Blog is Moving.

For some time I've been playing with Word press and I've decided to import my blogger info into Word Press. This blog is now closed.

To continue reading my blog, please update your bookmarks, favorites, etc.

the new URL is http://blog.germanpickle.com

I will have a new feed there also.

Thanks.

-The Pickle

Dear Anonymous

Based on your comments, I would guess that it’s you, not I that is the hot head. Fact of the matter is that I laughed while writing my last post. I laughed because of how ridiculous some of your comments were. However, I’d like to clarify a few things for you.

One. I have an open mind, and two I am willing to learn from the interaction; hence the reason why I chose to open my mouth. So, being a man of my word, I did some research for both our benefit. As stated earlier, I am no lawyer, but I believe that I’m intelligent enough to be able to understand the following two websites, within reason.

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/

In case you haven’t guessed by the url, it’s a link to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I’ll help you out. Here’s a cut and paste of the Fundamental Freedoms.

Fundamental Freedoms

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
a) freedom of conscience and religion;
b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
d) freedom of association.

As you see, bullet B indicates, “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including the freedom of the press”. This means that whatever is written in this, or any other blog, is protected by that freedom. This applies within the limits of the Canadian Justice System.

So, let’s look at the Criminal Code of Canada.

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/

PART VIII of the Criminal Code of Canada is titled, Offences Against the Person and Reputation, probably a good place to start. Let’s see…. …

Section 298 belongs to the sections regarding “Defamatory Libel”, which is what the anonymous reader has accused me of.

Section 298 reads

298. (1) A defamatory libel is matter published, without lawful justification or excuse, that is likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or that is designed to insult the person of or concerning whom it is published.

Interesting. So In order to injure the reputation of an individual does that individual not need to be identified? No names have been mentioned. So I see nothing in this section that makes me or any other person referred to in “Anonymous” reader’s comments that indicate actual libel. Lets keep reading.

298. (2) A defamatory libel may be expressed directly or by insinuation or irony

(a) in words legibly marked on any substance; or
(b) by any object signifying a defamatory libel otherwise than by words.

Very interesting. So Libel can be marked on any substance. That means, I could arrange Alphagettis into a libelous sentence. Cool! Lets read on.

299. A person publishes a libel when he

(a) exhibits it in public;
(b) causes it to be read or seen; or
(c) shows or delivers it, or causes it to be shown or delivered, with intent that it should be read or seen by the person whom it defames or by any other person.

So, I’d have to publicly display my alphagettis. Sorry, I’d have to publicly display my alphagettis in a manner that shows intent that I want the person I’m allegedly defaming to read my noodles.

So before I continue, my blog, and that of “Mr. Justice” has already not met several key requirements for libel.

1. No person has been ridiculed, insulted, or exposed to hatred.

2. Although both the blogs in question are publicly published, it has not been stated that either blog has been published with intent that it should be read by the person it defames.

3. Furthermore, since no name is mentioned even had there been ridicule, insults, or exposure to hatred, no person was identified, therefore there’s no way to prove whom this alleged ridicule, insult or exposute to hatred is about. This makes points 1 and 2 mute.

But please let’s continue.

300. Every one who publishes a defamatory libel that he knows is false is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

301. Every one who publishes a defamatory libel is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

Libel has strong consequences. Let this be a warning to all. Including those who publicly publish a comment indended for me to read, addressed to me calling me a “Pompous Ass”. This is clearly a statement directed at me to insult me (meets qualifications of section 298) and it was delivered with intent that it should be read by me (Section 299). And, since I was being accused of libel, anonymous clearly knows all about law, so that would mean section 300 would apply. Five years rather than two.

Lastly, lets look at how this legislation applies to blogs. What is a blog? Blog, or Web Log is a journal published by an author intended to provide items of public interest and public discussion. Sections 309 and 310 apply to this.

Public benefit

309. No person shall be deemed to publish a defamatory libel by reason only that he publishes defamatory matter that, on reasonable grounds, he believes is true, and that is relevant to any subject of public interest, the public discussion of which is for the public benefit.

