In the Case of Rogers vs Crystal

If Rogers Wireless didn't have such a fantastic partnership with Research in Motion, I would have switched service providers a long time ago.

Sure, I spend way too much time on my Blackberry; texting, BBMing, Facebooking, MySpacing, Tweeting, Flickring, Googling, app browsing, weather checking and occasionally talking but I do what I must to keep in the know.  To avoid ever being overcharged, I make sure I have a wireless plan that incorporates all my needs for the lowest price.  Consequently, when I received my bill this month I was horrified to see that I was being charged $203.65.  I frantically fumbled through the pages of my bill in search of these alleged overcharges and where I found them was a shock.  According to Rogers, I had exceeded my 350 daytime minutes therefore increasing my voice charges by $63 dollars.  Talk time, really?  C'mon Rogers, if you're going to try and overcharge me for a service, let it be a service I use frequently.  Naturally I picked up my Blackberry and dialed *611 (connects you to Rogers for free from your mobile device).  After miscommunication with the high-energy and rather annoying automated Rogers guy, I was finally put through to billing.  Together we spent the next 28 minutes (I timed it) discussing where these mystery charges came from.  Eventually the representative caved in; and granted me a credit of not $63, but $85 dollars.  Feeling content and liberated I thanked her for her help, hung up and immediately Tweeted, BBMed, MySpaced and sent texts updating my friends on what had happened.

So here's some advice on how you can get your way with Rogers Wireless:

1 - Do make sure you have a legitimate and solid argument (confidence is key)

2 - Do have a  good standing with Rogers (they'll be helpful if you're a good client)

3 - Do thank the rep for their help

4 - Do not yell at the rep no matter how ridiculous they are

5 - Do not play the 'I will end my contract if you don't give me what I want' card.  You know you won't

Make sure to thoroughly check your bill to ensure you are not being overcharged.  Inquire if you feel like something is not right.  If you do not have detailed billing, get it.  It's important to see what activity is going on with your account and is a good reference if you do need to call Rogers. 

Who Says a Recession Can't Be Fun?

Last month Nick Goddard, an unemployed New Yorker, set out to alleviate fellow job seekers' stress by organizing the first ever 'Unemployment Olympics'.  The venue, Tompkins Square Park' was quite fitting, it was the spot where many labour riots were held in the 1980's.  Some events included 'Pin the Blame on the boss' and 'Fax Machine Toss'.  Goddard claims that he wanted to peel people away from the classifieds to have a refreshing break.  

Here in Toronto, I found out how our unemployed ease their stress.  

Check it out

Tamil Tiger Tirade

I was walking past University Avenue yesterday and couldn't help but stop and check out the protesters outside the US consulate.  Amidst the many frustrated people, I was surprised to see an abundant amount of young children.  While I understand that the genocide in Sri Lanka is devastating, should kids be taken out of school to participate in the rally?  

I was stopped by a high school girl who encouraged me to sign a petition that she plans on sending to President Barack Obama in hopes that he will come to the aid of her people.  The Tamils demand that they be allowed unimpeded delivery of food and medicines, immediately end the Sri Lankan military occupation of the Tamil homeland and the recognition of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) as the defenders of the Tamil nation.

Check out the video coverage at the scene of the protest  

As of this morning, protesters have been forced off the streets by Toronto Police allowing traffic to pass through University Avenue once again.

Help! I've Run Out of Disc Space

There it is; the reason I have no more room on my hard drive and the reason why an external hard drive has become my new best friend.  Notice the colourful squares and rectangles in the picture on the left; those are treemaps.  The two blue prominent treemaps are my worst enemy.  They represent the space that my Mp3's fill on my hard drive.  So now what do I do?  I've cleaned up my hard drive quite a bit, discarding any files I no longer needed but I am reluctant about cleaning my music files.  I love my music.  I take pride in my overwhelming collection of various genres of music.  

I was really glad to find this fabulous tool for my Mac.  If you are using OS X 10.3 or later and you want to find where all your memory has gone, you should definitely check out Disc Inventory X.  

