was it silly? Sure, it’s an action figure! But the hunt for Twin 2 was amazing. I remember Claude telling me awhile after when he realized that he didn’t even really care about the action figures that he enjoyed the search for them more.

Anyhow, I’m glad to see that Dad and I have the same ambition when it comes to the hunt.

6 months ago…I am moving into my new pad and Carrie has graciously lent me her BBQ which she won at a stripping establishment (another story for another time).

I decide I better get a BBQ cover.

Hit up Wal-Mart and find one on clearance for $10. Shawing!

Get home and realize that it is size XXXXXXXXLG so that won’t do.

In my laziness, I never return it.

Fast forward, yesterday. Mike has to return something so I have the brilliant idea of returning the BBQ cover. I figure, even if I get $5 for it, it’s money in my pocket. If I can’t return it at all without a receipt, I’ll give it to Shannon and Maureen as a wedding gift.

No receipt, no problem! Just show your piece of identification.

Lo and behold, the RETURN Gods were shining on me and I got a cool $35 back in the form of a gift card at Wal-Mart.

Read that again, I just made $25 profit.

So, now I’m thinking this may be the ultimate loophole in the system – buy goods on clearance and wait six months when they get back in season. I’m talking Christmas, Hallowe’en, Gardening, you name it, they got it.

I’m going to randomly pick up something on clearance and see if it bounces back again. This will be the ultimate test.