Slashdot Mirror

I'm not griping (really, I'm not) but the submission chosen for this item was a poor one. I submitted this item -- once on Tues. Dec. 7 and an UPDATE (read carefully before responding) on Fri. Dec. 10 -- with plenty of links to detailed info, and it was rejected both times. Which one do you think was more useful?

Dec. 7: SoloTrek XFV personal VTOL flight vehicle on eBay
Trek Aerospace announced it will auction a protoype SoloTrek XFV ducted fan Vertical Take-Off and Landing flight vehicle on eBay this Friday, with a starting bid of about $50,000. Trek's CEO says he thinks the seven-day auction's winning bid will exceed $1-million. Technical info, photos and video are available. The company is also working on an unmanned aerial vehicle and closed-cockpit versions for one, or two people.

UPDATE Dec. 10: SoloTrek personal VTOL aircraft on eBay
Trek Aerospace's eBay auction of its protoype SoloTrek XFV ducted-fan Vertical Take-Off and Landing flight vehicle started today (Friday), with an opening bid of about $50,000. As I write this, 46 people have bid and the current bid is $175,000. Trek's CEO says he thinks the seven-day auction's winning bid will exceed $1-million. Technical info, photos and video are available. The company is also working on an unmanned aerial vehicle and closed-cockpit versions for one, or two people.

I'm not griping (really, I'm not) but the submission chosen for this item was a poor one. I submitted this item -- once on Tues. Dec. 7 and an UPDATE (read carefully before responding) on Fri. Dec. 10 -- with plenty of links to detailed info, and it was rejected both times. Which one do you think was more useful?

Dec. 7: SoloTrek XFV personal VTOL flight vehicle on eBay
Trek Aerospace announced it will auction a protoype SoloTrek XFV ducted fan Vertical Take-Off and Landing flight vehicle on eBay this Friday, with a starting bid of about $50,000. Trek's CEO says he thinks the seven-day auction's winning bid will exceed $1-million. Technical info, photos and video are available. The company is also working on an unmanned aerial vehicle and closed-cockpit versions for one, or two people.

UPDATE Dec. 10: SoloTrek personal VTOL aircraft on eBay
Trek Aerospace's eBay auction of its protoype SoloTrek XFV ducted-fan Vertical Take-Off and Landing flight vehicle started today (Friday), with an opening bid of about $50,000. As I write this, 46 people have bid and the current bid is $175,000. Trek's CEO says he thinks the seven-day auction's winning bid will exceed $1-million. Technical info, photos and video are available. The company is also working on an unmanned aerial vehicle and closed-cockpit versions for one, or two people.

"Canadian and German military researchers are developing a chameleon-like armoured vehicle capable of altering its appearance on the battlefield to conceal itself from the enemy," writes Roger Highfield in The Sunday Telegraph.

On a related globe and mail article, we can read and see what we've all been fearing. Techies, specially graduates without much experience are taking jobs that pay as much as a burger flipper at your local mcds.

Hard times, Hard times.

Here's what I thought was an interesting dissenting review of the movie. It's a little ridiculous that three out of four stars constitutes a dissenting review, but I'm sure some watchers will consider it that. And Roger Ebert, who was critical of the first movie, approves of the second, but also has some interesting criticisms to make.

Well, it is the Toronto Star.

The Globe and Mail is read by the people who own the country. (It's Toronto's national newspaper, except for the National which is Toronto's other national newspaper.) The Toronto Star is read by the people who whine when they don't run the country. The Toronto Sun is read by the people who don't care who runs the country, so long as she has big tits on page 3. Weeklies like NOW offer insight into: politics or performance art? (With the establishment's hand up their sock-puppet bum.)
-- Adapted from Yes, Prime Minister

discussion, contains text of SF chronicle article on airline no-fly lists used to harass and delay peace activists

article explaining how if you look nonwhite or have the wrong sort of beard you get fingerprinted at the Canadian border

Stay safe! Stay home! Be good and don't say anything!

