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Unfortunately, Canada is just as bad. This would be especially true if you were a US citizen. They claim to go through "great pains to anonymize domestic communications" (which is likely not true) making all foreign (ie. US) communications fair game.

Canada will also never refuse an extradition request to the US, or any of it's allies. A special circumstance is made for "political refugees" but I'd be completely surprised if some bullshit trumped up terrorism charges couldn't override that.

So, US companies need to look elsewhere to harbor their data. And I say this as a somewhat less-proud Canadian citizen than I was a decade ago.

They may not be selling many Blackberries, but they seem to be doing OK in real-estate. They just sold five buildings to the University of Waterloo: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/university-of-waterloo-buys-blackberry-buildings-land-for-41-million/article16074015/

and shares profits equally.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/how-one-company-levels-the-pay-slope-of-executives-and-workers/article15472738/

I never regret spending money w/ them, and the consideration for their workers shows in their customer service which is top-notch.

In fact, we often see that several officers conspired to give us a story to make themselves look better in the exchange.

A kid was shot and killed by Police back in July. Had a passerby not videotaped it we would not know what the actual sequence of events were. Now we can ask the question of why he was tasered after 9 shots were fired.

The 18-year-old was alone on a streetcar and wielding a knife when police fired nine shots at him, then tasered him just after midnight July 27.

Over 20 uniformed police officers were present and no one stepped forward to stop the gun shots or offer any mediation

I don't know how we could kickstart competition either. Perhaps nobody knows that. That's why my preference is to go with a solution that is already known to work because the entire first world but us has already done it.

Except they haven't figured it out either. The fact they're beating us handily is merely proof of how fucked up our system is, not of how good theirs is. Healthcare costs over there have been rising substantially as well, and many of those systems are making alot of hard choices. NHS comes to mind as a system that appears to be struggling heavily:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10162848/NHS-is-about-to-run-out-of-cash-top-official-warns.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/britains-rx-to-fix-health-care-a-pen-and-paper/article15120806/
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/08/opinion/la-oe-dalrymple-british-health-system-20120808

Single payer isn't a silver bullet. I wish people would stop thinking it is. It comes with its own host of problems.

vehicle speedometers are required to read 100km/h when actually doing 95km/h (or your local equivalent)

Source please?

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/speedometer-scandal
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123119286106955181
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/car-tips/why-you-may-not-be-driving-as-fast-as-you-think/article11487709/

In general, German cars are known to exaggerate speed by up to 10% in order to guarantee compliance with European law (ECE-R39).

In the U.S., it's been historically common to "detune" speedometers in rental cars to exaggerate the speed, and therefore clock up additional miles which are then charged to the renter. It's also been historically common to roll back odometers prior to sales of cars coming from rental fleets to increase their market price as used cars. Both of these practices are illegal these days, but as shown in the articles above, you can get up to a 10% exaggeration in cars which are explicitly within manufacturer specifications, which translates into 10% more miles on your rental bill, if you rent a car from one of those manufacturers.

On the Air France 447 crash that is about what happened.

When it got too difficult (or to be fair, beyond its parameters) the computer basically said "you got it", disconnected the autopilot and switched from the more hand holding "normal law" program mode to the freer "alternate law," giving the pilots more control, who then crashed the plane.

When control of the car is handed over to the "Transporter", np, but to mom who has not been doing real driving for a while, yikes.

Story: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/crashes/what-really-happened-aboard-air-france-447-6611877
Full English transcript: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-last-harrowing-minutes-inside-air-france-447s-cockpit/article4393626/

now operating mostly beyond its original 40-year licenses

What do 'best before' dates on food really mean?

Some number pencilled into an operating permit granted in 1969 is not the last word on how long these facilities will continue to operate safely.

There was—at the time—not a single reactor of a modern design with a forty year operational record on which to base even the wildest guess. The number "40 years" had more to do with investor ROI than any engineering crystal ball.

I recall one reactor shut down for an expensive refurbish a long time ago because circulation pipes had become unexpectedly brittle in less than a decade of exposure to a constant, low level of neutron flux.

Summary: we didn't know shit.

On day one, it's extremely hard to tell the difference between a Toyota and a Chevy. At year thirty, the stakeholders think they've won the lottery because it was a Toyota after all. At year thirty-five, Toyota develops a frightening latency in response to the graphite rods. At year forty-two you've got this headache sorted—or so you would like to believe. It was operator over-reaction to upgraded SCADA data collection rates. No, it was xenon capture by surface pockets in metals exposed to decades of micro-crystalline annealing. No, it was pockets of non-uniform fission density due to a very minor change in the fuel-pellet binding agent made as older mines ceased production.

