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Not to sound overly harsh but... CHILL THE FUCK OUT. Arresting people for having fun? Anyone who has had a childhood knows that nerfguns are BIG, NEON and shoot 3 inch long bright SPONGES. Danger of getting hit by a sponge vs outlawing a game that sounds pretty awesome. This is ridiculous, I hate watching universities cave to every little whim, taking absolutely no risks. One nice example, some schools aren't allowed to play anime at all, since they find it bothersome to verify whether or not every rule is being followed for ownership and playing. I wish people would show some backbone over this kind of thing. But then again, the police would probably have any students doing sit-ins forcibly removed http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/03/21/campus-protest.html?ref=rss ....

Our last census had the option of filling out the census forms online. I didn't find out how many actually did it, but they were originally estimating 20% usage. Instead of getting the full booklet to fill out, you got an access code.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/27/online-census060427.html

While searching for a reference article, i found that there were some issues with Linux users, although they attempted to correct it.

http://www.linux.com/articles/54366

Because the current squads of Customs and Border Protection aircraft flying over our borders are more expensive than a similar setup using automated drones.

It's been ongoing for some time now.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/10/17/border-patrol.html

Haven't all terrorist attacks on US soil come from people with valid US citizenship?
But then I guess security is best established by pointing guns at your neighbours and telling them that you don't trust them.

Which is how they learned to spell Canada, by the way. C, eh! N, eh! D, eh!

/Dives behind desk before the RCMP polites me to death, because I've been waiting for a proper Canadian thread to use that joke and couldn't hold back anymore.

With credit - I think - to Bob and Doug.

They just started to release their programs as torrents that are DRM FREE!!!!!

We hope you enjoyed tonight's show! As announced, CBC is happy to present Canada's Next Great Prime Minister to you as a DRM-free bittorrent file which you can download, share & enjoy. First, pick which file you want to download:

Xvid AVI at 720x486
or
264 MPEG-4 at 320x240

Maybe marketplace should do a story about Bell and Rogers regarding this throttling...

Holding Canadian citizenship is no guarantee when entering/passing through the USA.

Especially if you happen to hold dual Canadian/Syrian citizenship.

Nothing useful out of this as of yet but at least MDA might stay here in canada.

Yeah, I work up by gastown, luckily a couple blocks northeast, so it's not too bad. But, there are still a handful of regular homeless people who come into the office building asking for change... one of them has been out there regularly for the last almost 3 years I've worked here, for example.

My band has played a lot of shows in the downtown area, including shows just a block from good ol' Main & Hastings (where, when driving, you almost literally are dodging drugged out zombies that are stumbling across the street). So I've met a lot of whacked out people, witnessed crimes taking place across the street, and of course almost everyone I know has had their car windows smashed (or their entire car stolen). I don't feel bad anymore though, like I did when I was a kid. I more feel pissed off about it. It's hard to feel bad when I feel like "they are fucking up my city".

But, here's what it boils down to. Vancouver is the only big city in BC, or even western Canada. The only place where there's a huge supply of drugs, and there's somewhat of a public transit system, so people can get around. The next big city is an 11+ hour drive away. For homeless people here, there is nowhere else to go. They can't cross the border down to the US (legally) because they don't have ID, or even worse probably have criminal records and aren't interested in the trouble that's going to bring up. There's also an ever-increasing influx of organized crime (enough that the VPD have formed a new anti-gang task force as of a year ago), all of which is almost entirely linked with a pretty lucrative drug trade.

Eh, idunno, pretty depressing. I've watched my neighbourhood turn from a nice quiet spacious foresty area into an overcrowded place loaded with duplexes and townhouses and violent attacks by gang members, in a matter of 10 years. A group of six guys got murdered in my town last year, most of whom went to the same high school as me. What the hell.

Hmmmmm... maybe join the Canadian Army instead.

It's great that you are so aware of all the help Canada has been giving you in Afghanistan. It may come as a surprise that they have been shooting at our soldiers too. I'm so glad their sacrifices are appreciated by our southern ally.

I really think LED will be the future of lighting in most situations.

Squirrels like them, too.

I was a software developer on the CBC programme ZeD, and we torrented (and streamed and broadcast) our " New new media" episode almost 3 years ago (April 1st, 2005 to be exact). And while the torrent file still exists, sadly the torrent server is no longer running. I believe we used Xvid as the codec too (or was it divx?), but I am certain there was no DRM on the file. Anyway, ZeD was web 2.0 in 2002 !

