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19day

2009-06-24

Bell Bast-er-ds

Filed under: General — 19day @ 09:13:31

I’m really getting sick of Bell. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sick of Rogers too, it’s just that Bell has gotten my gander up more recently.

So I already disliked the beaver ads, I mean, in Toronto, they seemed to be everywhere at one point, on walls, in bus shelters, on benches, and given that beavers are apparently some sort of canadian mascot, it would be like if they had bald-headed eagles making stupid quips about phone service in the US. And hell, they probably do. The point is that it’s trying to use patriotism to sell phones.

But that was just a lingering irritating in my mind, what annoyed me recently was coming home to my apartment building, and finding damn Bell kiosks staffed by company drones in the lobby. It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last, and I can’t even recall if Rogers has done it or not, but in any event, I think it’s wrong. Why should my home, or rather the adjoining corridors to my home, be opened up to people trying to sell me things. I get it all the rest of the time though every form of media, but I don’t think it should be allowed to setup shop on my doorstep, especially the step that is actually on the inside of the door.

I whisk past them, ignoring their pleas to consider their low rates, and head up to my apartment proper. I check the mail, usual junk, oh, a bill from Bell, yay. And what looks to be a personal letter. Stamp, small letter (as opposed to bill) sized, looks like it could be a real correspondence. I open it, muttering “this better not be an ad”… and it damn well was, from Bell. Damn them. They fork through ads in my bills, ads as junk mail, and now they are trying to make it look like real mail. I didn’t even bother trying to read it (nor do I for any junk mail that passes my door), but I did tear it up.

And of course, later that evening, I got a call at around 7:30. For some reason I answered it, though I was pretty sure it was going to be a telemarketer, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was someone representing Bell of course, I stayed on the line for a while in order to determine if it was an ad. I once hung up on what I thought was a telemarketer, when in fact it was about a bill, so I like sticking around just long enough to see if they are trying to sell me something, decline as politely as I’m able and immediately hang up. Which I did on this occasion as well.

I had thrown my home number onto the do-not-call thing, with low expectations. Given the types of telemarketer calls I get, being representatives of companies who already have my personal data and are just trying to sell me more stuff, they would be permitted to continue calling anyway. My only hope is that it will finally silence the messages from Anne from the Moving Company which I can occasionally get several times a week.

I should just block email, glue my letter flap down, take my phone off the hook and wear horse blinders, that’ll show em…

2009-06-14

Flashing back the bits

Filed under: General — 19day @ 20:59:00

Here is yet another list of flash games I’ve come across that I’ve enjoyed. One common thread is that they all have graphics reminiscent of atari or merely pixilated quality.

Story Teller – by Daniel Benmergui. Not so much a game (but the first 4 aren’t really games exactly) but an essay in this genre, which I don’t know how to describe. Basically arrange the universe at each stage to see the various outcomes.

I Wish I were the Moon – again by Daniel Benmergui. The same sort of thing, but more options, and weirdly heartfelt. For blocky characters.

Today I Die – again by Daniel Benmergui. And again the same method of interaction, only 2 endings this time. This one seems more angsty to me, but still nice.

Majesty of Colors – Similar to the ones above but by a different guy. Many endings and more game-like, but thematically similar.

Don’t Look Back – A definite game, apparently based on the Greek story of Orpheus. Except instead of a musical instrument, you have a gun. Altogether a nice flash game showing the futility of love, the inevitability of death, and the non-necessity of amazing graphics to tell a story.

Games are fun.

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