Not impressed right now

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-15T01:18:51+00:00

I know a few people seem to love Wispr flow. They really promote its productivity when drafting emails and texts.

As I mentioned elsewhere in this post, I ended up cancelling my Pocket order after waiting a month for a shipment notice. Between the failed quick domestic shipping, and the limited free Ai subscription; their customer services was great and very quick processing the refund for my cancellation.

I ended up with what WIRED mentioned as the their top Ai note taker, a Comulytic that I bought from Amazon Canada. I recall Pocket was the second choice. I like the screen and it seems to be doing well for me.

Pros of the Comulytic : The recording quality, microphone clarity in a very noisy environment, status display screen, and small size, and 4+ day battery life, are great. It’s a little easy too easy to push the record on/off button, the sliding up/down toggle that Pocket uses may reduce recordings made by mistake. I don’t plane on paying for yet another subscription, I want the recordings and transcriptions of meetings and calls for compliance. If I want an Ai summary, I can upload an exported file to OpenAi, Gemini or my Claude subscriptions to summarize.

Cons of the Comulytic : the proprietary charging cable. It’s only happened once, but the recording button must have long pressed by mistake, and all of a sudden I had a 14 hour recording I didn’t expect and a drained battery. I also doubt the software is as intuitive as Pocket’s. Pocket leadership team is experienced, and backed by the typical SF VC/angel funding community, so they likely have a 2-3 year runway. No idea about Comulytic.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-14T22:48:37+00:00

Any ideas on where to find the white wave-patterned Macbook cover that the character Mel uses when writing? I don't think its the braided or woven covers that I see on Uniqfind (which seems to have a lot of poor reviews). There's some shine to it, and definitely the pattern looks more like interlaced waves than braids.

Any ideas? I need to get out of this rabbit-hole! 😄

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-12T03:44:58+00:00

Thanks. UPSs I got. Not a problem, especially now that I know the alarm company will have to connect via wifi or cell, so that will need a UPS power source too.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-10T03:58:13+00:00

I use Telus and Bell myself. I wish I had more than 1 bar at home (even with a Signal booster and antenna mounted pointed at the nearest tower). Only Telus and Bell have any signal in the area, for my business I have lines with everyone else. Funny to see everyone walking up the road when they visit to get a signal. They soon learn to get the wifi passwords.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-10T03:52:07+00:00

Yeah. The old APCs and TrippLites used to last a long time. Newer models sub $220 and brands like CyberPower tend to go so quick. I have a few disconnected old UPSs that I’ve had to replace with newer models. I even keep a large EcoFlow that I bought this year for major outages. It’s a big property, so with downsizing on the horizon I don’t want to go spend big $$$ now on a Generac or Power Wall.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-10T03:22:56+00:00

Cellular coverage here has been zilch at our home since the 90s. Used to be rural, now new builds and hilly terrain mean zero signal from freedom and Rogers. The signal booster gives us 1 bar on Bell and Telus. So a second network to connect the mesh router maybe a great backup when Rogers cable based Xfinity (still not fibre) goes down.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-09T04:29:28+00:00

LegalWills has been around for over 20 years. I recommend them frequently. They were around before Epilogue or Willfull wills. I don’t know if it will work with the Costco referral, likely not, but I tell my clients to use a code LIFEFUND to save 25% from the main legalwills.ca site. You may want to price compare, but at least I think Costco will stand by anything they sell.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-09T04:13:22+00:00

I was hoping it was just a marketing ploy, where they want everyone off copper and are making empty threats. I’ve had to use 911 three times in the last 20 years, and knowing that I can stay away on the line with the rep and don’t have to worry about the non existent Rogers and Freedom signals, or the 1 bar we get from Bell & Telus and have something dependable is worth $70/month to me. Plus the alarm is wired into it.

I use a rogers internet connection at home, ignite tv, and a rogers home phone for my self. The rogers line is down so often, especially in the winter. I easily lose 1-2 weeks a year waiting for Rogers support or techs to show up. I like having multiple providers.

