life, reviews and experiences of your Homie

FREE Coin sorting using BMO

2011-12-02T18:37:00.001-05:00

Hello old relic of the past. I know it has been a couple of years since I last wrote BUT you can't blame me, life is pretty hectic.

Anyways, Thought I would share this tip:

If you have a lot of Canadian change that you want to get rid of, head over to any of the following Bank of Montreal branches in Ontario, Canada and dump them in the coin sorter.

This service is free whether or not you are a BMO customer.

Based on an email from a BMO rep, this service is available in the following branches:

Queen and Hambly
2072 QUEEN STREET EAST
TORONTO, ON M4E1E1

Bur Oak and Markham, Markham
9660 HWY #48
Markham, ON L6E0H8

Bedford & Bloor, Toronto
1 Bedford Rd.
Toronto, ON M5R2B5

Bay & Bloor
55 Bloor St. W
Toronto, ON M4W1A6

City Place, Toronto
26 Fort York Blvd.
Toronto, ON M5V3Z3

Oshawa Center, Oshawa
419 King Street West
Oshawa, ON L1J8L8

Bayview & Major MacKenzie, Richmond Hill
1070 Major Mackenzie Dr. E., Unit F116
Richmond Hill, ON L4S1P3

Avenue Road & Fairlawn
1705 Avenue Road
Toronto, ON M5M3Y5

This list is up to date as of December 02, 2011. Please call the branch ahead of time if it is a mission and a half to get there.

I know you can do this at some grocery stores and other places, however, they either charge you or provide you with vouchers instead of cash. I also know TD Canada trust have coin sorters, so you might want to check them as well if they are closer (assuming it is free).

I haven't tried it yet, i'll update once I do.

If you want to plot it out on google maps to see which one is closest to you, I found this cool website that can do that for you. Just copy and paste the addresses below in the field and hit submit.

26 Fort York Blvd., Toronto, ON M5V3Z3
2072 QUEEN STREET EAST
Bur Oak and Markham, Markham
1 Bedford Rd. Toronto, ON M5R2B5
55 Bloor St. W Toronto, ON M4W1A6
419 King Street West, Oshawa, ON L1J8L8
1070 Major Mackenzie Dr. E., Richmond Hill, ON L4S1P3
1705 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON M5M3Y5

The best solution for Iphone in-ear headphones under $40

2009-04-21T21:51:00.010-04:00

Since i got my Iphone 3G, i have been struggling for the perfect in-ear headphone with mic and control button. what i first did was follow this tutorial in ear tutorial using a $24 skullcandy in-ear headphones. it worked for a while but it crapped out on me. I then got the Z budds, which i reviewed in an earlier post. It was crap. Then I bought the cheap $10 in-ear knock off apple headphones from ebay. I was actually amazed with the sound quality (bass is a bit too low) but it was actually decent. Obviously, i should have known better... the cables started coming undone and now i can see the wire from the mic port and the 3.5mm port. It is only a matter of time till i need a new in-ear headphone with mic.

After lots of searching, there really aren't that many choices out there. And most of them are expensive (>$50)!!! It came down to two contestants, the Radius Atomic Bass and the Original Apple Inear headphone

i spent so much time and money trying to get the perfect inear headphones that i decided to take the expensive and less risky choice. the Apple ones. I then read how some people got shocks cause of the metal mesh caps. that has happed to me with other headphones so i decided to go with the Radius ones as a last resort and not that i actually wanted them.

I thought to myself maybe i should search one last time. And i dunno how, but this popped up in my face Griffin Smarttalk. i was saved, this is exactly what i was looking for. i was angry that i have never heard about or seen it before! I got it off ebay for $21 CAD with free shipping. I was then contemplating about which inear headphones i should use it with. i needed something with a short cable cause the smarttalk is already 72CM in length (30"). so i remembered i had one of these in my drawer short inear phones they were used with my old mic for a sonyericsson phone, you can just disconnect it and use it. I fired it up t test it and it was actually amazing! perfect bass, i think it is the best inear headphones i have ever stuck in my inner ear! As soon as i get the Smarttalk, i will update this post. in conclusion, you get the smarttalk (around $20) and the SonyEricsson HPM-70 (for around $15 from the link above, or $1 plus shipping from ebay) and you solved all your problems. you can do without the short SonyEricsson HPM-70, and just use whatever you want (the cable will be a bit too long though, you can always find a way to tie it or something).

Ill update as soon as i get the smarttalk!
___________________________________________________
UPDATE: I got it, they work perfectly together, I would definitely recommend this setup. The built in clip-on is a must.
___________________________________________________
UPDATE 2: after less than a month of use, the smarttalk began to fail. The build quality is just not good enough. the cable started breaking from the headphone jack side so the sound started getting distorted.