All the reactors built in the 1970s were version 0.9. No reactor anywhere had a forty year operational track record with a modern design.

Nope, there'd simply be a lot more people getting shot.

That is very, very true. In US and Canada there is a perception that if police has guns, they only use it as a last resort. In many cases that is not that case.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/another-fatal-shooting-on-an-empty-toronto-bus-16-years-earlier/article13494159/

I live in Waterloo, and have many friends who work/worked there.

Before people think that an acquisition by the founder would save the company, please read the following in depth article: How Blackberry blew it: the inside story.

While Apple and Google were building an ecosystem of developers writing thousands of apps, and a central repository for those apps, Lazarides was still focusing on battery life and a physical keyboard, and failed to see why Apple and Google were becoming so popular.

Blackberry is resigned to the fate of being #4 platform for mobile, after Google, Apple, and yes, Microsoft, with low single digit market share after being #1 before smart phones with touch screens and app store/markets.

And it all lead to that moment Steve Jobs announced the iPhone to the world, and started the downward fall of Blackberry.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-inside-story-of-why-blackberry-is-failing/article14563602/?page=all

Dear mod troll:
Welcome to Canada.

Sorry, it was a completely true story, tongue-in-cheek only in delivery (as has become my fashion when relating that particular gem). Perhaps I should be more concerned about what I write since this thread is now "viral" on The Globe and Mail, but I'm not an IT guy or a security contractor or anything. I learned many (now obsolete) skills but more importantly, learned to work hard to achieve what I wanted (communicating with other people around the world who wouldn't look down upon my diminuitive form and assume I was ignorant), and achieving it with whatever I had available. I suspect my problem solving skills were enhanced by such endeavors as well. I am good at solving both puzzles and real scientific problems. Dr. Zim's post below about the iPod training device to earn an iPhone is actually pretty decent advice but I don't believe in training my kids. It's probably the pick of the thread for anyone desiring a normative reply.

Healthy polar bear count confounds doomsayers
The debate about climate change and its impact on polar bears has intensified with the release of a survey that shows the bear population in a key part of northern Canada is far larger than many scientists thought, and might be growing.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/healthy-polar-bear-count-confounds-doomsayers/article4099460/

The greatest threat to polar bears is hunters.

even though an American team wins the world series every time

Incorrect.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that! And that whole flag thing is so funny now, but it sure wasn't at the time!

Ahhh...good times :)

In general complex memes like language (and religion and so on) adapt and evolve. But the main problem in the gp argumentation is the "becoming perfect", there is no perfection in evolution, just better fit for a particular environment (that could change with time). Anyway cultural barriers usually deny adoptions of better language features (i.e. German speakers are better saving money) because tradition, national pride, or whatever.

Indeed this is common practice, but it doesn't help when airlines change the rules when they share planes.

You sir are a moron. He did no such thing. He leaked un-redacted documents to WikiLeaks. Yes, they(WikiLeaks, not PFC Manning) initially redacted the information, but only when reporters refused to publish the documents unless they did. And later they had a security breach where the documents were leaked into the wild without the redactions. This has since put both international reporters & dissidents in great harm. In China for example, dissidents listed on the documents from PFC Manning were hunted down by what amounts to lynch mobs. And in parts of Africa, reporters were forcibly removed from countries because their names appeared on US Embassy visitor logs.

Try verifying your information before opening your moronic mouth.

That's true to some extent, but we're also pretty complacent about some things. I'm almost certain that the same kind of overreaching communications surveillance goes on here (somewhere in the basement of CSIS or DND). The same kind of legislative enablers as are in our laws as in the Patriot Act in the US. There are also indications that the same kind of program has been started. More precisely, it was *re*-started in 2011 after an earlier program was stopped because of privacy and legal concerns. Furthermore, I assume that practically all Canadian communications traffic is monitored by the NSA because it is foreign, and knowing our government, it's probably done with complete cooperation. I've yet to see signs of the same kind of outrage as has occurred in the US because of it.

Yup. Under the current administration, Canada is in some ways worse than the States with respect to domestic policy – it's just that the world is emphatically not watching, because – hey – it's Canada. Who cares?