Next they'll be fingerprinting us at toll booths and you'll have to have a visa to travel from state to state. Hey, it worked for the USSR- for a while.

As a matter of fact I was searched too, the last time I flew anywhere (rare, for me). I suppose next time I'll be strip-searched, or beat up a bit. However, I do have one big advantage- I'm white. And I don't wear a beard, or particularly long hair.

Interesting times we live in. So this is what it's like to live in cold war USSR. Remember, there won't be a problem if you stay home and don't ask any questions!

marriage

Don't you know those Canadians are terrorists?

An investigation this week by the Daily Racing Form revealed that while the amount of a Pick Six bet is transmitted immediately to a central computer, the horses selected are not often transmitted until after four of the six races have been run. Skeptics believe there is a window of opportunity here to change the selections after the winners are known.

"The US doesn't _need_ tarrifs, which is why it doesn't have any. "

That is a bald-faced lie (you might also want to find out what the US is doing in regards to steel, it's the same back-stabbing).

The US government is very happy to force tarrifs, taxes, etc, on imports. They don't like it when an unrefined resource producing country like Canada has a competitive advantage, even though it makes more sense economically for both parties (as you pointed out: the US gets the resources it wants, Canada gets the refined goods it wants, companies make the money they want).

If you wonder why this situation exists, it is because the US government continues to pander to special interest groups. Why do they do this? Because, as the most recent election showed, voting for a republocrat is throwing away your vote -- only a few people, the special interest groups, get to decide the entire fate of the country.

When Lebanon, a country with state controlled press, where a French reporter was nearly lynched at a conference in Beruit for the "crime" of having covered stories about Israel link(while in France) ranks in the 50's, the Palestinian Authority (where reporters are granted access based on their support of the "Palestinian narrative" and threatened with injury and death if they don't) can "score" better than Israel, a democracy.

Sometimes the self-proclaimed allies of freedom can be be freedom's worst enemies.

This one's by the Globe and Mail... very interesting read. Here

Interestingly, the test result interpretation key says: Scores over 32 are generally taken to indicate Asperger's Syndrome or high-functioning autism, with more than 34 an "extreme" score. A "normal" score, based on control groups, is about 16 (or 15 for women and between 17 and 18 for men). A group of mathematics-contest winners scored an average of 24.5. A group of scientists scored an average of 18.5 (19 for men, 17 for women), with computer scientists at about 21, physicists at 19 and those in biology or medicine at about 15.

This story appeared 8 hours ago here...

The Globe and Mail article is here. Using probiotics they can increase yield two two three times. When they burn the plants to release the nickel, the ash is about 30% nickel! They can use the energy from burning to produce electricity. Inco is testing in a field contaminated with nickel-mining waste, so it also helps clean up the environment.
Any biologists out there know if there would be a net reduction in CO2 over the production cycle? That would be a real bonus.

I think perhaps you have it backwards - could it be that non-Americans hate the US so much because the United States is always cleaning up spilled milk?

For example, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll last week, 69 per cent of Canadians said the U.S. shares some of the responsibility for the attacks, while 15 per cent said all of the responsibility sits on American shoulders.

If we Canadians feel that way, how does the rest of the world feel? You are bound to get stung when you stick your hand in the hornets' nest looking for honey.

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

Hopefully this stupid survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid will not cast doubt on the importance I see of a strong and supportive partnership with our brothers to the south.

Quoting, Seven in ten (69%) Canadians think that the United States, because of its policies and actions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, bear some of the responsibility for the terrorist attacks on them, while 15% indicate that they believe that the U.S. bears all of the responsibility.

The question is overly broad and thus meaningless, additionally the timing is both inconsidered and just a cheap way of creating news by bashing Americans. Supporting a soverign nation (Israel) in its struggle for acceptance and a right to exist, and deploying military forces in Saudi Arabia when asked, does not constitute a justification for the cowardly act of September 11th.

For more information, here is an article, but more importantly, I think we should all Ipsos-Reid what we think of their "make news bullshit by bashing Americans" at ...

