"Last week at our full-company get together, each person was asked to say two things to the group: 1. What do you want to get better at? 2. What do you want to learn?"

In my opinion, there are tons of questions which we need to ask ourselves more frequently, and these are two of them. I think all too often, we have really vague answers to these questions, and then become dissatisfied with the way we conduct ourselves in life. If you don't really know what you would like to get better at, how will you become better at it? Furthermore, if you don't think about HOW to get better at something, it won't happen. Whatever it is you would like to get better at will remain at the same level always. The same goes for learning something. If you don't (1) know what it is that you would like to learn, and (2) HOW to learn something, it won't be learned. For the purposes of this post, I'm not going to go into the 'how', just the 'what'.

So I'm going to answer these questions about myself. To be honest, I haven't given these questions any great amount of thought, but I was inspired by Jason Fried's response in the original post-- he wrote that he wanted to stop being a "drive-by teacher" (as something to get better at), and that he would like to learn the technical side of something which, up until now, he has only been designing for. (As a designer + developer, I know exactly where he's coming from-- most people are inclined towards one or the other and not usually both, so the less-intuitive side needs more work constantly).

1. What do you [I] want to get better at?

I want to get better at following through with the plans and projects which I set up and/or start. I'm pretty bad at starting something, then running out of steam midway through, then setting the project aside for indeterminate lengths of time. Sometimes it never gets done. Sometimes I pick it up later and finish it, but this doesn't happen very often. I'd like to see a project through from conception to completion, with no large breaks in between, even if it doesn't turn out the way it did in my head. It's a learning experience. And it means I'll no longer have those half-finished projects taking up my headspace (not to mention physical space) and making me feel guilty every time I think/look at them.

2. What do you [I] want to learn?

If I had to pick specific things, this answer would be a mile long. I'm serious. There are just too many specific things which I would like to learn, from web languages (Ruby on Rails, HTML5) to spoken languages (Spanish, Tamil) to gesture-based languages (American Sign Language) to cooking (Indian, Greek, Italian) to practical things (manual transmission/stick shift), to artistic things (pottery, screenprinting, crochet, typesetting/typography), etc. The list goes on. But if I had to pick something general...

...It would be that I want to learn how to properly slow down, stop worrying, and just live life as it comes. I spend too much time worrying about the future, the past, previous experiences, upcoming experiences, what people think of me, and what people might say about me. Especially during school (which is why thinking about this now is a good idea), I get very stressed out. It seems like there is never any time to just unwind and relax. For sure, Chi-Kung helps, as it is meant to (and this already goes a long way towards being able to completely unwind), but the more tired and stressed I get, the more petty things I start worrying and thinking about, which doesn't help. I realize this is maybe not something which I can "learn", but certainly something which I can set as a goal, and aspire to.  

Also, in Shaolin Wahnam (which I am a member of), it is said that there are two ways of looking at everything: the negative way and the Shaolin Wahnam way-- these are perceptions of reality. Here is an example of this (from the Wahnam website, in an article written by Sigung Wong Kiew Kit):

"You can see the same principle operating in daily life though many people may not realize it. You are given a difficult job by your boss. Because you are a Shaolin Wahnam student and view everything the Shaolin Wahnam way (instead of the negative way), you perceive your difficult job as an interesting challenge and do your best. As a result you later gain a promotion - by your boss or by yourself becoming your own boss after having gone through challenging training.

Most other people in the same situation would have different perceptions. Some would try to pass the job to someone else, like you, knowing that they would still get the same pay. Others might do the job grudgingly and produce mediocre or poor result. The reality is the same - a difficult job to be done - but due to different perceptions of the same reality, the outcome can be very different."

My goal of taking life as it comes has everything to do with this perception change. If one gets mired in the negative way of looking at things, everything becomes impossible, and this mindset builds up over time into something hugely detrimental and instable. If one can see the positive in everything which happens, it becomes much easier to deal with life as it happens, without massive mental stress. Of course it is beneficial to understand both the positive and the negative, but it's always more beneficial in the long run to believe the positive side and take the better perspective.

There you have it. Some very introspective answers to two very simple questions. What are your answers?

Today's Grammar Shame Award goes to Black's Photography, for this blatant misuse on the front page of the Print Centre section of their website:

Black's Photography takes great pictures but has not-so-great grammar.