Fair comment on public person or work of art

310. No person shall be deemed to publish a defamatory libel by reason only that he publishes fair comments

(a) on the public conduct of a person who takes part in public affairs; or
(b) on a published book or other literary production, or on any composition or work of art or performance publicly exhibited, or on any other communication made to the public on any subject, if the comments are confined to criticism thereof.

So if it can be stated that the Pickle’s Perspective, and Justice4Fathers Blogs are journals where the respective authors, publish material which is, on reasonable grounds considered true for the purpose of public interest for the public benefit would NOT be deemed to have published defamatory libel.

So, based on these readings, my beloved readers, here are the facts, about libel in Canada. I’d like to thank all my readers, whether you comment or not. I write this blog for your entertainment. For your input, and for your benefit. If my posts make you question something, I’ve done my job. This trip into my mind is bumpy, funny, ridiculous, and sometimes offensive, but it’s always 100% the pickle’s perspective.

The Truth About Libel.

Recently my blog was spammed by an anonymous reader claiming that I, by posting a link to another blog, could become legally responsible, if said blog contained libel. I've never backed down from a confrontation on my blog, and I surely won't now.

Once again, I'd like to make two comments.

1. If you know absolutely nothing about a subject, then either button your lip and don't open your mouth, or two, listen to what others tell you and gain knowledge and experience from the interaction.

2. If you have a closed mind you should have a closed mouth.

Now to continue. Here's the exact quote from the comments on my other blog post.

"YOU ARE JUST AS GUILTY of these acts as the man who wrote the Justice Blog because you posted the link to his. You are in essence making this available to a wider public audience. This is injurious and grounds for a civil suit against you too. It is no defense in law if you just repeat but did not originate the defamation.

The fact that the blog was written with malice is also important in civil cases.

You can state your opinion, but you cannot perpetuate this libel. You are the owner of the blog, and you must share in the damages when awarded."

So, lets set something straight: Oxford Dictionary defines libel as: Noun - the publication of a false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation.

Let's examine this definition. First off. Libel means false statement. I personally have made no false statements. Secondly, in order for statements true or otherwise, to be damaging to a person's reputation, they must include identifiable details about said person. This did not occur either.

A few months ago, an individual posted a website containing libel about me. The website was created in retaliation to negative ebay feedback I left for a seller that sold me an open item when it was claimed to be in a factory sealed box. This libel website contained my full name, my email address, and my paypal account information. I contacted the RCMP, and Vancouver Police department for assistance.

As it turned out, the seller broke no Canadian Law. First off there a freedom of speech. Secondly in Canada it must be proved that the person who is suspected of writing the libel is in fact the person who typed it into the keyboard. Using an IP address as evidence isn't sufficient. Lastly, posting personal information about me on the Internet didn't violate any Canadian Privacy Legislation if the personal information contained on the website was publicly accessible in another fashion. Post your email on any media for any reason yourself and that email address is now publicly available.

So I may not be a lawyer, or a judge or an enforcement officer of any kind. However I have something called common sense and intelligence. With those two combined, I can easily deduce that based on my experiences; the person who essentially threatened me with a civil suit, knows nothing of what they talk about. Clearly any person who reads a post on the internet, especially a post that mentions no names, and still thinks the post is libel about them, is clearly confused and misguided.

That's all. You can go outside and play now.

The Moving Baby Swing

IF you have this swing, be careful. Some parents put a baby into a swing so they can do some chores around the house. Our baby loves her swing. She swings and naps, giving us time to clean up etc. Well on the weekend, I was doing some computer work, when I noticed little girl was right beside me.

Check out the video.



I called Graco to log a safety concern. They are investigating and appear quite pro-active at this point. I'll keep you up to date!

Unfaithfulness = Die Young!

Based on a Cambridge University Study, it appears that the competition over sex is the reason why males live shorter lives than females. The Cambridge study compared males of various species and found that, the more polygamous a species was the shorter the life expectancy was of the male in regards to the female. In these examples, the males ages quicker also.

