The Fruits of my Labour

$90 for PCI Validation? Get real.

Mango — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:44:59 +0000

Our merchant services provider, Global Payments, sent us a letter stating that we must be PCI Compliant, or face consequences such as fines, termination of our merchant account, and general woe and spiders. We already follow the prescribed standards. So, no problem? No, problem: they want us to pay $90 to fill in a self-assessment questionnaire.

HA! HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA! HA!

Just to clarify, our amusement is based on the fact that they think we'll pay $90 to do a self-assessment questionnaire. We already follow prescribed standards, take security very seriously, and recommend you do too.

After about an hour of Googling, because Global Payments was wholly unhelpful as unfortunately per their usual, we discovered this: if you're an e-commerce merchant and process less than 20,000 Visa or MasterCard transactions per year, or if you're NOT an e-commerce merchant and process less than 1 million Visa or MasterCard transactions per year, you qualify as a "Level 4 Merchant". While Level 4 Merchants must be compliant, they are not required to be validated. Now there's something that Global Payments didn't mention.

The self-assessment questionnaire can be downloaded for free at https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/merchants/self_assessment_form.php. Note that there are several questionnaires; simply read the documentation to find the one that most closely matches your situation. Once you've verified you're compliant, complete the "Attestation of Compliance" and send it to your Security Assessor. If you're Level 4, this is sufficient to comply with all regulations, and there's no fee.

It is interesting to note that our account was "reported to your sponsor or bank as complete" the instant we uploaded the file. There couldn't possibly have been enough time for anyone to read it. Next year, we plan to upload a PDF that simply says "I BET NOBODY READS THIS". What do you think will happen?

Canada withdraws the penny in 2012

Mango — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:28:26 +0000

The federal government has announced that Canada will withdraw the penny from circulation in 2012. This means if someone offers a penny for your thoughts, they will have to pay by cheque.

I think they have not fully considered the ramifications of their decision. For example, anyone selling something that costs a pretty penny will now need to sell a five pack if anyone wants to pay by cash.

If someone usually has to think for a minute before the penny drops, they will be in trouble.

Finally, people who are used to putting their two cents in will need to have opinions that are 2.5 times better.

How to Save for your Child's Education with an RESP

Mango — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:02:29 +0000

One can never start saving too early for their child's education. An RESP can even be opened for a newborn, as long as he or she has a Social Insurance Number. Once you've opened an RESP, you'll be eligible for many government grants, such as the Canada Education Savings Grant (20% of your contributions up to $500 per year and a lifetime maximum of $7200), the Canada Learning Bond ($500 first year plus $100 subsequent years, if you qualify for NCB supplement), and several provincial grants.

Our recommendation is that you open an RESP - and hold any investments for that matter - with a reputable financial institution that will tell you their fees up front and will treat you fairly if you wish to withdraw money or your child doesn't pursue post-secondary education.

If you'd like to spend a little time on this project and pay some of the lowest fees in the industry, consider a Couch Potato Portfolio with TD e-Series funds. (Note that TD Mutual Fund accounts are not eligible to receive the Canada Learning Bond, the ACESG, and some provincial grants, but you can open a second RESP with TD Canada Trust for this purpose.)

On the other hand, if you'd like to receive some professional advice, contact a financial advisor at a reputable financial institution, and be sure to Google the name of the institution to check out their reputation beforehand. You'll pay slightly more fees than with a self-directed approach, but with a reputable financial institution, they will be appropriate based on the level of professional service you'll receive.

If your child decides not to attend post-secondary education, the government contribution to your RESP must be returned, but the interest earned may be transferred to an RRSP, tax-free.

We feel it important to mention Group/Pooled/Scholarship RESP Plans, such as Heritage and Canadian Scholarship Trust. To say these plans have a less than stellar reputation online would be an understatement - the internet is filled with stories from people who couldn't make their regular payments and therefore lost all their past contributions, or even people who did everything right and still lost a few percent, after ten or more years of contribution, due to exorbitant fees. This illustrates how important it is to do your research, especially when considering something as important as your child's financial future.

We also recommend you ask any prospective RESP provider these questions, courtesy of CanLearn.ca.

