The Canadian Election, so far

Thirty five days to go until the next General Election. Can't you feel the excitement in the air? Why this is an election that will mark the passing of an era, an election that will bring about a, oh sorry, that's the US Election.

It's only Day Three and already people are sick of it. Or are not at all interested.

This is not the purpose of my posting tonight, but to give just a little bit of advice to the leaders of the major parties.

So:

Stephen Harper Let me give you some advice, you're the Prime Minister, your party is the Governing Party. Why then do we hear more about Stéphane Dion, then we do about your government accomplishments? Of course the kicker so far has been the website touting his inabilities and incompetence, to say nothing of puffin poop. I know you did come out and apologize, but the website reeks of being sophomoric and not sophisticated. I understand you believe it was an overzealous web designer, yeah some 20 year old kid who been amped out on Red Bull for the last two weeks. He probably thinks fart noises are funny too. Surprised that wasn't included. I understand you suffered a lot of attack ads in the past and perhaps payback is deserved, however, you portray yourself as a leader, start to show it. Also you keep putting Stéphane Dion name before the public, people might want to know more about him and if you have said nothing about yourself. You see that's what happens when a party has spent more time in opposition then government, they think as opposition.

Stéphane Dion. What can I say, the papers are reporting on the fact the Liberals have decided to make him more manly He is seen in plaid, outdoors with his wife, child and dog Kyoto. I blame this on the Sarah Palin syndrome, ever since it was revealed Sarah can kill, gut and dress a moose in the outdoors, she has raised the bar of machismo. So I expect to read Stéphane Dion jokes in the vein of Chuck Norris facts. Consider

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Stéphane Dion.

I think you see where this is leading us. Also, he is portrayed as a dog lover, way to go Liberals, you just kissed the cat lover vote good bye.

Jack Layton. He may have the most brilliant strategy of the three, he's not attracting any attention. This may make him the first NDP Prime Minister. Starting putting together that transition team Jack they just might come in handy on the 15th of October. While the other two are trying to show which one is precisely the biggest dork, you just keep plodding along, giving your message and getting people interested in looking at the NDP. Oh by the way, he wants to friend us all on Facebook. Perhaps we can challenge him on one of the movie quizes.

Gilles Duceppe. He doesn't like Canada, he doesn't like Stephen Harper. Wah wah wah. Meh.


Elizabeth May. This is one of those times you declare your prejudice: I did not support Elizabeth when she ran for leader of the Green Party. The agreement with the Liberals have come to bite her hard on the butt. That was not a smart move. Now what am I hearing? May is upset she was not included in the debates. Okay, they don't want you. Three words. Get. Over. It. Consider the possibilities, while the others are training for the debates, you can be out hustling, getting the Green Party's message in front of people. While the others are going through mock debates, you can have real debates, with real people, sharing the Green message. Look if Chantal Hébert is correct, you stand a chance of doing quite well in this election. Don't blow it by being whinny. If all people hear is "mygoshisntitawfulwewerentincludedinthedebates", they will quickly turn you off.

Well that's the advice for day three. I expect all five of you to take this to heart. I want and clean election. I want an election on ideas and ideals.

I will have more to say as this moves forward.

Some Interesting Visitors

Yesterday morning I saw an unusual bird eating some seeds besides the car. It was a bird I had not seen before.



I asked around and even posted the photograph to determine the identity of the bird. This morning I received an email with the information. The bird in question is a Chukar.

As you can read:

This partridge has its native range in Asia from Pakistan and Kashmir, into the Republic of India (Himachal Pradesh and Punjab states). And Afghanistan in the east to southeastern Europe in the west, and is closely related and similar to its western equivalent, the Red-legged Partridge, Alectoris rufa. It has been introduced widely, and became established in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Hawaii. In Great Britain, hybrids between this species and the also introduced Red-legged Partridge are common.

So it is found in North America but how it got to this part is a mystery. Apparently they were imported as game birds so some how these birds managed to escape and are hiding out.

I said "Visitors" because now there are three of them:





What they seem to enjoy are the pears that have fallen off the tree and bugs.

Quite an interesting sight.

Is Stephen Harper afraid of the Greens



The headline in the Toronto Star was MP joins Greens; May now in leaders' debates?. It was announced that Blair Wilson, the MP for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country will now sit in the House as a member of the Green Party of Canada. What that means is, we finally got a MP. Okay so he was elected as a Liberal in the last election, but like he's the first guy ever to cross the floor, or I guess move down a couple of seats. He became an independent in January 2008. Apparently there was some concern with finances during the last nomination, however all that is in the past. He was cleared. He's an MP, He's a Green.



One of the major points to all this, is and you can read it in the article, the pressure is now on to have Elizabeth May join in with the leader's debate come election time, which might be soon. The criteria for involvement has always been that a party has to be represented in the House of Commons. No doubt its a measure from keeping all the fringe parties from demanding representation at the debates. It doesn't matter how the MP's got there, as long as they are there. After all the Bloc Quebecois started out when Lucien Bouchard left the Progressive Conservative Party and was joined by other PC's and disgruntled Liberals after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord.

However, what makes me think Mr. Harper is afraid of the Greens?

Consider this little quote in the Star:

Yesterday, Harper spokesperson Kory Teneycke said the overtures of co-operation between May and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion should mean only one of them gets to participate in the debates.

An agreement for co-operation hardly means its the same party. By the way I blogged earlier about this accord and warned Ms May not to proceed with it. But I digress. It's not the same party, even if M. Dion now has a green hue on his website. The Greens are not the Liberals, and the Liberals are not the Greens.

I mentioned earlier that Elizabeth May's name and party is starting to show up in Conservative Party election material, it seems they reckon the Greens are a party they will have to deal with. It's not just a party of loopy environmentalists, it is a relevant organization on the political landscape of Canada. While some Conservatives may think of Greens as left of centre to centre, I wonder if there is some teals out there, by that I mean conservative greens who might be interested in voting Green rather then Conservative in the upcoming election. In places such as Ontario, a teal vote might tips a few ridings away from the Tories.

