Disqus - Latest Comments for dmehus

Re: RFC8482 - Saying goodbye to ANY

Doug Mehus — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 14:57:24 -0000

From what I've read, this seems reasonable. I can't say as I can think of a practical time when I've needed to use an ANY query, as an end user. In terms of looking up a domain name's zone file, I can still this with nslookup tools, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Cheers,
Doug

Re: How To Play The Sims 1 on Windows 10 + Widescreen Fix

Doug Mehus — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 21:54:32 -0000

Nope, I'm in Canada.

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Google shortens 'Android Messages' to just 'Messages' on its Play Store listing

Doug Mehus — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 14:05:58 -0000

Where was that comic originally shared? xfcd? That's genious.

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Google shortens 'Android Messages' to just 'Messages' on its Play Store listing

Doug Mehus — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 14:04:45 -0000

Well said! When I was browsing the Google Play Store, I was surprised to see the Android Messages app. While the updated naming convention makes sense, why do they have so many messaging apps and what's wrong with Hangouts (my preference)? ;)

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Resistance to roundabouts - Behind the Wheel - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 11:43:19 -0000

The province should ignore the Qualicum Beach Residents Association's concerns and request for a signalized intersection on that highway. If the land and funding are available, roundabouts should always be used for the pedestrian and cyclist safety reasons the columnist outlines above. :)

It seems to me the only reason the QBRA wants a signalized intersection is to advance their hurried lifestyle, that is to increase vehicle speeds and reduce stop times. :(

Cheers,
Doug

Re: New casino raking it in - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 15:07:20 -0000

I just think one's "odds" are better at the table games - at least you've got the chance of "human error" (i.e., dealer or fellow players, as the case may be). With slots and VLTs, it's strictly computer algorithms. ;)

Cheers,
Doug

Re: New casino raking it in - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 15:06:15 -0000

Thanks for your reply, Glen, but Olly correctly refers to my thinking to which I was referring. Yes, it would appear that more of the "take" from table games goes to the casino, but perhaps that's in part to the small portion of overall revenue that it makes up? The fact is, fully 90% of their net revenues (after prizes paid out) are from slots, not table games. ;)

Cheers,
Doug

Re: New casino raking it in - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 17:22:50 -0000

As an aside, wow they sure don't make much from the table games. I don't gamble, but if I were to go to a casino, all I'd play is blackjack and maybe try craps just to say I've tried it. I hate those slots/VLTs. :(

Cheers,
Doug

Re: New casino raking it in - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 17:21:13 -0000

Wow, substantial increase. Not completely surprising, considering the marketing they put into it, but still impressive. There should be enough to at least boost the starting salary to ~$15-15.75. I don't think the workers need to receive overly generous pensions or wages, but a company-matching group RRSP or defined contribution pension plan would be affordable and generous enough. :)

I'd like to see how they fared this time next year. Colin, can you diarise this article and follow it up with a YoY comparison next year?

Cheers,
Doug

Re: How to record Desktop Screen using VLC Player on Windows 10

Doug Mehus — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 01:50:33 -0000

Exactly! At this point, I'll either try and get ShareX working to record audio + video, though I'm told ShareX isn't good for recording screencast videos with audio of more than 2-3 minutes, or try out OBS. If that fails, I guess I'll stick to Screencast-O-Matic - the best so far. :)

Cheers,
Doug

Re: How to record Desktop Screen using VLC Player on Windows 10

Doug Mehus — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 01:49:01 -0000

The instructions seem to indicate we have to record audio separately. This is useless to me unless there's a way to live record the sound. Also, the screencast doesn't record my mouse movements nor can I easily add highlighting effects like with Screencast-O-Matic. :(

Cheers,
Doug

Re: How to record Desktop Screen using VLC Player on Windows 10

Doug Mehus — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 01:47:41 -0000

Thanks, that's helpful. I couldn't get VLC media player to screencast using the GUI so this is nice, but what I strongly don't like is that your instructions show you having to record the audio separately. Is there not an easy way to have the microphone be "live" while I'm screencasting and record the two together, like Screencast-O-Matic? Otherwise, this is kind of a useless program compared to OBS or even ShareX. :(

Cheers,
Doug

Re: How To Play The Sims 1 on Windows 10 + Widescreen Fix

Doug Mehus — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 13:22:24 -0000

That's what I did before downloading this modified EXE file (looks like it's just been edited in a HEX editor, eh? thus, it should be fine. plus, it's been scanned for viruses numerous times) and the program just fails to load; no errors. It's been tried to run in Windows XP Service Pack 3 mode and in Windows 7 mode for both the 1024x768 and 800x600 resolutions. :(

Cheers,
Doug

Re: How To Play The Sims 1 on Windows 10 + Widescreen Fix

Doug Mehus — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 13:19:38 -0000

I've followed these instructions to a tea and the problem is not resolved; it produces the same result as when I ran Windows 10 Program Compatibility Troubleshooter. The program simply fails to load. No error message; nothing. I don't think it was to do with not doing the UIGraphics part of the tutorial because you noted that was to resolve graphics rendering issues that MAY crop up in the game. :(

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Reeling from Greyhound cut - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 14:55:54 -0000

It was more in reply to Thoomas' post in the parent thread. :)

I think talking about diesel prices is a total red herring, though. That's NOT why at all.

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Reeling from Greyhound cut - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:25:00 -0000

Some people don't drive.

Move along.

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Reeling from Greyhound cut - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:23:43 -0000

Exactly! Chris, it's not necessarily about deregulating the industry. Maybe rider fares needed to be somewhat higher, but I think that inter-city bus services just can't compete for profitable. Thus, we need the province to step in and provide a taxpayer subsidy.

It's small-minded, and wrong-headed, thinking to suggest the error was on the part of the operator.

