Ontario Government's Excessive Attempt to Control the Internet

No person shall print, publish, distribute, broadcast or telecast an advertisement or representation that includes an Internet gaming business website address unless the person believes in good faith that the Internet gaming business has been licensed or otherwise granted permission to operate in Ontario or Canada by the appropriate authority and is operated in accordance with the applicable laws of Ontario and Canada.

Telecom Trends

Thanks to Mark for pointing out this silly government bill - where it looks like the ontario government is going to make it illegal to advertise gambling websites, or to even link to sites that advertise gambling websites. Mark points out that this interpretation would even make google.ca offside.  This smells alot like blaming the cart, not the horse, for running away. I’d love to know what sorts of experts and consultants are working on this initiative from within the government. Perhaps the gov’t should consider outsourcing these jobs to the private sector? Or maybe even to someone who’s just “living” in the real world?

Silly Ontario government.

technorati tags:gambling, Ontario Government

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Trick or Treating Preparedness

Since moving into the new place, folks have been regularly providing advice about the neighbourhood, and the seasons, and the decorating… but the biggest piece of advice is to be prepared for Halloween. Apparently kids come out of the woodwork (and woods), and descend like a plague of locusts on October 31st.

I took the voices of the experienced neighbours to heart. We now have over 700 pieces of sugary goodness locked away in the garage. (right next to the 2 cartons of girl guide cookies) Still, there are times when I’ve had to fight back the urge to stockpile more. The fact that there is a new dentist office at the end of our street has not escaped notice either.  Irony has been duly noted.

After all, it’s candy. I can freeze it.

:-)

technorati tags:Halloween

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OMG - Someone Took the Projector!

True story - I had Microsoft into the office a few weeks ago, to talk about the neat ways that Sharepoint could be configured for my team. I’m a bit new, so I didn’t know the ins and outs of how to book rooms, how to book rooms with LAN connectivity, how to book projectors and phone lines and conference bridges. To be honest, it’s still a mystery. There are web tools, outlook tools, outlook add-ins… global addressbook bits… it’s UGLY.

Anyways, I thought I had a room booked that came automatically with a proxima/projector. No such luck. 6 fancy Microsoft guys, and all I had was a table and 8 chairs. Bleech. So much for the live demo of the Sharepoint Bells and Whistles. :-( We managed to talk and laugh our way through it, and it’s a good thing that I’m familiar with Sharepoint, or it could have turned into a damn sad session.

A few days later, and a bit of digging, and imagine the neat tools i found. Tools that could take away all the internal challenges of “booking resources”. And to make it easier - it’s all web based. The web 2.0 Scheduling Software that NetSimplicity has available is mind boggling in it’s simplicity. Somewhere, someone in the internal helpdesk has got to realize that outsourcing tools like this would make life so very easy for employees. Just imagine.

technorati tags:NetSimplicity, Someone Stole the Projector, Sharepoint

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Federal government Fights Over Telco Surplus

A few months ago, you may have heard of the "Deferral Accout". For the past few years, there has been an extra bit of change on your phone bill, the gov't of Canada got wind of it, and told the incumbent telcos that taking extra bits of change frome people was off side, and that if they wanted to say on the right side of the law, theny needed to use that money to help improve the communications incrastructure in remote areas of Canada.(Read: areas that don't have access to high speed internet).

The telcos were thrilled, but the little companies who were already doing their own thing to boost the bandwidth (Barrett Explorer) fought back and said it was unfair for the Bells and TELUSs of the world to get this *free money* and they have temporarily blocked the usa. Now, it looks like the federal government was looking to get it's hands on that cash, just for kicks.

Michael Geist has the pointer, and here's the story from the Globe.

technorati tags:Michael Geist, Telecom Deferral Accounts, CRTC

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Viidoo - Home of Web TV

That's right folks, it's back - the ability to watch regulary TV broadcasting. Live from Viidoo

I know, I thought TV broadcasting was gone.I remember the mid 90's and another organization tried to do this, they managed to last for all of 2 months before someone came knocking down their dorr, waving briadcast regulations, licenes and copywrite infringements. But it looks like all the static from other applications who are also likely infringing on copywrites have taken the wind out of legislator and regulator sails.

Viidoo seems like it works.  Thanks to Duncan Riley for pointing his remote.

technorati tags:Internet TV, Duncan Riley, Viidoo

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A Man After My Own Heart

Service providers - like software engineering is an art - anyone can deploy a switch, anyone can expedite an order on the new switch. Not everyone can operationalize an offer that is both flexible and maintainable.Flexibility is important as customer always want more and equipment vendors always deliver more features.Maintenance is really important when it comes to a service fault that occurs at 3am during a long weekend.
A service is not something you can touch, it's the experience and customer satisfaction is its metric.Advanced solutions are an art, anyone can propose a solution, not everyone can deliver one that meets customer needs while still being economically feasible.

blogs | IP Convergence: Beyond VoIP, Beyond Cost Savings

After a day of training, and discussing the challenges of reinventing yourself, making sure the rest of the organization can follow suit,and knowing that you have to act as an agent of change from within, it's a good sign that others are thinking the same things.  Global Crossings folks are thinking about life as a service provider.  At one time, they were all about pipes - maybe with a global footprint, but pipes ;-)  And now, it looks like their mindshift is taking hold, with VoIP, and customer assurance and innovation.

technorati tags:Global Crossing, Reinvent Yourslef

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Working in the UK?