As for the accord, watch for the Greens to have a full slate of candidates in the upcoming election.

Something to watch.

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame



This past weekend, Jo-Anne and I visited the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in the City of Hamilton Ontario. It was one of those things I've seen the sign for it over the past number of years and figured one of these days I'm going to have to stop and visit. After all, I am a fan of the CFL. I follow it on television, I've been to a number of games throughout Ontario and Western Canada, I have hats and tee shirts, including some of the folded US teams, the Shreveport Pirates for example. So it made sense to visit the place.

Let me say a few things about it, it's part of the civic centre of Hamilton, near the City Hall, which is under renovations. In fact it was a bit of a challenge to find because once you entered the parking lot, there was no signs. Fortunately I did know about the statue in front and so once I found it, we were good to go.

The building would be described as municipal utilitarian, in other words, kind of ugly but served a purpose. Inside there are four main rooms, the gift shop, the Hall of Fame itself and two rooms for the museum. The Hall of Fame contains sculptures of each member of the HOF. They go back to Albert 4th Earl Grey, the man who donated the Cup to members of the Class of 2007, such as Darren Flutie. It's fascinating to look at the sculptures and to read the history of each individual. They are some great names there. This part of the Museum is fascinating.

Then there are the other two rooms, one is a history of the Canadian game, from the beginnings to junior to varsity to the professional game. The other was interesting but different, it contained the TSN top 50 All-Time Players, to the locker room of the Windsor AKO Fratmen Junior Football Team. I don't know why that is there, but being from Windsor, it's good to me.

I have to admit and remember I am a fan of the CFL, I was disappointed with the Museum, first of all, it was kind of looking drab. There were places where the paint was missing on the wall, plus some of the exhibitions didn't work, such as the field goal kicking machine and I have to wonder how long it had been broken, it just wasn't what it should be. This place celebrates the Game and it seems to be lacking any enthusiasm for the game. Plus, the sign in front stated that adult admission was three dollars when in fact it was seven dollars. Couple this with the fact the information for the various teams was outdated, nothing was mentioned of Saskatchewan's winning of the Grey Cup last year. In fact, the first trophy you saw as you entered was not the Grey Cup but the Schenley Trophy. Which is nice, but the premier trophy is the Grey Cup. It should be right in front, not off to the side.

So that's the problems, and I want to give some suggestions:

1) Paint the Place. Cover up the holes, get rid of the institutional colours.
2) Keep everything working.
3) Bring in more artifacts.
4) Signage- make it up to date, nothing says "We don't care", like having the wrong price of admission.
5) Set up a "Friends of the CFHOF". Get people from across Canada to support the museum and the Game. It could be a nice source of funding. Give membership things like pins, opportunity to attend special events, Annual General Meetings and the like. It will help.
6) Get us more signs to the entrance.

These are just some things, Canadian Football is a great game with a tremendous history and tradition and it needs to be celebrated. Make it look like we care.

Along the Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail

This summer I've decided to try the trails outside of Brantford. Last summer I was able to enjoy the Gordon Glaves Trail. It's quite a trail that follows for most of the journey the Grand River.

One trail that caught my attention was the Hamilton-Brantford Trail. This trail follows the former rail bed of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway.

It is a trail that runs from Brantford to Hamilton:



Today I managed to ride to Kilometre 12.3, which is a observation deck overlooking the Summit Water Tower. At one time there was a rail station but all that remains is the foundation of the Tower.

So I stopped and took some photographs:










I am thinking of going a little further up the trail, perhaps to Hamilton.

What came in the Mail

If you own a mailbox in Canada, every so often you will receive a pamphlet from the Conservative Party of Canada, it's an attempt to gauge public opinion, help shape public policy or it's a blatant propaganda exercise to help increase the brand of the Stephen Harper government. Now I know there are some Liberals and some NDP'ers who might espouse such a view, but I don't. Truly this is an exercise of grassroots democracy, allowing the people to express an opinion, if they so desire.

I was interested when this pamphlet came in the mail today:



The pamphlet talks about the way the Conservative Government is standing up for Canada and gives three examples. Then it asks which of the four leaders will best represent Canada on the World Stage. Three are the usual suspects but what really got my attention is the fourth, Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green party of Canada. This tells me a couple of things, one is the Greens are now viewed as a viable political presence in Canada, capable of winnings a seat or seats in the upcoming election.

The second is she may be used to demonstrate a sort of softness of Canadian politics, after all the Greens are a bunch of hippy tree-hugging peaceniks.

Actually, nothing can be further from the truth. You may think that Elizabeth is all that and more, after all she was the executive director of Sierra Club of Canada, but understand this, the Sierra Club was simply a front for Earth First which was and still is a group of hardcore ecowarriors. This group practiced guerrilla theatre, sabotage, tree spiking and other methods to disrupt the logging of virgin timber from the forestry companies. Let's call them what they are, this is black ops. These people were trained in special forces activities. Far from tree huggers, they were tree provacateurs.

Ms May is in fact quoted as saying:

While the media was fixated with Raging Grannies we were smuggling all the weapons we needed to ensure those loggers and feds were going to have a hot time.

While on the outward, the Greens come through as a party of peace, but within the ranks there are activities which would make the average militia organization in the States green with envy. Green with envy, get it.

When discussing military policy, May is often heard referring to her opponents as "wussies", "wimps" and "girlie men". She asks this question to cheering crowds of camouflaged wearing Green supporters

Why haven't they found and brought to justice Osama bin Laden? Give me a Colt M4 and I'll bring him to trial, or toss his corpse on the floor of the UN!

She is very critical for the US invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, but not in the way we would think. She often refers to General David Petraeus as "patsy Petraeus"

Who should I check off on the questionnaire? It's obvious, it has to be Elizabeth May.

Now I know some of my readers are thinking "Paul, you're crazy, where's your proof." I want to submit to you this video of Elizabeth May speaking in front of a cheering mob of militant, heavily armed Greens.