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

To my American brothers, I am sorry for this type of survey, see to it that Ipsos-Reid doesn't do it again... Take the time, even if it is just a two-word email!

If you work at Jim Beam, they do:

Workers on the bottling line are fuming about being limited to four breaks per 8½ hour shift, only one of which can be unscheduled. Extra trips to the bathroom can result in reprimands. Workers with six violations can be fired. [...]

I believe I read somewhere that this curriculum change will occur fall of 2003, which means that this year's students will still be on the old curriculum.

According to this article from The Globe And Mail, the terms of the deal don't stop at just replacing C++ with C#.

"The third project intends to teach the concepts of circuitry by having students work with Microsoft's new .NET servers."

Scary, scary stuff. Apparently $2.3 million buys a hell of a lot more here in Waterloo than I had originally thought.

Here in Canada quite a commotion has erupted over the firing of an editor of the Ottawa Citizen for having written an editorial calling for the resignation of our Prime Minister.
In question are the close ties the owner of the media chain has with the Prime Minister due to the fact that it was his very government that allowed the media chain to persue a number of controversial acquisitions that had been previously disallowed by canadian law.
What is clear here, is that politicians will meddle with the media and what they report when given the chance to do so. What is to stop, in this case, an australian Prime Minister from blocking a website whose constant criticism of his policies has aggravated him? Since the list cannot be checked the answer is probably nothing.
This government sponsored censorship raises a serious issue of precedent. The precedent of the governement having the power to block access to information, otherwise publically accessible to the citizen, for unverifiable purposes and results. It is the governement giving itself the right to restrict what a citizen could normally view without restriction in any other country-- without appeal or public review.
In my view, there is a careful balance of power that is being toyed with, both in Australia and in Canada, that needs to be stopped. I hope the Australian courts see the danger here and reverse the decision and I hope justice prevails in the case of this editor who has been wrongfully fired-- in fact it is my wish now that this media group be broken up.
See Citizen story here and here

It's in here

I remember hearing on the radio a week or two ago about the findings of the inquiry into the death of Set Van Nguyen - the Australian microbiologist who died in an airlock filled with nitrogen.
I did a search on Google and found a multitude of sites that go a bit further than this article and actually put forth a few theories. Some of these people sound like nutters but it's a bit interesting. Here are a couple of them.
http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm236911.html
http://www.rense.com/general18/returb.htm

Canadians of course!
You never know when some pesky Canadians on a training exercise in Afganistan will suddenly turn their weapons on an American F16.

Yeah, it's significantly less than the $7 billion the Canadian government has sort of lost...


now despite our low dollar, that's still a fair chunk of change, about $4B US.

Seems that they just released a new patch for IIS, a cumulative one plus patches for 10 new vulnerabilities! Seems like they might ahve been testing their products and finding security holes in their recent alleged security binge? Probably. Must be a new idea for them or something. Or maybe, these 10 new ones are holes discovered, and reported to MS 'responsibly' within the last few months? Anyway, theres 10 new holes for crackers to search for, if they don't know them already.... .
link at the globe

I think probably it would be more useful to worry about the terrible *Canadian* legislation that is working its way through the system, including:

• Canadian Copyright Reform Process
• the proposed new and increased levies from the CPCC
• DRM in Canada

As reported in Globe and Mail article today The study wasn't specifically designed to consider the effects of sleep on longevity, and that it was skewed by the number of people who sleep more than eight hours because of medical problems. It didn't ask participants whether they napped in the afternoon, and it didn't watch them sleep; it just asked them to recall their sleep pat- terns.
So the conclusion is suspect, and thank heavens for that. We'd hate to think it might have become politically incorrect to curse the alarm clock.

Also when it comes to statistics I always ask myself whether the n's justify the means.