Environmental charities are officially enemies of the state, budget watchdogs have to file freedom of information requests with their own money to get the information their mandates require, environmental protection and first nations rights have been gutted at the documented request of petroleum lobbies, it is now illegal to cover your face at a protest, activism of any kind is being branded as terrorism, and tens of millions of dollars are spent on blatant openly-reviled propaganda, while poverty is a growing problem.

Canada's a mess.

Nobody cares enough about Africa to listen in on them. The only thing Africa has is resources, and China already is buying them. Is the infrastructure subject to surveillance? Sure, but every infrastructure is, even heterogeneous ones like the US.

So, nothing to see in Africa? Just move along? I don't think so.

Just like Europe, South America, and Asia, Africa is an entire continent of nations, some of which have drawn considerable attention in the last couple of years. I assume you've heard of Libya? Egypt? Algeria? South Africa? There is a lot going on in Africa, and the Chinese are heavily involved. There are plenty of things they might want to listen to.

Africa has more mobile phone users than the U.S. or E.U.
How mobile phones are making cash obsolete in Africa
European Rocket Launches 2 African Satellites

China and Africa: What the U.S. doesn't understand

Seven out of the world's 10 fastest growing economies are African. According to a 2010 report by consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the rate of return on foreign investments in Africa was, in the first decade of this century, higher than in any other region. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that Africa is now growing faster than Asia.

Sino-African trade volumes have grown accordingly. Negligible in 2000, trade hit $198.5 billion in 2012. By comparison, U.S.-Africa trade volume was $108.9 billon, and is slated to fall further behind: Research from Standard Chartered estimates that trade between China and Africa will hit $385 billion by 2015

MAP: Here Are All Of The Big Chinese Investments In Africa Since 2010
China’s Increasing Interest in Africa: Benign but Hardly Altruistic

South Africa Could Have a Spaceport

The Republic of South Africa has considered using Israel's Shavit space booster to send a satellite to orbit. The South Africans have tested the Israeli Jericho 2 intermediate-range ballistic missile which converts to the Shavit space rocket.

International Effort Seeks to Counter Jihadists in Africa

China To Establish A Naval Base Around Somalia

As the threat of piracy continues. And as Somali pirates continue with their awkward trade to kidnap foreign ships, a Chinese Admiral has revealed China’s proposal to establish a naval base in the region in its commitment to thwart piracy and finally end this tragedy in the gulf of Eden. The lazy pirates who have no intentions to pursue an education or employment see piracy as an easy way to make money. About 75% of piracy in the region is being masterminded by terror groups to finance their illegal activities.

Rear Admiral Yin Zhou’s, a senior Chinese naval officer has suggested that China will establish a permanent base in the Gulf of Aden to aid its anti-piracy operations. The proposal was posted on China’s Defence ministry website. The Admiral went on to say that supplying and maintaining the fleet off Somalia was challenging without such a base, and said other nations were unlikely to object. The Chinese navy curr

No, there are several competing taxi services and any company that wants to start a taxi company can start a service.

There are huge barriers to entry that have almost nothing to do with safety regulations.

In SF, the price of a taxi license or "medalion" is $150,000-$300,000 according to this story:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/200-S-F-taxi-permits-price-150-000-4055492.php

Around the country: http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/47636506327/the-tyranny-of-the-taxi-medallions (interesting look at ride-sharing disruption of taxi business)
"In Boston, the price of a medallion is $625,000. In San Francisco, you need to drive a taxi at least 10 hours a week if you want to hold a medallion and lease it out. Veteran taxi drivers are able to sell their medallions for $300K...."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/fare-trade-the-rush-on-new-yorks-million-dollar-taxicab-licences/article12329086/
"In April, the price of a medallion sold to an individual buyer crossed $1-million for the first time (medallions sold to corporations broke through that barrier in 2011). In the past 12 months, prices for individual medallions have soared more than 40 per cent."

I would think that most teachers don't start at 50k. Where I live, the starting salary is $34k, and the OECD average is $37K. Not only that, but it tops out pretty low. Even after 15 years experience, the average OECD teacher only makes $45,000. The rates in the US are about the same in the highest paying areas, and quite deplorable in the lowest paying areas. So starting at $50k is actually quite good, especially in a field like engineering, where it's completely possible that you will be earning $100k after you get 10-15 years experience, a wage that teachers could never hope to obtain.50K is actually quite good, unless you live in Manhattan or San Francisco, in which case the price of living is quite high, but for many other areas, you can live quite comfortably on 50K.

that it took more than a year to develop?

