The Best Dentist in Toronto - Part Two

Two years we wrote a review for Archer Dental, titled "The Best Dentist in Toronto - Part One".

During that review we stated our intention to try and find other equally good dentists.

Unfortunately thus far we have not managed to find any other dentist to equal it.

Also NOW Magazine's 2016 Reader's Choice Awards has just voted Archer Dental to be the Best Dental Practice in Toronto. So apparently we are not alone in that assessment.

Archer Dental has two locations:

Archer Dental Rosedale

600 Sherbourne Street, Suite 810
Toronto, ON M4X 1W4

416.964.0010
info@archerdental.ca

Archer Dental Runnymede

625 Runnymede Road
Toronto, Ontario M6S 3A3

416.763.2000
 runnymededental@drarcher.ca

Where to buy Leather Conditioner in Toronto?

Leather Conditioner is used for all sorts of leather products, from old boots, purses, baseball gloves, clothing, leather furniture, and a wide assortment of leather goods. As leather gets old it starts to crack from loss of moisture and the conditioner helps to reinvigorate the leather, trap moisture inside, and helps keep your old leather products from falling apart, cracking, etc.

At present we are not going to pass judgement on which leather conditioner is "best", although we would certainly be willing to try samples if various manufacturers wanted to ask us for a review.

BUT WHERE DO YOU BUY IT?

Unfortunately not a lot of stores actually sell Leather Conditioner. Here is a list of places I found which sell it:

#1. Northbound Leather on Yonge Street / 7 St Nicholas Street.

A 500 mL bottle is $26.

#2. Bootmaster at 609 Yonge Street.

An approx. 500 mL bottle is $19.95

#3. Tandy Leather, two locations: 5562 Tomken Rd, Mississauga; or 158 Anderson Avenue Unit 12, Markham

A 16 ounce spray bottle (Dr. Jackson's Leather Conditioner Pump 16 oz.) is $14.99

Note that this is not a complete list of stores in Toronto which sell leather conditioner. If you know of other stores which sell leather conditioner please post in the comments below, along with the size of the bottle lists in mL or ounces and the price at that store.

So if you are looking for the best price and the most convenience, traveling to Tandy Leather might be an option if you happen to be in Markham or Mississauga. But if you want convenience and are in downtown Toronto, then Bootmaster has the better price. Northbound Leather is clearly gouging on price (although they did have the best service of all three stores).

If you do manage to stop at Tandy Leather, we always recommend browsing their store and checking out their broad range of leather and fur products. Also for people who are into homemade leatherworking, there is no better place to buy everything they need.

How to deal with Debt Collection Agencies

And Why You Should Never Respond to Letters or Phone Calls from Debt Collectors

Disclaimer - This is not legal advice. We are not lawyers. If you have serious concerns consult a Consumer Protection lawyer.

#1. Never answer someone calling from a 1-877 number. They are usually scammers or debt collectors (or both). If you do answer and they identify themselves as a debt collector, immediately accuse them of running a scam and hang up the phone. If you have the option, immediately block all calls from that phone number.

#2. Avoid confirming your identity. If they ask if you are "John Smith", deny it and say they have the wrong number. Then hang up immediately.

#3. Never give anyone your date of birth or your social insurance number over the phone. They will try to trick you out of that by asking you to confirm your identity. Refuse. Say you don't give out that information over the phone due to privacy reasons. Even if they pretend to be from the government, accuse them of running a scam and hang up the phone.

#4. Debt collectors will often even try to collect on fake debt - debt that isn't even real and they are just making up. It is a scam they do.

#5. Debt collectors will also try to collect on old zombie debt - debt that has already passed the statute of limitations and is not real debt any more.

#6. If they try serve you with (bogus) legal papers, you should avoid service. You are under no legal requirement to answer the door or receive it.

#7. Do not sign any registered mail from an unknown source. If they try to serve you via registered mail or courier, refuse to sign and the mail will be returned to the sender.

#8. Even if they do manage to serve you, do not respond to any of their requests for you to mail them back and acknowledge the debt. You are under no legal requirement to answer their mail.

#9. If you do end up in court with a lawsuit somehow, demand proof that the debt is real. Repeatedly accuse them of trying to sue you using FAKE DEBT. Demand proof that the debt is real, that the person suing you actually owns the debt, the amount of the debt, the date of the debt, and when the statute of limitations wears off. And demand that they prove that you are the person they are looking for. If they are suing John Smith, how do we know they are not suing the wrong John Smith?

It all comes down to the following issues...

When debt collectors buy a debt all they are really buying is a spreadsheet document with the names, addresses, phone numbers, and amounts owed by hundreds or even thousands of people. They know very little about the actual person. They probably don't even have your social insurance number unless you make the mistake of giving it to them. Or the date of the debt. Or your birthday. Chances are they likely they don't even know your middle name.

And even if they do have your social insurance number, that doesn't matter. Because it still doesn't prove that the debt is real. If you demand full documentation and proof that the debt is real, they cannot do it because they don't any such documents.

All they have is a spreadsheet with your name and number on it.

They don't have a signed contract from you. Only the credit card company has that. Your contract was with the bank or credit card company. The debt collector is simply some hoser who buys and sells debt. They probably are not even Canadian. They are probably American.

Debt collectors will also try to threaten you with a lawsuit, but that is all it is. Empty threats. They will even go to lengths to make up fake lawyers who don't exist, fake law firm websites, try to serve you with bogus legal documents that aren't even filled out correctly / are not real, etc.

And you are under no legal obligation to answer any of it.

And even if you do end up in court, demand proof that the debt is real and refer to it as fake debt.

Because frankly they cannot prove the debt is real. Especially if they just made it up.

Below is a lovely video on this topic worth watching.

The iPhone 7 - A Review of Useless Techno Gadgetry

The new Apple iPhone 7 is out... on September 16th in Canada.

And really the question you should be asking is "Why would I even want this?"

Let me elaborate.

#1. The Idiotic Audio Jack

The new Apple iPhone 7 is ditching the normal (standard, universal) audio jack in favour of its own Apple audio jack. This doesn't offer any improvement in sound quality, it is really just an excuse to sell you more Apple products for a lot more money than they are actually worth.