Normally I’m not a person who keeps track of patterns (not obvious patterns, anyways). Yet in the past week, I’ve spoken with 4 people who have or are considering working in the UK. One of them has taken the plunge already, and wouldn’t change for the world! Enough people have mentioned it, that it made sense to take a wee look at what all the fuss is about….

So, I’m curious - what’s so exciting about living and working in the UK? Aside from the fact that *you* would be the one with the neat accent, of course. Perhaps it’s an interesting cultural change. Word on the street is that the jobs tend to pay bags of gold. But I couldn’t imagine the timeconsuming fiddling that must go into making the transition. The dispersements of belongings back here, the challenge of visas and work permits and bank accounts and taxes. It all sounds oddly psychotic, depite how easy the already-moved say it is. Already my brain is taxed, thinking about all the odds and ends that need to be considered.

There’s a good Canadian Expat Blog, that gives you the goods, but I want something more, I want someone who would act like a mortgage consultant- to take care of everything for me, and I just sign everything away, and then pack. And then I found it…Michael Page Recruitment can take care of all the ugly bits. Like a Mortgage Consultant, but better. International. If you are thinking of working in the UK, and now I know that there are quite a FEW of you considering it…. it’s not as hard as you think.

technorati tags:working in the UK, Michael Page

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Linkedin Vaue Prop Grows

Online networking and job-searching tool LinkedIn is taking its relationships a step further Monday by announcing a new service that will make it similar to a Yellow Pages provider.
Monday onward, its members will be able to search for service providers such as doctors, lawyers, and gardeners, through referrals from people on their network, said Konstantin Guericke, LinkedIn’s co-founder and vice president of marketing. The social network is now trying to mobilize 7.7 million of its members and putting its intellectual capital to better use beyond being just a networking and job-searching tool.
Members will be able to contribute to the community by recommending people they have experience working with by rating them and stating their core capabilities. Others on the recommender’s network will have access to their referrals.

RED HERRING | Cultural Changes at LinkedIn

I like the angle that Linkedin is taking. I have a feeling that there are a few people who are reading me, and are also Linkedin members, like me ;-) I like the idea of being able to refer vendors, but more importantly, service providers like doctors, lawyers and dentists. That is a fantasticly powerful tool. The ads I could do without, but if Linkedin provides geographically specified advertising, that wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Plastic Surgeons in Hollywood aren’t as relavent to me as dentists in Richmond Hill.

technorati tags:Linkedin, Red Herring

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Partners and Blogging?

The timing on this one is great - as the wiz and I now have started to tease each other - the funny things that happen in real life "oopps - that's going in the blog...." sort of teasing.  And then ths morning, I come across an actual article about what happens when your significant other can't see the value of the blog... Liz Strauss has an interesting conversation about scuh a potential probelm in Bloggy Question 20 — A Significant Other Says “No Blog”

technorati tags:Blogging Significant Other

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Buy You A Beer?

Imagine if you could buy someone a beer, either over your cell phone, or over the web?  See what the Wiz and I were talking about last night.

technorati tags:PayPal, Dexit, Buy You a Beer

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Buy You a Beer? PayPal or Dexit 2.0?

I was sitting outside tonight, adminring the evening sky, and thankful that it’s not too cold out yet for such an experience.

And I realized I wouldn’t be able to attend a friend’s birthday gathering this week, as new commitents arise. I was wishing there was a way to still get him a cold beer in his hand from me. Wishing that I could do a “transfer” through some neat web 2.0 application, that would allow a waitress to deliver a cold beverage from me. Imagine if everyone had a paypal-like account. All restaurants, all bars, all merchants. You could “transfer” credits to people, just with a click of a mouse. Be it a beer, or a steak, or a sweatshirt.

Imagine…either a debit car, or even better, a Dexit-like key fob, a 3rd party in the middle to keep track of the database of merchants and customers, and to manage the front and back end functions. It would be easier to place these wee point of sale devices in every location, as opposed to trying to manage the direct relationships with the merchants themselves. I’m thinking Dexit, but it could be anything similar. I’m also thinking kiosks, or mobile applications, where you could transfer credits to people at any time.  You want to buy someone a coffee, or lunch or a beer. 

The Wiz thinks that Hallmark should front it, and include the ability to send money with e-birthday cards. It’s a prettier idea than an electronic bank transfer.

Hmmm - could we get onto the Dragon’s Den with an idea like this? ou can bet one thing, we would actually have a business case, unlike some of the silly contestants.

technorati tags:PayPal

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60 Days in - Can Home Improvements Begin?

It’s been 60 days exactly since we moved into the new abode. Everything is unpacked, hung, put away, positioned and plugged in. Now, as I look around the main floor, I realize there are things that could be different, things that could be tweaked, challenges to be solved.