The Globe and Mail has been runnign a series on this subject. A comparison of the systems can be found here while a rebuttal can be found here. While the rebuttal is significant the tone of the first article is that there are many positives and negatives to both systems and that solutions to the problems north and south of the border are going to be a little complex. Incidentally, the first article also talks about the French system approaching a crisis state.

That being said there are some interesting figures to note. US health care spending is $4055 per capita (from this Newsweek article in the "Data Bank" about 1/3 of the way down). In Canada it's about $3068.58 (The 2000 Grand Total/a 2000 population of about 31,000,000). Converted to USD that's about $1927.98 US. If we use purchasing power parity of about 80% that's still $2454.86 US. The Canadian system costs just over half of the US system and everyone is covered. That being said the extra money in the US system goes into much faster response time to help people.

Make of it what you will but both systems need to be looked at and neither contains a universal truth.

IMHO, as per.

J:)

The Globe and Mail has been runnign a series on this subject. A comparison of the systems can be found here while a rebuttal can be found here. While the rebuttal is significant the tone of the first article is that there are many positives and negatives to both systems and that solutions to the problems north and south of the border are going to be a little complex. Incidentally, the first article also talks about the French system approaching a crisis state.

That being said there are some interesting figures to note. US health care spending is $4055 per capita (from this Newsweek article in the "Data Bank" about 1/3 of the way down). In Canada it's about $3068.58 (The 2000 Grand Total/a 2000 population of about 31,000,000). Converted to USD that's about $1927.98 US. If we use purchasing power parity of about 80% that's still $2454.86 US. The Canadian system costs just over half of the US system and everyone is covered. That being said the extra money in the US system goes into much faster response time to help people.

Make of it what you will but both systems need to be looked at and neither contains a universal truth.

IMHO, as per.

J:)

Too late. Apparently Americans only believe in free trade and open markets when it allows them to make Nikes in third world sweatshops. NAFTA is a complete fucking joke.

... but I do wonder how they assigned the date "of at least 6000 years ago

This Globe & Mail article has substantially more information on this finding, including the quote below which answers the above question:

The precise age of the underwater site is also unknown, although Cuban archeologists in 1966 excavated a land-based megalithic structure on the western coast, close to the new underwater discovery, said to date from 4000 BC. "Based on that and other geological information, we're speculating that these are 6,000 years old," he explained.

The article also makes notes of symbols and inscriptions on the structures and that the images "bear a remarkable resemblance to the pyramidal design of Mayan and Aztec temples in Mexico."

ian.

So, Internet file swapping does no damage to the music industry, right? Everyone in the music industry is obscenely wealthy and is only interested in squeezing consumers, right?

Just over a week ago, the great Canadian record chain Sam the Record Man filed for bankruptcy. The article notes that the failure was caused, in part, by Sam's being "squeezed by free music downloads".

This is a terrible loss for Canadian music. Sam was a widely known advocate of local music scenes in Canada, especially in Halifax, where bands such as Sloan got their start. Sam stores across Canada were known for their eclectic stock, not merely the latest top-40 drivel, which probably brought it into direct competition with Napster.

It's time to drop the Robin Hood rhetoric of valiant music traders against big, greedy conglomerates. Unprincipled free music trading is doing real damage to those lesser-known artists it is claiming to help, as well as to smaller music stores.

Sam the Record Man -A chain of Canadian music stores just filed for bankruptcy after operating for the past 65 years(see story here).

'But the key factors that toppled the retailer that was once Canada's top music merchant were fierce competition from rival chains, such as HMV Canada Inc. and Wal-Mart Canada Inc., and the growing popularity of music downloads from the Internet, they added.' One person in the story was quoted...'And Sams was hurt by people who, like him, downloaded music from the Internet. "My friends don't bring CDs to parties any more -- they bring their computers,' Mr. Broadhead, 31, said.'

Free music is great but it is hurting music sales which has an effect on not just the artists and music companies but lots of small store owners.

A Globe and Mail article states that a $1.5 billion Cdn plan to bring broadband service to every rural Canadian will likely not go ahead due to the need to spend more money on security. Its a shame as farmers should have the right to download porn in a timely fashion as the rest of us.