Canadian No-Fee, No-Minimum Bank Account Comparison

Mango — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:06:56 +0000

If you like to do most of your banking online, there's no reason to pay fees for everyday banking, maintain minimum balances, or be limited to a certain number of transactions per month. Here's a comparison of three selected Canadian financial institutions offering bank accounts with no monthly fee and no fee for typical banking transactions, and requiring no minimum balance:


Cheques	First book of 50 free, then $0.25 each.	First book of 25 free, then $0.20 each.	Free
Canadian ATMs	>2300	>2500	>3800
Savings Account	Yes	No	No
Chequing account pays interest	Yes	No	Yes
Branches	Yes, five cafés across Canada.	Teller-assisted deposits at over 900 branches free; other transactions $1.00 each.	>200 Pavilions across Canada, no teller-assisted transactions.
Free email money transfer	Yes	No	No
Link your other bank accounts and transfer funds back and forth	Yes	No	Yes
Overdrafts	Free, up to $250 for 30 days.	$2.50 per month plus interest or minimum $5 per transaction for a transfer from another account.	$4.97 per month in which it is used, plus interest.
Not Associated with CIBC	Yes	Yes	No, PC Financial services are provided by CIBC.

Notes:

BMO IGA/Sobeys does offer a savings account. However, a fee is charged for withdrawls and the minimum balance is $5000. Since this is the No-Fee, No-Minimum Bank Account Comparison, it is not considered in the above table.
PC Financial offers a savings account; a minimum balance of $1000 is required to earn interest.
In the event of a discrepancy between this comparison and the official terms of service of the financial institution in question, the later shall prevail. (Please notify us if this is the case!)

10 Things We Didn't Know About ING Direct

Mango — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:37:08 +0000

Mango's ING Direct account is another one of these things that makes him go, "Shoot! Why didn't I do this years ago?"

Through their association with THE EXCHANGE ATM Network, ING Direct effectively has well over 2000 Canadian ATMs.
Owe someone money? Giving a gift? You can transfer money to any Canadian bank account, as long as you or the recipient know the transit, institution, and account numbers. It works in a similar way to Interac e-Transfer, but it's free. (They also offer Interac e-Transfer; receiving is free, sending costs $1.00.)
There is no transaction fee on ING Direct's Investment Savings Account. You'll earn a higher interest rate than the big banks, AND you can use your savings account for as many bill payments, pre-authorized debits, and direct payroll deposits as you like. (Similarly, there is no fee and no minimum balance required for their chequing account.)

In addition to being able to call them on the phone, one can chat with a banker over the internet.
ING Direct's website is the most capable of any banking website we've ever used. For example, you can open new accounts entirely online instead of spending 30+ minutes in a branch. Now we all have multiple savings accounts and other investments for various purposes. Or you can change whether to redeem or roll over your GIC at any time.
ING Direct runs promotions from time to time such as a $100 bonus (!!) when you set up direct payroll deposit to your THRiVE chequing account.
ING Direct's call centre staff are Canadian.
Free overdraft protection is included with the THRiVE chequing account. If you want to keep most of your money in your savings account, and forget to make a transfer before you write a cheque, there's no problem if it's under $250 and you bring your balance to $0 within 30 days. They'll even send you an email if that happens.
ING Direct charges no fee if you decide to transfer your TFSA to another financial institution.
Electronic Funds Transfers to ING Direct arrive first thing in the morning rather than last thing in the evening.

both

Canadians: Get a Free Copy of your Credit Report

Mango — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:05:27 +0000

We never knew until recently that a Canadian could request a copy of his or her credit report, for free, by mail. This seems like it would be a good thing to do every year or so.

In order to do this, you should contact both of Canada's credit-reporting agencies. You can contact them by phone, mail, or fax.

http://www.transunion.ca/ca/personal/creditreport/consumerdisclosure_en.page
http://www.consumer.equifax.ca/cs7/Satellite?pagename=EFX/Wrapper&simpleurl=credit-product-list-ca/contact_us&locale=en_ca

If you need access to your credit report right away, you can order it, along with your credit score, online for a small fee. You may also pay a monthly fee and be notified periodically of any changes. Your credit score will not be disclosed to you, for free. However, typical use of having this information is simply to verify that what is on your credit report should indeed be on your credit report. For this use, the free report will be perfectly adequate.

The report we received in the mail had our information obfuscated. Though it provided us with the information we needed, it provided little information that could have contributed to identity theft, should the mail have been misdelivered.