Non-iPhone for Verizon

AT&T won't be able to use their exclusivity contract card for this one.  

There is speculation that America's leader in wireless networks Verizon and Apple are in talks to release 2 new devices onto the market as early as June 2009.  Making sure not to confuse the new mobile device with the iPhone, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs is set to introduce the 'non-iPhone'.  Its been said that the new cell phone is a smaller and less-expensive version of the highly coveted iPhone.  The second gadget is the Apple Media Pad (shown left) which would support watching high definition videos as well as browse the Internet and use Skype over Wifi.  

  CEO Rick Lindner credits the 1.6 million growth last quarter to the iPhone, so they hope to extend their exclusivity contract until 2011.  While it sounds like a great way to keep their customers, Verizon Wireless may have some super fabulous devices up their sleeve.

Wanna Get Fitlicious?

  

When the founder of E11even Productions invited me to sit-in on one of her fantastic shoots I jumped at the opportunity.  Theresa Laurico is quickly taking the production world by storm with her genius ideas and vivacious personality.  

I got to meet Melissa Tucker founder of 'Fitlicious Club' and boy is she FIT!  She gave a presentation to a room full of executives and practically tore apart their lunches explaining how unhealthy they were.  She offered amazing alternatives for the employees to snack on and provided the recipes which were simple enough.  I thought I was safe from her ruthless rant but as soon as the cameras stopped rolling she marched over to where I was sitting and demanded to know what kind of beverage was in my tall Starbucks cup.  I muttered a sheepish response making sure to emphasize that I ordered sugar-free syrup and non-fat milk.  Well, Melissa thought that was a riot, "You think because you got all that fancy no-fat garbage your drink is healthy?"  "Relatively."  I responded.  She proceeded to explain how much sugar and fat there was no matter how 'skinny' I try and make it.  She then handed me a drink she made with some chocolate powder and though it was delicious it contained NO caffeine.  A drink with no caffeine?  The nerve!  

I tried all of her amazing homemade snacks and admired her fit physique some more.  They wrapped the shoot and I asked all sorts of fitness and health questions including what I should drink instead of my beloved caramel macchiato.  The powder-water drink didn't seem as appetizing despite her skill of persuasion.  I obviously commented on her fabulous clothing line advertising 'Fitlicious' - at which point Melissa graciously gave me a cool tee-shirt and great baseball cap.

Canada will be seeing a lot more of Melissa Tucker, she has a mission to make everyone fitlicious and she'll do it through workshops, guest segments on Flow 93.5FM and plenty other events.  Check out her full site here 

*As soon as I was out of Melissa's sight, I darted to the closest Starbucks and ordered a tall, sugar-free vanilla, non-fat caramel macchiato.  It sounds less fattening, that's good enough for me.

Wanted: Better Earth Day Promo

When Starbucks released their Earth Day promotion it was seemingly attractive.  What better way to encourage penny-saving recessionitistas to visit than offer coffee on the house.  Better yet, why not incorporate Earth Day 2009 by offering complimentary coffee to patrons who bring a 'to-go' cup with them.  It's a win-win!  Conserve by not using paper cups and reinforce the declining caffeine addiction by reinforcing the decadent beverages.

The java giant hoped consumers would opt to bring their travel cups everyday following Earth Day.  After all, it wasn't too hard to dig up that travel mug for the free stuff.  I decided to check out some Starbucks locations in the GTA to see if I could spot anyone being environmentally friendly even after the incentive was gone.  

The Audacity of Tech

Reporter Mike Edgell aka my Global TV crush recently covered a segment of 16x9 exposing the severe lifestyle difference between those who obsess over technology and those who still think a 'tweet' is merely a sound a bird makes.  

The tech savvy candidate was the epitome of a yuppie while the nonconformist was a middle-aged hippie.  While I love the drastic and humorous comparison, I would have preferred to see Mike showcase two people of the same age group.  It would have been more interesting to see how each participant interacts technologically and not.  

It is a perfect time to segment a story like this since Twitter has just recently gone uber mainstream.  It also begs the question: Have we become too self-involved as a result of social networking sites or is this the new and improved way for society to get to know each other?  Will we be labeled as outcasts if we don't participate in new technology? 