"Photobook's"? You're not saying "Photobook is", as in a contraction, and you're not saying that a Photobook owns something (as in, if a car belongs to Bob-- Bob's car), so there should not be an apostrophe there. Thank you for not putting an apostrophe in images ("image's") too.

If you look closely, there's actually a second offense: "holiday's". Again, you're not trying to say "holiday is", and you're not saying that the holiday owns anything, so there shouldn't be an apostrophe! Two offenses in a row is not a good thing, Black's (although, it could have been a lot worse-- "Wedding's, birthday's, vacation's..." and so on). Just because it's online does not give you a reason to be unprofessional. People DO notice. And yes, it affects my opinion of you as a company. Not cool, Black's. Not cool at all.

Do we seriously not have anything else to worry about right now?! How on earth did our heads get so far up our buried in the sand that we can ignore ALL of our other problems (and the world's, for that matter), and even CONSIDER making something like high-speed internet a basic right?!

There are people in this country who are starving. There are people in this country who are homeless. There are people in this country who are unemployed AND homeless AND starving. There are people who have jobs, but no home, and people who have a home, but no job (and will probably lose the home shortly, too). The healthcare system is broken. The welfare system is broken. The foster care system is broken. Whether or not the government is broken is a matter of opinion, but if they decide to fund initiatives to support this ludicrous idea, I will start believing that they are.

Now that I'm done ranting (for now), let's look at this objectively. What is a basic human right? Wikipedia defines human rights as "rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled". The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights says "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." (source).  But neither of these describes what could be defined as a "basic" right.

In my opinion? A basic right is a human right without which humans cannot live a dignified, healthy, peaceful, and free life. I realize this is a bit of a vague definition. But for now, think about high-speed internet access. Is it essential for a dignified life? Not really. Is it essential for a healthy life? Actually, spending too much time in front of the computer is bad for you. But, it does give you access to lots of information about living healthily, so I guess that one is a tie. Is it essential for living a peaceful life? Nope (if anything, it's very useful as a divisive wedge between groups). Is it essential for living a free life? Nope. So can we live without it? Absolutely. For sure, the internet is a very useful tool, but it is just that: a tool.

Think on this example: What if... you met a Canadian crop farmer? What if his land was failing due to whatever reason, and he did not have enough food to feed his family or himself? What if all the water that they had to drink was polluted and full of bacteria due to flooding or sewage dumping? What if they were all very sick from the water and lack of food, and they were in over their heads in debt? What if their deaths were imminent? What would you give them first-- food, clean water, and medicine, or high-speed internet access, saying that "broadband... is something that is required in order to fully participate (in society)"[source]?

In effect, that is what we are doing. We are ignoring the more urgent problems which are plaguing Canada (lack of efficient healthcare, homelessness, unemployment, violent crime, a lax legal system, poor welfare system, etc., etc.), in favour of giving people access to a tool which will not solve the problem. Basic rights are things like access to food, clean water, medicine/healthcare, permanent shelter, a means of living independantly (money, or otherwise), and a means to a peaceful life (no wars, discriminatory violence, abuse, etc.). Internet (high-speed, or not), is at its very best, a privilege. How can we simultaneously as a country consider investing money into ensuring every Canadian has internet access while refusing to pledge more money to aid Pakistan's citizens with the regaining of their basic rights in the aftermath of their flooding (source)? But never mind about the rest of the world-- how can we sink money into unnecessary tools when our own healthcare system is rapidly approaching breaking point?

I fail to see how anyone but the most ignorant or apathetic Canadian can support a ludicrous idea like this. Yes, Finland has already implemented high-speed internet as a basic right, but then, they were also recently ranked the world's best country by Newsweek (here) across a comparison of health, economy, education, and politics. They've got the right idea-- make all the important stuff work first, THEN focus on enhancing tools. For Canada (which was ranked 5th), fix the other problems in our country first-- make sure ALL of our citizens and residents have ALL of their basic rights, fix the failing systems, stop cutting money from emergency services, healthcare, education, and infrastructure-- and THEN consider making high-speed internet access available to all.

