Well, I’d have a hard time selling that statement. But you should be careful when using it.

It’s not mere coincidence that my last post was regarding Facebook’s charmingly lengthy privacy statement and this one is about Facebook’s privacy issues.

It all comes out

Recently the internet has been abuzz of Zuckerberg’s early IM conversion regarding privacy. Here it is below:

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard

Zuck: Just ask.

Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS

[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?

Zuck: People just submitted it.

Zuck: I don’t know why.

Zuck: They “trust me”

Zuck: Dumb fucks.

Of course this conversation is completely out of context and for all we know it was a big joke. At the time of his posting this Facebook was still a relatively small website and did not have a lot of social power. It may not have been on his mind to be so careful about things he said to friends.

On the other hand, the Facebook community has been continually rallying against privacy policies changes, usually accusing Facebook of attempting to sell personal data to third parties.

I figure Facebook will continue to do what it does best and beat it’s hornet’s nest of a privacy policies until eventually it stops getting stung. Of course it’s a big nest with lots of hornets.

The recent Facebook controversy has made me seriously consider the level to which I will use the website. A friend of mine has completely removed his account because of it.

I doubt many of you will follow that lead, but you should, at the very least be ever mindful to the personal information you are giving away.

Because you also have to bear in mind that if Facebook owning your personal life isn’t enough, the fact that Facebook’s website are hosting in the States means your information belongs to the Department of Homeland Security whenever they want it.

Rants, The Web Facebook, Privacy Policy

My friend Jedediah Baker submitted this short clip (along with some of his portfolio) when applying for a creative position at The Idea Factory.

I think the idea of submitting a job application without a resume is a terrific way to stand out.

I have always complained about references on resumes. I hate that they are such an integral part of the resume because they penalize the loyal employee. After working my last position for two years my old references seemed obsolete. One of those references was a professor I had one semester who I am sure could barely have tons to say about a student she hadn’t seen in years.

Anyways, I thought this a very clever way to combat the traditional resume.

Comedy, Interest, Rants, Videos Jedediah Baker, Resume, The Idea Factory

I think it says a lot when three of the top four worst companies in America are back in contention for this years Consumerist Worst Company in America contest.

Bank of America, Ticketmaster, and Comcast are no strangers to this competition, and I think that speaks very poorly of their customer service.

Cash4Gold made a surprising first round elimination of the incumbent AIG, who was awarded the title last year. I think that also says a lot.

There were some companies that came out punching, but managed to get eliminated in the later rounds. The big shockers in my opinion were Apple and PayPal.

Not that I’ve ever had particularly great service from PayPal, but their service for me has always been good or fair.

And I can only presume Apple did so well in this competition because of growing pains and the launch of the poorly received iPad.

I know most of my readership is Canadian, but who is your pick for worst company of the year?

From Consumerist: Meet Your Worst Company In America 2010 Final Four!

Rants, Service AIG, Bank of America, Cash4Gold, Consumerist, Ticketmaster

I have been arguing this for years, but bottled water consumption in a place like St. John’s is totally needless.

Some large corporation is making billions off your cost-of-bottled-soda purchases.

Furthermore people are spending ridiculous amount of money on something that is better provided for free. Especially in St. John’s where tap water is clean, healthy, and delicious.

Has it occurred to bottled water buyers that Memorial University stopped vending bottled water for a reason?

Check out this infographic to get an idea what you are getting yourself into when you drink bottled water.

Key points:

• Bottled water is 10,000 times more expensive than tap water (when it isn’t already free)
• 40% of bottled water is nothing more than tap water
• Bottled water often does not meet health standards
• Bottled water is not tested for e. coli
• Bottles are wasteful, very few are actually recycled.

Rants Bottled water, Memorial University, St. John's

I can’t say it should be illegal, because undoubtedly some people do need to use studded tires.

But the average intra-city driver does not need studs in their tires. Why people in St. John’s are adamant to have studs when they are driving on slush-cover asphalt is beyond me.

If wearing studs was neutral to city infrastructure I wouldn’t mind. But it’s not!

Studded tires cause severe damage to roadways when under regular use.

They are banned in some states in the US because of the damage they cause compared to the relative safety benefits they provide. Studded tires only perform better directly on snow or ice and have less traction when on asphalt.

“Pavement ruts caused by increased wear from studded tires can cause the dangerous conditions of trammeling, hydroplaning on accumulated water in the ruts, excessive road spray, and premature damage to pavement markings.”

To top it off cars with studded tires require as much as 1.2 to 15% more gas than cars without which contributes poorly to the environment.

It is still a matter of great debate between the advantages and disadvantages of using studded tires, but those who use them tend to contend they are safer. Studies show that radial tires actually offer comparable safety without all of the asphalt damage.

I rant about this today because it is clear that studded tires have become very popular and you can see it in the roads of St. John’s. There aren’t many roads in the city right now that aren’t adversely affected by the use of studded tires.

People who use studded tires should be subjected to a tax that goes to pay for fixing the roads they destroy.

From Washington.edu: Studded Tire Information
From Tire Information World: Studded Tire Report

Rants Radial Tires, Roads, St. John's, Studded Tires

The logo for the London 2012 Olympics has been circulating for months, but it was only today I read an article that displayed the logos for each of Olympics, including some logos for cities bidding on the Olympics.

The official logo for the London Olympics in 2012 is a disgrace.

It is not uncommon for Olympic logos to not contain the five Olympic colours, blue, yellow, black, green, and red, but the colour choice usually has some significance.

I can’t imagine what significance the bright pink and yellow has other than maybe that the 1980′s happened in London.

The design is totally retro, but completely lacks the cool appeal of retro.

They were looking for something “dynamic, vibrant, contemporary, flexible and inspiring” and they may have hit all those elements but they also could have designed something classy.

And it doesn’t come as a surprise that the logo came with a price tag of approximately $650,000 CAD. I can respect that the marketing company Wolff Olins invested considerable time researching, collaborating, and designing, but the committee selecting the brand for these Olympics surely could have challenged Wolff Olins to make the best possible logo.

My expectations are that Jem and the Holograms perform at the 2012 Olympics in London based on the logo.

Rants Logo Design, London, Olympics

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

It just crossed my mind why Jean-Sebastien Giguere is a great fit for the Leafs. Experience. Obvious, I know. But here’s why.

The Leafs have been playing all season with two young aspiring netminders who have had an incredibly inconsistent season. Wilson had the Leafs defense working hard to keep the puck from reaching the net. (In fact, the defense was practically forbidden from entering the attack zone.)

Unfortunately the puck always eventually gets through.

And when it did, all it would take would be a sharp shooter or a good rebound to put the puck in the net.

Now that Giguere is there that same hard-working defensive mentality is there, but when the offense reach the net, they aren’t facing a rookie. They’re facing a Venza-winning Stanley Cup goaltender who is ready for both the first shot and the second shot.

Now Giguere has 60 saves in back-to-back shut-outs.

Interest, Rants Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Toronto Maple Leafs

A few years ago my friend Joe Coffey and I sat down to eat some fries from the Ziggies van in Churchill Square and a mountain of ketchup packets.

When we were applying the ketchup we exchanged our annoyances with the design of standard ketchup packets.

Firstly, the packets never contains the right amount of ketchup. You always find yourself opening multiple packets.

Second, they always make a mess. You have to squeeze the ketchup through the rip in the corner. It’s hard not to get ketchup on your fingers.

We thought surely there must be a better design.

The biggest problem is affordability. Restaurants are not going to pay extra for a ketchup packet that is larger and cleaner. The current design is very efficient.

Joe and I thought of many options but narrowed it down to one perfect design. We shared it with a few people in the industry and it garnered a little excitement.

Unfortunately it ended there. We didn’t persue it any further.

Recently Heinz released a new ketchup packet design. It’s more or less the same design Joe and I created with some minor differences. Here is their new design:

To read more, check out Heinz Ketchup Packet Makeover

GregPike.ca, Rants, Service Heinz, Ketchup Packets

Early in the season Burke made a trade that many Leafs fans were excited about but that created much discontent. Phil Kessel for a first and second round draft pick in 2010 and a first round draft pick in 2011.

Many people felt it was too much to sacrifice, but I disagreed. The Leafs have an extremely youthful team, Wilson says “the youngest team in the league”. The average age is 26.5 years old (as of today’s trade) compared to the league average of approximately 28 years of age. In other words, the Leafs are not disparate for youth.

Additionally the point of a team picking up an early draft pick is the chance that a perspective player will become a star. The Leafs have traded the chance to obtain a star for an actual goal-scoring stud.

Sounds great to me.

Today Burke made some welcomed announcements. Two big trades that resulted in the movement of ten players with Calgary and Anaheim.

The Leafs have lost four of their offensemen in exchange for a stronger back end. While I am not sure what Burke’s plans are to fill in the forward lines after this trade (perhaps make room for Bozak, Hanson, or Kadri) I’m impressed with the defensive mix up.

It has been said that Burke led the Ducks to a Stanley Cup victory by building from the netminder out. In Anaheim he built a team with Giguere, Beauchemin, Niedermayer and Pronger.

Now he is doing much the same thing in Toronto. Giguere is a Stanley Cup championship goaltender who, if he cannot offer wins, he can offer mentorship to Jonas Gustavsson. Despite Gustavsson’s losing record he has exhibited incredible potential.

Giguere has not been doing well in Anaheim, but he did not want to play there and even threatened retirement unless he was given more action. He will certainly get that in Toronto.

In terms of the blueline, the Leafs now have Karbele, Phaneuf, Komisarek, and Beauchemin as well as World Junior champion Keith Aulie. With any luck it will be more challenging for opponents to put the puck in their net.

In terms of their offense, the Leafs never really had talented goal-scorers anyways. What they had was Ron Wilson’s shoot-and-get-as-many-rebounds-as-you-can dirty style of scoring, which is brilliant when you don’t have the talent to put it in the net.

To top it off, the Leafs can now make a push for the playoffs. While getting a slot may be near impossible, they have nothing to lose in terms of draft picks as their first and second pick for next season goes to Boston.

I am sure that Burke is now formulating a plan to get stronger skaters to meet Kessel at the front lines, but until then we will have to see how this current mix-up will affect the Leafs ability to win games.

Interest, Rants Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Dion Phaneuf, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Toronto Maple Leafs

Anytime it’s snowing in St. John’s and the roads are in hard shape I always hear people say “I’m not taking the highway” referring to Pitts Memorial Drive.

Everytime I hear this I feel like defending the highway in poor driving weather.

The “Arterial” as it is called is part of the Governement of Newfoundland and Labrador’s highway infrastructure and thus it’s snowclearing is managed by the provincial government. Compared to the City of St. John’s those roads are immaculate in the snow.

Additionally the highway swurves around the turns of the hills on the southern side of St. John’s and is surrounded on both sides by thick coniferous vegetation which prevents virtually any blowing snow.

To top it off this is a popular highway where there is a lot of traffic. Even when the plows cannot keep up on the accumulation of snow the flow of traffic keeps the roads clear.

When it comes to driving in poor winter conditions I am confident there is no safer road to drive on. Outer Ring Road is a completely different story.

Rants Newfoundland & Labrador, Pitts Memorial Drive, St. John's, Street Cleaning