A whole lot of things:
1. As the summary mentioned, the various parts of Jun Li were mailed to political parties and schools, which means that at least some time would have to be taken ensuring everything "matched"
2. At the same time, if I recall, there was another dismembered body (or just regular body) being found in the Montreal area, so the police had to determine whether or not that was tied to the other crime
3. Magnotta fled the country and was eventually caught in Germany (which is an interesting story in and of itself).
4. Pre-trial hearing 5. Magnotta's been under psychiatric care while the courts decide whether or not he's fit for trial

That's some of the big reasons, off the top of my head.

Oh no doubt they have their own PRISM system but in this case like during the Cold War, propaganda bargaining chips are valuable especially about little countries who don't really care about the issue of spying and more about feeding their inhabitants or preventing civil war. Those countries who have UN votes will align to whatever benefactor delivers the aid and in return asks for a favor in a UN vote. If anything this whole PRISM fiasco will push countries away from American Telecomm providers and to decentralize their dependency on on Network Paths that traverse the US. This will give Chinese, Russian and Indian Telecomm providers a bigger piece of the global comm pie. It just so happens that they're all part of the BRIC push and are the main force for "Internet Regulation."

Foxconn's long term plan is to replace many of the Chinese workers with robots:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/02/22/as-china-changes-infamous-foxconn-goes-robotic/

Optimists will say they'll find jobs elsewhere. But when the Chinese workers took the US workers jobs, very many US workers did not get jobs elsewhere.

Note that this guy managed to be "best developer" even when outsourcing his work to China for one fifth his salary:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/how-a-model-employee-got-away-with-outsourcing-his-software-job-to-china/article7409256/
Probably have to give him some credit for identifying and managing quality outsourcing talent.

But you should be worried if you're an expensive worker with a job that's easily outsourced and you are merely above average, or even mediocre.

The federal government has levied massive cuts against just about every federal department, not just those that are science related. The shills love to take stuff out of context. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/which-federal-departments-are-facing-the-biggest-cuts/article10788957/

We seriously have NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF TREASURE than to record a music video?

With the exception of a five dollar bill, I'm pretty sure all of that money is still on Earth. Sure, we threw some raw materials together and launched them into orbit, and burned up some fuel to get there, but all of the money itself is still here.

Dude I am in Shanghai so drop the crap.

So? Being in Shanghai means nothing, did you see the pigs flowing down the river? Do you know how many H7N9 death occured in Shanghai already?

The only reason for a license to cost that much is because of the auction and limited license plates. It is a measure of the city in its fight to reduce pollution,

That doesn't matter, the fact is it's very expensive to own a car in Shanghai due to the high population density.

and much like New York, you don't need a car in Shanghai.

Right, then explain how the license is auctioned to such a high price if nobody wants a car in Shanghai. Sure you can take the subway, but it's very crowded during rush hours.

Second of all, very rarely you see people in here buying Chinese cars. Most of the cars you see out there are Buicks and Volkswagen. It was funny to me that anybody was buying Buicks anymore.

Yes, they're joint produced between Chinese company and GM/VW, they're cheaper than imported cars, but just last month state television revealed joint produced cars uses toxic material for vibration dumpers.

Again, kind of pointless in a city where you pay $2.30 for a cab ride in the inner ring.

$2.3 is just the starting charge, for a ride less than 3km and no congestion.

Regarding food, you could not more wrong. I never cook at home since restaurants are so cheap. And I usually eat either at European or American restaurants, Hong Kong style chains like Bi Feng Tang or Japanese Teppanyakis. In those places you end up paying around 100 RMB for really good food.

You do realize your cheap Chinese manufacturing worker only get 2,000 to 3,000 RMB per month? They can never afford what you're eating. Even the engineers with 3 to 5 years of experience only get 10,000RMB per month, they can only afford 100RMB meals during weekends, assuming they don't want to save money to buy an apartment.

Now you can also go very cheap and eat noodles and the typical Chinese food for as low as 12 RMB. The quality of the food is good since this is not exactly industrialized food like milk powder or things like that that are usually the problem.

Like you know anything about food quality in China, do you know that oil recycled from wastes is used to cook these food?

Here the only overpriced stuff is imported goods. Like a box of Kellog's Smacks can go for 88 RMB in expensive stores like City Shop or Ole (think Dean and De Luca in the US), but if you go to Carrefour you can get Cheerios for 25 RMB.