Cheers

So, it's been a busy July



The photograph is, from left to right, Jo-Anne, Stephanie, Jon and me. Yes if read Stephanie's blog, there was a wedding in the family. I had the privilege and honour to walk Stephanie down the aisle as the father of the Bride. Yes I was nervous and at the same I was happy for this day. I thought it was a wonderful ceremony and a delightful reception. All went together great and I had a good time.

Okay, I should be posting more photographs, so hold on:

Stephanie and Jon with Stephanie's Grandparents

Stephanie, Daniel, Jeremy and Katrina


Katrina with the lucky catch, fortunately for her, Rachel took herself out of thegame

There are a lot more photographs but I've decided to keep myself to these few with the blog.

Wyndfield at the Ball Park
Originally uploaded by paulg57

Yesterday a group of us from Wyndfield Community Church went to the Rogers Centre to watch the Jays take on the hated New York Yankees.

The idea was set up by Sarah Brinson, the one on the right who got us the tickets and did the planning. So we piled into a couple of cars and went off to Toronto.

Now from past blogs you know I'm a Tiger Fan, so this brings the question, what was I doing at a Jays games. Especially after all the nasty things I've written about Rogers and their iPhone rate plans.

The answer is simple:

1) it was a baseball game and
2) it was an opportunity to boo and rain catcalls down upon the Evil Empire.

The boos and catcalls were loud as well. As well, every so often a spontaneous chant of "Yankees Suck" rained down onto the boys in pinstripes.

A person that was part of the group asked why players such as Derek Jeter was booed. I informed her it was because; he's the captain, he's a great player and he's a Yankee. She understood and then I explained to her that the loudest boos are directed at the best players, and as I recently heard 'boos on the road are the same as cheers at home".

I then told her that A-Rod was going to get booed because:

1) he left his wife for Madonna
and
2) the little stunt he performed last year at a Blue Jay game.

Speaking of A-Rod, when he came up to bat not only were people booing but they were also shouting comments like "Material Boy". Never underestimate the creativity of the fans of the home team against the visiting team, in particular when that team is the New York Yankees.

As for the game: Roy Halladay pitched a two hit complete game gem and the home crowd watched the Jays beat up the Yankees 5-0. What also impressed me was very few people left the game. My experience with Toronto Sports Fans is they tend to leave early, no matter what the score.

The end result of all this, we got to go to another game.

Before I close, two very interesting baseball teams, or at least names:

The Witicha Wingnuts
and
The Lansing Lugnuts
.

You got to love it.

It Just Gets Better

So, Rogers has changed the data plan and claiming through their paid hacks how wonderful they were to respond to their customers.

Now the Media, which is probably owned by CanWest Global is pointing out how wrong Bloggers such as Smithereens is about their reports on the problems between Rogers and Apple.

This is best read in the Ottawa Citizen, In fact in their cover page they have a photograph of the ten people in front of their local Rogers store:



The media hacks want us to believe it's all a lie. In fact here is what the Citizen reports:

Online sites such as Smithereensblog.blogspot.com have been reporting on the relationship between Apple and Rogers, stating that Rogers' cellular data pricing is too high and that Apple is not happy about them. The blog has since retracted most of its story, now referring to it as a "plausible rumour."

The gossip has fuelled other Internet sites such as RuinediPhone.com, which has collected signatures from more than 58,000 angry Canadians and called for federal government intervention and greatly reduced iPhone pricing from Rogers.

"We are definitely responding," said Boynton. "We have spent the last two weeks going through customer service transcripts ... people are very excited, they really want this product."

"They want to do things with this device that they haven't done on other devices before."

The iPhone, which goes on sale at Rogers' stores tomorrow, squeezes a digital camera, iPod, cellular phone and laptop computer into a pocket-sized device -- a selection of features that creates a quagmire of questions about how to charge for services.

I personally love the line in which they say from reading the transcripts from Customer Services how excited people are about the iPhone. Let's say this, people are excited, they want to experience what people in different parts of the world want to do which is enjoy the iPhone. However the same people were also very angry at Rogers who they blame for messing what could have been a wonderful experience for those same people. Again, its like those in Rogers have never gotten the new media where information is transmitted the speed of light.

In fact, I should quote some more from the Citizen:

"This is a case where the people who scream the loudest get the most attention," Levy said. "If you are a blogger, unlike a real journalist, you are not subjected to the same checks and balances of real media and you can pretty much say anything. Whether or not it is backed up by fact is almost irrelevant."

Notice the blame for it all is about the bloggers, they are the one who bring about the anger and confusion. They are the ones spreading half baked accounts based upon mere hearsay and they don't even bother to check their facts.

Plus the situation goes back from this, Rogers brought about a convoluted rate plan that can best be described as screwing the consumer. Their defense of not giving the consumer stuff they didn't need again points out to the fact they think people are stupid.

Again, I conclude with this, Rogers messed it up. To them belongs the blame. Whether or not Apple diverted iPhones is totally irrelevent, besides we will know the answer.

I still say, don't buy the iPhone tomorrow. Don't buy the first weekend. Make Rogers sweat and see whether or not they will lower their prices even lower.

Did Rogers' Blink?

Seems what the sales clerk said to me last week was true, Rogers did have some alternative pricing plan ready just in case. It is true, the price for the data plan is going down and what you can do goes up.

The article in Yahoo, Rogers lowers cost of data plan points out a few things about the plan, and also gives some suggestion that all this was a ploy to inspire some 'spin' on the whole iPhone to Canada thing.

One expert states:

While it's seen as a victory for consumers, some analysts called the price change a marketing tactic intended to create buzz about the iPhone, which is coming to Canada a year after it has been available in the United States and six months after being introduced in Europe.

"This is all about buzz development," said McMaster University's Nick Bontis. "What does buzz do? It creates lineups outside the door, which is exactly what Rogers wanted."

Analyst Carmi Levy said Rogers didn't do a "knee jerk reaction" in response to consumer outrage.

"Carriers of this magnitude do not change course on a dime and you don't simply introduce a half-baked plan into the market without weeks and-or months of study," said Levy, of Toronto AR Communications Inc.