You'll notice I didn't say "THEN consider making high-speed internet access a basic right". It will never be a basic right as long as people are still dying from a lack of clean water/food/medicine/equality/peace anywhere in the world. We have a responsibility to help. Let Canada lead the world by example in more than just our economic status; let us be leaders in the global fight for basic rights everywhere. So what if not all of our 35 million citizens have access to high-speed internet? When almost a billion people in the world don't have clean drinking water, I'd say that puts our "problems" in perspective somewhat. Get off your high horse, Canadians, and stop being so selfish. We have bigger fish to fry.

P.S.: Wouldn't it be so much cooler in the future if, instead of saying "Canada is only one of three countries in the world to have high-speed internet access as a basic human right" (which is really nothing to brag about, especially to third-world countries), we could say something like "Canada is only one of three countries in the world to have a working, efficient healthcare system"? Or maybe, "Canada is one of the top three countries in the world who have given the most international aid to date"? Something to think about.

Featured image is from Charity:Water, and belongs to them.

As per last time, I will solicit contributions from the B. IT community at large via various social networks and good ol' fashioned email, and those contributions will be indicated clearly in this article. I'll add them as I get them.

Contributors:
- Chris Joslin, a B. IT - IMD Professor

First, here is a recap of some of the more important points from the last article which are still very applicable to second-year students (for full text, see the previous article):

Start your assignments/reports/etc. ASAP!

Effort really matters!

Make friends with the professors

Study and plan well for your exams!

Make good use of the computer labs at Carleton.

Prepare adequately for the workload.

Talk to the upper-year students!

Stay physically active during the school year.

Now on to the new points:

1. Time management, time management, time management!

It's been said before, but it bears repeating ad nauseum-- manage your time well! It is said that the first semester of the 2nd year is the hardest semester before 4th year, and this certainly proved true for me and the rest of the people in my year. Be proactive! This semester starts off pretty slowly, but it speeds up like crazy-- anticipate this, and make sure you are prepared for the entire semester's worth of work! Make a schedule, keep a calendar, write a list, whatever you have to do to stay on top of the projects/assignments/exams/etc.! (The second semester is also quite busy, but there's nothing quite like that first semester... you'll be used to the pace by the winter semester anyway).

2. Talk to your profs!

The profs (hopefully you know them by now, and vice versa) are open to any kind of feedback, and are very willing to help students out if they need it. If you have two midterm exams scheduled on the same day, and bring it to their attention, one might get moved. A deadline might get extended on an assignment. Some requirements might be relaxed somewhat. Don't be afraid to ask! If the answer is no, oh well, but if you have a good reason for asking, then good things can happen. The profs are also open to all kinds of general suggestions, comments, conversations, opinions, ideas, etc., just make sure you're not bothering them when they're working on something else. Try to stick to their published office hours (or email, etc.) if you need individual help with class-specific things.

3. Do the work yourself.

It might become a little tempting, especially if you're very busy, to ask someone else to write some code for you (even under the guise of "help" or "enhancement") or to collaborate with others on an individual project and share core code/designs/etc. However, this practice will only give you short-term gain and long-term pain-- firstly, by not doing your own work, you're not learning anything. Secondly, you're essentially taking advantage of someone else's abilities, and passing them off as your own*. And thirdly, you are in danger of being accused of plagiarism, which is an extremely serious offense. Do the work yourself, to the best of your abilities. If you need help from someone, that's ok, but make sure that they're not just writing code for you blindly. The profs have a very good sense of where an individual student's abilities are at by this time, so if your project's code seems too advanced/simple for you (or if there are two or more very similar projects), there will be suspicion.

*In the case of third-party "additional" code (non-core functions or abilities), or other third-party contributions to a project like stock photography/images, tutorials, etc., make sure you credit the original source in both your source code/project AND in your report/documentation (if you have one), so that there's no confusion about who made it. Other people working on the same assignment do not count as "third parties", and so sharing code or designs, even with credit, is not recommended.

4. Be creative, even if you don't have to be.

In the programming classes, you will often be graded on how your program RUNS (that is, the functionality), and not necessarily on how it LOOKS. That's fine. But, if you've finished the programming part and you have some time, go above and beyond the project requirements, and make it look good too. This definitely makes an impression on the marker! It may not affect your grade on the project, but it will give whoever is marking it a better impression of you and your work, and it might even end up being used as an example for that project in future years. You don't have to go crazy with the design (save your effort for your design projects), but even a little bit of colour, alignment, and images go a long way. Doing this will give whoever sees your project the impression that you actually cared about the project, and took your time with it.