Imported goods are what Chinese wants to buy because they're the only products that have any quality, see the rush to buy foreign milk products for an example.

And for school quality, I suggest you inform yourself better. Here is something for you http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/shanghai-educational-triumphs-a-lesson-in-test-taking/article2234418/page1/?service=mobile

It doesn't matter how Shanghai's education ranks in the world, since students in Shanghai are not competing with the world, they're competing with other Shanghai students and students from other parts of China. If you never heard of so called "education sponsorship payment", you have no idea about Chinese education.

Oh and believe me, people in here care a lot about quality. I have seen very fancy 3 bedroom serviced apartments in the top commercial district for as low as 10,000 RMB.

Yeah, like any Chinese workers can actually afford this, you do realize this equals to a months salary for a experienced Chinese engineer? And this price won't stay so low, since rents are increasing

Dude I am in Shanghai so drop the crap. The only reason for a license to cost that much is because of the auction and limited license plates. It is a measure of the city in its fight to reduce pollution, and much like New York, you don't need a car in Shanghai. Second of all, very rarely you see people in here buying Chinese cars. Most of the cars you see out there are Buicks and Volkswagen. It was funny to me that anybody was buying Buicks anymore. Again, kind of pointless in a city where you pay $2.30 for a cab ride in the inner ring.

Regarding food, you could not more wrong. I never cook at home since restaurants are so cheap. And I usually eat either at European or American restaurants, Hong Kong style chains like Bi Feng Tang or Japanese Teppanyakis. In those places you end up paying around 100 RMB for really good food. Now you can also go very cheap and eat noodles and the typical Chinese food for as low as 12 RMB. The quality of the food is good since this is not exactly industrialized food like milk powder or things like that that are usually the problem. Here the only overpriced stuff is imported goods. Like a box of Kellog's Smacks can go for 88 RMB in expensive stores like City Shop or Ole (think Dean and De Luca in the US), but if you go to Carrefour you can get Cheerios for 25 RMB.

And for school quality, I suggest you inform yourself better. Here is something for you http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/shanghai-educational-triumphs-a-lesson-in-test-taking/article2234418/page1/?service=mobile

Oh and believe me, people in here care a lot about quality. I have seen very fancy 3 bedroom serviced apartments in the top commercial district for as low as 10,000 RMB.

And don't get me started with the nightlife, especially if you know a promoter. Just to name a few: M2, Muse, Hollywood, Feebe's, Perrys and Zapata's are all reasonably priced.

To be honest, I was just like you before I came here. After living here for a while I realize how screwed we are in certain areas. Having said that, they do have issues. To me, the worst one is the great firewall, but the Chinese in general do not care since people use their own services here anyway, like Youku, QQ, Weibo, Baidu, etc.

hopefully you have ample examples of men receiving death threats

Sure. Here are a few that come up on Google:

This guy pissed off some animal rights activists and they threatened to use pliers on his testicles, disembowel him and use napalm on him. Among other things. Incidentally, it was a woman who ran the organization that sent the threats, and was sentenced to jail for it. That one isn't even anonymous!

Gay blogger gets death threats.

This guy tracked down the sender of his death threats.

Here's a story about a guy who sends death threats to people who debunk the paranormal. Some blog authors, mostly male, were targeted.

Here's a guy who pissed off 4chan by making a movie. Here's one who wrote a book. If you want to do an experiment go post something they find offensive there and see how many death/rape/mutilation threats you get.

A Slashdot story about a guy getting death threats from some scammers he exposed.

Browsing Slashdot at -1 can be pretty enlightening too.

If you want to really get some threats, piss off some religious people.

$600 Million actual link

A force multiplier against who?
Combat against who?

I'm sure most Canadians (myself included) are all for modernizing the military ... but $600 Million Per Jet Source is insane!

I'm guessing you're that ignorant of canadian politics that you don't know that Liberals(are the name of the party). But that's okay, let me educate you. Let's see here. Well now that's from all three sides of the political spectrum of the news. Going from left wing, to centerist, to right wing. And I haven't even touched the gas power plants that were gutted out, and the $250M+ bill that taxpayers were stuck with or the 50k documents that people are still pouring over, or the reason that it was cut was due to environmentalists and his desire to push "green energy."

What? We don't get to vote on this - this isn't a referendum. Harper and the conservatives have a majority government, they can vote whatever they want in.

