Life, Death and the Charter of Rights

The Supreme Court of the United States of America today upheld a ban on partial birth abortions and furthered the highly conservative agenda of the Bush government.

A similar conservative agenda supports ownership of hand guns by indivduals in the United States of America and funds the National Rifle Association. Two days ago a mental ill individual put a pair of handguns to their only intended use in Virginia, and hunted and succesfully killed 32 people on the campus of Virgina Tech.

Both of these rights — the right of the government to restrict women’s control over her body, and the right to own a weapon deigned to hunt other human beings are drawn from the Bill of Rights in the American constitution.

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document that transformed our nation at its core and guarantees individual rights to the citizens of Canada, something that most parliamentary democracies do not have. The supremacy of an unelected judiciary over the laws of an elected parliament isn’t uniquely Canadian, but it’s quite rare.

It’s days like today that I’m reminded of why I’m glad to live in a kindler, gentler nation than our neighbours to the south. It’s days like today that I’m glad to live in a just society.

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Don Ho, 1930 - 2007

Orick, California, September 1^st, 2006

Hello

Apple today announced a delay in the shipment of Leopard, which means a delay in my purchase of a new laptop. The SEC filing, of course, started with a positive comment about the fact the the iPhone is shipping on schedule.

Apple’s Hello commercial for the iPhone is a nice example of a beautifully executed marketing piece for a company wtih a well established and recognized brand.

It’s also a beautiful example of a marketing campaign for a product that doesn’t need it.

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Moving Targets in Interface Design

One of the fundamental differences between Windows and the Macintosh is the location of the menu bar. Put simply, the menus on your Mac will always be at the top of your primary screen in a white bar. They will always be in the same location.

Windows, by contrast, pins the menus to the top of the current window. The position, size and number of items displayed on the menus will move with the window’s position on the screen and depends on whether or not it’s maximized.

This is one example of the problem created by moving targets for user interfaces. The six little buttons on the right provide an even more dramatic one.

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Television the Fickle Beast

Article like this one always make me laugh in a bittersweet way.

I am a bona-fide fan of no less than 3 shows on that list, and I suspect that 30 Rock will join it at the end of next season, having just been renewed.

These shows all have one thing in common: they’re too smart for television, at least the commercial version.

Public / Private Health Care

From today’s New York Times

The effort, which lawmakers emphasize is still in its early stages, would exempt millions of people from the tax but would have to come up with a way to offset an enormous loss of revenue in the next decade. Measured in dollars, it would be far bigger than Democratic initiatives to provide money for children’s health care, education or any other spending program.

The emphasis is mine, and the health care issue is particularly pertinent in Vancouver today.

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Perspective on Digital Media Downloads

The New York times offers an op-ed from a music retailer explaining why the RIAA has effectively shot itself in the foot.

Spinning Into Oblivion - New York Times

…
The sad thing is that CDs and downloads could have coexisted peacefully and profitably. The current state of affairs is largely the result of shortsightedness and boneheadedness by the major record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America, who managed to achieve the opposite of everything they wanted in trying to keep the music business prospering. The association is like a gardener who tried to rid his lawn of weeds and wound up killing the trees instead.

Sunday with Friends

There’s no better way to spend a Sunday than just hanging out with a couple of old friends.

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