Let's just think about it. It wasn't just the last week that there was all this negative reaction, it was building up because the date was getting close, but people were angry the moment they heard about the plan. This is the age of the Internet, people know what's happening in other nations, Canadians know AT&T was offering an unlimited data plan. They also could compare the two plans and do the math and what the conclusion of the mathematics? We were getting hosed and hosed badly. With this knowledge and the fact that information was being sent out as fast as people could blog, it means people could hear, learn and get angry. Also, let's remember, we live at a time when critical mass can be achieved with greater ease.

This leads to the question, did Rogers do all this at the last moment, probably not it was in their back pocket, but I think they totally misjudged the anger of the consumer towards their plans. As well, if the rumours of Apple's anger are true, then Rogers totally messed it up. If this is an effort to put spin then it is bizarre. I know people think it doesn't matter what they say as long as their name is in the papers, well, that's the old thinking. The new thinking has to be, think of the consumer because they will quickly decide whether or not they want to deal with you any more.

As well, there was no need for spin as far as the iPhone is concerned, those who knew of it, wanted it. There was no need to inspire them, or get the noise going, they were the noise. It's as if Rogers had no clue about the online community of iPhone fanatics.

If this proves anything, it proves that data and voice plans are based up absolutely nothing. If Rogers can give a plan that is half the price and 15 times the data, it means the only way to determine the price of any rate plan is the bottom line of the company, it doesn't cost them that much to provide. As for Apple not being happy, one person suggested that with the growth of iTunes as a future source for television and movies, they wanted nothing to force people to not take advantage of the itunes store.

If Ican quote more from the article:

The Rogers spokeswoman said an online petition protesting the costs of its plans to run the iPhone didn't have any impact.

"In the last few days, we have been looking at our customer feedback and had real thoughtful insight from them," Hamilton said.

The same promotional data plan will apply to other smartphones that run on a 3G network, such as the BlackBerry Bold, Hamilton said.

"We've expanded this promotion for all 3G smartphones. It's not just the iPhone."

In other words, you want to believe the protest had an impact, Rogers knows competition is coming and they had better not make for those future carriers a mass of future customers. The insight is this, customers are fed up and they are not taking it any longer.

This is not Rogers' finest moment. I still say, 'don't buy the iPhone on July 11th'. Wait a couple of days, or even weeks, make them do a bit of sweating perhaps there's another plan in their back pocket.

Rogers may get Phoned

I was watching TWITLive, which features streaming audio from various TWIT programs. This being Sunday it was time for TWIT and there was messages asking Leo to talk about the Apple Roger fallout. There are now rumours all over the blogsphere regarding Apple's feelings about Rogers.

If you remember, the Globe and Mail featured an article which asked the question, why doesn't Apple love Canada. I think we now know the answer, because they have to work with nobs like Rogers. Ted Rogers has a history of jobbing the subscribers of his cable company and his wireless and now he thought he could do the same with the iPhone. The rest of the world offer unlimited data? Not in Canada. The rest of the world has short contracts? Rogers makes you take three years. Although to be fair, that's standard fare. The rest of the world offer the iPhone for $199.00, well actually Rogers has no control over that.

Now, word is circulating that Apple is not happy. And if Steve is not happy, well, heaven help the person or company that has made him unhappy.

So what are the rumours? For this I went to the excellent blog Smithereens that intends to let Rogers know how dissatisfied it is with its partnership. This site has a link to the online petition ruinediphone.com. It is here Canadians can sign and complain to Rogers about the pricing plan. Smithereens reports over 36,000 Canadians have signed which is apparently more people then there are iPhone available for Canada. You can read the blog here.

Here is the good stuff:

Here are the tidbits I have managed to glean from my source within Rogers (And I'll let you draw your own conclusions):

First, an employee of Apple Canada sends a text message to my source that says something to the effect of: "You guys are screwed for iPhone," but will not respond to multiple replies asking for clarification.
Next, an employee at competing handset manufacturer RIM (Blackberry's parent) sends my source a text soon after saying there are rumours of an Apple-Rogers fallout.
Then, my source receives a call notifying him that all the part-time staff who had been hired for next week's launch have been fired without notice. (UPDATE 07/06: Apparently, only certain dealerships took on additional staff for the launch, although most urban locations did. Also, some dealerships may not have let all their iPhone help go, but others definitely have. It's important to clarify that any decisions to let staff go were made at the individual dealer level, and not by Rogers corporate...at least not directly.)
And finally, a senior Rogers rep confirms that Apple has decided to divert a large percentage of their planned Canadian shipment to Europe and that each Rogers store may now be getting as few as 10-20 units, ostensibly due to Apple's displeasure over Rogers' high data and voice rates. (UPDATE 07/06: Although no per-store numbers can be confirmed, the verbiage used by head office is apparently that numbers will be "significantly reduced" and that stores should "exercise caution" not to over-promise. Europe has also been reconfirmed as the destination for the allegedly diverted units.)

Couple this with what I found out at the Rogers' store means, we can expect lower rates come the 12th of July. Or do we? This is going to be the question of the week. Let's remember Rogers has been nailing the consumer for so long that they probably feel it's their God-given right. As well, they may know something of the Canadian psyche, which is to complain and belly-ache but ultimately do nothing. I suspect that's what they are hoping. However if the Apple side of the rumour is true then this adds something to the equation. For once Rogers is beholden to another and there are some points.

I already mentioned the Blackberry Bold, it's coming and can be thought of as a iPhone killer. Second is other services with 3G capability are coming soon as well, soon Rogers will not be the only game in town.

Now just to give a fair and balanced report, eCanadaNow is reporting that Rogers is unfazed about all the flack. Again, this is the typical thinking process of a major Canadian corporation. However what is untypical is Rogers is dealing with Steve Jobs who indirectly controls hundreds of thousands of worshippers called Appleslappies. If he declares his displeasure then Rogers is done for. We all know Hell hath no fury like a MacSlappy scorned.