Or do you mean the MPs will vote on this? Sure they will. But the end result is really no different than an "executive order from harper". Canadian MPs virtually never vote against their own party . They vote against their own party less than 0.5% of the time, if EVER.

The only reason Bill C-30 didn't go through was because Harper and his crew didn't like the negative press that was received by the bill (Facebook posts, Michael Geist blogs, etc..); the conservatives COULD have passed it but ultimately they'd like to win another election again. So they can this bill due to public outcry (damage control), but simply try to sneak in the same provisions in Bill C-55. On the same day no less.

A: in 1780s America, guns were typically flintlocks and muskets.

And we didn't have email, the internet and digital books. Your point? The gatling gun and the rifled mini ball were the advanced arms of their time and believe me, these same arguments were used in the 1800s...

B: Australia has virtually no legal civillian gun ownership and their firearms homicide rate has dropped 47% between 1991 and 2001. (nb. AU bought back guns from owners in 1996)
C: Provinces and Cities outside of the US with strict gun control regimes are some of the safest places to be in North America wrt gun related homicides. (n.b. CA ended casual gun ownership in 1997 with Bill C-51)

Homicides and violent crime are what matters, not "gun homicides". People who die and who are attacked but can't defend themselves are what, morally superior if they are not armed? Read John Lott's book and tell me that your handful of cherry picked examples matters...

Oh, BTW Lets see how Australia is doing these days...
http://www.youtube.com/embed/hoB3GBuhehA

By using manipulated stats you are biasing the conclusion. Canada has also been loosening it's firearms laws in recent years. More importantly Australia's violent crime rate is rising as the criminals learn how to work the system. The UK has a very high violent crime rate 5+ times ours because those who fight back get in more trouble than those who just suck it up and take it. The yobs run the show there.

D: just because someone is for reasonable limits on guns doesn't mean they don't know anything. Your arrogance is absurd when some of us think reasonable gun limits and gun rights can be reconciled.

The people in this thread are not trying to reconcile gun rights with anything. They are secure in their belief that certain things are not covered by the scope of the right and more importantly that any of this crap matters. The VT shooter used handguns and killed more people, all of whom where capable of fighting back (as opposed to kindergarteners) than the lunatic in CT but yet they demonize extra killy clips and black rifles. In CO the kid actually killed very few and had a 100 rd drum. Oh, it jammed. Yeah, that's what they do. They suck. The best thing the anti-gunners could do is given them away. They are jam-o-matics. So what is being reconciled here? How am I being arrogant? Because I actually know what I am talking about?

in the US, a concealed carry program that is rigorously administered as well as making manufacturers liable for advertisements and the gun culture they foster would be several ways to achieve these without infringing on a US citizen's right to self defence. We would have to compromise. you're willing to do that, right?

Compromise requires your side give something. All I see is people taking something. Everyone said 10 rounds was acceptable. See what happened in NY? 7 rounds is now the "safe" limit. There is no compromise here. It's all take and no give. If people would actually listen to gun owners, you would know we don't want people to die and that we know how to prevent it. Focus on dangerous people and not on us with no records. But really all people do is focus on plastic boxes and black colored rifles because they want to ban guns and are doing everything and anything to make it happen. Meanwhile lunatics in the subways will continue to kill a few people every month in NYC and the next lunatic school killer will be working on his pipe bomb

A: in 1780s America, guns were typically flintlocks and muskets.

B: Australia has virtually no legal civillian gun ownership and their firearms homicide rate has dropped 47% between 1991 and 2001. (nb. AU bought back guns from owners in 1996)

C: Provinces and Cities outside of the US with strict gun control regimes are some of the safest places to be in North America wrt gun related homicides. (n.b. CA ended casual gun ownership in 1997 with Bill C-51)

D: just because someone is for reasonable limits on guns doesn't mean they don't know anything. Your arrogance is absurd when some of us think reasonable gun limits and gun rights can be reconciled.

in the US, a concealed carry program that is rigorously administered as well as making manufacturers liable for advertisements and the gun culture they foster would be several ways to achieve these without infringing on a US citizen's right to self defence. We would have to compromise. you're willing to do that, right?

Nortel was subject to an organized, sustained industrial espionage effort conducted by Chinese companies. Huawei was specifically named by Brian Shields, Systems Security Advisor for Nortel at the time of the attacks (at the time Huawei supposedly were even copying Nortel's instruction manuals). Shields petitioned Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2004, because even the CEO's computer had been compromised.

