Thursday, August 4, 2011

Opening multiple VLC windows on Mac

Searching through forums to figure out how to open another instance of VLC on a Mac brings up some pretty mixed results. So here's the method that actually works. I'm sure this applies equally well to any other application as well. Open the terminal and run the following command:

open -n /Applications/VLC.app

The -n option is what tells Mac to open another instance even if one already exists.

NOTE: Although you have two VLC icons in the dock now, dragging files to the icons will not work correctly. The Mac will link the icons to the same instance of VLC. You'll need to drag files to the player control panel instead or just open them through the file menu.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Reporting Lost Non-Tracked Mail to Canada Post

So today I learned that there is a formal method to report lost non-tracked mail (such as lettermail) to Canada Post. Unfortunately, there is no fast an easy way to do this online. If it were a tracked item, you could open a ticket online via the Canada Post website, but for non-tracked items there's no such luck. However, I found that you can call Canada Post customer service (1.800.267.1177) and they will officially record the matter and give you a reference # regarding the issue. I was hoping they would record where the item was dropped off (location of Canada Post depot) but they only record the recipient postal code. So they'll maybe catch trends of mail lost at the distribution center used for the recipient but, unfortunately, will never catch any trends of employees loosing/stealing mail where it was dropped off. Ah well, better than nothing. So, if mail continues to get lost on route to the same locations you can call back Canada Post with your list of reference #'s and request that some action take place. Hmmmm.... I wonder if any action actually would take place in that scenario??? Otherwise, they claim they'll simply use the reports to improve their services.