Archive for February 1st, 2008

Grant De Patie died chasing down a couple of thugs who tried to pull off a gas and dash. They filled up and peeled out with Grant trapped under their car. He was dragged to his death for more than 7 kilometres because the drunk teens in the car didnt have $12.30 to pay for the fuel.

It’s horrible it’s disgusting it’s tragic.

His parents fought to have laws changed so that we would have to prepay for gas so that gas and dashes would be a thing of the past.

As of today, February 1, 2008, it is now mandatory for all people in the province in BC to pay before you pump - it’s called Grant’s Law.

Sidebar #1:

In August 2006, a group of radicals in the UK schemed to have some clear fluids brought on to planes and then used to create explosives.

We are no longer allowed to bring fluids in excess of 100ml on to a plane. (yet on my most recent flight, the woman in front of me was brandishing 12 inch knitting needles)

Sidebar #2:

In December 2001, Richard Reed threatened to blow up a plane using a makeshift explosive he stashed in his shoe.

We are now required to remove our footwear for scanning when passing through security at airports.

How are all related? A few bad people have caused a lifetime of hassle for the rest of the population.

I had to fill up today. It’s a full serve gas station. Now, I’m fully capable of pumping my own gas, but this station was the one on my commute route. When I pulled in, I couldn’t find my debit card and elected to pay cash for my gas. Well, at this full serve station, the jockeys can’t handle cash - because of Grant’s Law. So I have to get out of my car and head inside and wait in line to prepay.

Now prepaying has been the way things go in the US for years, and each time it drives.me.nuts. I don’t know how much my gas is before I buy it. I don’t know how full my tank will be before I fill it up. So I have to go inside, overpay, go back outside, fill up, and then go inside and get my change - each time waiting in line.

I’m not a bad man, I’m not going to blow up a plane with my 500ml bottle of Dasani, but someone somewhere thought of maybe doing it, so I can’t take water on board.

I’m not a bad man, I don’t have lighter fluid and matches in my Nikes, but a crazed man one time thought about doing it, so I have to take my shoes off.

I’m not a bad man, I’m not going to gas and dash, but because a few jackasses do, millions of people are inconvenienced.

I am truly saddened for the loss of the De Patie family, and while I understood their original campaign to have prepaying be law in the overnight hours, the government went one step further and made it 24/7.

When will it end? Are we going to have to prepay for our booze at the club? $50 when you walk in, refund when you leave? Are we going to have to prepay for each course of our dinner at Chambar?

We’re not bad people, but just like in high school, when one delinquent gets out of order, the entire class gets detention.

One more aside - While you’re struggling with this new system today and forking over your nearly $1.10 a litre, ponder the profits these companies are raking in. Exxon Mobil released their profits for 2007 today. $40.6 Billion. Not bad, huh?

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

I get up at the crack of ass each morning, listen to Nat and Drew, and do some research for my radio show. Here’s what I found this morning and think is relevant to you today.

• There is always more to Lost than you actually saw. Check out this blog and that blog dissecting the show for secret information about what’s really going on.

• I agree. The Canucks are not going to make the playoffs this year.
• It’s SuperBowl Weekend. EA did a game simulation with Madden 08. The Patriots win, but if you’re betting - take the Giants and the points.
• The stock markets may have taken a big hit last month, but Exxon found time to make a record profit llast year. $40.6B. Over and above ALL costs of business, they pocketed $40B. Criminal.
• The North Shore Mountains are under avalanche warning this weekend.
• There used to be a shortage of teachers, now there’s too many.
• Pay before you pump, aka Grant’s Law, takes effect today.
• Jimmy Kimmel celebrated his 5th anniversary last night. I’m digging him lately, I really think he’s better than those older guys. His girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, guested last night and sang him a song.
  

• Jamie Lynn Spears is, quite possibly, more stupid than her sister. Meanwhile, the Britney situation is getting under control. Her father has been named her conservator, while he and a lawyer have been named conservator of her estate. The locks have been changed, everyone has been kicked out and a restraining order is in place against her “manager” Sam Lufti. It is hitting the fan. Finally.
• JLo takes diva to the delivery room.
• If Hillary wins, she just might lose.
• Juno is up for a Best Picture Oscar. It’s a movie made by a Canadian director (Jason Reitman), it was filmed in Canada (Vancouver), it has Canadian leads (Ellen Page and Michael Cera) but it’s not Canadian enough to be nominated for a Genie. WTF?
• A great post on what to tip when you get expensive wine with dinner.
• Get your news via podcasts. I like Mahalo Daily. Today they have last night’s Obama v Hillary debate in one minute. Nice!
• Looking for something to do this weekend? Get a bunch of friends to hit a mall, and just freeze.
  

• The Spice Girls are pulling the plug on their reunion tour. China, Australia and South America are all cancelled.
• Don’t eat the green Jell-o. Seriously, just don’t do it.

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

Over the Christmas holidays I took this blog writing thing up again. For about 2 years I wrote one on MySpace, got sick of the spam and pulled it. I worked on getting a new site and design and then decided to try my hat at monetizing.

John Chow made nearly $200 000 last year just by running little ads on his website, I thought it would be fun to try.

Month 1 is done and here is the Google AdSense earnings report for the cyberbuzz media network (including The Blog According to Buzz and cyberbuzz):

Google doesnt like me to give too much traffic detail from AdSense, so really all I can tell you is I made $18.81.

Using Google Analytics, here’s a better look at the traffic on this site:

I had over 4000 visits to the blog last month, more than 100 a day - not bad. Most of my traffic is from referrers. I’m working with my pal Meg on boosting my Google Juice, but for now it’s word of mouth getting the people to the page.

Because of the way the blog is structured, with the latest posts fully written on the front page, there’s not a lot of drill down traffic - people get what they need up front without having to check out other pages.

The most popular pages are:

The Front Page - 36% of traffic
Have You Accepted Tom Cruise as Your Personal Saviour - 3.1%
Pages Tagged “Britney” - (and y’all thought nobody really cared?) - 1.7%

I do have other monetization on the network, including Kontera, TTZ Media, aLinks and others, but revenue from them was negligible.

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?