Archive for the ‘Websites’ Category
If you are like me then your favourite section of the Medicine Hat News is reading the commentary, and one section in particular “tickles” your fancy – Ticked Off & Tickled Pink. Home to the strange, weird, stupid, infuriating and funny comments from people around the city. Recently the Medicine Hat News website has posted a “best of” list showcasing 20 of the funniest (stupidest) comments submitted this last year.
Medicine Hat News – Ticked Off/Tickled Pink – Best of 2008
Some of my favourites from the list:
A little specific aren’t we?
“Ticked Off: I’m ticked off that my assistant CEO is allowed to abuse employees by throwing shoes at them. It’s a degrading and an embarrassment to our industry. Something needs to be done.”
Definition of irony?
“Ticked Off: I’m a little bit ticked off because all you have in the Ticked Off/Tickled Pink column is ticked off. Nothing positive, everything is negative. How about putting some stuff that is a little brighter so everyone can smile and laugh.”
Wow… possibly the best comment ever?
“Tickled Pink: I am tickled pink that the 1970s cheesy, pornstar, handlebar mustache still exists in this world. It can turn a little man into a big man, especially if he suffers from small man syndrome.”
Definitely has their priorities in order:
“Ticked Off: I’m fed up with the constant time change every six months. In our house, the clocks are not changed and every six months we are right on time.”
1 word: Google
“Ticked Off: I’m ticked off on Thursday’s paper, it shows Malcolm Bauld, a Montreal based artist, coming to play in Medicine Hat at the Ottoman Lounge. I’d like to know where the Ottoman Lounge is. Is it in Medicine Hat? In Montreal? Or Calgary?”
EverythingEco Logo
*Updated*
EverythingEco is no longer Medicine Hat based – they now are based out of Calgary; however, that shouldn’t stop locals from ordering from the site.
EverythingEco is a Medicine Hat based shopping website dedicated to selling environmentally friendly items. They have a large variety of manufacturers and items. You can shop for anything from sweet recycle-made handbags to natural cleaning and body products. I’m a big fan of the Haversack bags made from recycled inner bike tubes and seat-belts.
Stephen & Kim Platt are two dedicated eco-friendly people that manage and stock the site personally. They even write some articles and eco-friendly tips on the site from time to time. The best part about EverythingEco is they deliver within the Medicine Hat area for free!
I think the site and service is a really good idea, especially here in Medicine Hat since there isn’t many stores like this in Medicine Hat. I think a lot of people in Medicine Hat are too traditional and behind in the times in terms of internet and internet-based purchases. Hopefully more online stores like this start popping up in Medicine Hat so people will begin to come to embrace the internet and home/community/personal/local businesses like EverythingEco.
My Favourite - The Haversack Bag (Photo by Stephen Platt)
Last night, at midnight, the Medicine Hat Kinsmen Auction (Kinsmen Club of Medicine Hat) opened bidding on their online auction site. Already it has picked up some steam with many registered members and tons of active bids. This year there is a huge selection of items ranging anywhere from home hardware, automotive, and even technology. To give you an example of some of the generous donations this year, 4 separate pool tables were donated to the cause each retailing from $3500 to $6000!
Kinsmen Auction Header
The donations are all made by local businesses and stores all over Medicine Hat – places like Ideal Jewelery, Jackson Dodge, Moxie’s, Cactus RV, Sterling Trailers, Ultimate Spas, Ralph’s Texas Bar & Steakhouse and that’s just to name a very random few. Other items include digital cameras, a XBOX 360, tons of gift cards and gift baskets, free rooms at lodges/hotels, watches, collectibles, and tons more. Maybe it’s just best if you check it out for yourself…
The auction will officially close at various times from 8:00PM to 8:30PM on Sunday, December 7th.
From their website:
“The Kinsmen Club is an all-Canadian service organization made up of active community volunteers. Working together, we enhance the quality of life in the community by promoting service, fellowship, positive values and national pride.”
Not that it is really Medicine Hat-based, but the other day, on November 22, 2008, YouTube broadcast it’s first and hopefully annual event called YouTube Live. Although, in a way, since it is on the Internet, it is like it is actually in Medicine Hat, if not everywhere at once.
YouTube Live was broadcast live from San Fransisco and featured about three and a half hours of live show coverage as well as backstage cameras and audience cameras. The event was highly geared towards Internet phenomena from all around the world who had “made it big” using YouTube’s services. People and acts from all over joined in San Fransisco to participate. The most amazing part to me was the fact that I knew about probably 80% of the acts and people and who they were and what they did to gain fame, and to see them all come together was wonderful.