Check out the full segment of 16x9 here

Cinderella Missed Out

I compare the purchase of my first pair of Christian Louboutin pumps to what emotion I think a man would have buying his first Ferrari F50; exhilarating.  

I walk proudly to the shoe department of Holt Renfrew, ignoring the haughty sales associates (who would rather help the Chanel-clad regulars).  There is no need for me to scour the department, I've obsessed over them for long enough.  "I'll try these in a size 9", I say cooly.  Little does she know I've already tried them at David's dozens of times.  As she disappears to fetch my magnificent shoes I reminisce about the many hours I worked, the money I saved just to have them accompany me to parties, to complete my shoe closet - better yet - complete my entire wardrobe.  She emerges from the back in what seems like hours and I quickly try them (adhering to my blase charade).  "Fine, I'll take them."  At the register she reads me the total monotonously (as if $760.00 is a normal price for a pair of shoes).  I surrender my debit card and just like that the shoes are mine.  Walking out of Holt's with my magenta bag I am euphoric.  On my way home a girlfriend calls to tell me the plans for that night.  An opportunity to wear my regal red-soled shoes?  An opportunity to be admired by all the men and envied by all the women?  I'm in!  Wait - I just spent my last penny on these shoes.  Guess i'll have to re-open my account at the Bank of Mom - at least for a little while.

Now these glitter, peep-toe stunners are likely worth every penny (if you're an LA girl hitting movie premieres or awards shows).  Unfortunately, I'm just suburban girl who sometimes joins the King West crowd - so not worthy of glitter Louboutin's.  While Cinderella wasn't an LA girl, she did go to a fabulous ball, not to mention marry royalty.  So,what was her fairy Godmother thinking sending her out in those glass slippers and where was Rachel Zoe when she was really needed?

Check out the latest Christian Louboutin collection here.

My Fight with vLingo

Cambridge-based Vlingo is trying to make voice enabling applications easier, by using their own speech-to-text J2ME/Brew application API (Windows/Symbian). Using the API, developers are be able translate a user’s voice to text, and use it in their application as if typed directly into the program. One of their first examples was for local search and shopping. Vlingo voice-enabled a text box on the program you could fill out by holding down the talk button and saying a phrase, like “Yoga in San Toronto”. The system then fills in the form with what you said, letting you modify the text normally if it gets it wrong.  I do not want to modify the text if it's wrong - I may as well spend my time texting...I'm a quick texter!!

I was super excited when I downloaded the App, especially since I won't be able to use my cell anymore while driving.  After a few test trials I realized that it was an absolute waste of my time.  Check out my video demonstration and you'll see what I mean.

Thinking of Calling in Sick?

Playing hooky used to be easy.  Call in, stay home and if anyone from work called make sure to sound weak and congested.  Those days are gone; with Facebook, Twitter and MySpace its practically impossible to hide from anyone.  

I just read this article  about a woman who lost her job because a co-worker found her updating her Facebook page while claiming to be ill.  It seems a bit harsh to me since it really does not take much for anyone to surf the net.  

We know the economy is tight, but really, using Facebook as a reason for dismissal sounds a bit trivial to me.

 

Trend of the Day

I'm a rookie TrendHunter at www.trendhunter.com so please check out my trend reports.

My latest entry showcases ParkLife(http://www.vancouver2010.com) and fashion house Aritzia (www.aritzia.com) teaming up and launching an exclusive line for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

See the full article here:

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/park-life-for-aritzia-olympic-fever-heats-up-the-retail-store

WELCOME!

Here's the deal; I'm a recent journalism grad and I hate to be redundant but there are absolutely NO JOBS in Toronto.  

I've just recently (yeah, I'm slow) become mesmerized by the power of the internet.  The internet will not tell me I do not have adequate experience, the internet will not give me a deadline and best of all: the internet will NOT reject me.

I have not yet solidified a premise for my blog - it could end up being super arbitrary or even mundane but i'll figure it out.

Thanks for visiting my page.

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