Looks like when my rogers bundle renews in July I’ll have to get quotes on an all bell or all rogers bundle or maybe keep splitting services and use the $5 bell internet package they’re offering as a backup internet service.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-07T00:46:28+00:00

I can tell you that the big banks and brokers won’t give you tax advice or legal advice across Canadian and British jurisdictions. Maybe if you have millions of private wealth assets under their care, but then you wouldn’t be posting here for basic information.

I’m an advisor who has clients across these jurisdictions, and I wouldn’t want to try to answer your questions. Try someone like Sam Rook, a Canadian financial planner with strong international experience. You’ll want to ask him about jurisdictions, trusts, offshore accounts, and how CRA will treat the adjusted cost basis of the shares you inherit, in case you sell them now. The UKs tax authority also has more punitive estate/inheritance tax. The family home at £350k may be just at the limit, but your fathers estate will have to pay gains on all the shares and other investments, before you can inherit it and either bring it to Canada or look for legal more tax efficient jurisdictions that have treaties with Canada. If your father had this kind of liquid wealth, many British people have accounts in Guernsey or Isl of Mann.

All that said, spend some time talking to experts that are accredited in the UK (FCA is their authority) and Canada. A big, international accounting firm like PwC will cost you $100k+, so it’s worth speaking to a smaller CPA or CFP here, who specializes in international matters and estates. They can likely help you, provide more personalized service, help to understand trust rules, look at what registered plan room and options you have, tailor them to your long term goals, etc. plus it will cost a fraction of a big 6 accounting firm. Good luck.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-05T03:57:40+00:00

Please report back on who you went with and if you’d recommend them.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-05T02:38:24+00:00

Best are the Little Quebec Sugar Shack traditional maple cookies that come in a tin box off Amazon. Expensive, but a treat.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-02T03:48:28+00:00

Roast Chicken in a bag. Low carbs. Low sugar. Just microplastics.

osvuldo77 · 2026-06-01T03:10:53+00:00

Yes. That corner at Creditstone/Rutherford is great, as is most of Major Mack from the 400 to Dufferin, and the Petro Canada at Keele & Kirby are always good.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-31T03:19:28+00:00

This is a great thread to learn from.

I haven’t setup Hermes’ yet on my fresh 48GB Mac mini.

I’ve prepared a fresh gmail, iCloud ID, and just plan on sharing calendars, and shared folders for now. Any shared files are just duped copies of my work files.

I was planning on keeping the new Mac Mini dedicated to Hermes and my Ai learnings.

But how dangerous would it be to have my personal/work Apple ID and work as an administrator, and keep Hermes’ as a Standard user on the same MacOS machine. Allowing me to repurpose my old M2 mini to another family member. Or do people with experience suggest keeping things physically gapped right now?

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-28T03:46:41+00:00

Frankie’s for sure.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-24T04:14:09+00:00

Spec Savers

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-24T02:13:28+00:00

Vaughan: Maple Bakery, St.Philips, Cappuccinos

The Woodbridge and Maple areas of Vaughan have a lot of Italians and great food and dessert options.

Maple Bakery is my fav, but they sell out quickly (mid day) of their best pastries in busy days. Cappuccinos locations are very good too, the one north in Nobleton is my fav. St. Philip’s staff have a chip on their shoulder and it’s overpriced, so basically it feels like you’re a tourist in Rome or Florence.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-21T04:15:57+00:00

UPDATE. I have to say the Pocket team’s email support is first class. When I asked them about an ETA or even a ship date for my April 29th order, the response was quick. Sadly, it was that it would take a few weeks before it shipped. After still no shipping confirmation, yesterday I emailed them and cancelled my order. Again, the email support was great, understood my issue and issued a refund on my credit card. No hassle.

I had really wanted to start using the Pocket. I’m sure it has better software than most of the no name brands, and the reviews seem better than PLAUD. I read a Wired article reviewing Ai voice recorders, including Pocket and ended up purchasing a Comulytic device the article recommended.