The acts included performances by Joe Satriani with FunTwo, Mythbusters, Fred, Katy Perry, Chad Vader, The Spinto Band, and much more.
Check http://www.youtube.com/user/live for more information and videos of the show.
And of course, check http://www.youtube.com/MHCVideo for a bunch of videos that students in Visual Communications at the Medicine Hat College have created.
Rapscallion Storefront
Rapscallion Design is a Medicine Hat-based graphic design company.
The company has been in business for years now, producing designs that range from clothing to websites.
Rapscallion Design sports an in-house screenprinting service which they utilize as all their retail designs are created by hand and screenprinted by hand. Mass production is cool and all, but it is definitely an added bonus to feel that you are not a product of mass production and to support the arts. Their designs are not done by a bunch of kids who pirated the Adobe Creative Suite and learned how to trace in it, but totally opposite, the workers at Rapscallion Design have their degrees in Visual Communications, and after being in the industry for a number of years, can really produce some awesome work.
You can check out the store at 455 3rd Street SE, Downtown Medicine Hat.
December 2nd is an in-house Graphic Design company based in Medicine Hat.
The revolution began, oddly enough, on the second of December one year. Since then, the company, headed by Rene Waters and Josh Gregg, have constantly produced the epitome of great graphic design in Medicine Hat. A lot of people knock Graphic Designers, stating that they cannot design websites because they do not know how coding for the Internet works, but truly, whether it comes to designing for print or for the web, December 2nd truly comes out on top.
Image courtesy of December2nd.ca
Not just a designer, but also a teacher, Rene Waters has been an active educator for the Visual Communications course at The Medicine Hat College. It is not an awkward notion in the least to, as a student in Visual Communications, seek out the advice of either Rene Waters or Josh Gregg. Both have been in the industry for years and will always give the most honest of critiques and suggestions on work or ideas. It is not unusual to be welcomed into their studio.
Since forever ago, December 2nd has taken an active interest in employing students during their summer work terms. Most notably, the students are of the Visual Communication course. This gives not only the students a sure-footing for their career path, but gives December 2nd an added benefit of another creative mind to have input on their projects.
On November 11th and 12th of 2008, the so-called entrepreneurs, StoresOnline, visited Medicine Hat for four Internet marketing seminars at the Callaghan Inn. Other seminars took place in Lethbridge and Calgary.
Before I start off, Stores Online is a scamming company that only wants your money and does neither encourage or even convincingly feign having healthy business-consumer relationships, which is the way to run a business. If you want to hear the truth about them, continue reading.
The StoresOnline logo
The invitations that were sent out offered users the ability to build their wealth with websites, a complimentary meal for you and a guest and a free MP3 player for you and a guest. The seminar lasted roughly 90 minutes with a collective audience of about 80 people per seminar, or about 320 people between the two days and four seminars. My invitation was full of typos, including the name of who the invitations were sent to. Is this professional? No.
The seminar kicked off with speaker Rich Putnam proclaiming his knowledge of Internet marketing with occasionally getting the crowd involved by raising their hands to questions. Maybe now is the time I should point out the fact that most of the crowd were all around their middle-ages, at least 40 years or older, and the questions Rich Putnam would ask were technologically related words such as “Hosting”, “Servers”, etc. Most of which, when asked, the crowd had a very basic understanding of, or no idea at all. Putnam would also randomly quote ancient philosophers, such as Aristotle (whom he confused with Albert Einstein somehow), which to me, seemed like a vain attempt at sounding intellectual and proclaiming false medical facts such as “It is a medically proven fact that raising your arm releases oxygen into your brain which makes you smarter and happier.” Rich Putnam also even went as far as to tell the audience to skip weddings and funerals to attend the Stores Online workshops. Apparently as well, the creator of Dell Computers’, Michael Dell, was at this event, but would not stand up. Sounds like a clever way to throw out a business name everyone knows, to ensure the crowd that the event is really important.
Stereotypical image provided by StoresOnline
At the end of the 90 minute seminar, during of which, Rich Putnam had thrown out many technological and Internet-referencing terms to the more elderly crowd who seemed to not understand (based by the lack of raising their hands), the associates handed out the order forms. Encouraged by Putnam, about 15 or 20 people filled these forms out. The forms immediately ask you for your credit card number, debit card number or check number and Putnam encouraged the crowd to “Not worry about the price, just fill it in. Then you can start your website right away!” One lady exclaims that she cannot spend such a large amount of money in 3 minutes, to which Putnam replies “You have to make business decisions fast.” and when she shows opposition and says “Not that fast.” He shoots her down saying “… Well, some people don’t make any decisions ever in life.” Professional. Keep reading, it gets better…
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