This Is Not News

Let’s not pretend the Liberals and the NDP haven’t been doing this for years. Why it’s suddenly news because the Harper Conservatives are is a mystery to me.

Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows
ALEXANDER PANETTA
The Canadian Press
March 25, 2008 at 6:15 PM EDT
OTTAWA — Next time you’re listening to your favourite radio phone-in show, those pro-Conservative opinions you hear from callers might not be as spontaneous as they sound.

Some of those apparently ad-libbed musings are actually being choreographed at the Conservative Party of Canada’s national headquarters.

The governing party has produced talking points for grassroots supporters on a variety of issues, feeding them lines on everything from climate change to child care.

The technology angle is nice though. In the past, these types of talking points have gone out by email, usually by back room organizers.

27.3 Kilometres

27.3 Kilometres is the length of a return trip on my new commute to work, largely along Vancouver’s Midtown bike route out to Boundary Road, crossing every major street in the city. It’s quite pleasant really, a bit hillier than I’d thought, but not too bad.

I pass a cemetery, several chinese restaurants, the Purdy’s Chocolate factory, the biggest liquor store in the city and the headquarters of Burnaby’s Electronic Arts Inc.

This is twice as long as my old commute, and it takes about twice as long to ride it (about an hour door to door, including time to get changed.) I’m not sure how it will feel when winter comes, with its relentless rain: new, more powerful, headlights might be a good idea but that’s a decision that can wait for a few months. Spring (with its promise of summer looming just around the corner), is a great time to change jobs for a bicycle commuter. It’s just nicer to ride with long days of sunshine (such as it is in Vancouver, of course.)

Tonight it rained on the way home, quite a bit as it turns out. I didn’t mind too much: at least I was on two wheels.

Skis at Cypress Bowl

This isn’t every pair of skis I used this year: sometimes I forgot my cell phone in the car, and I didn’t take pictures the first couple of weeks I went up. It’s a pretty good representation though.

Pictures are in the order they were taken. Some pairs repeat, some don’t: O’Malley was a favourite pair, and the first night I skied on Willis the phrase What’chyoo talkin’ about was used more than once…that was a great night.

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The Two Canadas

From Foreign Policy, Number 81, Winter 1990—1991 published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Written by Jeffrey Simpson. It’s interesting how much this post-Meech pre-Charlottetown paranoia has simply evaporated from the political system, despite the fact that Quebe politics continues to be dominated by le Bloc Québébois

Twenty-five years ago, a royal commission investigating relations between English and French-speaking Canadians warned that “Canada, without being fully conscious of the fact, is passing through the greatest crisis in its history.”…

Today, despite myriad institutional and policy changes over the past two and a half decades designed to smooth relations between French and English-speaking Canadians, the commission’s words still aptly describe Canadian reality…in the aftermath of the June 1990 collapse of a constitutional accord desired by the French-speaking province of Quebec.

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Arthur C. Clarke

Words cannot express how much of a loss this is. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous With Rama, Childhood’s End list could go on forever of influential works that Arthur C. Clarke was responsible for.

If you haven’t read his work, there will be no better time.

Arthur C. Clarke, 90, Science Fiction Writer, Dies
By GERALD JONAS
Published: March 19, 2008
Arthur C. Clarke, a writer whose seamless blend of scientific expertise and poetic imagination helped usher in the space age, died early Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956. He was 90.

Rohan de Silva, an aide, confirmed the death and said Mr. Clarke had been experiencing breathing problems, The Associated Press reported. He had suffered from post-polio syndrome for the last two decades.

For An Independent Quebec

For An Independent Quebec appeared in Volume 54 of Foreign Affairs in 1976. It was authored by René Lévésque.

Launced in 1967—68, the Parti Québécois, whose platform is based on political sovereignty, now fills the role of Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition in the National Assembly—as we nostalgically designate our provincial legislature.