I was a software developer on the CBC programme ZeD, and we torrented (and streamed and broadcast) our " New new media" episode almost 3 years ago (April 1st, 2005 to be exact). And while the torrent file still exists, sadly the torrent server is no longer running. I believe we used Xvid as the codec too (or was it divx?), but I am certain there was no DRM on the file. Anyway, ZeD was web 2.0 in 2002 !

You say that as if duplicating your CDs was ever against the law, here or in Canada. Copyright is supposed to be a civil matter between private parties about the right to commercially publish works. Applying that to personal coppies has always been a stretch.

I recall some controversy about artists never got their cut of the digital media tax, not even RIAA signed artists, and it hurt local artists. Looks like it never got better.

I expect ISP fees to be exactly like that. In effect, they will outlaw what's already allowed and steer yet more money to an industry that has long ago ceased to perform a useful function.

Okay, I'll bite. You've provided one example. Let's say the story is entirely as you tell it. Can you now refer me to the video of Israelis dancing in the streets, handing out sweets? Or perhaps the Israeli streets named after the shooter?

No, I didn't think so.

If Palestinian children are being hit by gunfire, perhaps Palestinian gunmen shouldn't be firing from near children.

It happens all the time in Israel and abroad. Islamists know dead children and crying mothers are good shields when alive and good propaganda when dead.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/05/22/lebanon-battles-070522.html
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2006/06/index.html
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/03/iraqi_jihadists.php

The dispute is over hardwood,

The dispute is about softwood. This can be confirmed in about two minutes on Google.

and NAFTA clearly shouldn't apply when you are destroying the environment to undercut your competitors.

Do you really think that the US was imposing duties for environmental reasons? Seriously?

Can't argue with you about the government's action re: the preservation of the spotted owl though. I'm not a big fan of North America's lack of respect for the environment as a whole. Then again, I could be doing a hell of a lot more personally.

Non-karmawhoring article link: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/03/11/tech-google-doubleclick.html

Also, parent is redundant.

So the article is at ... uh, nowhere. The source reveals the link to be: <a>

Great.

Thankfully we have the Firehose submission, which contains the actual link.

So I guess the theory behind subscriptions is that subscribers are paying to catch mistakes like that? :P

It exists from the firehose submission. Pilot error, it seems.

This is not a problem unique to IT. The fact is, anything BUT executives is "undervalued" in one way or another, because executives are profoundly overvalued. Quote from the linked article:

"Executive pay has drastically outpaced the pay gains experienced by the average American worker, according to an annual study published in August by The Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.

Between 1996 and 2006, CEO pay rose 45%, at a time when the average pay for an American worker grew just 7%.

That same study revealed that CEOs at 386 of the Fortune 500 companies took home $10.8 million in total compensation in 2006, more than 364 times what the average worker earned that same year."

So, judging from the money invested in the matter, the most important priority for executives/managers in the last decade or so is ... their own wages.

IT isn't getting neglected, EVERYBODY is compared to executives and managers, and even business priorities and stockholder value often take a back seat, because there is a poor correlation between how much executives are paid and how well a company does. This isn't unique to the USA.

If it is any consolation, IT people are doing significantly better than average, so at least in terms of compensation, management seems to realize that IT is important, even if they commonly do a poor job of involving it in their overall business strategy.

This is not a problem unique to IT. The fact is, anything BUT executives is "undervalued" in one way or another, because executives are profoundly overvalued. Quote from the linked article:

"Executive pay has drastically outpaced the pay gains experienced by the average American worker, according to an annual study published in August by The Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.

Between 1996 and 2006, CEO pay rose 45%, at a time when the average pay for an American worker grew just 7%.

That same study revealed that CEOs at 386 of the Fortune 500 companies took home $10.8 million in total compensation in 2006, more than 364 times what the average worker earned that same year."

So, judging from the money invested in the matter, the most important priority for executives/managers in the last decade or so is ... their own wages.

IT isn't getting neglected, EVERYBODY is compared to executives and managers, and even business priorities and stockholder value often take a back seat, because there is a poor correlation between how much executives are paid and how well a company does. This isn't unique to the USA.

If it is any consolation, IT people are doing significantly better than average, so at least in terms of compensation, management seems to realize that IT is important, even if they commonly do a poor job of involving it in their overall business strategy.

I find it absolutely hilarious when Americans get all upset about other countries not following trade agreements.

What goes around comes around.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/10/31/iraq-violence.html

Doesn't fit the profile of a small group up against overwhelming odds.

Sunni(The larger muslim sect) blowing people up at a Shia(smaller sect) wedding(what symbol are they trying to destroy there?) in Iraq.

