Silly Toronto Taxes

The city yesterday shelved a proposal to add a 5% tax to Toronto liquor. "It's just not feasible right now," Mayor David Miller said. "You'd have to set up a whole new department of alcohol tax collection in the city. We can't find a way to make it work, so it's off the table." City staff had estimated that a 5% liquor tax could rake in $44-million annually.

City pulls plug on proposal to introduce 5% tax on alcoholInstead of trying to tax something as complicated as alcohol, why not simply increase parking tickets by $5? Imagine the amount of money that could be raked in.  Heck, why not increase street parking pricing by $0.50 an hour? You could make up $44M in no time.Silly politicians. Instead they jam TTC riders and try to tax liquor. How about going after the low hanging fruit once in a while?

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Tags: Toronto, Taxes, TTC

Dentists vs Doctors - No Contest

I had to break down over the past few weeks and become intimately engaged with my new neighbourhood dentist.  A recent blowout of a retainer resulted in utter oral demise.Wow. Dentist offices have come a LONG way in 4 years. They’ve come a VERY VERY long way in 20 years. No paper. Nothing in filing cabinets. In Fact, no wall of filing cabinets…. No longer are you just lucky to have a poster of a grinning cat over your dental chair to keep the boredom (or tears) away. No sir.

The privatization of the dental industry in Ontario (at least) has led to the rapid adoption of technology and competitive landscape you see today.  My dentist is awesome.

Sure, there’s a flat panel TV on the ceiling over the chair, but the biggest piece of interest is that there is also a monitor right ON the chair, and I can watch digital x-rays of my teeth as they develop. X-rays now take about 12 seconds, and they are immediately scanned into the software so we can all look and discuss the good, the bad and the tartar. The dentist can map every troublespot, every nook and every cranny. And it’s all digital. All save-able. I bet I could have even asked her to email me a copy of the x-rays. I’m going to ask her that next week. Now think about your doctor’s office. The paper. The filing cabinets. The disarray. Sure, specialists like dermatologists, plastic surgeons and the like have advanced a little more than your GP, but the vast majority of doctor’s offices are still relegated to the 1070’s in terms of technology for patient care. Go figure. No competition, no privatization, no need to treat the Ontario medical organization like a business. Sure, you sign a great paper release on Privacy, and then poof - the whole thing goes into a black hole. I’ve left a smattering of health care history across the province. How private is that? :-(In case you are looking for a dentist in the Richmond Hill area, here’s the link to my dentist!Estate Dentistry ;-)

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Tags: ontariomedical association, dentist, doctor, Estate Dentistry

Another Cell Phone Data Dead End?

Also today, Research In Motion announced it is rolling out Facebook software for its BlackBerry, another data-intensive application. Judging by the way some people use Crackbook, as one wag I know calls it, this could bankrupt Canadian Facebook addicts. So it’s not surprising that RIM’s first customer for the service is T-Mobile USA, not a Canadian company.

globeandmail.com: Kapica's Cyberia - Will easy data plans sell cellphones?I don't mind using my berry for Facebook the odd time. I just use the browser. It's not pretty, but it's functional. I'd love to see what Rim has come up with for a true Facebook Blackberry Application. Alas. It's blocked from being downloaded.:-(

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Tags: Blackberry, Facebook

Rant of the Day - Cell Phone Callers

Why is it that people can take such liberties when calling a cell phone number?
Any time of the day or night.
Any amount of times in a row.
Regardless of importance, someone will call a cell phone 5 times in a row, never leaving a message, just hanging up and redialing at will. Feeling like a semi-automatic rifle shot.

No amount of *ignore* seems to trigger the appropriate reponse.

Is it because a cell phone carries a different respect than a land line?
Is it assumed that the phone is off, until it's turned on?
Does a cell phone convey the message of *I'm always available*?

The wiz's cell phone starts ringing by 8 am most days. It's a predictable pattern, cell phone, home phone, cell phone. Only a message gets left after the 3rd attempt.
For the love of the sweet baby jesus. Respect the phone, regardless of its status - wireless or wire line.

I'd love my wireless carrier [or cellphone manufacturer, for that matter] to create an enhanced ignore option. One that delivers 120 volts of unadulterated electricity to the caller's ear.

Yes, I'm the one who hits the ignore button. Ahem.

Rogers Pulling a *Comcast*?

I’ve been reading with interest and trepidation the challenges that Comcast is enduring, with regards to controlling the types of applications its customers are allowed to use on its internet service. Specifically, P2P sharing programs.
Over the weekend, I was chatting with friends about this, and they are actually seeing the same problems with Rogers Internet Service. New problems.  Serious problems. No P2P file sharing whatsoever. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Any packet tagged as a file share goes into the neither world.

