News and Opinion

Is it any wonder why kids hate school?

January 8, 2012

Remember your favourite teacher? What do you think it would be like to work for him? Remember a favourite boss? What would it have been like to be taught by her? I realized something about my elementary and high school days that I hadn’t considered before: students are treated like employees of a company, paired with [...]

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Stop the Anti-Piracy bill (SOPA)

December 18, 2011

Have you heard of SOPA? It’s a US bill now before the House Judiciary Committee and has the real potential to kill the Internet, not just in the US, but around the globe. From Wikipedia: “[SOPA] would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling [...]

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When I grow up, I want to be like Steve Jobs

November 27, 2011

In his biography, Steve Jobs talks about his experiences taking LSD and the role it played in helping him expand his mind and creativity. There’s no mention of regret, which got me to thinking: “If somebody wanted to be like Steve Jobs, would dropping acid help?”

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Customer Service: You Can’t Argue With a Feeling

April 9, 2011

Over at TechCrunch, Michael Arrington wrote about Flickr’s “hostage taking” of photos business model saying that he would never use them [again] unless they release his photo hostages. You see, if you’re a Flickr Pro user, you can upload as many photos as you want. But if you decide to not renew your Pro subscription, [...]

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Another Privacy Fail by a Major Canadian Retailer

November 17, 2010

For many of us, privacy and protection of personal data is a really big deal online these days. Well, I’m sad to report that we don’t have it together in the offline world either. Last Friday, I visited a major Canadian retailer and talked with one of their automotive reps about purchasing some winter tires. [...]

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Which kind of LinkedIn user are you?

May 24, 2010

Did you realize there’s a holy war brewing amongst LinkedIn users? During a Twitter exchange last week with Chris Brogan, he touched a nerve that I didn’t even know I had. The LinkedIn nerve that Chris struck prompted a useful discussion about how people connect on LinkedIn and it helped me clarify my own thoughts [...]

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ASK A SCIENTIST: Quantum to Cosmos Festival @ The Perimeter Institute

October 20, 2009

Canada’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics celebrates its 10th Anniversary with Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future. This innovative festival, October 15th to 25th, will take a global audience from the strange world of subatomic particles to the outer frontiers of the universe. You can enjoy a wide range of presentations in three ways— [...]

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Toronto Hydro customer data breach: Are home addresses and phone numbers less important?

August 4, 2009

Toronto Hydro’s CEO David O’Brien sent 685,000 letters last week, to inform customers that the “name, address, account number and the amount of the last bill of some of [their] customers has come into the possession of a third party not associated with Toronto Hydro.” The letter doesn’t use the word “stolen” or “theft” although [...]

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Electronic Arts declares victory in War against Canada

June 1, 2009

You didn’t hear the news? Neither did anybody else… Electronic Arts led a covert operation and Canadians are only now learning of the details. The obvious tip was the Electronic Arts’ “The Sims” website where the United States of America flag refers to all of North America– including Canada. I realize that US and Canadian [...]

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This is a VoIP emergency. Service providers pay attention!

May 2, 2008

I was sad to hear the news about Elijah Luck, a young Calgary toddler, who passed away Tuesday evening after an ambulance was dispatched to the wrong 9-1-1 address by their VoIP provider. The ambulance was sent to the Luck’s previous address in Mississauga, Ontario, several provinces away because Comwave did not have the correct [...]

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