They are also including an adapter (shown below), so that people with old audio jacks can still use normal headphones. Basically you either have to use the Apple headphones (which will be expensive) or you have to remember to carry around the idiotic adapter all the time, and if you lose it and need to replace it, it will also be expensive.

From this point onwards the charging port will double as the audiojack, and users will be encouraged to also use wireless headphones instead (which require separate batteries, huzzah).

Oh and one more thing!

Using the charging port as the audio jack also comes with another problem. You cannot charge your phone while listening to the headphones at the same time (unless you have the AidPods mentioned further below).

Anyone who likes charging their phone while they are driving in the car often wants to be able to listen to music too. The audio jack/charging port takes away a lot of that convenience that people are used to.

Instead you have to buy an extra $40 USD adapter (shown right) just so you can listen on your headphones while charging your phone.

Which is a fancy way for Apple to fleece you one more time for an extra $40.

Oh and the adapter only supports 48 kHz / 24-bit audio output, so that you basically have no choice but to use Apple headphones. Which implies that if you like attaching your iPhone to your car stereo so you can use the cars speakers you might run into some compatibility problems. (Next thing you know Apple will come out with the Apple iCar Stereo, which is only compatible with other Apple products. It could happen...)

The adapter is also one more thing for you to lose or break or for the cat to chew on.

#2. The Usual Incremental Improvements

As is the norm whenever a company comes out with a new phone, they offer some small incremental improvements compared to the old phone, things like

• faster processor
• better battery life
• more storage
• nicer camera
• slightly more water resistant
• slightly more dustproof
• yada yada

All such changes are basically the norm and is all part of the one-up-man-ship rivalry between various manufacturers. However if you already have an amazing phone in your pocket, the tiny incremental changes will seem pretty minor.

#3. More Zoom for your Camera

To elaborate on one of the incremental improvements mentioned above, lets look at the cameras for the iPhone 7 Plus. The back of the 7 Plus now has the regular wide-angle camera, and a second zoom optical camera just for zooming in more, up to 10 times. Having two cameras on the back also technically makes it possible for a person to make 3D videos, but only of objects that are very close to you / tiny - using it for anything else will give you an headache because the distance between the two camera lenses is too small.

Note that the regular Iphone 7 doesn't get the two cameras on the back. Only the 7 Plus gets that.

#4. Hints of 3D / Virtual Reality

Apple keeps hinting that they want to make their phones to become more like virtual reality headsets (selling you more gadgets), and it is basically implied that they are trying to get closer to making it a reality...

But the problem is the technology just isn't there yet, and neither is the demand.

The goal essentially is for people to be able to communicate (and play virtual reality games) with other people who are really far away, using one person's camera as interface to send the other person images of what they are seeing. Essentially a livestream 3D image of a real reality, transferred via the internet to another person who can then see it as a virtual reality.

However there is several problems...

A. Bandwidth speed is too slow to do what Apple wants it to do. The video ends up being really choppy, horrible, and sloooooow.

B. You look like a complete dork with an Apple iPhone strapped to your head. I don't care how much you manscape that beard, you still look like a dork.

Apple Virtual Reality Dork

Thus buying an iPhone 7 for its failed attempts at a level of technology that just isn't ready yet - and frankly will never be helpful to the dorks who cannot find a girlfriend.

Maybe that is really what Apple needs to invent. The "iGirlfriend", for dorks who cannot meet real women. She could be a virtual reality version of Siri.

This past Wednesday Apple held a press event in San Francisco and there is a complete lack of 3D / Virtual Reality demos during the event, perhaps suggesting that Apple knows they are not ready to be plunging into the dorky-ness foray of VR... At least not publicly.

#5. Be prepared to charge your Wireless Headphones Batteries

As mentioned further above, the Apple iPhone 7 is also pushing wireless headphones. Which means the headphones need their own batteries and have to be recharged regularly. If you ever feel we are actually going BACKWARDS with user-friendliness / ease of use, now is one of those moments.

The iPhone 7s come with charging port connectable wired earbuds, but Apple will also be selling wireless "AirPods" at a price of $219 in Canada. Yep, you heard correctly. $219 CDN for a pair of headphones you will quickly lose/break and it will cost you another $219 to replace them.

The AirPods have a very tiny battery life, 5 hours, and can only be recharged about 200 times before their battery life will be significantly decreased. So expect to have to buy a new set every 7 months or so as the batteries start dying all the time.

The Airpods also look pretty silly - like tiny miniature hair dryers. The "handle of the hair dryer" is to accomodate the battery, because apparently anything smaller would have such a short battery life span that it would make them useless and super annoying. So instead you get an unfashionable gadget that costs you $219 CDN... which you will frankly eventually want to lose on purpose just so you can stop wearing the damn things and use something more convenient.

We are not the only ones saying they look silly and are impractical either.

"Say what you will about focus groups, but the earbuds Apple introduced would have been laughed off and shortcomings identified in [five minutes]," says Kaan Yigit, president of Toronto-based analysis firm Solutions Research Group, on Twitter.

Apple executives meanwhile claim that what they are doing takes "courage" to ignore what people want. Their goal apparently is to instead charge the sheep more money while the shepherds continue to fleece them for every cent.

Some people like to claim headphones and many devices are now trending towards wirelessness, but they seem to forgetting a key component of the idea of "wireless + convenient". If it isn't more convenient to go wireless, then why bother going wireless? The market trends usually head towards whatever is the most CONVENIENT, regardless of what new tech ideas people come up with.

CONCLUSIONS

So...

The new Audiojack is idiotic, annoying and overpriced.
The AirPods are overpriced, annoying and will be useless after approx. 200 charges. Plus dorky.
The camera and other hardware has been incrementally improved. Nothing new there.
Apple is trying to go towards more 3D and VR tech, but can't get it to work properly yet. And even if they do someday, you look like a dork.

And the company is blatantly trying to rip people off. Remember that moron who jacked up the prices of an HIV drug by over 5000%, and those other morons who did the same thing for EpiPens and other medications? Well, Apple is basically doing the same thing, but at least your life doesn't depend on owning a phone that is more known for being a fashion accessory for idiots.