What should be done? Don't buy the iPhone on the 11th, or 12th, or that week for that matter. Let Rogers know we Canadians are serious. Contact other companies about the Blackberry. Call Rogers customer service and tell them why you are not buying the iPhone.

Speaking of other carriers, I was listening to net@nite with Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur. Amber reported she was able to get a better deal from Bell by simply saying to them she was considering getting an iPhone and ditching her Blackberry. Just put that in the back of your mind.

Me? I'm sticking with my Virgin Mobile.

The iPhone in Canada



Since Rogers announced their rate plans for the iPhone, there has been almost universal condemnation.

From bloggers such as Fred Brunnel to mainstream media such as the CBC has announced and condemned the price plans.

The complaints: forcing all subscribers into three year plans, most nations offer less and the greatest sin, no unlimited data plan.

This chart lists the various plans and the cost:



So tonight I went to a local Rogers store and discussed such things as the new Blackberry Bold and the iPhone rates. It seems Customer Services representatives have been getting hammered by people calling and complaining. All these complaints have reached the ears of the Board of Directors at Rogers, they are now telling people in the company that those plans may not be the only plans "offered" by Rogers. The question is when will these other new plans be announced? Good question, the right thing would be before the new phone is released. Or would it be better to think it will occur after the initial release, especially if the anger towards the price plan is demonstrated in less then stellar sales of the iPhone on July 11th. I'm thinking the latter. After all, if sales are at levels expected then why release a second plan, but if sales are below those expectations then watch the new rate planes come out.

Also, the date of the Bold will be around July 25th. Perhaps the strategy is to wait until then and watch what Rogers' does.

A Linux Based Blog

It's been a time since I've said anything about Linux or Ubuntu.

I'm still using Ubuntu, having downloaded the latest version a couple of months ago. It's working very well, although my Dell laptop is showing its age. After all, it's almost 4 years old. Just three more payments and I can start looking for a new one. At least that's the plan.

Recently, Linux Magazine had as its cover article: Spawn of Ubuntu. Not only is Ubuntu growing and expanding with each passing new version, and its various manifestation such as kubuntu or edubuntu.

What has been happening is Ubuntu is now the basis of other distros. Three are highlighted in the article. The three are: freespire, gOS and Linux Mint. Each has its merits, in fact the article gives a good review of all three.
Personally I've been trying Linux Mint on the laptop. I must say that it is a very nice flavour of Linux. One thing that is noticed, and this is coming from a Ubuntu person is the colour green. Since it is a Mint the colour green predominates. While a person could ask is the colour important, it does add and enhance to distro.

I've tried 4.0 Daryna. It has a number of things going for it and it is worth the time to download and burn onto a disc.

If there is something I would want in Mint it would be support for the 64bit AMD based computers. I like the idea it has stayed with Intel based computers, but I think it would grow to add this to its repertoire.

I'm going to say more about Mint, but it's time to call it a day.

iPhone comes to Canada

Finally, Canada will join the 21st century when it comes to wireless technology. After a year of only looking on and salivating as nations such as the USA, UK, Germany and a few others received the right to possess the marvel that is the cellphone, Canada will join 21 other nations on July 11th.

By now every Canadian blogger has written about this wonderful news. No doubt Apple Fanboy has been especially articulate, or perhaps not with their comments expression love towards the godlike figure that is Steve Jobs.

There is a pent up demand and Apple knows it, their homepage features this:


Okay, so what about the iPhone. Consider, 3G system which means fast Internet browsing. GPS including maps so you will never get lost. Third party apps. There is a camera and because of the GPS a person can geotap the photographs. Plus it's thin, has a very good battery life, it's Apple and be honest it is amazing to look at, no matter what you think. Couple all this with a price tag of $199.00 it will be the killer devise of the year.

It will be sold by Rogers and Fido. It will be interesting to go to the nearest Rogers or Fido on the 11th. I don't know if we will see the line ups like they had in the States on the launch date of the first iPhone.

The Globe and Mail had an article comparing the Blackberry and the iPhone, since people who may have thought Blackberry before may think iPhone, although I understand that the iPhone isn't great for business. Still, never underestimate mass sex appeal. At the same time the Blackberry has been reaching out to the consumer market.

Now the question is, how much to operate the iPhone? Rogers has a moneymaker and will they decide to ease up and give the $7.00 a month data plan as was rumoured a few months ago or screw the consumer. If history is the gauge, it will be the latter. So what will it be?

Also, how will the other carriers react? I went into a Bell World store because they had Blackberry's for $0.00. Oh yes the phone was nothing, but when the salesperson started quoting what plans I would need, zero quickly became $80.00 a month, not including all the other things, like system access ($6.95), 911 ($0.95) and all the other magical fees.

Although I now wonder, walk into the same store and tell them, Blackberry -free, plans, twenty dollars a month, inclusive including GPS navigation or I wait for the iPhone. What would they say? Yes? or call security.

The fun now starts.

Wired's Inconvenient Truths

I still read and subscribe to Wired Magazine. Even though it was a shock when they changed the size and made it more like any other magazine, still it is something I look forward to each month.

This month's lead article and it was in the 15th Anniversary issue, congratulations Wired, dealt with the environment. The authors write in the opening couple of paragraphs:

The environmental movement has never been short on noble goals. Preserving wild spaces, cleaning up the oceans, protecting watersheds, neutralizing acid rain, saving endangered species — all laudable. But today, one ecological problem outweighs all others: global warming. Restoring the Everglades, protecting the Headwaters redwoods, or saving the Illinois mud turtle won't matter if climate change plunges the planet into chaos. It's high time for greens to unite around the urgent need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Just one problem. Winning the war on global warming requires slaughtering some of environmentalism's sacred cows. We can afford to ignore neither the carbon-free electricity supplied by nuclear energy nor the transformational potential of genetic engineering. We need to take advantage of the energy efficiencies offered by urban density. We must accept that the world's fastest-growing economies won't forgo a higher standard of living in the name of climate science — and that, on the way up, countries like India and China might actually help devise the solutions the planet so desperately needs.

