The heat in the building I live in is controlled by the landlord and it’s on non-stop 24 hours a day. On one winter afternoon in February, it was 37.9 degrees Celsius in my apartment. This is in Vancouver.

In March around 7:00 pm it’s usually Continue reading →

The details are at pome.ca

Update: On March 25, the New York Times wrote an article that goes to show how quickly the topics in this post have taken hold: What You Didn’t Post, Facebook May Still Know.  Excerpt: Facebook announced advertising partnerships with four companies that collect lucrative behavioral data on individuals, including data from financial services companies, court records and federal government documents.  Cont. reading at the NY Times and then return here to find out how to stop it. Their article also mentions a doctor that has used his patients’ e-mail without permission, to advertise (non-confidentially) to them on Facebook.

4 Ways Businesses Track You & 4 Ways to Stop Them

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1. They follow you in stores by your phone’s wi-fi signal
NY Times: Technology turns to tracking people off-line
Tech. Review: Start-Up Lets Stores Track Shoppers as Websites Do

What you can do: Turn off your phone’s wi-fi when you’re not using it because stores such as Home Depot and Nordstrom are picking up your phone’s wi-fi signal to follow your path inside their stores and they keep that data and build on it each time you visit.

Continue reading →

Behavioural data collection. What is it and why should you care? This article starts with the Ted Talk by the author of Filter Bubble/What the Internet is Hiding From You. Then it lists articles on what to do about it. Following that are screen shots that explain how to improve your privacy settings. First, click on the image to go to the Ted Talk.

What the book is about:

“Behind the web pages you visit, a massive new market for information about what you do online is growing, driven by personal data companies. One such company has accumulated 1500 pieces of data on each person or 96% of Americans….We need to understand the economic and social forces that are driving personalization and what this means for politics, culture and our future.” -From Filter Bubble

People say they don’t see this covered in the news. It is in the Continue reading →

By Shai Dhali

I wrote this post because when I asked everyone I know for a plumber referral, no one could give one…and now I have a company to recommend to them in Vancouver.

Good ol’ fashioned service from Melvin of Lambert Plumbing.

In the six years since I’ve owned Pome salon, I’ve dealt with a number of plumbers, electricians and carpenters. Their general attitude can be summed up by the very first one who installed all my plumbing.

“These small jobs aren’t worth my time,” he said as he handed me his bill for $900. Continue reading →

By Shai Dhali

“It blew me away how surprised the women I work with were

–like they’d seen a unicorn.

My thought was that if I could do it, why wouldn’t I do it?”   -Jeremy

“Parental leave isn’t for the baby; it’s for yourself to make the transition into being a parent.” -Charles, not pictured.  Photo: Shai Dhali

I  noticed that a number of male clients have been taking time-off work to care for their new babies. It’s something their fathers’ generation didn’t do so I asked them the why’s and how’s. The slight generational shift began 10 years ago due to systemic policy changes to parental benefits in Canada. The reasons are listed at Statistics Canada and they mirror the personal experiences I heard from the men. Rather than quote stats, here’s what they said in their own words. Continue reading →

The books are in stock at Pome Salon in Vancouver.

Recently I saw a doctor who assumed I was there about previous symptoms she’d worked on, but I told her that they were gone and I had healed them myself.
She said, “You did?! How?” Continue reading →

by Shai Dhali

The typewriter after a tune-up.

This typewriter used to have compacted dust balls lodged in the keys and the keybars jammed before they reached the ribbon. I wondered if there was still a place to get typewriters tuned-up in 2012.

Continue reading →

Check out this new temporary hair colour that works even on dark hair and washes out at the end of the night. The colour is muted on dark hair and brighter on light hair and can be applied to look pastel or intense. Colours: pink, purple (2012 update: white is coming)

You can buy it in downtown Vancouver at Pome hair studio. Call to order. $20