I have decided to get the Shure MPA-3C ($40). I got the SE 102 for $45 off ebay. It comes with the MPA-3c, i will make a new post once i have it.

screw "Mom and pop stores" like the Polytechnic Hardware Store, go to the big guys!

2009-03-12T17:02:00.004-04:00

I have never seen such a backward way of treating customers…
This all started when I needed to do the X-clamp fix for an xbox 360 that I have. (Thanks to MS’s flawed design, the thing overheats and breaks down). Anyways, I decided to go hunting for the parts I needed. I went to Canadian tire, did not find what I needed. Did a quick search on google and found this little place called Polytechnic Hardware Store. It’s located at 131 Dundas ST E.
I go there, open the door, I see two guys. There was one guy (Karim) on the counter seemingly helping what I would call a customer, I don’t know what this store calls them though; the other guy (Bob) he was standing in the middle of the store. I asked Bob for help. He was very friendly and did so. He started searching to find specific screws and washers that I gave him a sample of. One minute into searching, he said that Karim knows the store better and so he started searching for the screws and washers.
Karim found the screws (after trying to force me to get another size that he found first) and fibre washers in less than 2 minutes. Then tried to force me to get metal washers that were “close” to what I wanted, after I said no thanks I’ll just take what I actually want. He looked displeased and mumbled some stuff. So I pay exactly 3.96 with tax and leave.
I go to Canadian tire to get the metal washers. Did not find what I wanted. So I decided to cancel the project all together and maybe find a kit online or something for cheaper (found a good deal on ebay).
I call the Polytechnic Hardware Store, Karim picks up. I greeted him nicely and identified myself as the person who just bought the screws and the washers. He responded with “what do you want?” I then asked if they had a refund policy and he flips out on the phone. He is like “what you want your one dollar back?! I spend an hour looking for screws and now you want to give it back?! I will take %10 off!” I responded with “calm down, you only took 5 minutes, I am not using the screws anymore so i want a refund.
I go back, the store is closed. Karim was in another store during his stated open hours. I wait outside for a couple of minutes then he comes and unlocks the door and starts talking s***.
KARIM: “aren’t you ashamed?! Coming back for one dollar after I spend one hour for you?!”
Me: “ you did not spend an hour, it was barely 5 minutes. I need to work for my money and if i’m not using the screws I want a refund.”
KARIM: “you don’t know what work is! Coming back for one dollar!”
Me: “it’s 4 dollars and if it isn’t important to you then you should not make a big deal out of it. Is this how you treat your customers? You are very rude!”
KARIM: “you are not a customer! Don’t tell me how I should treat customers!”
Me: “yes I will tell you how to treat customers. You just lost one! Give me my money!”
KARIM: “Here! Don’t ever come back!”
Me: “Don’t worry I won’t.”

He also gave me less than what i paid for and less than the stated %10 off the refund.
I have never understood places or service providers who would actually yell at their customers. I would understand if a service or product was poor but the provider would usually be apologetic and polite and try to solve the problem. I guess big corporations like Canadian tire are the best for a reason. I will never buy anything from this place again, even as a last resort. They have lost a customer for life. Stores will never learn until they start feeling the financial losses that could have been saved just by actually trying to be a little bit nicer.
Note: the names are made up. those were not their actual name.

ZAGG Buds and iphone 3g Invisible shield

2009-01-26T20:48:00.001-05:00

I have never heard of ZAGG apart from the youtube videos I have seen. They take an Iphones protected by their invisible shield and scratch it forever. It ends up with no damage at all.

I decided to order the invisible shield for my 3g iphone, I was very pleased with the quality and build of the product. The shield installation was very annoying. It does get some getting used to. I got it after the 5th try, I still have a little dust under one area of the screen, but I gave up on it. However, it did what it was supposed to do and is now protecting my Iphone. This led me to believe that ZAGG was a credible company that delivered what it promised to their customers. So much in fact that i decided to buy the Z.budds, 2 of them actually.

Let me tell you right now, no matter how amazing you think these Z.budds are, no matter how tempting they may look. DO NOT GET THEM

I regret to say though I was very disappointed in
the build and quality of the Z.buds. Both of the Z.buds I received have
malfunctioned. When the first one malfunctioned, I thought it was a fluke and my other one would work fine. However, my second one started acting up too. This just proved to me that Z.buds is a disappointing product.

the first one was ballistic right out of the box. The music hiccups a lot, the pair disconnects randomly (not physically) causing the Iphone to pause. The microphone button usually does not work, I press on it normally and feel the springing button clicking but nothing happens. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. It gets really frustrating trying to move to the next song (double clicking) forget about going back a song (3 clicks).