In related news, the Canadian government has announced today its first step towards national ID cards - the "maple leaf card" (no folks I am not making this up) to be issued to new immigrants to Canada. Sadly for those of us who would like to see IDs unforgeable, has such groundbreaking new anti-tamper technologies as "magnetic stripes" - (gasps of amazement) and "might one day maybe be upgraded to" fingerprints, etc. Sounds to me that the Canadian government is more interested in rushing something into useage, with no more thought to security than has been put into Canadian "tamper-proof" (read widely counterfeited) passports and other identification cards.

Toronto Star Article
Globe and Mail Article

It will be interesting to see if this card is expanded to cover all Canadian citizens at some point - a recent Globe and Mail Poll suggested 80% of Canadians would be willing to carry and show a national ID card. Of course, like Canadian border security and Canadian passports, this card too will become a farce if its not designed and implemented with a modicum of security. Somehow, to my brain, it seems pretty sketchy to entrust national security to a magnetic-stripe based card.

There are more submarines in Canada's biggest mall (West Edmonton) than in the Canadian Navy.... and Americans have better encryption on the cards in their TV sets (DirecTV, we all know how secure that is) than Canadians will have on their national ID cards. Bleh.

In related news, the Canadian government has announced today its first step towards national ID cards - the "maple leaf card" (no folks I am not making this up) to be issued to new immigrants to Canada. Sadly for those of us who would like to see IDs unforgeable, has such groundbreaking new anti-tamper technologies as "magnetic stripes" - (gasps of amazement) and "might one day maybe be upgraded to" fingerprints, etc. Sounds to me that the Canadian government is more interested in rushing something into useage, with no more thought to security than has been put into Canadian "tamper-proof" (read widely counterfeited) passports and other identification cards.

Toronto Star Article
Globe and Mail Article

It will be interesting to see if this card is expanded to cover all Canadian citizens at some point - a recent Globe and Mail Poll suggested 80% of Canadians would be willing to carry and show a national ID card. Of course, like Canadian border security and Canadian passports, this card too will become a farce if its not designed and implemented with a modicum of security. Somehow, to my brain, it seems pretty sketchy to entrust national security to a magnetic-stripe based card.

There are more submarines in Canada's biggest mall (West Edmonton) than in the Canadian Navy.... and Americans have better encryption on the cards in their TV sets (DirecTV, we all know how secure that is) than Canadians will have on their national ID cards. Bleh.

There's been a lot of call for the evidence against bin Laden. The Globe and Mail published 70 points of evidence against bin Laden, which is the evidence Tony Blair presented in the British Parliament the other day. Although incomplete (some evidence has reportedly been withheld for security reason), what is presented speaks pretty plainly.

I submitted this info as a story submission yesterday, but it was turned down by the Slashdot editors. However it does relate to the discussion of this story so I will slip it in here:

Trickster Coyote writes: Canada's Privacy Commissioner has ruled that constant videotaping from police surveillance cameras violates the Privacy Act and that even just monitoring the cameras without taping violates the spirit of the law if not the letter. Says the commish: "...monitoring and recording the activities of vast numbers of law-abiding citizens as they go about their day-to-day lives" is not a legitimate part of police activities. Read the official report or news articles from canada.com or The Globe and Mail.

Trickster Coyote
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." -- John Lennon

'Wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains' an article from the Globe and Mail. Rudyard Kipling's Kim tells of the Great Game, the secret war an otherwise peace-loving British raj conducted against sinister forces of disorder located across the northern passes -- in Afghanistan, to be precise.

Here are two related articles:

- article at CBC Newsworld
- article at the Globe and Mail

Maybe you're right, but my initial thought was that there is money to be made, while there is no money to be made from deCSS. And while the US government is trying to strong-other countries into going along with their security policies (see this article about the US pressuring the Canadian government) you may not have a place to hide. Realistically, it's far-fetched, but that's the logical outcome I see of the situation.