The rootkits employed on Nortel hardware were sophisticated enough to survive formatting. it wasn't until recently that Canadian Security and Intelligence Service became interested in the role Huawei had in Nortel's demise

I suggest the story of Nortel's demise has not been fully revealed. Nortel presented with a sudden, public exanguination and it has been a mystery in Canadian IT industry. This is not just another "golden parachutes" story.

Thank you for posting these links in one convenient location. I'm working my way through them and ... just ... "Wow".

I was vaguely aware of some of the allegations previously, but not the extent of them.

I've considered us to be engaged in a "cyber-war" for quite a while, but still there's more I have to do to lock down my systems.

Nortel was subject to an organized, sustained industrial espionage effort conducted by Chinese companies. Huawei was specifically named by Brian Shields, Systems Security Advisor for Nortel at the time of the attacks (at the time Huawei supposedly were even copying Nortel's instruction manuals). Shields petitioned Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2004, because even the CEO's computer had been compromised.

the rootkits employed on Nortel hardware were sophisticated enough to survive formatting. it wasn't until recently that Canadian Security and Intelligence Service became interested in the role Huawei had in Nortel's demise

I suggest the story of Nortel's demise has not been fully revealed. Nortel presented with a sudden, public exanguination and it has been a mystery in Canadian IT industry. This is not just another "golden parachutes" story.

Wide availability of weapons capable of killing large numbers of people means regular massacres by suicidal nuts. We must learn to accept this. A memorial to victims of the right to keep and bear arms would be appropriate. One like the Vietnam memorial, with stone slabs carved with names. Plenty of room should be provided for future expansion. The names of the shooters should not be displayed.

The right to keep and bear arms is now a fundamental part of American society, and that right has a price. The dead kids did their patriotic duty to die for the right to keep and bear arms. We must mourn them as heroes, bury them, and go on. The shooters, who rarely survive these incidents, we need not mourn.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. " - Jefferson

"stating its commitment to gradually move to open source as a strategic option for future projects"

They aren't changing anything. They're going to use the Microsoft licenses they have already bought.. but on future projects, open source may get a shot, but probably not.

I'm glad these people chose to go protest over some Microsoft licenses amounting to $43m, instead of clearly less important things, like Morsi throwing their momentary democracy in trash.

Apparently Hostess brands in Canada are unaffected - you'll be able to import twinkies... ;)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/snack-giant-hostess-shuttering-us-business-but-canada-unaffected/article5365001/

If you are going to apologise, apologise with dignity, damn it!

Dear Apple, learn a lesson from Michael McCain, the CEO of the Canadian food company Maple Leaf Food.

In 2008, there was an outbreak [1] of Listeriosis, which was linked to Maple Leaf products.

What did Mccain do? To quote [2] from The Globe and Mail (a Canadian newspaper of record):

First, it admitted it was the company's fault. It admitted it was responsible. It said, in essence, "it's our fault and we're going to fix it."

Second, Maple Leaf apologized. It wasn't "wordsmithed" or spin-doctored to deny culpability. The company didn't dodge the issue. It apologized up front in every possible media.

Third, it didn't hire a celebrity to deliver the apology, or a blonde actress with very white teeth wearing a lab coat. CEO Michael McCain was the voice and the face of the crisis, and of the apology.

Fourth, once Maple Leaf realized the problem was the company's fault, it acted decisively, and transparently. It recalled more than 200 packaged meat brands (amounting to tens of thousands of individual packages) that were manufactured or packaged at the affected plant.

Which brings me to one of the best quotes about using (or not using) lawyers. CEO Michael McCain said in his apology on TV and on YouTube[3]: "Going through the crisis there are two advisers I've paid no attention to. The first are the lawyers, and the second are the accountants. It's not about money or legal liability; this is about our being accountable for providing consumers with safe food. This is a terrible tragedy. To those people who have become ill, and to the families who have lost loved ones, I want to express my deepest and most sincere sympathies. Words cannot begin to express our sadness for your pain."

(bolded by me)

I am not saying this let's MLF off the hook, but darn it, when it came to apologising, they didn't mince their words.