So, if the dishonesty of cheating isn't a strong enough deterrent to infidelity, perhaps the fact that it can shorten your life, may be!

See the original article here: http://www.livescience.com/animals/071016-male-age.html

Don't be Ringing My Doorbell!

As Halloween approaches and we grownups decorate and prepare for an evening of Ghouls and Goblins terrorizing our front lawns, I have only one simple request. DON'T be ringing my doorbell.

This must be a sign of a society that's getting ever lazier. Last year, one kid, must a been 15 or so, (Voice had already cracked) rang the doorbell and exclaimed, "Gimme some candy."

Yeah, Piss off!

When I was a kid there were rules to Halloween.

1. Dress up.

2. Shout at the top of your lungs. "Trick or Treat" or "Halloween Apples" If we yelled trick or treat, we knew we could be getting the trick.

Nowadays it's a "Ding dong" and silence. Bahh... maybe I'm becoming an old fart, I dunno....

Nonetheless the 2 rules should still hold true. In the past I've done the tricking from time to time. Jumping out at kids, lighting fire crackers behind them, or other such childish antics. So all you kids, if you expect good candy and effort on my part, you best not be ringin' my doorbell. You'll need to put a little effort in too... if you know what's good for ya.

Can You Live Greener Without Changing Your Habits?

That's a question I asked myself not to long ago. We hear so much about global warming and climate change. We're reminded daily that we need to change to make a difference. But realistically many people aren't ready to scrap their gas guzzling SUV for a Smart Car. Many people go on with their lives believing that to live greener, you need to make significant changes.

So is it possible to lower your carbon footprint, without making any changes to your habits? Maybe not, but what if we make very small changes to our habits? Go ahead keep the huge SUV, Don't car pool, Don't take the bus, and still drive the V8 monster across town to buy milk rather than combining the trip with a commute.

I believe that even if you're major day to day habits aren't changing, can you tweak the little things to reduce your impact on the environment. More change is better, but there's a few things that anyone can do. In fact I think you can have a profound affect with some very simple changes that will barely affect your routine. Here's my list of how you can reduce your carbon footprint, with minimal changes to your comfortable suburban lifestyle.

1. Switch to green power/ be powersmart.
Depending on where you live, you may have an option to switch to green power for close to the same price. Here we are very lucky. With all of our power being hydro-electric or wind power, we're a green producer and efficient producer resulting in a cost of 5.94 cents per kilowatt hour.

2. Be Powersmart
Turn off lights when you're not in the room. Use fluorescent and compact fluorescent bulbs in your home. Turn off the computer when not in use. If you're going away for a few days or longer, turn down the heat, or turn off the A/C. Also turn down the Hot water tank to it's "vacation setting". Unplug your electronics if you're not using them for a longer period of time.

3. Recycle
You're already bringing your garbage to the street once a week for garbage delivery. Get yourself a "blue box", and put your recycling out too. In many places you don't need to separate your various types of recycling. In some areas they don't even ask you to rinse your empty canned goods cans. Glass is the only item that we manufacture that is 100% recyclable so buy the ketchup in glass rather than squeezable plastic. If there's no recycling program in your area, contact your local municipal office and inquire about why.

4. Donate/Freecycle
Perfectly good items you have that you don't need, don't turf them. Clothes, furniture, toys, electronics etc. can be freecycled or donated. In many areas for example, the Diabetes Association, for example, takes donations for exerything from clothes to vehicles. These items are sold with the proceeds funding diabetes research. These items are re-used and kept out of the landfill a little longer. If you'd rather not donate to diabetes, consider the freecycle network, which is a network of individuals that give away useable items to others in attempt to keep things out of the garbage.