Idiotic, Annoying, Overpriced, Technology Not Ready Yet.

Nestle Boycott, holding local supplies hostage

See previous post: Nestle and the Water Wars

This is our 2nd post about boycotting Nestle because of their greedy actions over buying up water supplies for pennies (or fractions of pennies) and selling it back to people with a 500,000% mark up or more.

Eg. Buying 1 litre of water for $0.01 and selling it for $5.00.

Across Canada Nestle is invading small towns and buying up water rights for pennies on the dollar, bribing local politicians under the table, and then destroying the local water economy. The small towns then see higher rates for their consumption of water due to a water shortage, while Nestle continues to pump out millions of litres for fractions of pennies on the dollar.

Eg. 1 miĺlion litres for $5,000 seems like a good deal, until you find out that it is equal to $0.005 per litre. Half a penny per litre.

Meanwhile the shortage of water causes the townsfolk to have their water bills skyrocket because there is no cap on how much water Nestle can take. They can literally take ALL of the water if they wanted to and sell it back to the locals with a 500,000%  to 1,000,000% mark up in price.

One such town in Ontario is the scenic Elora (home to the Elora Gorge). The town of Elora has been in a battle with the Nestle corporation over control of wells. For Elora, the availability of water isn't just an issue of keeping drinking water in the pipes affordable, the town's economy also relies on tourism drawn to the beautiful Elora Gorge. If Nestle pumps so much water out of the local water table that it ruins the economy, and drives up the cost of water bills, they could end up destroying the local economy and holding the townsfolk's water supply hostage.

And that is just the story of one town. There are many towns where Nestle is doing this. Buying up wells, paying tiny fees for removing millions of litres of water, and holding the local water supply hostage. The company is downright villainous.

We saw the image below on Facebook and decided to share it here. Please join us in boycotting all Nestle products.

Suicide Squad Fun, but Disappointing

Suicide Squad Movie Review
3 stars out of 5

The much hyped Suicide Squad film, the latest film in the DC Comic Book movie universe, was actually disappointing.

Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jaret Leto and Viola Davis all do their jobs very well, but the pacing and plot of the film just feels...

Meh.

It was a fun film. Worth watching.

But we are happy we didn't bother seeing it in 3D and only saw the standard version.

It was an enjoyable film, and one of the better offerings currently available at movie theatres, but it was still disappointingly unable to keep up with the hype.

Other action films available currently:

Jason Bourne - 4.5 stars.
Star Trek Beyond - 5 stars. (We like this one so much we went to see it twice.)
Ghostbusters - 5 stars. (Again, saw it twice. Worth seeing in 3D.)
Central Intelligence - 2 stars. (That film was basically just a paycheque for the actors.)

Have not seen "The Legend of Tarzan" yet, it is on our To Do List.

Also curious to see "Train to Busan", a South Korean film about a zombie outbreak that sweeps the nation and a family traveling to the city of Busan, the only city unaffected by the virus.

Pokemon Go: The Fastest Growing Sport in the World

sport, spôrt
noun: sport; plural noun: sports

an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Yup, that describes the breakout sensation that is "Pokemon Go", a smartphone game app that encourages people to go outside and exercise, traveling from Pokestop to Pokestop to Pokegym in an effort to collect and train lots of Pokemon.

It is both an individual sport and a team sport. I am thus listing "Pokemon Go" as 'entertainment', 'games' and 'exercise equipment'.

Speaking for myself, I have already lost 8 lbs of fat in the last 3 weeks. I ended up getting a sore ankle the one day because I walked about 7 or 8 km while wearing sandals. (Word to the wise, wear comfortable shoes when walking long distances.)

The game uses augmented reality, by turning your camera on and allowing you to see what is behind it and then adding a Pokemon critter to the screen. You then toss digital Pokeballs at the critter in order to capture them.

Your goals essentially are to:

1. Capture lots of Pokemon.
2. Walk from location to location to get more Pokeballs and other useful items.
3. Visit Pokegyms to battle other Pokemon / train your Pokemon against members of your own team.

The more you walk (or rollerblade or bicycle) the more Pokemon you can catch, the more Pokeballs you get, the more Pokegyms you can visit and train at. Driving (cheating) in a car might earn you some Pokemon and Pokeballs along the way, but most of the time you will be driving too fast and miss them.

The game is basically perfect for people who are into jogging, which ultimately makes it a "walking / jogging / running / cycling / rollerblading sport". You could even do it while riding on horseback.

What methods people use while playing the sport doesn't really matter, but what is clear is that the game designers are deliberately making it difficult for people to cheat at the game.

If you try to cheat by driving around you will often find that Pokemon go "poof" and disappear because they got out of range before you could catch them.

They also recently updated the software to make it more difficult to locate Pokemon. Random Pokemon can be seen nearby, but there used to be a gamer-made app named "Pokevision" which allowed users of the app to better be able to see where Pokemon are and then be able to simply walk over to that spot in an attempt to capture those Pokemon. The game designers however felt that Pokevision was cheating (and it was using Pokemon Go's servers without their permission) and thus sent cease and desist letters before eventually pulling the plug and blocking Pokevision from working.

Also certain aspects of the game, like hatching eggs can only be done by walking 2 or 5 kilometers. Speaking for myself, I have made a goal of walking 3.5 kilometers per day each day that I am playing the game. If I play every day during a month I will have walked 105 kilometers. (A 200 lb person walking 105 kilometers will burn approx. 8000 calories, + extra calories due to the Afterburn Effect if your heart rate goes up during that time.)

It is possible to buy Pokeballs and other useful items for playing the game, but if you are doing that then you are missing the whole point of the game, which is to get more people outside and exercising. Buying a Pokeball costs between 4 to 5 cents each, which makes purchasing them really impractical as you go through them very quickly. Also if you can just walk down the street and get free Pokeballs by exercising, why would you ever pay for them?