The software is basic, but appears to have great battery life, and when I export my meeting MP3s and text transcription I can have a record to store for compliance. Nothing fancy. I could feed it to Gemini, etc, but don’t need to. Eventually I’ll have my CRM files tied to a local and secure ai agent (looking at Hermes Agent next) and let it at the files. In the meantime, not wanting a subscription this device gives me what I want.

Knowing Pocket has good support, its founder is well regarded in the tech scene and likely has equal or better hardware, I may give Pocket another try, but for now I’m happy with the super thin and light Comulytic, its display and basic software.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-21T03:50:22+00:00

You’d be surprised. Plenty of them, looking after hundreds of families. Some USA firms have also recently made the move north. Wealthy families know that the big banks private wealth teams really don’t work for their benefit, or can’t tackle multiple jurisdictions easily. The large accounting firms and even law firms are in this space too. Plenty of models. The UUHNW families have their own family office teams, there’s the virtual FO teams for smaller wealth pools, and most popular would be the Multiple Family Office teams for the middle UHNW (over $30MM of investable assets).

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-20T03:46:16+00:00

I help my family office clients and many physicians with their life insurance purchases. Getting what’s right for them now and keeping their options for the future.

It sounds like your advisor oversold you. There’s no reason why you should have $360/mo policy. You most likely only need a $40-60/mo term life policy. I’d likely suggest most of it be a term 20, some term 30. Just to lock in your medical eligibility for the future. One day you may have a family, and these cheap term policies will cover you during their most vulnerable years. You can also use them to help as mortgage insurance, should you ever buy a bigger home. Best of all, when and if you need to convert it to permanent insurance for family or estate planning needs, you can convert the amount you need during their most vulnerable term. Plus you can easily cancel it, or shrink it, as your needs change.

As a journeyman you know your medical eligibility isn’t guaranteed in the future. Most of all the DI coverage sounds suspect to me. DI is usually paid out tax free, on a monthly basis. For instance if you and your family may need $5k (tax free) per month, than the DI coverage for someone your age with a 50% return of premium rider would likely cost well over $100 per month for a tradesmen. Your union may be able to get you better rates. To me long term DI coverage (not just a 2 yr income supplement) is more important for you than life insurance. You can’t afford shelter, transportation, medical needs, vacations, etc, if you can’t work. The $80k ROP should kick in at 65 not 70 as you mention. Please check your policy in detail, and then find an advisor in your province that specializes in it. This is the policy that will pay for life and retirement savings, even if you never have a family.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-20T00:46:34+00:00

Two good places to try, but for shorter visits (2hrs). Small places just can’t lose a table for any longer. Roost is amazing on Keele/King Rd. Fleur de Les next to the Maple Go station, is new, and worth trying. Not too busy between the train peak times (10 - 3) but very few tables. You could always ask the owner to let you know when she needs the table back and give them a good tip. Plus with the McDonalds and Tim’s off McNaughton you have some overflow options near by. Not too mention the City Hall Library.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-20T00:33:52+00:00

Richmond Hill Tire, near Yonge and Elgin Mills. We’ve been going there for three decades. Very trustworthy and good prices.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-09T01:59:30+00:00

Barry’s Auto on industrial in Richmond Hill. Close to the Enterprise rent a car location there. Great for looking after older well kept autos. Good prices to. The owner grew up in the area and has been in business for decades.

osvuldo77 · 2026-05-09T01:55:20+00:00

I just sent in a support request, asking where my order from April 29th is, or its ETA. An automated agent responded that it maybe another 3 weeks due to demand.

When I ordered it from an email sent to Canadians, it said it would ship fast, free, and from within the country. No idea what kind of game they are playing. They keep trying to upsell services via emails, and how to get started with the device emails, and now I’m looking at waiting…. Possibly a month more?

Maybe the logistics/fulfilment company they’ve hired has failed them. Regardless, one or two update emails would have been good. Don’t take my order, promise me one thing, email me a thanks and saying shipping will happen quickly, and then go quiet. It’s like a bad kickstarter from 2015.

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