By Ray on May 16, 2008 - 8:54pm
If you, like me, are still using XP Pro, and you've been repeatedly nagged by Microsoft to download and install their SP3 cummulative update for Windows XP, there may be problems.
One of those problems is that any changes you've made to the appearance of your user interface (GUI) will be wiped out by the installation of that SP3. Many of us have been using third party themes, such as the Vista Transformation Pack, to give our reliable old XP Pro the newer appearance of an interface like Vista uses. There are free themes available for that. But if you've done that, and you install the SP3 update, none of those will work, because their enabling executive files have been removed by the update. To get those back, you must use 'System Restore' to revert to your previous setup. The good news is, now that you've installed that SP3, you shouldn't be nagged about it. So just leave it in a dark corner, and carry on as before. If you've been keeping up to date with your updates, then you probably don't need it anyway.
By Ray on May 14, 2008 - 9:52am
Here's what the opening screen looks like...
and you can find it here.
http://thevancouvermanifesto.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Richard Florida is comin' to town
On May31- June8 UBC in Vancouver will be hosting Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences conference. Most presenters will be of the academic variety and will no doubt be spewing jargon left and right (stuff I personally love), but it is worth a look.
One of the saddest aspects of our society is our level of civic engagement. Time and time again it is the same crazies that come out to the type of lectures that inform our policy. It is so important that citizens are there to represent the peoples' voice. Policy doesn't come from nowhere- there are academics and experts whose research informs political actors. A lot of research is good and a lot of research is bad. But most importantly, a lot of good research is misinterpreted and used as justification for neoliberal policy. Subsequently, bad research and misinterpretation of good research is used to justify policy documents such as Project Civil City that takes a clear 'broken windows theory' approach (a theory that makes lay-sense, but is all correlational with no real proof or statistical evidence that physical maintenance and image of a city afffects crime rates etc).
Dear friends,
as you noticed it has been a bit slow and uninteresting.
TheVancouverManifesto will be on temporary hiatus.
Please take a look at TheTorontoManifesto. We are working on a review of the Marxism 2008 Conference: The fire this time.
http://thetorontomanifesto.blogspot.com/
By nshb on May 9, 2008 - 12:41pm
YOUNG CONDO SELLER INSPIRED TO GIVE 10% OF HIS REAL ESTATE PROFITS TO THE ENVIRONMENT!
Nathaniel Brown, a young 25-year old condo owner in Kitsilano has decided that he wants to make a difference and help the environment. But he doesn’t want to just make a small difference; He is donating a full 10% of the profits he will be receiving on the sale of his condo (which should amount to $15,000) to local environmental groups.
This action was inspired when Nathaniel came across Vancouver's "Green" Realtor Sayo Nickerson of ReMax Real Estate Services who currently donates 10% of her net revenues from real estate sales to three local environmental groups. "I care about the environment and want to make a difference too" says Brown. "Seeing how Sayo does it showed me I could do the same!"
Brown’s property is a penthouse 2 bedroom 2-bathroom suite currently listed at $524,900. The first Open Houses will be this weekend on Saturday from 1-3 pm and Sunday from 2:30 - 4:30 pm. Come have a look and enjoy complimentary snacks at 401-1990 Dunbar St. (at the corner of West 4th Ave.)
By Ray on May 9, 2008 - 9:22am
Enjoy your weekend, Everyone!
By Ray on May 8, 2008 - 10:13am
This is a new and unusual variety of tulip.
By Ray on May 8, 2008 - 8:28am
If you'd like to test your computer's download and upload speeds, there's a free test you can use at this site to find out. Just select a test site from the list (for example, 'Seattle') click that button to start the test, and wait for the speedometer to finish working and show your results. Works for me.
By Ray on May 7, 2008 - 8:42pm
....can I send Telus a bill for answering the phone when it's a nuisance call?
Here's the picture:-
It's my phone. I don't just lease it from the phone company, I own it. It's mine. I answer it, saying 'Hello'. The response I get from some automated personless voice says: 'I'm sorry, that's an invalid response'.
'Invalid response' my ass! It's my phone, and I'll answer it any way I like, or not at all if I so choose. I'm sick & tired of these nuisance calls from scammers trying to get your personal information from your credit card, or from advertisers like Macy's or Bloomingdale's which don't even have stores anywhere near here. Telus is very good at five-dollaring us to death for add-ons to the service, but they can't or won't do anything about these pests who annoy the hell out of us. And they wonder why some of us are looking elsewhere for some of our communication services.
By Ray on May 7, 2008 - 1:25pm
This won't take long - did it?