The point is, there are a couple of sacred cows out there which have turned out to be very bad for the environment. To the authors the key is to lower the amount of carbon dioxide and other green house gases that are being pumped into the atmosphere. I should give the caveat, to make their points they do gloss over a number of problems inherit with their positions, but then again, no one accused the writers of being fair and balanced.

So what are some I agree, the first, in my order not the magazines is Nuclear Power.If you have been around environmentalists just suggest nuclear power to them and watch what happens. Now certainly alternative energy generating sources are good, but have drawback, wind power means huge windmills which are wonderful, unless you are a bird that flies into one of those big things, plus I understand the noise can be something. Solar power? Okay but still relatively expensive.

That does leave nuclear. It is clean. It produces very cheap electricity, perhaps not as cheap as hydro, but it is second. It emits no greenhouse gases. Again, if the key is to lower greenhouse gases, this is the key. As with all technology, things are improving and it is getting cheaper. OF course there are the downsides, such as what do you do with the spent uranium, how do you dispose or handle them safely. I suppose what one can do is simply sell them to any one of a number of rogue states to help them with their nuclear weapon programs. With some spent fuel rods and a couple of minutes on the Internet, you too can join the Axis of Evil. As an aside, I want to welcome all those readers from CSIS who are now reading this blog. Hi Andrew I know disposal is still a major problem but unless we deal with global warning, it is a moot point. Nuclear energy is today, it is economical, in the long run and it is clean.

The second point I want to discuss and this one gets me going every time, is Carbon Credits. The idea of carbon credits is:

What a cool idea: Instead of reducing our own carbon emissions, we'll pay other people to reduce theirs. Win-win!

It's saying to the third world, you continue to mire in substandard subsistence living, which while causes a shortened life span, doesn't produce greenhouse gases, and we will continue to live as we always have. So it intents to shut the third world off from development that could better their lives. The last thing we want is for them to be as wasteful as us, speaking as the first world. So they keep a tree, we keep living high on the hog. It is interesting that one of the best suggestions is the now being attacked by Conservatives, the carbon tax. Do I favour such a thing? Do I like paying even more for gas? No, but consider what is happening, this increase in gasoline is not driven by shortages caused by natural or human made disasters, it's caused by greed. The last paragraph of the Wired article states:

A carbon tax would eliminate three classes of parasites that have evolved to fill niches created by the global climate protocol: cynical marketers intent on greenwashing, blinkered bureaucrats shoveling indulgences to powerful incumbents, and deal-happy Wall Streeters looking for a shiny new billion-dollar trading toy. Back to the drawing board, please.

The third issue brought forward is urban living. Cities compact a lot of people into a relatively small area. With more people in a smaller area, things begin to become cheaper, such things as public transportation. Plus walking is now possible because everything is relatively close by. The problem of cities is not the core, its the suburbs. People spread out, when things spread out it loses the mass of affordability. Public transit has difficulty paying for itself because of distance. Suburbia becomes based upon the automobile only. Also, suburbs have meant the decrease in farmlands, as more of it become cookie cutter housing. Another problem was pointed out this way by the article:

Even worse are the 40 million lawn mowers used to tame the suburban backcountry: Each spews 11 cars' worth of pollutants per hour.

.
I was fortunate, the lawnmower I have decided to "blow up", at least parts started to shoot out. I bought an electric mower. No pollution and a lot quieter.

There are problems with cities, two in particular- one is the fact they become heat islands, all that asphalt tends to heat up the area. Another problem is the lack of green, with all the above, there are very few trees. For example, Brantford has nly 15% tree shade throughout the city, which is very bad. To counteract the problems of heat, the urban forest needs to expand. But that is possible.

I do have a few disagreements, one is the issue of cars. One writer suggests not buying a hybrid but buy used. Personally I think we should get more electric cars, and this goes back to my comment about cities, with closer distances a person does not need the conventional gas powered car to get around. Smaller, electric cars are far better.

So that's just a few points I want to raise about the article. It is articles like that which remind me why I continue to read Wired.

Peace

Taking Some Photographs

A lot has been happening to change the face of downtown Brantford. Since moving here the past July I've learned that there has been a number of attempts to revitalize the downtown core of Brantford Ontario. One of the most recent efforts has been the establishment of Harmony Square. It is a public square that the city is attempting to use as a meeting place for the community.

It has become the centre for a group which calls itself the Brantford Arts Block. It is a

Brantford Arts Block is a community arts organization that was founded in 2006 to advocate and create arts-based neighbourhood revitalization, both in Brantford's downtown and area-wid

It has put on a number of events that bring people to the downtown to use their artistic ability. I suppose it could be called a grassroots movement to enhance culture and the arts.

Today they had a PhotoCrawl. The call was for photographers, either amateur or professional to bring their cameras downtown and take some pictures. The photographs could be of anything that struck the interest of the person with the camera. Now when I read that I thought "I have a camera, I like to take pictures..".

The day didn't start that well, but by afternoon it cleared up and became a great day. So with the sun and just a few clouds I jumped on the bike and headed to Harmony Square. There I met about 7 others, some with equipment that was very impressive and one with a simple digital camera like myself. One fellow came up to me and immediately recognized my Ubuntu button. He was another Linux user, going back to Red Hat 4. So it was good to talk to another fanboy. Out of that I discussed open source with another one of the photographers, so it was fun.

We were told to walk around and take pictures. The subject matter was whatever subject caught your interest.





So I did.

What impressed me was some of the interesting buildings in the area. If they could revitalize the core, these structures could become very interesting places of business and living. There is a lot of potential there that is waiting to be used.

It was a lot of fun.

The next event on the calendar is Drum Circle featuring instruments created by local thingmake Dave Hind.

Should be interesting as well

No Electric Car for You

Canada has a lot going for it; clean air, except in our cities, clean water, except in places where we have oil, and our cities. We do have mountains, great towering things.

What we seem not to have, especially if Transport Canada has its way, is an Electric Car.

The Economist ran this article regarding a bureaucratic response to the possibility of building an electric car in Canada. To sum it up, they are dead set against it.