5. Buy local
This is such a no brainer when you rationalize the reasoning. Why buy potatoes that came from a farm 2000KM away, when you can buy local grown potatoes? first off you're supporting the local economy, and you're reducing your carbon footprint as these items aren't driving by 18-wheeler across the continent. Meat is another great example. Local slaughtered livestock means the product probably has less preservatives and travelled less to get to your plate. This holds true with clothing, and other consumer goods also. Often, if you shop smart, there's a negligible cost impact. For example. I know that Warehouse One has a local jeans factory. They're jeans are comfortable, and priced very reasonable. Before I finalize my selection, I look at the tag. "Made in Canada" Well there's a change at least that this was made locally, minimizing the shipping of the item, therefore less greenhouse gases spewed into the air during this item's manufacturing lifecycle.

6. Use e-Billing
This is really one that takes next to zero habit change. Contact your utility providers, and arrange for e-Billing. Pay your bills electronically. Canada Post offers e-Post services. If you've ever been in a mail room, you'll be shocked how many tonnes of paper are used to send bills. Using eBilling can save tons of paper. The carbon reduction is also significant. From heavy equipment that's doing the logging to the delivery to the paper mill. Then the paper process which uses bleach and other chemicals, through to the paper delivery. Then there's the final delivery of the mail.

7. R.O. rather than bottled water
Recently there's been a lot of discussion about how unfriendly the bottled water business is. Personally I enjoy the tast of the water out of my tap. I'm not disillusioned, so I know I'm probably the minority. But what if you could get the benefit of the bottled water taste, with less cost? all it would cost you is the fact that you wouldn't be walking around with the bottle of "Aquafina" or "Disani" when out in public. Instead you'll be walking around carrying the "Nalagene" bottle. In fact, over two or three years this could save you money. The solution. Get yourself an R.O. system at home. Reverse Osmosis, is the process many water cooler companies use to "make" their water. If you fill up your cooler bottles at the local grocery store dispenser, you're getting RO water already. This water isn't coming on a ship from Fiji, for example. An R.O. system can be purchased for as little as $500.00 making it a relatively inexpensive upgrade that will most likely give you a r.o.i of under 2 years, depending on how much water you purchase. Now get yourself a refillable Nalagene bottle and your good to go with a portable, re-fillable water bottle.

Yuhai Sensei

Funny how small the world can be. Yesterday, I was asked to show a local college student about my job. This student, who was taking the same IT program at College that I graduated from in 1998 was on a mentor-ship program at at our company, and as school is about to start again, he was given a view of different IT positions in our organization. My co-worker friend (who was in my graduating class) came to my cubicle to introduce me to this student. An introduction was not needed, as I recognized my old Elementary School friend instantly.

This friend, let's call him Tom, was a judoka since we were young kids. Tom, had nearly made the Olympics on several occasions And may have even made it a couple times too, I don't know.

We took a couple minutes to catch up on 13 years of not seeing each other. the conversation included his Judo career. As we discussed the martial arts I mentioned to him, that I had taken a few years of Jiu-Jitsu and hoped to get back into it some day.

the world being as small as it is, Tom knew my Sensei and the places where we trained. Sensei Ron Fulton, what a great man. That's when I found out..... Sensei Fulton has passed away...
The place we trained on Thursday nights belonged to Sensei's friend Darwin. He's also passed away.

Strange. I haven't seen these people in years; and based on their age, I knew there was this likelihood, yet I'm saddened. This post is me paying my last respects to Sensei Fulton

YUHAI

How much power does that use anyway?

Leave the computer running, or shut it down in the evening; it's a debate many can't seem to agree on. Over the years I've changed my standpoint on the subject more than once. However, I think I now have a solid argument for shutting down your computer when it's not in use.

My co-worker, recently loaned me an energy monitor-logger. This device will log the electrical usage of a circuit. Whether it be one item or multiple items on a circuit, no matter. The monitor stores it's readings into internal memory. It then estimates a monthly electrical cost for the use of the circuit based on the readings in memory. The unit connects to the computer using USB, and the data can be downloaded from the device to analyse the usage of the circuit. So what does a computer use on electricity. Well it'll depend on your computer. I think I have a run of the mill set up. (well it's a dated set up, but still)

• Generic Tower
• AMD Palimino XP2600+ with 1.25GB RAM (DDR400)
• 120GB and 80GB hard drives.
• DVD Burner
• CD-ROM
• Ethernet
• Modem
• Soundblaster Audigy
• Ati All-In-Wonder Radeon 7500
• 19 Inch Flat front CRT Monitor.
• Wifi Hub
• Cable Modem
• 5.1 Surround speaker system
• InkJet Printer

So What does this set up consume on electricity? While the computer is running; with average usage; My computer setup draws between 960 - 1100 Watts of power. Average usage means surfin' the web. Listening to mp3s while doing it and maybe doing some flickr uploads at the same time.