For more information, see this document about requesting your free credit report from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

Payment Processing in Canada: Beanstream vs. Authorize.net

Mango — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:55:51 +0000


Beanstream is compatible with many Canadian merchant accounts or will provide you with a blended-rate merchant account with no contract and no minimums.	Authorize.net works only with Global Payments in Canada (high but negotiable setup fees / 3 year contract / $500 early termination fee) and cannot provide you with a Canadian merchant account.
Beanstream provides Pre-Authorized Debit and Direct Depost for Canadian and US bank accounts.	Authorize.net's eCheck.net product supports debit from US bank accounts only.
Basic fraud detection tools are free.	Basic tools free, Advanced Fraud Detection Suite available at a cost.
Phone and email support available.	Phone, email, and live chat support available.
Cutoff time is midnight Eastern.	Cutoff time is configurable.

Both Beanstream and Authorize.net support payment profiles (new to Beanstream), batch processing, recurring billing, and virtual terminal; they have good reporting, and a powerful API. Their fees are similar. You may be able to obtain better rates from an Authorize.net reseller than by dealing with Authorize.net directly. It may be worth it to note that our Authorize.net sales rep underquoted our fees, in writing, by $20/month, but refused to actually provide us with the quoted fees after we'd signed a 3-year contract with Global Payments. This caused us to investigate Beanstream as soon as they released their payment profiles feature.

Beanstream and Authorize.net both provide excellent service, but we prefer Beanstream for its better support of Canadian merchant accounts, its PAD/Direct Deposit product, and its local staff.

Truck Rentals in Canada: Budget vs. U-Haul

Mango — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:21:29 +0000


Budget has a new fleet of trucks.	U-Haul's trucks may be new or ancient.
For one-way rentals, only a 16-foot truck is available, in limited parts of Canada.	Almost all types of trucks are available for one-way rentals anywhere in North America.
Depots are in major cities.	Depots are just about anywhere.
Trucks have a low deck.	Trucks have a very low deck; very easy to load; lower clearance required.
$944.23 tax included for a one-way rental from Vancouver to Red Deer	$1059.52 for the same move with a truck 57 cubic feet smaller and same insurance
You rent an empty truck.	A dolly and furniture pads takes up valuable space in the truck; you can't remove them unless you want to pay for them.
Our truck was provided to us with a full tank of diesel.	Our truck was provided to us with less than a quarter tank of gas.
Cube truck	"Mom's Attic" over the cab
Diesel or Gasoline fuel	Gasoline fuel

The verdict: If each end of your move is in or near a city with a Budget depot, and a 16-foot truck will suit your needs if you're doing a one-way rental, we recommend Budget for their newer trucks and competitive prices.

If you're picking up and dropping off your truck at the same location in a major city, you may also wish to investigate Penske and Ryder. (Note that these two companies have different insurance terms than Budget and U-Haul.)

If your move isn't near a large city, you're doing a one-way move outside of Budget's area, or you're doing a one-way move and a 16-foot truck isn't appropriate, U-Haul will often be your only option.

Computer case fan testing

Mango — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:57:54 +0000

My case has terrible ventilation at the front and as you will see, an intake fan doesn't really do much. I tried every configuration to find out what the best possible cooling would be under my circumstances. I don't own a hard drive, so perhaps my temperatures are a little cooler than they otherwise would be.

These measurements were taken at stock speeds with stock CPU cooling. The case fans are Zalman ZM-F1 Plus 80MM, which come with a noiseless adapter that lowers the speed of the fan by about 1000 RPM. I eventually settled on a single rear fan with noiseless adapter.

Idle
both fans: 24.5ºC
rear fan: 24.5ºC
front fan: 25ºC
front fan, with noiseless adapter: 25.5ºC
rear fan, with noiseless adapter: 25.5ºC
no case fan: 25.5ºC

Load
both fans: 64ºC
rear fan: 65.5
front fan: 71.5ºC
front fan, with noiseless adapter: 71.5ºC
rear fan, with noiseless adapter: 68ºC
rear fan, noiseless, 3.5 bay open in front for more airflow: 67ºC
no case fan: 71.5ºC

Ambient temp: 17ºC

Password prompt for PHP CLI

Mango — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:08:38 +0000

Do you use PHP from the command line and need a password prompt? This is how you do.

Windows:

$scriptpw = new Com('ScriptPW.Password');
$password = $scriptpw->getPassword();

The Windows version requires the file scriptpw.dll. This comes with some versions of Windows, such as XP, but not others, such as 2000, Vista, or 7. If you don't have the file, simply copy scriptpw.dll from the system32 folder of another machine to the system32 folder of your machine. Then, from a Command Prompt window (running as Administrator for Vista and 7) enter the command regsvr32 scriptpw.dll

Linux:

system('stty -echo');
$password = trim(fgets(STDIN));
system('stty echo');
echo "\n";