Recommendations:

Wear comfortable shoes.
Check the weather forecast before leaving.
Dress for the weather. Bring an umbrella if there might be rain.
For added speed ride your bicycle, rollerblades, skateboard, etc.
Invite friends and family who also play the game.
Attend meetups and join Facebook groups to meet other players.
Take a drink with you. Water is best.
Take a healthy snack with you. Apples are good. Granola bars are good too.
Take a backup battery power for your smartphone. Having the game open regularly drains the battery faster.
Keep track of how much bandwidth data you are using on your smartphone. (Last month I had just received my new cell phone and I downloaded a lot of programs on the first day of having the phone, so I had to be careful how much bandwidth I was using afterwards.)

Also you do not need to wear the silly hats. That is for the dorks who get really into it.

Already there has been 10s of millions of people who have downloaded Pokemon Go and started playing it, making it the fastest growing sport in the world.

Also the game is free. All you need is a smartphone and a data plan. No purchase necessary.

See also:

Pokemon Go as a Workout Plan

Looking for an Optometrist in Toronto

By Charles Moffat, July 2016.

I am currently in the market for a new Optometrist in Toronto, preferably downtown or close to Leaside.

If people can recommend any optometrists in downtown Toronto or near Leaside, please post a comment below and I shall check them out.

Please be advised, only those places which offer free eye exams will be considered. I am not paying for 5 or more different eye exams at different locations before I decide which one I will go with to be my "permanent optometrist*". Or maybe I will just go with the first company I find, if their service is really good.

* I was with my previous optometrist for 11 years until that came to an end. So whoever wins my business will have it for a good long time.

Optometrists seem to offer free eye exams regularly as a way to bring in new customers, so finding a place which has both free eye exams and excellent service should in theory not be too hard.

Once I find a place that becomes my "choice" I will update this post to become a review of the location.

Star Trek Beyond = Excellent

We saw Star Trek Beyond today. In AVX 3D.

Excellent. Arguably better than the previous two films.

We especially liked the back and forth dialogue between Spock and McCoy. Everything about it was good. The plot, action rhythm, character motivations, more attention to the entire crew of characters, excellent graphics. Honestly we cannot think of anything wrong with this film. Not yet at least. (Give the idiot fanboys a chance however and they will probably start whining about some reason why they hate the film.)

How to Make Money off Amazon Kindle and Kobo

By Charles Moffat - July 2016.

Back during the 1990s I wrote a number of books (a trilogy called The Crimson Companions) that I never got around to publishing (or editing for that matter). In 2011 I finally published them on Amazon Kindle and they have been selling quite well, despite the fact that they were never properly edited.

I wrote a disclaimer at the front of the books explaining that I wrote them years ago, that they are essentially "unedited drafts" and may contain grammatical and spelling mistakes.

I added the disclaimer, a bit "About the Author" at the end, added some photoshopped cover art that I made myself and put them online.

For many years, between 1996 and 2006-ish one of the books from the trilogy wasn't even finished. I never wrote the ending. I knew how it ended. But I had never got around to writing it until years later when a fan wrote a letter to me asking how the story ended. He had seen the books online years ago on one of my websites, read all three books of the trilogy except for the ending of the third book, apparently loved the books, and then contacted me.

Now to be fair, when it was online on a website the final website for the various chapters was basically a message inviting people to contact me if they had read up to that point. So that one guy had read it and decided to contact me, wanting to know how it ended.

And then it happened again. A second person read all the books and contacted me.

And then a third did the same.

At which point I realized I should really finish the story, and thus did so. Took me three days, but I finished it. Felt really good too to have finished a novel I started writing in 1996 and it wasn't finished until roughly a decade later.

In 2011 a friend of mine introduced me to a website that she had self-published her cookbook on and encouraged me to do the same. So I did so, adding the disclaimers / about the author / cover art like I mentioned above. Then I tried the same thing and tried selling them on Kindle, realizing that Kindle had a larger ebook market.

And they have been selling reasonably well on Kindle. I make a small bit of income every month off of those three books.

The Crimson Companions Trilogy

The Paladin Assassin

Ice War

King Culprit

I also wrote other books too, publishing them also on Kindle. Short stories and anthologies.

Later I also joined Kobo, making that a second source of ebook income.

And continued writing more books, short stories, anthologies and publishing them as ebooks. So far I have also published two books of poetry. Huzzah, more income from my books.

Advertising

When advertising the books online my primary goal has been to advertise my writing website: fiction.charlesmoffat.com and then mention that the books are available on Kindle and/or Kobo. That way I control the flow of visitors and people can then choose whether they want to purchase via Kindle or Kobo. It doesn't matter which people choose, the prices are the same for both and I make the same amount of money regardless of which source people choose.

I don't spend any money on advertising either. I focus on advertising on websites I own myself, and encourage word-of-mouth. If other people talk about my books and then advertise my books for free, that is a bonus for me. Awesome.

Pricing

When choosing prices for The Crimson Companions Trilogy I chose the following prices:

$3.99 for "The Paladin Assassin" because I wanted a cheaper introductory price so people could read it and it slightly cheaper than the other two books of the series.

$4.99 for both "Ice War" and "King Culprit". This meant I could make a good chunk of income off of the people who bought the books individually, one at a time. $13.97 total if they bought all 3 books.

$9.99 to buy all three books together as a trilogy, all at once. They would save roughly $4 buying the books that way. That way they save money buying all three, and I still make a decent amount. Win for the reader and win for me.

Many authors on Kindle and Kobo sell their books for a variety of prices, usually between 99 cents per book or $9.99 per book. Every time they make a sale they get 70% of the sale value. If they try to sell for more than $10 then the percentage drops to 30% or so, which encourages authors to stick within the advised pricing range. An author who jacks the price of the book up to $40 only gets $12 as a result. It makes no sense to be charging so much when they could charge $9.99 instead and sell more volume of books.

Another thing the ebook companies often do is drop the percentage if you want to sell the book for really cheap, in an attempt to sell books in sheer volume. Thus if you drop the price to 50 cents for example, they only give you 30% of that so you only make 15 cents per book sale. Now in theory you still might be able to make a good amount on selling the sheer volume of books, but it scarcely seems worthwhile when you could charge $2.99 instead and get 70% = $2.09 for every book sold.

People Judge a Book by its Title

One of the things I have learned about selling ebooks is that people often judge a book by its title. And the cover art. Both are important.