5. Pay attention in class!

This is a bit of a mashup of some of the points from the previous article, but it is especially important in the upper-years! It includes (but is not limited to): stay awake in class, take notes where applicable, look at the professor when he or she is talking, listen to your fellow classmates' questions, stay off whatever electronic devices you may have nearby (computer, laptop, phone, music player, etc.), and don't talk to the people around you. I cannot even begin to tell you how annoying it is when three different people ask the SAME question in a 10-minute time span because the last two didn't listen to the first person's original question, or because none of them heard the prof address the topic in his/her lecture in the first place.

It is also very annoying when everyone in front of you in the lecture hall is playing WoW/Facebook games/Flash games/movies/tv show episodes/etc. on their laptops, and you can't concentrate on what the prof is teaching! I've said before that people shouldn't even bring their laptops to class in the first place if they care about what the prof is saying, and I'll stand by that. Aside from taking notes, there is no other reason to bring your laptop to class, and even that reason is questionable-- digital notes are not any easier to remember than ordinary notes, and the clicking sound in a lecture hall full of keyboards halfway drowns out the professor anyway.  It's a personal decision whether or not to bring your laptop, but generally, if you want to learn, leave it elsewhere.

Also, paying more attention to your computer than your prof in a computer lab lecture is likely to earn you the dubious honour of being "picked on" for answers by the prof, or else generally singled out in front of the class. It makes you look like a fool, to the entertainment of everyone else, so it's better to pay attention and not suffer the consequences.

6. Study in groups.

By this time, you should know most of the people in your year. Don't be afraid to start a study group for a midterm or final-- these exams are brutal, and are best studied for in groups, not individually. It doesn't seem to matter whether or not you're a "groups" type of person (I'm not, really, myself), studying in groups is extremely beneficial for everyone involved. Make a set of study notes for the group, or make yourself available to test people on lists/key points/vocabulary/etc. Every little bit helps! I've found that my best studying actually happens when everyone's sitting around in the Azrieli Pavilion, waiting for an exam to start (for afternoon/evening exams), and going over their notes in the meantime.

A note of caution about this, though: don't let people panic you about the exam, and don't panic others. It's perfectly natural to get nervous before a big exam, but telling everyone within earshot that "you're gonna fail, you're never gonna remember everything, it's no good, you're not gonna do well" is bad for everyone's morale, not just yours. Wish everyone good luck, reassure the nervous people, have a good study session, and believe in yourself-- this is the best thing you could do.

7. Make a portfolio website.

This was already mentioned in the previous article, but this is the year that it becomes VERY important-- lots of you will be applying for co-op positions starting in January, and you will need to have your portfolio online somewhere for prospective employers to view your work (especially if it's for a design company). If you can't afford to sign up with a good webhosting service, get yourself a free blog from Blogspot or WordPress, and use a portfolio theme to showcase your work.  You will also be provided with webspace on the undergraduate server for CSIT, which you could potentially use as well. Keep the site updated throughout the year with your school projects, put the URL on your business cards (if you have them; see next point), and make it a source of pride. Your site should represent you-- your personality, your style, your knowledge, and your abilities. It is also not a bad idea to set up a link exchange between your site and your classmates' sites-- this way, everyone's portfolio gets some exposure, regardless of experience.

8. Consider getting some business cards.

This mostly only applies for those of you who are planning on doing the co-op option for the program, but you will find that there will be multiple "career networking" events which you will be invited to attend throughout the year. These events are a way of introducing yourself to prospective employers, and are a decent way of getting your name out. The thing is, most people you meet will forget your name immediately (if they don't write it down)! Business cards are a good way of ensuring that your name and contact information stay with the people you meet, at least for a little while, and also can say a lot about your potential talent and job skills. If you are thinking of making some business cards, remember to include the following information: your name, year standing and program (you're still in school, so make sure this is clear on your card), any specific skills (PHP, Flash, copywriting, logo design?), your email address, portfolio website URL, and maybe your phone number as well.

I would recommend getting your cards done professionally using a service like Moo. They're very flexible in terms of design, environmentally friendly, and their quality is excellent (but you'll have to allow two weeks for shipping to Canada). I have had a rather bad experience printing business cards with the Algonquin College print shop before, and would not recommend them again, except that if you need your cards done quickly (within a day or two), you may want to go there instead. Of course, you do not NEED business cards at all, but I found that they were very handy in networking situations both in and out of school.