I can understand that many "terrorists" in Iraq are really just "resistance" or "freedom fighters", but sometimes, a terrorist is really just a terrorist.

Well, duh. It's winter in the northern hemisphere, so of course the ice caps are growing. Will this have an impact on summer ice levels? It's too soon to say.

What a co-inky-dink, I was just watching The National on CBC and they had a story about ticket scalpers who break CAPTCHAs at online ticket retailers, like Ticketmaster; and then buy up a shitload of tickets and resell them at inflated prices.

I think Marketplace is doing a more in-depth story tomorrow.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/20/qc-hackers0220.html
This link and all of cbc.ca is inaccessible from China.

I've tried anonymouse.org, hidemyass.com, shysurfer.com, www.privax.us to no avail.
Even worse it's been about a month since I can't even listen to the cbc radio streams via ogg vorbis.
http://vorbis.nm.cbc.ca/cbcr1-toronto.ogg
http://vorbis.nm.cbc.ca/cbcr2-toronto.ogg

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Cheers and keep up the Cowboy awsomeness :)

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/20/qc-hackers0220.html
This link and all of cbc.ca is inaccessible from China.

I've tried anonymouse.org, hidemyass.com, shysurfer.com, www.privax.us to no avail.
Even worse it's been about a month since I can't even listen to the cbc radio streams via ogg vorbis.
http://vorbis.nm.cbc.ca/cbcr1-toronto.ogg
http://vorbis.nm.cbc.ca/cbcr2-toronto.ogg

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Cheers and keep up the Cowboy awsomeness :)

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/20/qc-hackers0220.html
This link and all of cbc.ca is inaccessible from China.

I've tried anonymouse.org, hidemyass.com, shysurfer.com, www.privax.us to no avail.
Even worse it's been about a month since I can't even listen to the cbc radio streams via ogg vorbis.
http://vorbis.nm.cbc.ca/cbcr1-toronto.ogg
http://vorbis.nm.cbc.ca/cbcr2-toronto.ogg

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Cheers and keep up the Cowboy awsomeness :)

So does this mean that we can get our fancy cigars again?

You bring up a fact that just struck me as odd. Why aren't we doing something to store electricity?

Energy storage is one of the keys to a modern energy infrastructure. Currently, we (typically) use fossil fuels for this purpose--it just sits there until it's needed. According to David Sanborn Scott's book, hydrogen is the only viable large-scale energy storage medium (or, in his words, "energy currency"). This is because, in a general way, it can be used more or less as we now use fossil fuels.

I don't know if he thinks of hydrogen as a means of storing energy generated off-peak for use during peak hours (I do know he sees a larger role for nuclear power--something I'm a little ambivalent about), but his ideas are very interesting in that he insists that this problem be approached as a problem with the energy system. In other words, it's necessary to understand the role fossil fuels play in the production, distribution and use of energy in order to decide how best to replace them.

He's appeared on two episodes of the CBC program Ideas--look for the podcast titled "The Hydrogen Solution."

Actually I'm pretty sure that only monetary bills ( or motions of confidence) can bring down the government. If every minor vote could bring down the government they would fall a lot more often.
Here is an article about the last government refusing to call an election after losing a vote. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/05/10/confidence-vote050510.html
Right now I think what is happening is that all sides want to blame the other side for causing yet another election. Historically the voters get pissed of at any party that causes to many elections and kick them out.

Apparently, the same band of ISP's (and others) mentioned in the article is also proposing that this levy be eliminated:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/13/tech-copyright.html

I know, I was shocked too, but the vaporware tag is wrong.

They have had one working that has traveled 1400 kms so far since launch in December. Better article here
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/08/tech-glider-undersea.html

The article with graphic:

    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/feb09.html

The Interview (in OGG & MP3 formats) :

    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2007-2008/ogg/qq-2008-02-09_01.ogg
    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2007-2008/mp3/qq-2008-02-09_01.mp3

The article with graphic:

    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/feb09.html

The Interview (in OGG & MP3 formats) :

    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2007-2008/ogg/qq-2008-02-09_01.ogg
    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2007-2008/mp3/qq-2008-02-09_01.mp3

The article with graphic:

    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/feb09.html

The Interview (in OGG & MP3 formats) :

    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2007-2008/ogg/qq-2008-02-09_01.ogg
    http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2007-2008/mp3/qq-2008-02-09_01.mp3

This weekend, the CBC radio program Quirks and Quarks had an interview with Dr. Max Donelan. You can listen to the interview in either ogg or mp3 format at http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/feb09.html

Besides the problem of fertilizer production, irrigation, machines burning diesel fuel, the biofuel craze is increasing pressures on farm land, promoting deforestation, and contributing to global food price rises. But that doesn't mean we won't eventually get a biofuel that has more energy in it than we put into it. Once we reach this point, then the biofuel itself can fuel its production. But in the mean time there are some other intriguing alternatives.