The Dynasty Electric Car Company and Zenn Motor Company both want to develop a low speed vehicle for the Canadian Market. The purpose of these cars is to provide people who drive in cities an opportunity to drive a car that produces zero emissions.

Canada has an abundance of electricity, and so you would think it's a perfect fit, especially in Central Canada where we don't hit oil every time we stick a shovel into the ground.

However the good people at Transport Canada seem to be concerned about the safety record of these vehicles.

To quote:

It doubts they would stand up in a collision with a delivery truck or a sport utility vehicle. Officials say they crash-tested one which didn't fare well, though they refuse to release the data.

Let's put this in perspective, the same vehicles, the SUV has a questionable safety record itself. However no one has ever suggested that SUV's be pulled off the road as a dangerous vehicle.

So, what is going on here?

May I suggest a letter to your local MP and ask that first of all, Transport Canada releases the safety finding of the LSV ( Low Speed Vehicle) and brings to the public debate as to why Canada should not allow these vehicles on our road. While you are at it, send a copy to Lawrence Cannon who is the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, mentioning how electric cars will benefit our communities, more then SUV's could ever.

So get those pens going.

The Clawback is ending

If you go to some of my links, you will notice there's one for Make Poverty History. The belief is this, we can end poverty in our life time.

One of concerns of Make Poverty History is the ending of child poverty. You can read the statistics, but let me share them.

* One in six Canadian children is poor.
* Canada's child poverty rate of 15 percent is three times as high as the rates of Sweden, Norway or Finland.
* Every month, 770,000 people in Canada use food banks. Forty percent of those relying on food banks are children. These statistics point to a betrayal of Canada's children. What makes the persistence of child poverty all the more disturbing is that Canada is a rich country, a country that ranked fourth in the world on the 2004 UN Human Development Index.

This is the reality. The Parliament of Canada once called for the ending of child poverty by the year 2000. We're now 8 years after the event was supposed to happen and it's still here.

Usually when talking about child poverty, the blog becomes a critical one, after all, child poverty exists because governments refuse to move, however I want to share some good news; the clawback of child tax credit is ending in Ontario. For years this has been a provincial disgrace, one that has been basically ignored but now it is coming to an end. I received a news release stating that the Province will no long clawback that amount. This is very good news.

I wrote a letter to my local MPP, Dave Levac commending the government for doing end the clawback.

I know it's not perfect and there is still much to do, but it's a start and I felt the need to commend the government for doing something good.

Another action of the Provincial government is the Ontario Child Benefit.

Like I said, its the first step, but an important one.

My Quibblo Personality Quiz Result for: Which Keanu Reeves Character Are You?

Which Keanu Reeves Character Are You? My Result: Neo

You are introspective, yet curious. You yearn for answers in a confusing world. With no limits, though, you can do anything. Also, you know kung fu. Whoa. Take Which Keanu Reeves Character Are You? Find more quizzes at Quibblo.com

My Quibblo Personality Quiz Result for: Which Keanu Reeves Character Are You?

Which Keanu Reeves Character Are You? My Result: Neo

You are introspective, yet curious. You yearn for answers in a confusing world. With no limits, though, you can do anything. Also, you know kung fu. Whoa. Take Which Keanu Reeves Character Are You? Find more quizzes at Quibblo.com

Does Apple Hate Canada?


Those who know me, know you cannot describe me as an AppleSlappy, or MacFanBoy. So my next few words may shock you.

The problem is not Apple.

This article in the Globe and Mail asks why know iPhone in Canada, is it because Apple doesn't think much of Canada?

How about, the major wireless provider who can handle the iPhone doesn't want to play by Apple's rules.

Rogers is the only one that can provide and they don't want to offer the same deal as ATT has given iPhone users.

One comment in the article:

Most experts, however, believe that the high rates Canadian telecom providers charge for mobile Internet data transfer plans are the biggest factor keeping the iPhone out of Canada.

They could push it, but I think they are dealing with a company that is not used to cooperating. The telecos are the ones that make the rules in Canada, and an upstart like Apple can't come in and tell THEM what to do.

Another commentator mentioned this fact:

the iPhone is at its best where there are liberal data usage policies through the local service provider. It is a documented fact that Canada has one of the worst rates for cellular data usage in the developed world. The elephant in the room there is that Rogers Telecomm has a lock of GSM networks in Canada and is probably refusing to alter its cash-cow data plans to suit the integrity of Apple's product. Corporations in the US and Europe have changed their data plans in order to carry Apple's products. The lack of competition in the GSM space allows Rogers to get away with this here.

Rogers only understands one thing and that is to make bushels of money from the consumer.

Competition in the cellular market cannot come soon enough in Canada.

Earth Hour 2008

I was a bit late getting home, but the moment we arrived it was time to celebrate Earth Hour. So once in, and the cats got their tuna it was time to go around and make sure all the lights were off and the power bars were switched off, that way all non-essential items, such as computers and peripherals were off.

I can report that most homes in the neighbourhood also followed suit since many were in darkness, with only the soft glow of candlelights shining through windows.

All this proves is energy conservation is a grassroots movement and can be accomplished. Perhaps this is not the end of global warming, but it is a start and everything great has to start at some time and some place.



The good news, it appears a lot of people decided to get involved, according to the The Toronto Star, energy consumption for the hour dropped in the Province of Ontario. The total for the province was a decrease of 5.2%. Perhaps this is not overly incredible, especially when we put ourselves beside the cities of Australia and New Zealand where consumption dropped by over 10%. Still considering this is the first year, its a good start.

With candles, flashlights, the LED type, the darkness wasn't all that bad.

FORTUNE: Apple 2.0 Karl Rove loves his iPhone «

FORTUNE: Apple 2.0 Karl Rove loves his iPhone «

I'm debating if this is the sort of news that Apple should be proclaiming loud and proud.

Karl Rove loves his Apple products.

He has the iPhone and the MacBook Air.

Just in case you don't remember who Karl Rove is, read his wikipedia entry.