It could have no description at all, just a really interesting title, a good photograph on the cover, nice printing on the cover that makes it really bold and stand out - and people will buy it.

The writing itself could even horrible, sad to say.

Reviews of the book could end up being marginal, average or sub par and it would probably still sell.

One of the things I did back in 2012 is I wrote a book and published it Anonymously. I partially wrote it as a gag, but I also filled it with what I felt was some pretty good writing. I basically wanted to see if lots of people would purchase the ebook.

And they did. For the little effort I put into it, a surprising number of people have purchased that ebook. It made me realize that almost anyone could write ebooks and make some extra cash off of it as long as they had a good title and good cover image.

The topic obviously also matters. Topics similar to "Fifty Shades of Grey" sell really well on Kindle/Kob, for obvious reasons.

eBooks about "15th century English literature" in comparison don't draw a lot of attention. But some people might still buy such books if it is the ONLY book on that topic.

I checked... There are 136 books on Kindle currently about "15th century English literature", and oddly enough most of them are steamy romances. The one series even made me laugh:

The Hot Highlanders Series, by Mary Wine
"To Conquer a Highlander"
"Highland Hellcat"
"Highland Heat"

Apparently they are selling like "highlander hotcakes". Teehee.

So kudos to Mary Wine. I have not read her books, but she brings a little "heat" to the topic of 15th century English literature. Hahaha!

Conclusions? Practically anyone could write and sell books on Kindle or Kobo. It really isn't that difficult to do. I do recommend learning some writing skills, how to punctuate properly, and good spelling (or at least spellcheck what you are writing while you are writing it). That way whatever you do write should at least be above par.

Regarding eReaders

Most people who buy eReaders (tablets designed specifically for reading eBooks) are the type of people who really care about being able to read an eBook easily without straining their eyes.

Reading eBooks on tablets or smart phones might be handy, convenient and cheap, but it is bad for the eyes.

Years ago I spent some of the profits I was making off of Kindle and purchased a Kindle eReader, partially so I could see what my readers were seeing and get a better idea of how to format my books so that readers could enjoy them more.

I later sold my Kindle eReader and bought a Samsung tablet instead, just because it could be used for so many more things than just an eReader.

I regularly read books and PDFs on my Samsung tablet, but how often I read varies from week to week and to me having an eReader isn't a necessity. To someone who is reading more often than I do, daily perhaps, well then it would make sense for them to have an eReader.

I have the Kindle and Kobo apps also on my smart phone, which allows me to also read books while I am on the go. Thus I don't always have to be home reading off my tablet, I can read off my cellphone instead and it is more convenient when I am outside doing things and want to read something while traveling to and fro.

Weight wise eReaders don't really weigh that much anyone. The weight isn't much compared to a normal book. eReaders are also typically lighter than a tablet of similar size. The newer eReaders these days can also be used as tablets to browse the internet, check Facebook and Twitter, etc and are available in full colour.

The battery life is also really good and they charge using the standard smart phone USB cable (not the stupid Apple one which doesn't work anything but Apple). Because of the way eReaders show words they use very little energy in the screen and thus don't burn through the battery quickly.

So it is really up to the reader/customer. Tablet, smart phone, or eReader. It really depends on how often you are reading and whether you want a screen that doesn't bother your eyes when reading. Just because I decided to sell my Kindle eReader doesn't mean it was not a good product. I simply wanted a tablet more.

Note - Don't feel obligated to go buy an eReader if you are publishing eBooks on Kindle or Kobo. Try the apps instead first and if you end up using them a lot, then maybe consider buying an eReader.

Ghostbusters in 3D, Amazing!

With executive producer Dan Aykroyd at the helm, many people were worried that this reboot (complete with cameos from original Ghostbusters) would be horrible.

Oh how wrong they were.

The new Ghostbusters film isn't just amazing, it is arguably better than the first film in the franchise. This film is the "Batman Begins" / "Iron Man" of Ghostbusters films. It shows how they became the Ghostbusters.

Dan Aykroyd co-created the Ghostbusters franchise with Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler in the first two films) and for many years Dan and Harold sat on the franchise rights, wanting to make a 3rd film but never getting around to it.

Harold Ramis died in February 2014, his goal of a 3rd Ghostbusters film left unfulfilled. He stated back in 2009 he was hoping to get the film out in 2011, but when a serious illness knocked him off his feet in 2010 and robbed him of his mobility. He had to relearn how to walk again, but the illness relapsed and he again lost his ability to walk. He later died of complications.

A third Ghostbusters film was basically Harold Ramis' dying wish.

And so Dan Aykroyd made it happen, but with the realization that the original cast was too old to be pulling off the action stunts. Instead they recast everything, added cameos of the original cast members, placed a statue bust of Harold Ramis inside the old firehall, and did an amazing job writing a new film which depicts The Rise of the Ghostbusters. In all their humour and glory.

Naysayers of this film have lots to say about it, but sadly that is all they are: Naysayers. They haven't even SEEN the film. They don't know how amazing it is. If they had seen it they would know this is an incredible movie, that they did everything right in it, and that it should be winning awards for Comedy of the Year.

Also when you go see this film, definitely see it in IMAX 3D. It is totally worth it.

101 Wedding Shower Gift Ideas

Okay, not literally 101 ideas for Wedding Showers / Bridal Showers / Groom Showers... but it is the thought that counts. We shall add more gift ideas to this list in the future.

The concept of shared husband and wife "wedding showers" is a more modern idea in which gifts for the couple are given, often in his and her varieties. This way the husband doesn't feel left out. The concept of a groom shower is a very new idea, as it is basically replacing the old bachelor party idea with a more manly gift giving event.

The lists below can also be used for buying gifts for couples, or buying generic his/hers gifts for people that maybe you don't know that well. (If you know the person better and know for example that she is into power tools / etc, maybe use the groom list instead.)