Just today I was listening to CBC's "Quirks and Quarks" talking to Sandia labs about using solar energy to convert CO2 and H2O into H2 and CO, which can be effectively combined to make hydrocarbons. Unlike bacteria or algae, this process uses a special solid substance that, when exposed to the intense light, has its oxygen molecules stripped off, releasing O2 into the atmosphere. Then this substance is taken out of the sunlight, exposed to CO2 and Water, and it rips the oxygen molecules out of those substances, leaving H2 and CO behind, both of which can be fairly economically combined into hydrocarbons like methanol and gasoline. What's intriguing is that the substance they are using to rip the oxygen out of the water and CO2 can do this over and over again. Right now they are using CO2 from sources other than the atmosphere, making this not carbon neutral. However they plan to work towards harvesting CO2 from the atmosphere. In the meantime, though, this is a great way of increasing the efficiency of energy extraction from, say coal. If, someday, we could capture all CO2 from coal plants and convert it to gasoline for use in autos, that would have an overall decrease in our CO2 emissions because the coal could now be used to generate electricity *and* drive cars, reducing the CO2 emissions from refined gasoline. Assuming we can control particulates, nitrous oxides, and sulfur dioxides from burning gasoline, in the future perhaps gasoline-burning cars will be the cleanest things on the planet! Certainly as the scientist pointed out, gasoline (hydrocarbons anyway) is the best way of storying energy. Generating electricity is nice, but we have to use it as we generate it. Batteries and H2 production aren't really that good at storing energy as densely. The radio program is http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/feb09.html and the Sandia press release is http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/sunshine.html

If we are wise, then I think the push to biodiesel or solar gasoline will ultimately be our ticket.

lawyer fires off an email to the similarly-named colleague, and in typical rapid-fire ("time is money") lawyer fashion, does not scrutinize the outgoing email sufficiently

That doesn't make sense. Lawyers are very happy to do work slowly and run up the bill.

Here in Canada there is a case where a Senator, Mobina Jaffer has repeatedly charged ridiculous amounts to a client, including more than 24 billable hours per day. She is under investigation.

"The pair of cables -- which lie near each other on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea -- at some points are no thicker than the average human thumb."

From CBC News: "No quick fix for undersea cables serving India"
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/01/tech-india.html

"The pair of cables -- which lie near each other on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea -- at some points are no thicker than the average human thumb."

From CBC News: "No quick fix for undersea cables serving India"
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/01/tech-india.html

I don't know if you folks caught this in the U.S., since it was a Canadian study, but earlier this month a report in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal showed that U.S. drug companies are spending twice as much on marketing as on research. Here's the report from the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2008/01/03/drugs.html

Under-the-tongue (flu) immunization or over-the-tongue immunity (phallic)?

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/28/america/NA-MED-US-Flu-Vaccine.php

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/01/29/flu-drops.html?ref=rss

Will it be better to just provide Viapren strips to evil-doers? (LOL)

On slashdot I figured someone would have already castigated LEGO. They blocked them from the Netherlands, http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/07/13/lego-mega050713.html But not from Canada http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/11/17/megabloks-051117.html but in any case their harassment discouraged competition.

On slashdot I figured someone would have already castigated LEGO. They blocked them from the Netherlands, http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/07/13/lego-mega050713.html But not from Canada http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/11/17/megabloks-051117.html but in any case their harassment discouraged competition.

According to the CBC they are mainly targeting so called domain kiting (repeated tasting), which will impact tasting too.

Up here in Canada, we're having a similar auction this year. 40% of the spectrum to be auctioned will be open to bidding only by new players into the wireless market. I don't know why nobody could figure this out in the USA. If the (quite reasonable) goal is to open up competition, then set a block of the spectrum aside that none of the existing Telcos/ISPs can bid on. http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/11/28/auction.html

There's going to be a similar one in Canada this year.

The difference is, 40% of the spectrum will be open to bidding only by new players in the market, i.e., Rogers/Bell/Telus et al will not be able to even _bid_ on that part of it.

Not perfect, but at least it keeps the current ISPs/Telcos from combining to out-bid the others.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/11/28/auction.html

Well, it is receiving some exposure in the press; it was listed on the frontpage of the cbc.ca news website. However, it's now been pushed down to the "Science and Technology" section.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/01/23/tech-mpaa-downloading.html