It might be easy to call him the Prince of Darkness, or the Personification of Evil, but that might be too lenient. Just go down the wiki and read all about his involvement in ruining people's lives or his heavy handedness, or the fact he took great relish destroying lives and reputations.

Now he like Apple products.

Perhaps Apple should change one of their mottos from "Think Different" to
"Think Evil".

The Canadian Press: Mounties zap details from Taser reports as firings soar across Canada

The Canadian Press: Mounties zap details from Taser reports as firings soar across Canada

Operor non Tase mihi Frater

Forget A Mari usque ad Mare. Canada needs a new up-to-date Latin saying. One that reflects the cultural ideals of our society.

After reading the above article may I suggest the one in the heading.

It means "Don't Tase me Bro'".

Appropriate don' you think?

The Storm of '08

The news this morning is all about the Storm.

It was quite a solid all day affair yesterday.

Here are photographs of the aftermath, as people start to clear their property.

Now this is an Amazing Linux Ad

Watch this Ad:
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It is any reason Linux is an amazing operating system.

With this being the end of February, or close to it, we now under two months to the launch of the new version of Ubuntu, Handy Heron.

The Alpha 5 release has been available and in a number of weeks, hopefully the Beta version will be out and then starts the exciting countdown to the new version.

This site gives the dates.

Looking forward to the 24th of April, or I may wait a few days.

End of the Skiing Season?

So I went out today for my weekly Cross country skiing time. The point of launch was going to be around the Mohawk Chapel park. The thought was to go along the Gordon Glaves Memorial Trail to the river. I've done the trail by bike and so it was going to be a re-visit. I had hoped to do it last week, but ended up going to Mohawk Park and then starting the Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail. Believe it or not, I actually saw skiers along that trail!

Okay this week, there had been some new snow but generally sunny skies, which meant that combined with the cold temperature there was thaw and then freezing. What that meant was parts of the trail were snow bare and the rest was icy.

I didn't ski as far as I wanted because of those conditions.

Which probably means the ending of the season.

It was a good skiing season really. Very enjoyable. Hopefully there be as much snow next year.

Go Ask Alice, when you see her on The Bridge

Came across this video on YouTube

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Now I'm not saying the song is suggesting that was any consumption of controlled substances on The Enterprise, but it does make you think.


By the way, what did the Dormouse say?

Tom Cruise on Scientology

It's making the rounds, see it before its gone.

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Creep doesn't begin to describe it.

By the way KSW= "keep scientology working"

Wikipedia has information on the cult

Of course it has inspired parody:
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And Scientology wants the parodies removed.

Hey good luck on that one.

I'm seeing if I can blog with my Dell Axim x3i. If you can see this, then it is successful.

Hockey News for Friday

It appears the Toronto Maples Leafs may be changing their logo in the near future.

They might go from :



to:



The news on The Score is that Russian Billionaire Alexander Shnaider has approached Larry Tanenbaum about purchasing MSLE, which owns the Leafs, the Raptors, Air Canada Centre, BMO Field and Toronto FC. Of course he is only one part of the MSLE puzzle, the Teacher's Pension, CTVGlobemedia are also part of the ownership mess.

It might be interesting, after all leadership of the Leafs have meant, nothing. No playoffs, no Stanley Cup, no nothing except baskets of money every year, because it they ain't spending anything on making a winner.

This might be interesting.

Of course, there are a few things to consider:

the main owners, the Teacher's Pension and CTV may not be interested in selling.
however, Tanenbaum might be, which means this Shnaider might get his foot in the door and if that happens watch him gain majority and then sole control.

There is one interesting fact, the long time owner Harold Ballard hated the Russians.

Can you hear him spinning?

First Blog of 2008

As the title says, the first blog of 2008. No pressure but I've got to come up with something good, that will set the tone for all blogs of the future.

So here is what I'm thinking on the second day of 2008; is anyone at all interested in the US election? Be honest haven't these people been running since the last election in November 2004? Tomorrow starts the first of the primaries and although Iowa is officially a 'caucus', it's still the start of something the MSM will call interesting as if to justify the money that has been spent and all those reporters running around the back roads of Iowa in search of a story.

The end result will be someone will get the caucus which means:

The Iowa caucus is an electoral event in which Iowa residents elect delegates to the county convention to which their precinct belongs. (There are 99 counties in Iowa (as of 2008), therefore, 99 conventions.) These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa's Congressional District Convention and the State Convention—these eventually choosing the delegates for the National Convention. The Iowa caucus is noteworthy for the amount of media attention it receives during U.S. presidential election years: Since 1972, the Iowa caucus has been the first major electoral event of the nominating process for President of the United States. It has served as an early indication of which candidates for President might win the nomination of their political party at that party's national convention. The next Iowa caucus is on January 3, 2008.

So in other words, what happens tomorrow is Iowans will elect the delegates who will elect the delegates to attend the various National Conventions that will take place in the summer of 2008. All I can say is 'thank you' to Wikipedia for explaining that to me. If I can further sum it all up it means, precisely nothing but has meant a lot of service industries in Iowa has done well with all the reporters, candidates, candidate workers going throughout the 99 counties of Iowa.

Hey, more power to Iowa.

In other news: Lake Superior State University located in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan has come up with its lists of banned words. Now this is not a suppression of First Amendment Rights rather a desire to remove words and phrases that have overstayed their welcome. They are overused, hackneyed, trite and generally annoying, the by-product of people parroting the 'cool' phrases of the day.

The full list is here. The banned word/phrase of the year is Perfect Storm. It started out as a book and later a movie. The premise was the convergence of a number of conditions that would bring about a perfect combination of absolutely horrible weather. Now it's used to describe any and everything that could be possibly bad.

But all is not doom and gloom, there is good news. First and foremost, you can now order your very own CrankyGeeks T-Shirt. That is true, after months of teasing and promises, Jinx has designed and put out for purchase a t shirt dedicated to one of the better vidcasts out there, CrankyGeeks with John C. Dvorak. Buy yours now.

The only other bit of news is the Dell Axim X3i is working well, it's recharging in its very cool cradle for both charging the battery and syncing it with the computer.