The second pair lasted about a week, the music gets
distorted if the cable moves a little and the button never worked like it was supposed to.

I was using my first pair once, and as I was taking them out of my ears, one of them popped open. They are very low quality even though you would think otherwise from the way they look.

They come with 6 different ear buds. The ones that are most common (the white ones) are a really tight fit on the earphones. It was really hard getting them on the earphones. They are also really easy to come off which will result in losing them eventually. I have tried the other but they did not suit me. They were too big for my ear.

The main cons are:

1. very cheaply made

2. high price considering quality

3. Microphone button does not always work

4. Hiccups/disconnects from iphone causing it to pause

5. distorts music after a while

Pros

1. It hangs from neck

2. long cable

3. does not get tangled and does not get yanked out of the iphone

4. has a button holder (to hook to a button shirt) and has slider to manage the cable

If you are determined on getting them, search for a discount code on http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/ you will find it easily. The order it from their website.

I followed this tutoria a while back using a Skullcandy inear headphone. I am going back to it as these Z.budds are no good. http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/05/diy-iphone-earbud-replacement/

This looked like such a promising product, it was exactly what I was looking for. I understand why it won the 2009 CES innovation award, but the quality of the build is below average. I guess ZAGG is not ready for the earphone industry.

I did email their customer service and have already obtained an RMA number. I will be sending them back tomorrow to receive my refund.

How to Ubuntu on Asus G1s

2008-10-04T01:26:00.003-04:00

A long long time ago, Homie had the urge to use this open source OS everyone was talking about. I am not going to lie, I loved Ubuntu, I was addicted to it. It just made everything harder when dealing with two monitors and MS files. So I decided to switch back… Regardless, I wrote this little how-to guide back in the day. I always wanted to publish it on a blog, here is my chance. And here it is. Enjoy and comment please!!

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=681099

A Blog Counter

2008-10-04T00:58:00.000-04:00

Well there really isn't much to say, I wanted a blog counter on my blog. I googled and ended up signing up with http://blogcounter.com/ if you ever need a free counter then this is the HTML code for you !

I am still at zero guests!! keep it coming!

Jajah VoIP Review... It sucks

2008-10-03T19:54:00.001-04:00

This blog was inspired by this experience. I threatened Jajah with a blog about their service and here it is.

Note: that i also wrote this same review on Cnet.

Pros: when it worked with American and canadaian numbers it was ok. not worth the hassle for me though. i could have used skype or vonage.
Cons: tech support do not answer questions directly
got overcharged for incomplete calls
jajah promised a service and did not deliver

stick with skype
Summary: I am a big fan of Skype, i wanted to use jajah with my iphone (using the web cell product) on the go. well, i checked the website to see if the regions i want to call are supported. After a bit of getting used to jajah's retarded website, i found what i wanted and it turns out, the regions are supported. i paid with my master card and tried to call, i get an error saying Invalid destination number". i ask jajah support for help, they tell me that contrary to their website the regions are unsupported. i demanded a refund, we'll see what happens.

frankly i am outraged and feel cheated. i will go back to using the best Voip. Skype, thats it.

I will never use jajah again.

Posted are the conversation i had with the support.

____________________

Dear JAJAH user,

We apologize, but service to the country you have specified is temporarily unavailable due to regulation issues.

Please note that we cannot provide specific dates for when certain destinations will be available. However, we will inform our users regarding future changes in this matter.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Raymond

JAJAH Support Team

> ----- Original Message -----

> Subject: Placing a call JPU
>
>
>
>
>
> System Date And Time: 10/3/2008 8:21:23 PM
>
> Source number: *****************
>
> Destination Number: +********************
>
> OS: *****
>
> Browser Type And Version: ******
>
> Question:
>
> I wanted to use jajah to call 'country' cell numbers. everytime i call a cell phone using the jajah web i get a "please enter a valid destination number." i also have an iphone to use it with and i get the same problem. If i call a land line it works with no problems. I also checked the Jajah website before adding funds to my account and 'the country's' cell phones are supported. if for some reason it is not. i want a refund for the amount of money i added.
>
> thank you,

__________________________
I replied:
__________________________

well i only paid because your website stated that i could make these calls. it is not my fault that your service does not work. i demand a refund for whatever funds i have on my jajah account. i have never felt so cheated from a service... i am very disappointed in the kind of marketing you are providing, saying you provide phone calls world wide and then not deliver?! this is outrageous. I should have stayed with skype.

i would love to talk to someone (a manager) to share my unbelievable experience with jajah. I am not letting this go. i will make an anti-jajah website if i have to.

Sincerely,

A cheated customer

______________________________

UDATE: In the end, i got a refund for what was in my account.