Dear Apple, just shut and apologise, and get over it already. MLF did it and got over it, so can you.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_Leaf_Foods#Canadian_Food_Inspection_Agency_recall
[2]: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/the-best-legal-advice-is-often-an-apology/article626797/
[3]: (original link in article wasn't working, here is an alternative) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSrazdNo55U

Here's why I think it's so blatantly obvious you're wrong about evidence being excluded (unless the Crown simply says, "Here's what we have - straight from Anonymous"):

From a story in today's Globe & Mail about a CS teacher that copied an email attachment from an email between students (i.e. he wasn't involved with producing the picture):

The student depicted in the photographs had sent them to another student by e-mail and Mr. Cole – whose responsibilities included patrolling students’ e-mails and files – had allegedly gained access to it and copied them into his own computer.

The school’s principal seized the computer, searched it more extensively and then provided it to police. Police investigators then searched the laptop and discs without a warrant.

The judge at Mr. Cole’s trial excluded the evidence as having been obtained from an unauthorized search. Partly because the school had informed employees that they could use their computers for private use, the judge concluded that Mr. Cole had a reasonable expectation of privacy, and the police ought therefore to have obtained a warrant before their search.

Followed by this:

The court majority said that privacy rights in a workplace computer are important but can be overridden by the importance of the evidence.

“The evidence is highly reliable and probative physical evidence,” Mr. Justice Morris Fish wrote for the court in a 6-1 judgment. “The exclusion of the material would have a marked negative impact on the truth-seeking function of the criminal trial process.”

It ordered a new trial for Mr. Cole.

I reiterate the statement, "The exclusion of the material would have a marked negative impact on the truth-seeking function of the criminal trial process".

There-in lies a critical aspect of Canadian jurisprudence: absolutes can, when followed with unwavering enthusiasm, lead to an impairment of the pursuit of justice.

Also note that the Court found that the police should have had a warrant, but didn't. However, the Justices found that the police could've obtained one easily had they asked (they searched the computer at request of the owner of the computer), so it wasn't a big deal, although one Justice dissented.

It's a very interesting read about the flexibility of the system when trying to achieve a just resolution.

There's been a lot of controversy over the attempted Chinese purchase of Nexen, a Canadian Petroleum company.

There are many concerns about Chinese companies' safety records, as well as the issues of foreign ownership of companies which exploit local natural resources (oddly, Canada seems to have less issue with US ownership of said companies).

A Pic is here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/uk-paraplegic-woman-first-to-take-robotic-suit-home/article4517848/?cmpid=rss1

Picture wouldn't hurt more, she is paralysed chest down.

You've got some vaccinations which make absolutely no sense for this reason, like a flu vaccine. Why would you want your kid to get that, for your 'convenience'? Horribly, horribly selfish. It makes a lot of sense if someone is immunodeficient, such as if the individual is elderly. But outside of that? No, it's just feeding the pharma system and costing you money.

What deficient logic are you utilizing to suggest that vaccinating immunodeficient individuals is a useful idea? That's ineffective pretty much by definition. You protect those individuals by vaccinating everyone who would come in contact with them.

Also, universal flu vaccinations make a whole lot of sense. Ontario started offering flu vaccines to everyone for free about a decade ago at a cost of about $40 million/year. About 42% of people take them up on that offer.

Comparing pre and post program information, the universal vaccination program prevents approximately 35,000 flu cases (about 61% of cases), 111 deaths, 786 hospitalizations, 7,745 emergency room visits, and 30,000 doctor visits every year. Even just from direct costs there (and not counting the costs of sick days from work), it's a money saver.

Um... you do know about things like the Vancouver Riots (mk I and II) right? Canadians might not be as brutally violent as their neighbours to the south, but they tend to be just as physically violent.

Did anybody die, or even get seriously hurt, in the Vancouver riots? Answer: none, as far as I know. It wasn't much of a riot.

Answer: yes. I'm not sure what riot you're thinking of, but the Vancouver riots have always been bloody.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=369127
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/riot-sparks-busiest-night-in-20-years-at-vancouver-hospital/article583471/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Vancouver_Stanley_Cup_riot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Vancouver_Stanley_Cup_riot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_anti-Chinese_riots,_1886
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Exclusion_League

"Although not all of a BlackBerry's messaging functions are encrypted, RIM has long maintained that it is unable to grant anyone access to its corporate e-mail service, which is encrypted from end-to-end. RIM responded in a statement late on Wednesday, saying it was necessary "to correct some false and misleading" information" that had appeared in the Indian media."

"RIM is providing an appropriate lawful access solution that enables India's telecom operators to be legally compliant with respect to their BlackBerry consumer traffic, to the same degree as other smartphone providers in India, but this does not extend to secure BlackBerry enterprise communications," the company added."