The next election might come any time now; this year in the fall, just after the Montréal Olympics, or at the latest in the fall of 1977…The present provincial government, a branch of the same Liberal Party which also holds power at the federal level under Pierre Elliott Trudeau, is obviously on the way out. It has been in power for six years, and ever since its send and Pyrrhic victor in 1973 (102 seats) it has been doing steadily downhill.

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Canada Votes for Separatism

No…not now, but back to 1978 again. From The Economist, October 21, 1978, Vol 269.

Canada Votes for Separatism
If Quebec still rejects the tories while the rest of Canada turns sour on Mr. Trudeau, the coming general election may break the country

Canada now stands poised for a fateful choice: a choice that will determine whether it continues to exist. Monday’s mini-election…revealed the perilous weaknesses both of Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal government and of the opposition Progressive Conservatives… [Mr. Joe Clark’s] own party, while triumphantly capturing no less than five Ontario seats formerly held by Liberal minister, failed once again to penetrate Quebec.

…the separatist tide that had swept Mr. Lévesque into office came up against a formidable barrier: the existence in Ottawa of a strong Liberal government. headed by a Québécois, committed to righting French Canadians’ ancient grievances….They held four fifths of the Quebec seats in the house of commons; his party held only three fifths of the provincial assembly seats, and it had won them on a minority (41%) vote.

…this is no time for Mr. Lévesque to beat the big drum. it is a long time since he has used such words as “independence” or “separation.” His party’s formula is “sovereignty-association,” and when he expounded this in the Quebec assembly on October 10th he emphasised that “We do not want to break our union with the rest of Canada, but rather to transform it radically.”

Looming TTC Strike

I bet this doesn’t last four months

TTC workers vote 99.2% to reject offer
AARON HARRIS/TORONTO STAR
Transit union chief had urged members to reject company’s bid for concessions on benefits
Mar 13, 2008 04:30 AM

Toronto Transit Commission workers voted overwhelmingly yesterday to reject a contract offer, less than three weeks before reaching a legal strike position.

Quebec Separatism circa 1977

From The Economist’s February 12, 1977 edition (Vol. 262) a survey of the country prepared by Roland Bird, on the eve of that great referendum that fired passions as few political events have since.

Must the Unthinkable Happen?

Canada can never be the same after November, 15th….

Before Quebecers are consulted on whether they want to stay in Canada, the Lévesque government has a stupendous job to put Quebec’s finances straight, to get its economy moving, and to deal effectively with labour movement…

[Mr. Lévesque’s team] conceivably represents the best in ability that has ever been installed in provincial government throughout Canada’s history….he deals in an endless stream of political philosophy and of equivocal French concepts, rather than administrative practicalities.

He sees himself…as having some sort of “national mandate”, independent of any English vote or of any big business support.

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Headwater, CBC Studio One

Headwater recorded a set of their tractor jazz for CBC Radio’s Canada Live on Thursday. The youngest fan in the crowd is just visible on the right hand side of this photo.

Henry Dorsett Case’s Airstream?

That’s not a trailer, it’s an Airstream. This isn’t Chiba City, it’s Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood. The phalanx of Volkswagens has been replaced by an extension cord running out of the house.

A Sensible Decision (at last)

I’ve never understood why anybody is allowed to ride without a helmet, which happens in B.C. As usual, Ontario makes quite a bit more sense.

Judge rules against Sikh challenge of helmet law
Last Updated: Thursday, March 6, 2008 | 10:57 AM CBC News

A judge in Brampton, Ont., rejected a human rights challenge to an Ontario law on Thursday, ruling that motorcyclists must wear helmets while riding because safety concerns outweigh religious rights.

Aquarium Drunkard - Grieving Angel (or, What Happened to alt.Country)

A nice article at Aquarium Drunkard tracks the rise and apparent demise of AltCountry (or, if you prefer, Alt-Country.) Coming on the same day as the release of a new album by Ottawa’s Kathleen Edwards it tracks an interesting trajectory.