:-)

There’s too much carpet on the main floor, where tile would fit, or hardwood. The challenge is in dealing with hardwood and a dog all at the same time. Home Improvement ideas has some amazing options, especially the hardwoodfloor challenge, you can actually get inlaid pawprints into the hardwood. :-) If only the smapp dog would participate.

We’ve also had to have a battle over paining “murals” on chickadees bedroom walls, and managed to talk the wee ones into decals that can peel on and off. But the home improvement ideas blog also had that covered with peel and stick graphics. Sheesh.

Little did i know, the wiz has already been al over this site, scouring for good ideas. He even ordered the graphics!

Now, my turn to look and see what easy changes can be made. Wish us luck.

technorati tags:home improvements, wall decals

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An Evening with Rick Mercer

After what seems like months of planning (I’m sre it was only 1 month), last night, the wiz and I managed to snag tickets to the taping of the Rick Mercer Report down at the CBC. Neither of could have anticipated the packed house for the taping of the show. The crowd was huge. Most of the audience was a wee bit older than us, and even more liberal. It was startling and amazing at once. We were led through the bowels of the CBC to the taping stage, up elevaotrs, through prop rooms, and finally to the Mercer Report theatre.

The show is taped before a LIVE audience, and we had to pay attention to the commands of the production manager and be mindful of when we had to clap and cheer. The 30 minute segment took an hour to tape, and Rick only had to redo a few pieces of dialogue. It was hilarious. In real life, the stage is smaller, Rick is shorter, and watching the cameras is distracting. That being said, he’s hilarious, and witty and real. Likely he has one of the coolest jobs ever. Atta boy Rick!!

If you watch, we’ll be on the telly Tuesday night at 8 on the CBC.  PS. Rick has a blog too

technorati tags:Rick Mercer, CBC

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The Challenges of Data Centres

Data centers are the most expensive real estate that most businesses own. The price tag for a new 50,000-square-foot data center with 40 watts of power per square foot is around $20 million, says Bruce Shaw, VP of worldwide commercial and enterprise marketing for chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices. By 2010, he estimates that price could jump more than 1,000%.

New Challenges For Data Center Managers - News by InformationWeek

technorati tags:Data Centers, Heating, cooling, cost

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Kids and Cell Phones and Driving

New Driver Cell Phone Ban Law Passes Second Reading At Queen’s ParkThursday October 12, 2006

New drivers who’ve just received their licenses are already prohibited from doing things more veteran commuters take for granted - like using the highway at certain hours or being forced to have a licensed motorist in the car with them.So why not ban them from being able to use a cell phone while driving?That’s the idea behind a private member’s bill, which passed second reading at Queen’s Park Thursday.

CityNews: New Driver Cell Phone Ban Law Passes Second Reading At Queen’s Park

I think I’m liking this ban. Sure, I’m old now, much less rowdy and wild. In fact, last night I was accused of growing up. But kids aren’t near as smart as they were 30 years ago. Traffic and driving wasn’t as cut and dried as it was 30 years ago. It’s good to have distinctions. This also ties in nicely to my discussion of the potential impacts of cell phone radiation on young brains. Suffice it to say, we simply haven’t got enough answers, and until we do, likely the less kids use cell phones, the better.

In 2000, just 5 percent of 13- to 17-year olds had cell phones. Today,56 percent do, according to Linda Barrabee, wireless market analyst forThe Yankee Group. If experts don’t agree on whether or not cell phones posea risk to human health, they tend to agree that, if there is sucha risk, kids are more vulnerable, due to the ongoing developmentof their brain at that early age. Parents have much more to worry about, aside from the excessive billing that goes along with kids and cell phone usage, now they also need to worry about potential health risks, including memory loss, headaches, attention disorders…

RFID tagging is a better method to keep track of kids, and to increase the safety factor. Just tag ‘em.

technorati tags:kids and cell phone usage

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Happy Friday the 13th to ALL!

A Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck in English and Portuguese-speaking cultures around the globe. Similar superstitions exist in some other traditions. In Greece and Spain, for example, Tuesday the 13th takes the same role. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.

Friday the 13th - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

May your friday be full of luck, adventure and general, all around goodness. And if that fails, goalie masks are on sale at Canadian Tire now. Wreak havoc as your favourite horror movie hero.

technorati tags:Friday the 13th, goalie

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A Real Pain in the Ass.

Lightning exits woman's bottom
October 09, 2006 12:00am
Article from: The Australian
A woman has suffered severe burning to her anus after being struck by lightning which hit her in the mouth and passed right through her body.

Lightning exits woman's bottom | NEWS.com.au

Tell me, this isn't something that crosses your mind every day from now on. The woman was actually brushing her teeth, and was rinsing her mouth with water straight fron the tap.  Now who hasn't done that?  The lightning hit her building, and if it wasn't for her rubber soled slippers, she likely would have died.

technorati tags:Lightning, Australia

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Snow on October 12 2006

Right in beautiful, downtown Oak Ridges.

Real, honest to god snow.  It wasn't pretty. It didn't stay.  But it came.

technorati tags:snow, october, Oak Ridges

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