I lay the blame largely at Minister Trevena, her predecessor Minister Todd Stone, and the provincial bureaucracy - a.k.a. the "deep state," who, I'd add, don't need bus services with their fat salaries and anachronistic cozy pensions. :(

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Reeling from Greyhound cut - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:19:48 -0000

That's only a small part of it. I think it was the growth of low-cost and even ultra-low-cost airlines, as well as ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, more so than provincially-subsidized transportation. I also place blame on the provincial government, but NOT for funding local transit...for NOT providing a taxpayer subsidy to inter-city bus services.

Inter-city bus services are NOT a profit-making venture, thus, that's where government NEEDS to step in. That's it's very job: protecting under-serviced citizens and the quiet minority.

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Reeling from Greyhound cut - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:15:54 -0000

While I agree with the Transportation Minister that it's unfortunate Greyhound Canada did not reach out to them to see if, say, a provincial subsidy would be available to continue service - at least on a 2-4 run per week service basis province-wide, it's laughable that they didn't see this coming at all, given all the route cuts and cutbacks in recent years. Her ministry, including the public service bureaucracy that has remained the same given the recent change in government, was well aware. They could've stepped up to the plate and offered some sort of taxpayer subsidy, as we do with local bus routes.

I don't necessarily think we need to be having a provincial Crown corporation a la the former STC, with highly paid and well-pensioned drivers and staff, but I DO think an inter-city bus is essential. I think the B.C. Bus North idea, which was cobbled together in mere months, is a good idea for a series of regional inter-city bus services, though we should also have a main "hub" city in each region to allow BC Transit to implement a "connector" run between regions. Issue an RFP or put out to tender the operation of the routes, including contact centre services. Heck, I'd even be fine with sole sourcing the contract to a reliable operator, like Pacific & Western Transportation, Berry & Smith Trucking, or Pacific Coach Bus Lines - something like that. Given Greyhound Canada's lack of notice, though, I'd be less than enthusiastic about their sister company, FirstCanada ULC, operator of the local Kelowna Regional and Vernon Regional transit systems, winning such an award. ;)

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Merge govt meeting rooms? - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 11:13:42 -0000

Wha!? They cited "parking concerns" as an actual "con" to jointly using an under-utilized board room, not even the Council Chambers, at Penticton City Hall!? This is easily solved by boosting to public transit service, both in expanded span of service/frequency increases and coverage to suburban/outlying parts of the City. As public servants, RDOS and City staff should be "public transit ambassadors" and asked to take transit over driving. Such silliness!

In short, I like the share facility idea (hello RDCO! hello City of Kelowna!), but I don't like their list of perceived "cons".

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Casino revenues boom - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 12:10:40 -0000

Found it. Looks like they've stopped hosting a smattering of reports directly on the BCLC website, so you have to go to the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General's website, for anyone interested.

Interestingly, comparing ONLY casinos, Cascades Casino Penticton indeed tops the newly rebranded and refreshed Playtime Casino Kelowna; however, Chances Community Gaming Centre Kelowna still tops them all. For all intents and purposes, there's little distinction between so-called CGCs and casinos, the main one being that casinos can offer table games like blackjack, baccarat, poker, roulette, and others.

When you combine the net gaming revenues for 2017-18 for Chances Kelowna and Playtime Casino Kelowna, it works out to $3.9 million. In Penticton, its Chances (later Playtime Gaming) CGC was combined into the new-ish Cascades Casino.

Granted, separate organizations own Chances Kelowna CGC (Goldwing Investments) and Playtime Casino Kelowna (Gateway Casinos), but in this context, we care only how much net gaming revenue was awarded to the municipalities so it is owner-agnostic, in that sense. :)

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Casino revenues boom - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 11:44:01 -0000

Colin,

I've just checked the BCLC's website, which was redesigned - yet again - and now no longer includes the ability to sort reports by type and/or date, and I'm not seeing the latest 2017-18 Service Providers Commissions report. Where are you getting this information? And secondly, in the interest of accountability, can you please link to the page on which you found the published report instead of just citing a general source of information?

Thanks,
Doug

Re: Casino revenues boom - Penticton News - Castanet.net

Doug Mehus — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 11:30:55 -0000

It's important to remember that the City would also receive annual lease payments from the casino, too, which your news article discusses but which is worded in such a way that it is unclear if the headline figure quoted includes (or excludes) the lease payments. :)

Let's hope the City of Penticton earmarks at least half the annual revenues it receives as part of the revenue sharing arrangement, and the profits from its annual lease payments, to local and regional transit service improvements that could help fund a 7-day per week 7 am to 9 pm regional Penticton-Kelowna commuter transit service. :)

Cheers,
Doug

Re: Amazon Payments – Send and Receive Money with a Credit Card

Doug Mehus — Thu, 03 May 2018 20:48:31 -0000

I agree - this is outdated. Amazon has rightly caught onto this little "hack". Not only does the Amazon Payments dashboard not look as it does in the above screenshots, it doesn't allow you to link a bank account nor does it allow you to send money to a person. This information is wholly inaccurate. :(

It's not even called Amazon Payments anymore for Christ's sake (it's Amazon Pay now)!

Cheers,
Doug

Re: WATCH: Trump Shuts Down His Golf Club To Let Coast Guard To Play, Pays For Their Lunch

Doug Mehus — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 14:37:23 -0000

I can't believe how radically my opinion of President Trump has changed, both as a person and as an elected public service professional (i.e., "politician" has too many negative connotations). I used to loathe him on "The Apprentice" and some of his business tactics but I can see how, personally, he is softening as he ages - from the way his face lights up around his grandchildren to this. Professionally, he is simply an anti-establishment candidate really trying to change Washington D.C. politics permanently and for the better. :)

Cheers,
Doug