9. Spend your free time wisely. (*revised)

In your free time (if there is any), you may be interested in participating in speculative design contests or client work, where a large body of designers submit their designs to a potential client, and then only one is chosen as the "winner", and only the designer who designed that one gets paid/gets the contract. This type of work, "spec work", has its ups and downs, and both should be considered carefully before you participate in it. Some of the downsides include the potential to have your work ripped off (some clients view contests as a way to get a large amount of free, decent-quality design ideas without having to give credit), a large time commitment, and other negative aspects such as those described on  NO!SPEC. Some of the upsides are described in detail by Chris Joslin, below.

The main questions you should ask yourself before participating in spec work are: 'what is the main reason I am taking on additional work?' And 'do I have enough time to commit to this project?' If you need portfolio pieces, exposure, or general practice, then spec work might be a good idea for you. But if you are already swamped with schoolwork, taking on additional demands might not be such a wise idea. If you've already done several client projects, and don't feel like you want to do potentially time-consuming project for free, then spec work might not be the best fit for you either. It is a personal choice, and one which should be given much thought.

[Chris Joslin] I agree with your point about spec work, this is a bit of con really. However, general design competitions have a lot of benefit[s:]
1. You might win, which is a big bonus (not for the money, but for the validation - especially the bigger competitions where you are picked out of hundreds by real professionals)
2. you practice your craft
3. you see how you fair against other people and in some cases you get feedback
4. you add to your portfolio. In fact any design work where you don't get paid is kind of this way; you want to get paid of course, but if you aren't going to be (and you know it), better these advantages than just sitting around watching the 500th repeat of "Friends". If you listen to a lot of the big companies, the people actually hiring on proper contracts, they are looking for people with passion, who know their stuff inside and out and have a real talent - people who are ahead of everyone else - and practice makes perfect ...
5. a competition gives you deadlines. I find without deadlines most students will meander and keep pushing it back or leaving it completely - which is the problem for your own pet projects: lack of pressure.

10. Client work: get it in writing.

Here's a real scenario: A client asked me to do a side-project for him for pay. The project took quite a bit of time, and it was implied that my design would be used. I finished it, and submitted it. I then found out that the client had seen designs from one or more different designers for the same project, picked the one he liked best, and then paid only that designer for their work. The rest of us/I didn't get paid. (I did eventually indirectly get paid for the project by the person who was heading up the design team I was part of-- he was acting as the liason between the client and us, and felt that I should have been paid).

The lesson learned? If you decide to take on client work, make sure that you get it in writing that you will be paid* (and try not to get into situations where you are competing with other designers for the job). It can also pay off to draw up your own contract first, either in place, or in addition to a client contract. Either way, don't settle for verbal arrangements between you and a client (or you and a liason to a client)-- get any payment arrangements in writing. Similarly, get the scope of a project also put into writing at the beginning; this can help to prevent "scope creep" or "feature creep" on your existing payment arrangements. If a client wants additional features or items added to the project which are outside the initial specified scope, you can then charge them accordingly, and this will have been clear from the original contract.  

* If you agree to do work pro bono (for free), still get it in writing! Even if there are no payment arrangements to set down, it is still worthwhile to have a paper record of the scope of the project. Also, try not to get suckered into doing pro bono work for a client multiple times-- ideally, you should start to get paid after the first free project. Evaluate this on a case-by-case basis though, on your own judgement. If you're only going to do one free project for a client, make sure they know this, and ideally, set it down in writing on the contract of the initial project.

11. Take care of yourself!

I know, easier said than done, but seriously, this is probably the most important item on this list. Sleep lots. Eat regularly and healthily. Drink water. Stay active. Take breaks. Once the projects start piling up, you'll be able to generally function A LOT better if you keep an eye on your physical and mental states, and take steps to prevent yourself from breakdowns, meltdowns, exhaustion, hunger, dehydration, headaches, sickness, and out-of-shape-ness. School is stressful, and there's no avoiding that, so just deal with it as best as you can. Try not to freak out, worry, overly stress, obsess, or fixate on your grades. When working on assignments, take breaks from the computer periodically-- if you're on campus, go to the Tim Hortons in the Unicentre (it's usually open till 8pm), or failing that, go to the one in Res (open later). Walk or jog around the Azrieli Pavilion. Talk with friends. And always get the maximum amount of sleep possible!

