Technology

Technology is starting to turn on me.

Society (at least the society that I'm involved in) is becoming more and more dependent on technology every day. We can't go anywhere without a phone, not just a phone though, a smart phone. A phone that can do more than our brain can do. But that's only because we've let it become our brain. Our problem solving skills are quickly deteriorating because Google can do everything for us and it's right at our fingertips 24/7. I can't be satisfied with just my phone though. I have an iPad and an iPod touch (which is essentially the exact same thing), a laptop, and a GPS with Bluetooth. But my external brains have been acting up, and I don't know how to deal with it.

For anyone that knows me well enough you'll know that if it's plugged in and turned on and it's still not working, I'm out of solutions.

So here's how I've been breaking down recently... if you have any helpful suggestions, please feel free to educate me in the comment section below.


1. Blackberry.

I used to say that my Blackberry was just fine and I didn't need an iPhone. Well fuck Blackberry. I eternally have a Facebook notification on my home screen when I don't actually have one and it's driving me bat shit crazy. Every now and then it'll disappear randomly and life goes back to normal, but most of the time my Blackberry is just tricking me into thinking I'm more popular than I actually am, then letting me down.

I repeat, fuck Blackberry.

Oh and while I was taking pictures for this post my screen turned white and shut down. Had to take out the battery and reboot. WHYYY


2. iPad

I don't have Flash player and that pisses me off. Besides that iPad is out of the woods. I actually love it. Good job Apple.

3. GPS

I haven't had an issue with my GPS before I moved to Kitchener, I don't know why it isn't adjusting to life here. I went to downtown Toronto to visit a friend a couple weeks ago and on my way home my GPS should have got a signal once I was away from all the tall buildings. Well I took a wrong turn and drove down a highway to Hamilton (that's not the right way to Waterloo is all I really knew) for 45 minutes before I found somewhere to ask for directions. I haven't been able to get a GPS signal ever since. 

I guess everywhere I go in K-W and hope for the best.

4. Laptop

Sometimes the WiFi works, most of the time it doesn't. It randomly turned on by itself yesterday after a 2 week hiatus.

Yes, I was trying to connect to the right network
No, It wasn't a problem with the router
Yes, the dumb little WiFi switch was turned on.

I don't know why. But I got to finally download & watch the Survivor finale because I'm still living in 2002 when Survivor was cool. It was wonderful.

5. iPod

Here's my main frustration of the day.

This morning I pulled my aux. cable in my car out of my iPod and it broke off inside the headphone jack. Just a tiny piece enough to prevent me from using my iPod.  And here's where my iPod beef really starts.

About a year and a half ago I dropped my iPod and cracked it, still works fine but it gave me an excuse to buy a new one since 4 gigs was way too small anyways. I bought a 32 gig iPod touch. It got stolen at a party shortly after because I partied with dumbasses. So now I'm back to the 4 gig cracked one.

But that's really a different story.

So I spent this evening fashioning tiny pliers with a bobby pin and a large knife that I shouldn't have the authority to use, but cutting the tips of the bobby pins off broke the scissors so I needed to upgrade to giant knife. Little mofos are tough. Don't tell the roomies that's why the scissors are all bent.

Needless to say my homemade tiny pliers didn't work and half of the end of a cable is still stuck in my iPod.

That was an exceedingly whiny post and I apologize. Try reading this Clubbing or this Pepsi
I'm much less annoying and much funnier.
#selfpromotion

Unpaid

The other day this article came up on my Twitter feed.

http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/career-development/173377/how-to-tell-when-unpaid-internships-are-opportunities-when-theyre-an-abuse/

It's talking about internships, mainly in journalism, and the idea of unpaid internships, something I'm very familiar with. It discusses what you get out of working for free, and the difference between being offered an opportunity and being taken advantage of.

PS. if you're getting executives coffee all day for free, they're taking advantage of you. 

This summer I'm working (for free) at MHM publishing. They produce both Canadian Skies magazine, and Vertical magazine. Skies is planes, and Vertical is helicopters... clearly something I have no experience in.

I'm learning.

So why would I want to work for them for free?

I'm a communications student. I didn't enter a field that will have me rolling in cash the second I graduate. I willingly, and eagerly, chose a field that is extremely competitive. There is always going to be someone that wrote a more compelling article than me, or designed a better looking ad than me, or wrote a catchier news release than me. But this is what I chose. I chose to be a part of an industry that always wants more from you.

ask better interview questions!
pay more attention to your grammar!
network, network, network!
be more cutting edge!
be CREATIVE!
Strategize!
and more than anything..


HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE

No one wants to hire someone that doesn't have experience. But without experience you can't get the job to gain experience. It's impossible to win. Unless in many cases you are willing to work for free.


A guy from the article I posted at the beginning of this post says

“The main thing that you want to get back is opportunity and training,” he said. “Opportunity means the chance to write, edit, take pictures or make videos; a chance to do meaningful work. Training means that you don’t just sit in your apartment and send things off to somebody who never says anything to you. That’s not training, that’s them taking your work for free and using it.”