I’m not sure that I agree with the premise that AltCountry (I dislike the aesthetics of the dash) is over, its best days behind it, but I don’t fundamentally disagree with any of the individual points the article makes.

Ryan Adams performs 200 More Miles on the new Cowboy Junkies Trinity Revisited album. Stunningly beautiful, it’s my new favourite tune.

Solid State Gorilla Detector

This article, of course, reminded me so much of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s Solid State Gorilla Detector I had to laugh. Especially that last paragraph. (The emphasis is mine.)

Shark Snacks on Supposed Shark-Repelling Gadget
By David Becker, March 04, 2008

Let’s say you were in the business of creating a new type of shark repellent, and it was time for product testing. What is about the worst thing that could happen? We’re guessing a shark swimming up to your gadget, taking an angry pass or two and then trying to eat it.

Which is precisely what happened when skeptics of the Shark Shield, which generates an electric field that supposedly repels the beasties, tested the device off the coast of South Africa. An 11-foot great white registered its opinion by chewing on the thing like it was a surfer’s femur.

The manufacturer says the researchers erred by not arranging to have a wave-free ocean to test it in and rejects any theory that electric currents might actually attract sharks.

Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax, the man who invented Dungeons & Dragons and provided me with many hours of entertainment when I was younger has passed away.

In recent years, he was seen on Futurama:

Al Gore: To my left, you’ll recognize Gary Gygax, inventor of Dungeons & Dragons.
Gary Gygax: Greetings it’s a…
[rolls dice. checks result.]
Gary Gygax: … pleasure to meet you.

Cyber Circles

From the October 1998 edition of Report on Business Magazine

Cyber Circles
The Do’s and Dont’s of Creating “Virtual Communities on your Corporate Web Site
by George Emerson

…’What starts off being a group drawn together by common interests ends up being a group with a critical mass of purchasing power—based in part on the fact that in communities, members can exchange information with each other on such things as a products price and quality.’ Hagel and Armstrong say.

Building a vibrant on-line community doesn’t have to be difficult—it just takes a good idea and dedicated execution.

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Intuit and Piracy

In general, finding someone to say anything good about Intuit’s relationships with its customers is difficult these days. They act like one would expect a virtual monopoly to act.

In 2003, they made a good decision:

Intuit’s lesson for MSFT and Hollywood
May 19, 2003: 11:00 AM EDT
By Eric Hellweg, CNN/Money Contributing Columnist

…
When Intuit launched the copy-control program, it predicted that revenue would increase, since customers who had previously purchased only one TurboTax program would have to buy a separate copy for each computer in the house. That assumption was dead wrong. Instead, the move triggered a consumer backlash the likes of which Intuit had never seen.
…
Dropping the activation feature from TurboTax was the right move for Intuit, and the company is lucky that the mistake didn’t do more damage to its financials. And therein lies a cautionary tale for investors: Keep your ears tuned to customer complaints about overly restrictive DRM policies.

Trying to activate a new copy of Microsoft Office these days teaches a great lesson in this, aggravated by the fact that Microsoft now likes to sell media free licences. No media means that when you move to a new computer it’s extremely difficult to take an existing copy of Office with you, despite the fact that it’s perfectly legal to do so.

Gnutella: Unstoppable By Design

Hollywood and the recording industry like to talk about the problems of piracy. An article from Wired “describes the now relatively benign Gnutella network as unstoppable”http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.10/architecture.html and also touches on the Napster phenomenon that started it all.

Napster is virtually dead (again) and Gnutella has faded, largely replaced by the faster, more widely distributed network of torrents, with no end in sight.

Wired Schools: It Takes a Village

An old C|Net special report called Wired Schools: It Takes a Village offers insights that are still useful.

Computers are not a panacea for the modern education system, and the article makes an important point that teacher training is critical.

Worth reading. Originally published in 1997.

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