The Globe and Mail has an interesting take.
So does the Associated Press [via afterdawn.com]
And Boing Boing covers the story as well.

Ahem - Mr Rogers - are you watching. Bad publicity. Very bad.
For a while, Rogers was in the news for “traffic shaping”, but the controversy died down (last summer I was able to download via Bit Torrent from my Rogers Internet service.) Alas, now it seems that no amount of torrent traffic is acceptable. Tests are going on this week to confirm.

Aie. First silly expensive data plans on cell phones, and now traffic shaping rearing its ugly head.
It’s going to be an interesting 4th quarter to 2007.

Inappropriate Advertising on Social Networking Sites?

It’s a bigger deal than one might think - having racy or inappropriate ads in your social networking site. It’s already happening on Facebook….and Alec Saunders has picked up on it.

But it’s becoming a much bigger deal globally… especially with Google’s foray into the social schene with Orkut.com
I tried Orkut, as one of the first social networking applications, and I didn’t really fall in love with it.  But folks in Brazil certainly have. 

Orkut is in the Top 5 of sticky websites, with more than 32 billion page views.  It’s no wonder Google wants to stick some advertising on it.  The problem arose when a goodly portion of the ads were *very* adult oriented, and in some cases, illegal.

The Wall Street Journal has the whole story on what’s going on with Orkut and Google.
it doesn’t make sense that Google can’t keep track of ads that are good and ads that are illegal. I’ve never googled something and come back with an ad that’s even remotely bad taste…. Methinks it’s got more to do with Orkut’s back end than Google’s.

I'm Not Talking about the CRTC

But there are folks who ARE.
There are some very interesting discussions happening right now that can change the face of Canadian Telecommunications - everything from voice to long distance to the pre-paid cards you get for international phone calls. Even those underlying services that could be part of how you get internet access.

Everything is up for debate right now, as the CRTC decides what services should be essential, and mandatory to sell, and what services could become de-regulated, and *optional* sale services.

Still, I'm not talking about it.

Mark is. Alot.
The Canadian Press is.
The CRTC is.
MTS Allstream is.
The Public Interest Advisory Centre is.
Deidre at the Ottawa Citizen is.

I'm not.
Nope.

They Don't Make Dentists Like They Used To

Growing up in a small, rural community in Southwestern Ontario, the only dentist within 50 miles was my dentist. He knew the community by their teeth.  Who had dental plans and who was a farmer. Who needed the gas and who was going to need braces in 5 years.

23 years ago, my sister and I were his first “brace cases”.
Because we came from a farming family with no dental benefits, we received the benefit of being his guinea pigs, and a discount on what traditional braces would have cost in the big city.

The excitement of getting braces when one is young can never be measured. For 2 years, I was clad in silver, and then silver and elastics, until finally I was down to a removable top retainer, and a fixed, semi-permanent bottom retainer. I managed to grow out of the top retainer, but the bottom one remained with the expectation that it would be needed to keep everything in place when the wisdom teeth made their appearance and subsequent [ouch] departure.

I lived with the bottom retainer, silver bands circling two bottom teeth, with a wire bar adjoining them for 22 years all told. It was old school. All the dentists that came after my first one were intimidated by that retainer. Remove it? No Way. Go back to the original dentist who installed it.  “We will work around it.”

That retainer became a part of me, showing off in big smiles, making children laugh, keeping my tongue occupied in times of quiet.

Until this week. And the glue holding one band to one tooth finally released. With a little persistence, I was able to take off the glueless band, and the wire, leaving one lost silver band stranded alone.  Now, my new dentist is going to have to figure out how to disassemble what’s left of that retainer. I will be silver-less. Perhaps I can get a charm installed next, but I don’t expect it to be permanent, or to get a discount on it. They certainly don’t make dentists like they used to.

Twitter?

I've never fallen onto the Twitter bandwagon.
Does anyone really use it? Is there any inherent value yet?
Of course, there are a zillion people twittering.
But is there value in the noise, or is it twitter for twitter's sake?
I have enough of a challenge keeping up with people's status in facebook, and atleast that's on the verge of being a static application. The idea of 1,000,000 twitters bugging me is akin to being pestered in IM.