I had several nights during the past school year which were near-all-nighters (I got maybe an hour of sleep at the max), and I was ALWAYS grouchy and miserable the next day, which was really not good for the people around me. Do everyone (including you) a favour and get lots of sleep! If you need to stay up late to work on assignments, try to do this on nights where you do not need to be in class early the next morning (i.e: 8am at Algonquin). I find concentration begins to lapse when one is tired, and of course, you're much more likely to fall asleep in class anyway if you're tired to begin with.

12. Pull your weight in group projects.

Make sure that you contribute as much as you can to your group when you're working on a project. Everyone else in the group is just as busy as you are, so there's no reason to slack off and let everyone else do the work. Not only is this unfair to them, but you might end up with lower grades on the project because of things like peer evaluations. This especially applies to huge projects like in Design Studio I-- your contributions (or lack thereof), will be more noticeable if the project is large.

Also, try and split the tasks and responsibilites evenly. It might sound nice to have the people with skills in design to do the design work, and the programmers do the programming, but in reality, one set of people always ends up doing much more work than the other set, and no one really learns anything new. Step out of your comfort zone a little bit, and volunteer to take on something which you don't know how to do. Splitting the design and programming evenly also means that everyone always has something to work on, as opposed to just waiting for the programmers/designers to be done their part so that you can work on yours.

Want to contribute to this list? If you're in the B. IT program described here, you can contact me at tamara [at] silverstreaked.net.

One day in July, I received a mailing from Scotiabank-- it was a brochure for a new credit card they had. I already have a credit card, and the yearly fees on this one were terrible ($39/year for only 2% CashBack? Really not worth it), so I threw the brochure out. I also received another mailing around this time for something else-- insurance? I can't remember, but it was also from Scotiabank, and I remember thinking "why are they only sending me stuff now, when I'm no longer even a client?" I never received this kind of thing in the mail when I was a client. Little did I know that things would get worse...

I started receiving calls at 5pm once a week from an unknown 1-888 number. I don't usually pick up my phone at this time, because I'm almost always on a bus, heading home. So one day, I called the number back, and discovered that it was a Scotiabank number. Hmm. The next week (last week), I got called by that number EVERY SINGLE WEEKDAY. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, all at 5pm. You'd think they'd wise up after a while and call at a different time? But no. Friday I was actually able to pick up, thanks to missing my bus, and did I ever have some questions for that Scotiabank representative!

Firstly, the reason they were calling was to try and sell me that same credit card for which I'd received a brochure already. You'd also think that if you hadn't sent back the application which was attached to the brochure, one could reasonably assume that you weren't interested in the card, right? Apparently not. The lady on the phone went on for 5 minutes, extolling the greatness of this card, and I just stayed quiet until she was done. So then I said that I had a few questions for her, and she sounded very eager to answer them... no doubt she thought the questions were about the credit card, and that she was already thinking about her commission.

The conversation after that went something like this:

Me: So... I'm just wondering why I've been called non-stop about this credit card? I'm not even a Scotiabank customer anymore! I stopped being a customer last month.

Her: Well... um... it sometimes takes up to 30 days for your name to be removed from our database...

Me: Yes, but I only started getting mailings and calls AFTER I stopped giving you guys my business. Speaking of which, I already got a mailing about this card, and being called about it every day for a week is pretty annoying. You're not going to get many people signing up if you keep doing that!
 
Her: Err...well... It may take another 3-4 days for your name to be taken out of our system, but I can take it out right now.

Me: Please do. I don't want to get called every day anymore about a card I don't even want!

And after that, she was tripping over herself in her effort to end the call. My goodness. 30 days to remove one's name from a database?! Cold-calling every single darn day in an effort to get me to sign up for a card I don't even need, AFTER  already sending me a brochure about it? In fact, trying to sell me a $39/year card in the first place when the only product I ever had with Scotiabank was a STUDENT account? Really unintelligent, Scotiabank. Very, very unintelligent of you. Obviously you're not doing so well if you have to resort to measures like these to get new signups.