Category 1, Traditional Gifts for a Bridal Shower

• Linen napkins and napkin rings
• Dessert plates and bake-ware
• Tea set with teapot, possibly personalized
• Picture frame
• Crystal vase
• Champagne glasses
• Cashmere blankets
• Mixer
• Coffee maker
• Pie plate
• Dish towels and China
• Bedding
• Barware
• Platters 
• Cookware set 
• Knife set
• Lingerie

Category 2, Modern Gifts for a Bridal Shower

• Certificate for a spa day
• Coffee-table book of her favorite vacation spot
• Bathing suit for the honeymoon (get her size from the groom)
• Monthly wine or flower club membership
• Getting-ready robe embroidered with new last name (i.e., Mrs. Harris)
• Tent for two
• Breakfast-in-bed tray and pajamas
• Relaxation materials: scented candles and magazine subscriptions
• Travel gear
• Theater tickets
• Museum memberships
• Luggage and honeymoon guidebooks
• Beach towels and a beach bag
• Cool clock
• Gardening set in a cute bag
• Travel shoe bag

Category 3, Modern Gifts for a Wedding Shower

• Dual Activity Gifts (eg. if you know they both enjoy cycling, gifts that pertain to cycling would be a good gift, provided you know that they don't already own the items in question)
• His and Hers carry on luggage
• Wine Decanter or Wine Rack or Wine Trough
• His and Hers Watches (possibly with built-in GPS so they can track where their spouse is).
• Sexy Truth or Dare Game (or other games for couples).
• Fancy Salt and Pepper Shakers
• His and Hers Coffee Mugs
• Personalized His and Hers Coffee Mugs (photos of the couple or their names together on the mugs)
• Double Sized Travel Hammock, so they can both be lazy.
• Picnic Backpack or Picnic Hamper
• Gift Cards that are handy for the Honeymoon
• Books titled "Two in the Kitchen, a cookbook for newlyweds" and similar titles
• Cedar chest or "Hope Chest" - perfect for storing linens in. The cedar protects fabric from moths. 
• 1200 Thread Count Comforter, King Size
• Airline Gift Card - basically the equivalent of a "Trip for Two to Somewhere")
• His and Hers Bath Towels, Large Towels are Best
• Archery Lessons for Two
• Large two seater porch swing (preferably with cupholders)
• Book titled "The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work" and similar titles.
• His and Hers Pillow Cases, with their names embroidered on the pillow cases
• Kama Sutra Guide Book (avoid giving this book in front of too many conservative prying eyes)
• Personalized Cutting Board

Category 4, Modern Gifts for a Groom Shower

• Fishing Equipment - to be fair, make sure he actually likes fishing first
• Hunting Gear - for those who like both fishing and hunting, a fishing/hunting gift basket would work nicely.
• Sporting Equipment - golf equipment, archery equipment, gift card for running shoes, etc
• Power Tools
• Hand Tools / Sets of Tools
• Tool boxes, larger the better
• How To Guides to "Plumbing" and other household duties
• Books titled "How to keep the Wife Happy" and similar titles.
• Electronic gadgets - Bluetooth speakers, mood lighting,
• Waffle maker with all the trimmings. eg. a Bubble Waffle Maker
• Baseball Bat Electric Wine Opener, bottle openers of various sports affiliations (make sure the groom likes the team or sport in question)
• Personalized Pocket Knife or Swiss Army Knife
• Personalized Tools
• Personalized Bottle Opener
• BBQ
• BBQ set of tools
• Craft Beer Glasses
• Beer Crafting Kit
• Wooden Beer Carrier

Warcraft, the Movie

I am going to see the movie "Warcraft" tomorrow afternoon.

I am worried it is going to be bad, but so far I have not heard any negative reviews. It might actually be better than Batman Vs Superman (which I liked overall, but was disappointed by the whole "Wait, your mom's name is Martha?!" thing).

The problem I have with movies based off of computer games / video games / board games is that they are often horribly made, have bad plots, often missed the point of the game or story, and/or had very little staying power - as in you watch it one time and then if you ever watch it again you become disappointed with it the second time and never watch it ever again.

Examples...

Battleship - great board game, awesome movie. I have totally watched that movie multiple times.

Conan the Barbarian - The new one is based off the computer game, not the original Robert E. Howard books. I felt the movie is good the first time you see it, but really boring the second time you see it. In retrospect I now consider that movie to be horrible. For multiple reasons, each of which are due to meddling by the video game company Paradox Entertainment.

Dungeons and Dragons - Awesome roleplaying game, horrible movie during which the plot made very little sense, the villains were ridiculous, and it was amazingly cheesy.

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Awesome book / roleplaying game series, but the movie was horribly animated. Done properly, the Dragonlance series could be an amazing series of films - but you would need someone like Peter Jackson to do it justice, and it should be live action, not animated.

Wreck It Ralph - Technically there was never an arcade game with this name, but it was still a pretty good animated movie.

Pixels - No comment. I have not seen it yet.


Review of Warcraft - Four stars out of Five. Not a great movie (like Avatar), but not horribly bad.

The film has an underlying environmental theme, which I feel could have been elaborated more on.

Also the film left it open for sequels, which makes the fans happy. However I should point out that the "artsy fartsy movie critics" will not like this movie, as it doesn't offer much in the way of substance. Fans of warcraft will enjoy it, and myself, someone who is not a Warcraft fan but I am a fan of the fantasy genre, I enjoyed. But it wasn't a "great movie".

But it was good. It is worth watching. But it won't make the artsy fartsy critics happy, but to be fair those same critics thought "LOTR: Return of the King" was a bad movie. Depending on which "reviews" you read people are either saying that Warcraft financially tanked (which is false), or that Warcraft broke records. The latter is true. It is now one of the top 3 most grossing movies based on video games. The mixed responses tell me that some movie critics want the movie to fail and are apparently spreading false rumours about the film tanking. Anyone who can do math will realize the film was extremely popular.

I also feel the burgeoning love story of two main characters could have been explored more. Clearly that is meant to entice us towards sequels, which look likely as the film has already doubled its money - and the director is already talking about prepping for a sequel.

Millwood Wine Works, Making your own Wine in Leaside, Toronto

Millwood Wine Works
905 Millwood Road
Leaside Neighbourhood, East of Bayview Avenue on Millwood Road
Toronto ON

Review by Charles Moffat.