At 6.5 cents per killowatt hour (and that's a pretty good rate), if I was running the computer 24/7 I'd be looking at ~$40.00 - $50.00 per month on electricity. Now a breakdown showed that around 300 watts were consumed by my monitor alone. So I could probably save myself somewhere close to 6 bucks a month by buying an LCD monitor, assuming it was running 24/7. The LCD monitor would pay for itself in a couple years. A good way to justify an upgrade, wouldn't you say?

How about idle time? My computer, when sitting unattended; hard drives not spinning, monitor in powersave mode, speakers off and printer turned off, still consumed over 500 watts of power, or about $20.00 a month. Kids, that's $240.00 per year.

Lets assume that you're not using a gaming system, and that an $800 computer does the job for you, and lets assume that you use your computer for 5 hours a day. By shutting off your computer when not in use, you could save the equivalent of a new computer in under 4 years. That's assuming you're paying 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour.

If you want to look at it another way..... If you could save $200.00 per year. If you earn $10.00 an hour, and are in a15% tax bracket, you'd have to work an extra 23.5 hours per year to pay for your computer running idle while you're not using it.

So... is it better for the computer to be turned off? I don't know, but I know what's better for my wallet... and the savings...well they'll get absorbed someplace into my budget, but at least when the computer does need replacing, I can justify it that much more easily.

Off Work.... SURPRISE... Take 4

For crying out loud, when is enough enough already?

So a couple days ago, I come out of work; I walk to my motorcycle, which was parked behind the office and notice that the bike is laying lifeless flat on it's right hand side.

As if? Like Come on... Wasn't it enough that I had the Home From Work? SURPRISE then the Off Work.. SURPRISE Let's not forget the most recent Another After Work SURPRISE! Now some asshole has to go and tip over my bike too?

I have crash bars on my bike that protect the motor in case the bike falls over, so the bike was resting on the crash bars in the front, and on the passenger footpeg in the back. Damage was restricted to a little bit of scuffing on the throttle side hand grip.

At first I thought maybe somebody backed into it, and drove off, but then I noticed that the kickstand was up. The mirrors were twisted around, and all the controls were played with. Gasoline had leaked out of the tank to the extent of leaving a nice puddle on the pavement.

I put my helmet down and picked up the old lady. Sat down, straightened the mirrors, unlocked the steering and started her up. A few sputters and she came back alive.

I went back into the office to talk to the security guard...

Apparently a drunk guy stumbled into the building and told the security guard that he lost his keys to his bicycle, and would like the guard to cut his bike lock. The guard proceeded to chase the pathetic drunk off of company property. This is when the guard saw my bike laying on the ground.

The next day the guard told me that he had reviewed the video footage, and although the bike wasn't fully visible in the video, he could see the drunk guy at my bike playing around. By the sounds of it, he tried stealing it. I assume that when he realized that it needed a key to unlock the steering and that he wasn't going anywhere with it, (aside from in circles.) he just pushed it over and proceeded to attempt his luck at a bicycle.

People always talk about the benefits of working downtown. "everything's in walking distance" "Public Transportation connections are great", or arguments, like "You don't have to go ouside because so many buildings are skywalk connected" I paint a slightly different picture. Overpriced parking. Inadequate parking, and an overabundance of trouble makers, sniffers, huffers and drunks. All I can say is, the guy's lucky I didn't see him push over my bike. Most people are smart enough to know, you don't mess with another man's (or woman's) motorcycle.