Do you, Scotiabank, honestly think that STUDENTS are going to sign up for a card that costs an exhorbitant annual fee like that, for minimal benefits? I already have a card that gives me a more than decent amount of CashBack, for no annual fee at all. We're not stupid people, Scotiabank! And even if I was in the market for a new card, I would have been thoroughly turned off by your cold-calling skills (or lack thereof), and would have looked elsewhere. You shouldn't have to forcibly push products like that on people... if you offer something good, people will sign up, but only if there are far more positives than negatives. Spend a little more time doing your market research, Scotiabank, and back off. If you call me again, I will be more than slightly unfriendly. Shape up.

P.S.: The number they were calling me from was 1-888-882-3811. If you get a call (or twenty) from this number, beware-- Scotiabank might be trying to push useless products on you.

Person 1: "I want to do X"
Person 2: "But, but! You can't!"
1: "Why not?"
2: "Because!"
1: "Give me a better reason."
2: "Because that's not the way it's done!"
1: "Who says? Maybe 'the way it's done' could use an upgrade."
2: "But that's the way we've always done it!"
1: "But with the advance of new technology and new generations with new ideas about society and culture, maybe what you 'used to do' just isn't relevant anymore, have you thought of that?" 
2: "But anything new just... just won't work!"
1: "Why not? It might work better than what we already have."
2: "It will fail! People will hate it! People will destroy you with criticism! And when it fails, I will be right here to tell you 'I told you so'!"
1: "You're just afraid of change. Can't you see that this is a better way?"
2: "There are only so many ways of doing things, and they were ALL done before! The current way was PROVEN to be the best!"
1: "Yes, by previous generations in a much different society than ours. The world has changed since then. So I'm going to do X anyway."
2: "...I guess I can't convince you. You'll come to your senses eventually, probably after you fail, and realize that you can't just do X on a whim! Just remember that I warned you."

Does anyone besides me see how freaking irritating Person 2 is? We stick these arbitrary limitations on ourselves as a society and as individuals, and then wonder why nothing changes? We wonder why governments are corrupt, why our heathcare system is failing (I'm Canadian), why people continue to devour Big Macs and mass-produced fried chicken and cigarettes? We know our systems are broken, but we're so reluctant to change that we excuse it all by saying "that's the way it is" or "that's the way it's always been" or (the worst) "it's a fact of life that [governments are corrupt, mass healthcare will never work, people want cheap, easy food, people smoke, etc.]. And if we take these things as facts, anyone else who does anything different (or tries to change anything) is considered an idiot, a hippy, a rebel, or foolish (or all four).

Conventions change from generation to generation. But when these conventions persist as fact, they make society increasingly narrow-minded and rigid. Not to mention, they can land us in some pretty deep s**t (case in point: the government).

This really frustrates me. How many times do I visit an otherwise professional website, only to find that whoever wrote the copy for it had no concept of when to use (and not to use) apostrophes? Specifically, the 'apostrophe 's'' combination. People in general know that contractions use apostrophes-- I rarely see something like 'doesnt' or 'cant'-- but they seem to have no understanding of when apostrophes are used in conjunction with the letter 's' at the end of the word. In my opinion, there's really nothing as unprofessional as this. The worst part? It's getting worse, not better! It's becoming more and more widespread. Are people just not being taught grammar in school anymore?

Here's a real example, pulled from my employer's corporate intranet:

Misused Apostrophe

Do you see the mistake? There should not be an apostrophe in 'participants'. By comparison, the spam I received in my email inbox this morning not only had perfect grammar (in an attempt to bypass my spam filters, no doubt), it also correctly used words like 'inconceivably'. Why can random spammers write better English than professional writers?

So for those of you who didn't catch the mistake above, here is the condensed version of when to use 'apostrophe 's'':

1) DO use it to indicate possession-- i.e: Jim's car, the participant's boredom, the Jones' house (be careful of this last one-- since the name already contains an 's', the apostrophe is placed after it, not before).
* The exceptions to this are the generic singular nouns (he, she, it); when forming the possessive with these, there is no apostrophe (his bike, her closet, its colour (a wall, for example)).  

2) DO use it to indicate a contraction with the generic singular nouns discussed above-- i.e: it's (it is) warm outside, he's (he is) a nice person, she's (she is) out of town. In slang, you can also use other nouns like this to form contractions, but this is rather confusing in written English (i.e: my mom's (mom is) out shopping), and is more widely used when speaking.