Last year the missus and I went on a wine tour in the Niagara region, of the esteemed Trius Winery. We really enjoyed the tour and for myself it was a reminder that my grandfather had made red wine decades ago and it was fascinating to see the process my grandfather had gone through making his wine - although to be fair, his process was likely much simpler and old fashioned that the modern witchery that goes into Trius wines.

Nevetheless the tour got me thinking. Not from where the missus and I live in Leaside, there are two small "make your own wine" locations.

The first being the aforementioned "Millwood Wine Works" and the second being the "Cellar Door Winery", which is literally across the street from the Millwood Wine Works. (Maybe someday I will review the Cellar Door Winery across the street, but for now this is just a review of the Millwood Wine Works.)

The missus and I discussed making wine last year in the Autumn, but kept putting it off. Thus we got the chance this year I figured enough is enough, lets do this!

So we went in together and picked out a nice gentle Riesling for $140. I wanted red wine, but I rarely win any arguments with the missus and so we got the Riesling instead - with the promise that the next time we make wine, she has to pay for it, and I get to pick the type of wine we are making.

We watched in awe as Kevin Whitaker (owner and "assistant winemaker") prepared everything for us, making everything was clean and shipshape. Then he handed me the yeast and I sprinkled it in "like a pro". Honestly, I was just sprinkling the yeast around like I would do with salt on a plateful of eggs, but whatever, it looked very good with the yeast swirling around in there.

Then everything was sealed up and we waited 4 weeks for our wine to be done.

Yesterday, 4 weeks and 1 day later we got up and went to collect our wine. Purchased 30 bottles for all the wine to be stored in, I disinfected and cleaned the bottles, while Kevin poured the wine into the bottles which were cleaned.

Then came the corking machine. This part I really enjoyed and I even took a selfie of myself for Facebook. The machine was apparently powered by air pressure, but for curiousity's sake I asked if there was an old fashioned was of corking bottles, and I was pointed to a device which was foot-powered. Woot, I love things that are foot-powered.

When it was all done we had 30 bottles of Riesling. Which if we do the math is:

$140 for the wine kit / service, $30 for the bottles = $170 for 30 bottles of wine. Approx. $5.67 per bottle. Each bottle contains approx 750 mL of Riesling, at about 7 to 8 %.

We plan to give away a few bottles for Xmas to family members. The true test came last night when we finally sat down to toast us becoming winemakers. Tasty!

We shall have to do this again sometime. Either at the Millwood Wine Works, which had great friendly service, or maybe we should try the Cellar Door Winery across the street.

Note - It is hard to switch to a different location once you have already found a place where you like the service. Quality service after all is hard to beat when compared to the "unknown factor" of trying a new place you've never tried before.

Shopping for a New Cell Phone

So I recently (yesterday) decided to start browsing for a new cell phone. Partly because my old phone is getting pretty old, and I have to wonder if I can get something better - possibly even something that can do slow motion video, which is something I crave for making videos.

However as I begin browsing cell phones I also start looking at the specs and the reviews of various phones that are available.

For my purposes I am currently looking at Samsung phones, since my old phone is a Samsung and it has worked quite well for me during the past 3.75 years.

Purchased circa August 2012, the phone in question is a Samsung S II i9100 which comes with the following:

4.3 inch screen (480x800 pixels)
8 MP camera with 1080p at 30 fps
16 GB storage
1 GB RAM
1650 mAH battery life

Originally released in April 2011, it was an older model at the time I got it.

Now compare that to the Samsung Galaxy J1, which came out in January 2015.

4.3 inch screen (480x800 pixels)
5 MP camera with 720p at 30 fps
4 GB storage
512 MB RAM
1650 mAH battery life

Same screen size, a smaller camera, only one quarter of the storage space, half the ram, and the same batter life. It is actually a DOWNGRADE from my old phone. It is also slightly thicker and heavier.

So obviously that phone is clearly a dud. Also the reviews on the website I checked were dismal. It is the kind of phone you clearly don't want to buy.

Okay, fine.

Lets see what else Samsung has to offer.

Note - I won't be listing all the phones Samsung currently is offering, because some of them are remarkably similar to my old phone, or remarkably similar to the J1 above - which makes me wonder if we have reached the limits of how much technology we can pack into into a phone.

The Samsung S5 Neo

Released in August 2015
5.1 inch screen (1080x1920 pixels)
16 MP camera with 1080p at 30 fps
2 GB RAM
2800 mAH battery life

Now we're talking!!! Bigger screen, bigger camera, double the RAM of my old phone - and extra 1150 mAH worth of battery life over my old phone. This sounds like a dramatic improvement. Also as a bonus it is water resistant, which is something ALL phones should be.

The Samsung Galaxy S6

Released in April 2015
5.1 inch screen (1440x2560 pixels)
16 MP camera with 2160p@30fps, or 1080p@60fps, or 720p@120fps
3 GB RAM
2550 mAH battery life

Okay, so similar to the S5 Neo, but with a camera with a range of video options that makes me drool, lots of RAM, a slightly smaller batter than the S5 Neo, but still more battery power than my old phone. Definitely on the short list of possibilities. Thinner than my old phone, slightly heavier (likely due to the extra battery power).

The Samsung Galaxy S7

Released in March 2016
5.1 inch screen (1440x2560 pixels)
12 MP camera with 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps
4 GB RAM
3000 mAH battery life

I was wrong. They have found a way to fit more technology into a phone. With a slightly smaller camera - due to the fact they wanted to make the camera jut out less they decided to make it smaller, but still with the robust range of video options I crave, and a waaaaay bigger battery, and more RAM.

But there is some cost differences.

The S7 is $899 CDN at Virgin Mobile (my carrier of choice).
The S6 is $729 CDN.
The S5 Neo is $549 CDN.
And in case you are wondering the J1 is $129 - for a phone so bad, my old SII is actually better than it.

At present I am leaning towards the S6, mostly because its camera is slightly better than the S7, and because it is slightly cheaper. With a 2 year plan from Virgin I can also get it currently for a mere $149 CDN, which makes it much more reasonable.

Now you might wonder, wait, why aren't I even considering BlackBerry or Apple products.

Several reasons. Yes, BlackBerry is made in Canada, and I love it when products are made in Canada, but I have never liked the BlackBerry designs. They simply don't appeal to me.