Am I a twit for not using twitter?
:-P


Technorati Tags: twitter

Searching Trends

In the past week, the top 3 searches to jules.ca have been:

• Anything webkinz related (from wanting free codes to knowing if the site was down)
• Anything Tim Horton’s related (from wanting to know about payment methods, to the new Tom Horton’s Master [loser] Card
• Anything Shopper’s DrugMart Related (from finding an email address to knowing if they sell Webkinz)

Curious - Another big result was wanting to know what US vendors are now shipping to Canada.  Apparently the currency peaking really has more Canadians interested in on-line shopping…. and it’s about time!  Now really, who wants to stand in line, along with all the other great unwashed masses to buy things that you could easily “click click click” in the comfort of your home.  No sweaty forehead, no kids crying, no silly people wearing on your nerves. No long wait times in lines.  At some point, I would think that the traditional stores will/should start feeling the pressure from on-line vendors, and smarten up, or at least add another cash register.  There’s nothing worse than a big box store that has 10 registers, and only 4 of them are open, yet each of the open registers has a line 5 deep. Canadian Tire is one of the worst at this, [not counting Walmart - who is the ABSOLUTE worst]. I’ve given up trying Canadian Tire in-real-life, and have resorted to their online version.

If I’m in ANY store now (not counting fast food, of course), and there is a line of more than 4 people, and there are multiple registers, I’m outta there faster than you can say Debit or Credit. I’m always good to be polite and tell people WHY I’m leaving, and I set everything down carefully, [usually close to the register] but I leave.

US Headlines Vs Canadian Headlines

When the chickadees are over, we sometimes watch Fox News (or any US news channel) and talk about the foolishness of the US News Media, and how it’s more like a soap opera and not real life. We talk about only seeing the bad news, and never seeing the good news.
The chickadees love the gore, surprisingly enough. It’s high drama, suspense and over produced, until we tell them that most of it is exaggerated.  They are old enough now to appreciate the difference between real news and US TV news.

I’ve got 2 different sections in my Google Reader for News.  One for the US news (for when I’m in need for a drama boost) and one for Canadian News.

Take a peek at the difference in the headlines:
US: 25 Shiite militants killed
Spain arrests Basque leaders
US: 25 insurgents dead in Iraq
Police blast into law firm, kill man who shot 5
Police Kill Law Firm Shooter
Track Olympian Reportedly Admits to Steroid Use
Report: Marion Jones Used Steroids Before 2000 Olympics

And
Pirates Remains At Top of International Box Office
Getting a grip on effective cancer treatment
What’s Open And Closed On The Holiday?
Rick Hillier: Rock star …
Abella inducted into American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Jobless rate dips below six per cent to 33-year low
Record companies win music sharing trial
New rules to make late-night shifts at BC gas stations safer

I agree - if you are a drama starved kid - the top section looks like a fun adventure. But the bottom set is actually a better balance of what is going on in real life, with good and not so good balanced together.

Me, I’m waiting for “What You Don’t Know About Your Toothbrush Can Kill You…. The Full Story at 11…”

The 30 Minute Meeting Movement

Over the past 3 weeks, I've begun to become accustomed to double and triple bookings in my calendar. Sure, I just juggled or declined a few, but most are reasonable meetings. Yesterday was a milestone - quadrouple over booking.

Did you hear the sound of my head hitting the floor?

Now I acept every meeting (within valuable reason), and send back the acceptance of either: "I am available for the first 30 minutes" or "I am available for the last 30 minutes" of your meeting.  Please send me an agenda so that I can be prepared and make the most of the time available.

My boss got 30 minutes on Monday.
He will get another 30 minutes on Wednesday.

It feels good. In the past week, there was only 1 meeting that I attended for longer than 30 minutes, and it was on-line, collaboratively building a customer presentation with 2 other people.  It was the best use of 90 minutes ever.

I should be able to maintain the 30 minute meeting movement. I'm not really looking forward to having to shorten it to the 20 minute meeting movement.

What do YOU do when you are double booked? Do you want to embrace the 30 Minute Meeting Movement?

Day 10 and Counting.

I’ve been bumbling around the past week, nursing a bruised rib. Being an Aunt is a hard job, babies are dangerous.

But I was expecting this weekend, now that the bruise has receded, for the rib in question to stop causing such excruciating pain. Alas, it seems that the bruise was protecting me from the rib’s wrath. Now, 10 days post injury, the rib actually is in *worse* condition than ever.

A quick Google search landed me on a mountain biking injury page. [No, I wasn’t taking the baby mountain biking.]

Apparently ribs take forever +1 day to heal. And even then, may still lash out at you when you least expect it. That’s just not right, on so very many levels. The average healing time is 3-4 weeks. I might as well have pulled a groin.

Sneezing, hiccups - especially those nasty ones caused by a cold can of Coke, laughter, and rolling over while sleeping are all inflaming my rib. These are also all activities i could do a few dozen times a day.

At this rate, I may not have a decent night sleep for another 20 days. And me, I’m just the Aunt ;-)