3) DO NOT use it just because a word is plural. 'Participants', above, is plural, but in the context of the sentence, there is nothing that indicates a possessive, and a contraction would not make sense ('on providing participant is with greater self awareness'...?), so an apostrophe should not be used.

 4) DO NOT use it because you're just unsure. There are plenty of online and offline resources available to you to give you the rules of grammar-- there's (there is) no excuse not to look it up ESPECIALLY if you work for a large company.

 So there's my rant for the day. Miss Grammar Freak, at your service.

I realize that the audience for this conference probably doesn't care about website design, but they WILL care when they realize that the information from last year still has not been replaced and they can't find what they're looking for. Game design is still design-- there's really no excuse for this website to look like this. So, in the interest of fairness, let's analyze the good and the bad... maybe there's some good stuff underneath the 2000-esque design.

The Good:
- Navigation-based breadcrumb trail-- you always know which page you're currently on, as the link in the navigation is bolded and has a '>>' symbol behind it.

- Text-based, simple navigation

- White (or light) content background makes body text very readable

- Use of XHTML, jQuery.

- Modern, clean banner up top.

- Centred layout, fits 1024 x 768 resolution without horizontal scrolling

The Bad (partial list):
- Tables-based layout (use divs and CSS-- tables are for tabular data, and are a huge pain anyway).

- Very inconsistent alignment (pick one and stick with it!).

- Inconsistent fonts/font colours/line spacing/etc. (same as above).

- Use of images for text headers (like the 'Some of our great speakers...' text. Use plain text-- it's more SEO-friendly).

- The big banner has the new dates of the conference, but the 'Speakers' and 'Sessions' links still show the old content from last year (take this down, and maybe put it in an 'Archives' section, otherwise it's very confusing).

- Black background on the Twitter feed widget is very hard on the eyes... and what's with that neon green text? (Use consistent colours across the website).

- EXTREMELY crowded and cluttered home page-- there is no focal point, and the information in the middle is lost amid all of the surrounding logos/images/stuff (clean it up! Those logos do not need to be so big, and do not need to enclose the content like a sandwich).

- The email and print symbols look like they could have been pulled from an old DOS system... which works for some, but not for a gaming conference website. (And the alt text on the email symbol includes the word 'eMail'... who still capitalizes the 'm' in email?! This is 2010, not 1999). Speaking of... why is there a link to email right next to the 'Contact Us' link? They don't both need to be there.

- The image which links to the blog in the left column gives no indication it is the site's blog, other than the Blogger symbol (a text link in the navigation would be better)

- And why is the DIG logo different colours in different places? And who can read the 'Thanks to our 2009 speakers!' header-image without getting a headache? And why is 'Keynote' capitalized in some places and not others? And what's with all of the dashed lines separating the columns (and why are they all different colours)? And... and... and...

Sigh. Maybe I'll use this website as a case study, and mockup a version of what I would like it to look like. Or maybe I won't be able to stare at it that long. Either way, hopefully DIG cleans up their website before the conference this November... I might be more inclined to attend if they do.

Browser stats for July 29, 2010

 
That's actually pretty impressive. Firefox has a pretty strong showing too, despite the fact that people are beginning to blast it for being "behind the times" (read: not more like Chrome). As a Chrome user myself (at home, anyway), I can definitely see the benefits of Chrome-- and it's different. Google took the features of a typical web browser, pruned them down, revamped the UI, and made it all behave differently, and I like that they took that risk. Oh, and it's very fast.

I still haven't gotten a good chance to get really into the nitty-gritty of Chrome, but maybe in September I'll have more time (ha!).

This particular survey was somewhat all over the place on my shopping habits, but it tended to focus on clothes. More than that, it tended to focus on brands. Yay, my favourite topic...

It asked me: what store do you usually buy jeans from?
I answered.

It asked me: what do you like about this store?
I answered: good customer service, decent prices, high quality (for "Made in China" clothes, anyway).

Later, it asked me: what is the one brand you "can't live without"?
I replied: I could live without all brands, period.

Then: why is this "brand" (in quotes because I didn't name a brand) so important to you?
Me: I could live without brands because too often companies use the selling power of their brands to market sub-par goods (and people just follow the brand blindly because they "trust" it).

Hope someone gets some enjoyment later out of my answers.