As for Apple, Apple products break all the time. They are fragile. Count the number of times you've seen someone using an Apple iPhone with a broken screen because they are stuck in a contract and don't have a choice but to keep using their crappy broken iPhone.

Also I should note that with the exception of the screen and the case, the inner bits of iPhones are actually made by Samsung. Samsung makes all the electronic bits for iPhone, all Apple does is take the technology and repackage it inside a shiny case design and use their own software and their own batteries (see note further below). Thus why would I buy an Apple phone when it is really made by Samsung???

For purposes of comparison here is the Apple iPhone 6s specs:

Released in September 2015
4.7 inch screen (750x1334 pixels)
12 MP camera with 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps,1080p@120fps, 720p@240fps
2 GB RAM
1650 mAH battery life

Okay, so it has a smaller screen with less pixels. Camera is similar to the S7, but a little nicer. Only half the RAM of the S7, and only about half the battery life too. In fact, the Apple phone only has the battery life of my old SII phone.

What is also fascinating is that the pixel quality is so low that it is significantly WORSE than the camera. Compare to the Galaxy S6 or S7 and you can see they are making an effort to get the pixel quality higher.

Note - Wow. Apple really needs to invest in some better battery technology if they are still using the same batteries from 2011. This is 2016 already and they apparently are being left behind in the dust by Samsung with their 3000 mAH batteries.

We do similar to be stretching the limits of how much technology we can fit inside a cell phone. It might explain why Apple recently started to make their phones bigger, realizing perhaps that we now live in a world with tablets and where people play on their phones a lot - which means they want bigger screens for a better gaming experience. Apple is still clinging to old designs like the smaller 6s, but trying to play catch up by releasing bigger phones like the Apple iPhone 6s Plus.

Released in September 2015
5.5 inch screen (1080x1920 pixels)
12 MP camera with 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 1080p@120fps, 720p@240fps
2 GB RAM
2750 mAH battery life

In the spirit of one-up-manship it has a slightly bigger screen than the Samsung Galaxy S6 or S7 - but somehow has less pixels, which means the picture quality is still lower, the same camera as the regular iPhone 6s, the same RAM as the regular iPhone 6s, and a bigger battery. So basically all they did is make it a bigger screen with a bigger battery. Everything else is the same as the 6s. And still less pixels, and less battery power than the Samsung S7.

Fragile screens, shorter battery life, and the innards of a Samsung does not encourage me to buy an Apple product. It encourages me to buy a Samsung.

After all, why buy a phony rip off like Apple when you can get the real deal from Samsung.

For me, I am going to get the Samsung Galaxy S6. All the phone I need, the camera that I want, and a good price too. In theory I could wait awhile for the price to come down, but I will likely go get it sometime in the near future.

Happy Shopping!

A Review of Capitalism

A Review of Capitalism...

Capitalism works better than socialism or communism. But it isn't perfect. Capitalism and the sole focus on money leads to greed causing harm to people's health and mental health. It is like a gambling addiction, wherein people are often forced to choose between a boring office job for 40 years and slowly kills their soul or a high paying job that causes you to be selling a product that slowly kills the consumer. Eg. Tobacco.

In North America the system pervades everything, even religion, and greed for the almighty dollar is the ruin of modern health via obesity, drug addiction and destroying the mental stability of consumers via a variety of means.

Clearly capitalism (and neo-capitalism) isn't working for our health (mental and physical) and to survive we need to adjust our methodology to create a system of Moral Capitalism. In such a system morality comes first and instead of poisoning people / destroying their mental health, we always question: "Is this moral?" before we try to sell a product or service or higher a person to do a task which we know is bad for people.

It isn't ideal because unfortunately there will always be people willing to do evil acts to make a quick buck, but people should be encouraged to operate personally on that level.

At present our current system inflicts harm on people all the time but people think they are powerless to stop a system that pervades society. But if we take personal responsibility for our own actions, suddenly we can change our actions and in turn set an example which does change the system, even if it is only a subtle change by adding the word Moral to the word Capitalism.

Sea Witch Fish and Chips

Note, To Do.

Sea Witch Fish and Chips located at 636 St Clair West, Toronto.

I keep going by it and I want to try their food sometime.

They have a mural down the street which is definitely effective advertising.

So kudos on their advertising at least.

Krazy Kitty Organic Catnip

So I decided to test out "The Original Krazy Kitty Organic Catnip" from krazykitty.com.

To test it out I filled an old "holy sock" with catnip - as in, all the catnip in a single package, 14 grams or half an ounce in this case - and then wrapped the sock up and bound it with three elastic bands to keep it firmly in place.

Then I gave the sock to Victoria to see how she would react to it.

I think the video below speaks volumes by itself. Definitely a positive review from Victoria. Later I took the sock away and she spent some time laying in her favourite box and then sitting on the window sill watching the world go by. Since that kind of behaviour is normal it is hard to judge, but she seemed rather sedated and tired after all that exercise.

I am hoping filling an old sock with catnip will prevent her from stealing my other socks in the future. She has a tendency to collect them and carry them like kittens to her favourite mat.

Cane Sugar Root Beer

Wow. This stuff is really good. I should try the other flavours sometime.

Duke of Richmond's Veggie Burger

Last year around mid January I became a vegetarian for 30 days as an experiment to see how it would go and tracked any weight loss, my food cravings, etc.

Needless to say I was craving bacon by Day 3.

However one of the best things I ate during that 30 day time period was the veggie burgers at the Duke of Richmond, at 20 Queen Street West, Toronto.

It was by far the best veggie burger I have ever had. (Most of them are really awful.)

A close 2nd was the Johnny Rockets near Dundas and Yonge (which closed last year because their lease ended).

The patty of the burger is made mostly from black beans, and for whatever reason, that ingredient made their veggie burgers really good. If I think about those veggie burgers for a bit my mouth starts to water at the memory of how good they taste.

I would even argue that it tastes BETTER than their beef burgers. The fact I am still oohing about the veggie burgers a year later shows just how amazing it was.

The Black Bean Veggie Burger sells for $12.99 at the Duke of Richmond, the same price as the Duke Burger.