And that's what I'm getting from my internship. Opportunity and training.

If I wanted to get a good paying job with no experience right out of school I would have got a degree in nursing, or business, or anything to do with oil. Or maybe I would have taken a trade like electrician, or mechanic. But this is communications. It's just the reality of the business. 

My resume consists of "student" and "waitress" right now. I can't get a job in communications with that. I need this opportunity and training. I need to beef up my resume.

Vertical and Canadian Skies weren't hiring when I contacted them. They weren't looking for anyone, I went to them. I asked them for a job so that I can have something more than "wing night expert" to show for my summer. After only a week, the opportunities I've had are things that I can never get out of formal education.

I look at my internship as if I'm taking a really great summer course for free.

On day #1 they sat me down and got me straight to work. I've been editing news releases into articles to put on their websites. I've written two articles that have already been published online.

http://skiesmag.com/news/articles/16453-top-amateur-aviators-invited-to-join-national-competition-.html
http://skiesmag.com/news/articles/16463-statscan-reports-decline-in-aircraft-movements-for-third-con.html

And I'm learning things and gaining experience that I couldn't get anywhere else. They can't teach me in school what to do when I'm writing an article and I've called every major airport across the country and no one will give me a comment. They can give me a lesson on it, but they can't actually put me in that situation. All my work gets edited by one or two people. I get sent all the revisions and told why they were made, so I can improve.

I am so appreciative that MHM publishing gave me the opportunity to work for them for free. It's already one of the best educational experiences I've had since entering the industry. I can feel confident looking for jobs when I graduate next year knowing I have this extra bit of education under my belt that some of my competitors don't have.

I sincerely congratulate any my classmates that are doing paid internships this summer, but I'm happy to just be learning and getting published. The money will come eventually. Just have to pay my dues.

Waterloo

So Lindsay, how's Kitchener?
Well golly thanks for asking!

Well turns out I don't actually live in Kitchener. I live in Waterloo. What's the difference? I don't really know. The hip people here call this place KW. (Kitchener/Waterloo) but they talk about Kitchener and Waterloo like it's 2 separate places. They also claim that there is a clear divide between the Kitchener side and the Waterloo side, but I can't seem to find it.

I've also heard it being called the tri-cities? ... counties? I don't know. I think that includes Cambridge.

In short I don't really know where I am. I got lost in the exact same way 2 days in a row. Maybe I'll make it home from work in less than an hour tomorrow.

My GPS doesn't like me. 

I spent 2 days unpacking and organizing all my stuff into my room and when I had finally settled I found out that they had accidentally put me in the wrong room and another tenant was moving in that day. So I moved again. That was fun.

It actually wasn't that bad. It's not like I have anything to do here.

The plus side of not having anyone to hang out with here? I've gone to the gym every day since Saturday! Nothing else to do! Operation get abs is a go.

The gym and the lounges and the laundry room in my building are beautiful... I'll post pictures when I get the chance.

I haven't frequented the laundry room yet besides my day 1 tour. It's getting hard to avoid doing laundry as I only own 2 towels.

I ran out of food that isn't Kraft Dinner today.

Skittles cost exactly the same amount as milk

People here talk about Winnipeg like it's some booming metropolis.

Driving in downtown Toronto is the worst.

Writing articles about aviation is hard when you don't know anything about aviation.

I should have stayed in Writers Craft. I have the worst grammar.

My boss brings his dogs to work and it's the best thing ever.

The dog next door barks in the middle of the night. It's the worst thing ever.

There are really cute guys at the gym in my apartment.

Too bad I'm a really ugly workout-er.

I've been pretending to be a sports fan to make friends with my roommate.

It's easier than pretending to be a computer fan.

... So that's Waterloo. 


 

Showers

Nobody likes how they feel at the end of a long day of travel.
I've never seen somebody get off a long plane ride, or out of a car after a day long drive and say

"wow my smell is wonderful!"
or
"my hair feels so soft and not greasy at all!"

So why is it that hotel showers are as awful as they are?
They require skill.

Rule #1 is
Accept that you won't get your whole body wet. The water pressure is so meager that if you're like me you'll get your hair wet... on the top layer... then it'll probably jut slide off like a sea otter.

Do a Dance
You're going to have to move around quite a bit to have any chance at getting your legs wet. Hotel shower nozzles are only big and powerful enough to get about 1/8 of your body at a time. A lot of turning will be necessary.

Go First
If you're like me you're going to forget to bring at least one essential item on any trip. Today it was shampoo and conditioner. If you have any inkling that someone else in your traveling party may have forgotten the same thing GET IN THE SHOWER FIRST. There is not a chance in hell that the tiny, ass smelling, shampoo and conditioner will go around.

Why are the shampoo companies not using some kind of product placement or sponsorship or whatever and getting their mini products in hotel showers? I'm looking at your guys; Garnier, Herbal Essences, Pantene, whatever... I can't be the first person to think of this. Maybe I just need to take my CreComm hat off.