We did it again. Repaired pavements, signs, benches, oiled squeaky swings, and more.
Tuesday, 3 August 2021
Saturday, 31 July 2021
Thursday, 29 July 2021
Try to cancel Comcast contract? Good luck with that
I'm sure there are few Comcast customer service calls that go well. But there are probably even fewer—we hope, anyway—that go this bad.
Comcast customer Ryan Block had recently called up Comcast's customer service line to cancel his service, which is simple enough. Just not for the customer service rep Ryan Block reaches on Comcast's end.
We drop in at about 10 minutes into the call, according to Mr. Blocks description, and Comcast's rep is in full-breakdown mode. All of it, it seems, began with the question "Why is it that you don't want faster speed? Help me understand why you don't want faster internet."
It is, in effect, the telecommunications version of the clingy ex-boyfriend, just begging you to not leave and make it all better.
He writes on Soundcloud:
The representative (name redacted) continued aggressively repeating his questions, despite the answers given, to the point where my wife became so visibly upset she handed me the phone.
This recording picks up roughly 10 minutes into the call, whereby she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations as to why we are canceling (which is why I simply stopped answering the rep's repeated question — it was clear the only sufficient answer was "Okay, please don't disconnect our service after all.")
Ultimately, Mr. Block perseveres through the Comcast rep's fusillade of questions to emerge victorious, canceling his service to switch over to Astound. With any luck, his new provider will be more sensitive to his needs.
Tuesday, 27 July 2021
COMPETITION: Win Hudson & Rex: Season 1 on DVD
Hudson & Rex originally aired in which Canadian television network?
1. Closing date 16-08-21
2. No alternative prize is available
3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.
Monday, 26 July 2021
Dreamy Kitty Rotoscope Animation
So this took the better part of a year and a half to animate. Almost 7000 frames. It was very meditative...and quite the learning experience. I tried to make sure it was just a relaxing thing to do on weekends for a few hours at a time. No stress. No deadlines. Just something for me. Plus, COVID-19 was a good excuse to just chill at the computer, so why not MAKE something?
I like to imagine that this is what Pixel experiences when she goes into dreamland. Trippy abstract things she sees out the window, or stuff she catches me watching on TV. Chasing shapes and colors. Catching those time extensions to fight off the seizures and stay in this world just a little bit longer.
The most annoying part is that I had to butcher the quality and framerate to export it for YouTube. The original file on my computer runs and looks so much better, but it keeps crashing when I try to export it. Very annoying. But I promised myself I'd upload it before 2021. Rotoscope is a lot of work. I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon.