The rumour from the Globeandmail going around right now is that GST will be cut back to 5% on Tuesday, October 30. The cutback comes as a fulfillment of a Conservative election promise to decrease the GST to 5% back when they were elected. The federal government has been basking in surplus recently and it has even been said by TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond that it is forecast to be $14.5 billion this year. Hmm, around 30 million people in Canada and a surplus of that amount equals out to $483 per person. Now this doesn’t sound like too much but I’m sure there would be a lot of happy people to get that kind of cheque from the government.  I’m just not sure the 1% GST cut is really what we need right now though. The economy is already heated and growing quickly, this kind of cut will increase consumer spending and will lead to more problems in the future. I’m sure there are a lot better ideas what they could use that money for. I wouldn’t mind a reduction in my tuition fees paid for by the government. In the meantime though, I will try to think of somethings to buy to make it seem like I’m getting a 1% discount.
Guitar Hero Three
I picked up Guitar Hero 3 today. I was waiting outside Bestbuy for about 10 minutes before they opened. The guy behind me in line was kind of an idiot. He thought the lineup outside the store very good for Apple OSX Leopard. Why would there be a line of 50 people outside Bestbuy for a new version of an Apple OS? Then when someone told him the lineup was actually for Guitar Hero 3 he had no clue what it was. Haha, well this guys stupidity made for an interesting story. Guitar Hero 3 doesn’t really bring much new to the table. After just beating the game already on medium I can tell that I hate the guitar battles. I can easily play through songs and do decently but the guitar battles require some strategy and plain old good luck. I have yet to play the game online but it should be fun duking it out online. So many good games right now and so little time. I have a lot more guitar hero to play and I still have Halo 3 to beat on legendary. I wonder how much my school will be suffering because of all this :)
W.A.S.P. singer orders security to take cell phones with ability to record!
“Dear fans, please DO NOT bring any cameras into the shows this fall as it is strictly prohibited to take pictures or recordings of the performance of W.A.S.P.! Security personnel at every venue will confiscate any cameras (including digital cameras and mobile phones with ability to record) from you before entering the venues.”
This sounds a lot like the Tool concert I was at in Edmonton last year. They were making everyone check in their cellphones and cameras at the coat check. You got them back after the show but it seemed silly to have to put cell phones there that had such terrible cameras on them. If I took pictures with my cellphone all I could see would be some blurry pixels and not a lot of anything. After we got into the Tool concert it seemed like security wasn’t so strict on everyone since some people had some decent cameras in and not just their cellphones. For the price of the ticket they should allow you to take whatever crappy pictures you want, so long as you aren’t selling them.
10 Great Ways to Reduce Fuel Consumption and Increase MPG
With gas prices increasing (although decreasing slightly lately), the new prices are going to affect us all in some way. While the price increase may hurt some more than others, we’re all going to have to become accustomed to the fact that the days of cheap gas (and energy in general) are in the rear view mirror. The following link shows off 10 possibly useful tips to conserving fuel, although not that many were helpful to me it doesn’t hurt to let others know in case they might find it useful.
Serj Tankian – Elect the Dead
Tomorrow, Tuesday October 23, 2007 a great new cd is being released from Serj Tankian. For those that don’t know who he is; Serj is the lead singer of System of a Down. Elect the Dead is his first solo album release and it is sure an amazing piece of work. Serj did the majority of the composition and played many of the instruments that are heard. He had some help creating the album but the overall effort is said to be his. The sound of the music is very much how I would imagine a new System of a Down CD but with some minor differences.  The music has great flow and sounds awesome. It is a very clean sounding hard rock very similar to how the later System CDs sounded. Across the cd there is an assortment of softer songs as well as the faster more furious songs. The songs all contain the political and life messages that we come to expect from Serj. I put a complete tracklisting below for fun. If you are a fan of System of a Down I would say this CD is a must buy! I will be picking it up for sure.
- Empty Walls
- The Unthinking Majority
- Money
- Feed Us
- Saving Us
- Sky Is Over
- Baby
- Honking Antelope
- Lie Lie Lie
- Praise the Lord Pass the Ammunition
- Beethovens Cunt
- Elect the Dead
Man throws bucket of red paint in Rome’s Trevi Fountain
A man threw a bucket of red paint or dye into Rome’s Trevi Fountain on Friday, coloring the waters of the 18th century monument bright red in front of a crowd of astonished tourists and locals, witnesses said. The water in the fountain was turned off for a few hours until a clear flow of water could be resumed. Leaflets found nearby claim that the stunt was done to protest the expenses from the Rome Film Festival and that events red carpet ceremony. There are some pictures on the news articles webpage. It sure does look very interesting and something to behold.
The Truth about Working Too Hard
I just read a Dilbert comic and it shows a great truth about working too hard on a project and completing it ahead of schedule. When you complete a project ahead of schedule all the future goals and expectations will be modified and be set as though you are working at the higher level. So sometimes you really have to look at the disadvantages of working too hard or completing things ahead of schedule. If by completing one thing quickly it will raise all the expectations of you, then you have to wonder what will be your motivation for doing it. Since working extra hard without any sort of reward can become a demotivational. One of the things about good management is that a boss will know what to expect from his workers and to know when something is done with greater than normal effort. Also, positive reinforcement of a job well done will go a long way, but only so far. There may also be a point where monetary bonus could be effective ways at increasing the effort levels further.
Huge PS3 Price Drop Now Official
Today Sony slashed the price of the PS3 and announced another new model coming out November 2nd. The existing 80gb bundle with Motostorm has been dropped down to $499 Canadian well down from its previous $659. That is a savings of $160. As well, the new model coming out has a 40gb hard drive and will be without its backwards compatibility. This stripped down cheaper model will retail for $399 Canadian. I have a feeling this will help spur some sales for Sony but at what cost? I don’t know how they can dramatically reduce the price of a console supposedly costing them a lot more to produce. I wonder if its Sony’s Blu Ray division feeling the heat from the Christmas HD DVD releases that caused the price drop. It should be interesting to see how Microsoft responds to these last ditch efforts from Sony. Another Xbox 360 price drop coming soon? Maybe some bundles with more games and the HD DVD drive?
Feist – 1 2 3 4
You know that video from the new iPod commercial? Well its pretty amazing. Here it is in its entirety. The link to the video is on college humor of all places. I think its a great music video and really shows off a unique and creative approach to a music video. This shows how powerful the Canadian indie music scene has become and how well received it is. Go Broken Social Scene!
Stephen Colbert Announces as a Candidate for President — of Both Parties!
Appearing on Larry King’s CNN show Thursday night, Stephen Colbert was accused by the host of using the publication of his new book as a platform to run for president. Colbert happily confirmed this, saying that he would seek the nomination from both parties. Stephen Colbert is hilarious and I know I would vote for him given the chance. Just watch his show and you’ll understand quite quickly what its all about.