How it should have ended

Hilarious site with animated videos suggesting alternate endings to movies. Star Wars; X-Men: First Class; Tron; Aliens; Inception.....

Nice celebrity pose

Photographer: George, can you make like you're going to whack Brad in the groin?
George: You mean I can't follow through?
Brad: Hey!!
George: You better run after that shutter clicks, boy......

Bohemian solo

I've lost count of the tribute videos by unknown artists doing Bohemian Rhapsody.

This one might be the best one to date. Very nicely done.

Ruined poker face

There's a good reason why chameleons don't like playing poker.

Word Art news commentary

Too soon?

Weather is complicated y'all

Just when you think you've got the idea of anthropogenic climate change all figured out, now we have to contend with the Arctic Oscillation.

Oh yeah. Just go read the BoingBoing article already before the next Snowpocalypse. In a related story, I think they just ran out of shovels in Eastern Europe.

Siri has some attitude

Things I learned this week 12 Feb 2012

• We have no problem making fortunes with oil and gas, but balk at the idea of a well 500m from our home.
• Canaries were named after the Canary Islands, where they were found, which were named after the dog (canis).
• The ruling Conservatives in Canada truly understand irony, denying the Green party leader a chance to pay tribute to Vaclav Havel, a champion of free speech.
• There's a trio of hotel / casinos on the Nevada side of the Utah/Nevada border west of Salt Lake and they'll fly you there direct from Calgary.
• China has 64 million, new, unused homes. They are waiting for new residents.
• You can get free long distance in Canada from a free phone app even when your cell providers are bastards.
• During my lifetime, I will make approximately 10,000 gallons of urine.
• In Quebec, the stop signs say 'Arrêt'. In France, they say 'Stop'.

Dear Yellow Pages

Dutch innovation

The little side saddle hop part of this video was enjoyable enough. But what I also liked about this video was they glimpse at Amsterdam's bike paths. Anyway, back to the story. I guess it's hard to get a (single speed) bike going with two people on it, so this little manoeuvre is the solution.

I'll give you an F for effort

Seen on kijiji, this patio furniture for sale. According to the seller, it's in excellent condition, which is hard to tell due to all of the snow on it and the... how shall I put it.... upended chairs. The umbrella's on the ground, UNDER the table! How the heck am I supposed to check it out if it's hiding under the table? Is the table white or is it made of snow? One minute of effort could have turned this ad from a 'pass' into a 'Oh! I'd buy that.'

The strong, silent types

You've probably seen some of the "Shit xxxxxxxxx say" videos. Here comes Shit programmers say.

It's not what I expected, until the last few seconds.

Wrong! I mean that in a good way...

Oh my goodness, when my friend Gord posted a link to this TED video on Facebook and I watched it, I grew a big, knowing smile across my face.

In the spirit of the good side of failure, Kathryn Schulz pokes at the concept of our human nature shielding us from the necessary state of being wrong by pretending we are perpetually right. It's a fascinating look at the nature of or reality in a way that takes courage and honesty.

Abraj

This isn't the first time-lapse video I've posted of Dubai, but it may be the best so far.

I always have been attracted to big cities and especially beautiful big city skylines. Dubai is now building cities within the city as you can see here at the 'Downtown Dubai' area which includes the record-breaking Burj Khalifa. It looks spectacular and the adjacent Dubai Fountain is gorgeous.

A picture I could never have taken

I almost get the willies just looking at this.

Pining for more Trek

Fun celebrity photo featuring Chris Pine, the actor who portrayed James Kirk in the latest reboot of the Star Trek franchise.

My latest rant - Shame. It's the only cure I think....

Take it for what it's worth.

I have witnessed and heard first-hand accounts of countless situations where women are taken advantage of by men in a business transaction. I won't bore you with too many details, but these incidents included insurance companies unnecessarily writing off a woman's vehicle to avoid paying a repair claim; car dealerships not offering the advertised interest rate, sale price or free options to a women that were offered to a man; various types of maintenance service fraud; etc.

There are cultural biases that account for much of the unfairness that exists even today between men and women, but that doesn't let people off the hook. I often wonder if the only way to fight against people who blatantly abuse their position, especially against women, is to shame the offenders. Maybe the victims should publicize their stories - with details. Women need to rise up against men who take advantage of the situation by telling their stories to people who have the means to publicize the incident. That could mean calling the consumer rights journalist at the local TV or radio station, blogging the story or passing the story to a prominent blogger, and so forth.

Who knows, maybe this will get some men to think twice. Maybe it won't. But at least when you do a web search on these types of situations, the incidents will identify the major transgressors and hopefully steer potential business elsewhere.

End rant.

Maybe if I veer around to the left....

It's not the best placement of an AT-AT in another photo, but I like the vibe.

"So I was heading out Simons Valley Road, and I'm all like 'Aww crap! Not these guys again....'"

Embracing failure - a neo-liberal concept?

A school in the UK is teaching their students the concept of not fearing failure, a concept well-known to improvisors.

Some folks commented on the story, labelling the embracing of failure as a neo-liberal concept, responsible for much of what's wrong with Canadian society. I felt it necessary to set them straight.

"I believe that you are missing the point.

Embracing failure is not about accepting mediocrity. It's about removing the fear of failure. The fear of failure acts as a deterrent to try more than one way to accomplish something. People in our society do not achieve mediocrity because they embrace failure. It happens because they give up trying, or don't care anymore.

Embracing failure, or learning not to fear failure, enables people to keep striving for a better way. A culture with this approach cultivates more successes because people won't be hesitant to offer suggestions and try new ways of accomplishing things. If this concept were embraced in school and at work, we would see an improvement. But it still would not stop people from being lazy, or settling for the status quo.

And anyone who labels this concept as liberal or left-wing doesn't know their history. Canada exists because Sir John A. Macdonald did not fear that forming the Dominion of Canada might fail. Don't take my word for it. Read the 3rd paragraph on the wikipedia article about him."

I'm going for the big one!

The Practical Lexicon - Episode 5 - Networking

I dug something out of the vaults. The Practical Lexicon podcast, episode 5.... finally. This episode is a lost episode in the job search series, where we begin the discussion on networking. I had kept it around because there was originally to be additional material, but that plan fell through. Bernie and I may get back to this topic again in the future.

MPs in Canada weighing in publicly on C-11

On Reddit, some people shared thew responses they got from their MPs when they raised concerns regarding Bill C-11, the impending new Copyright law for Canada.

Here's an example of an MP who gets the picture:

Thank you for your email regarding C-11, the Conservative government’s new copyright bill. Since 2004, New Democrats have pushed to have Canada’s copyright legislation brought into the digital age.

We believe that copyright in a digital environment must be based on two fundamental principles – access for consumers and remuneration for artists. Unfortunately, the Conservative government has failed to meet these two fundamental principles. On one hand, the government directly attacks millions of dollars in existing copyright royalty to artists all the while undermining rights of consumers through their digital lock provisions.

Given the above, we will not be supporting Bill C-11 unless the government is willing to amend the digital lock provisions and restore royalty provisions for artists. 

New Democrats are concerned about a number of measures in this legislation. First, we oppose the digital lock provisions in Bill C-11 as they go well beyond our obligations under the WIPO treaty. Legal protection for TPMs (Technological Protection Measures) should not override rights that are guaranteed to citizens under existing copyright legislation. Another concern is that this bill offers consumers rights they will not be able to exercise. The blanket provisions for digital locks will allow corporate interests to decide what legal rights you may or may not exercise. This unbalanced approach will ultimately hurt artists, educators and consumers. There are also serious concerns over the impact this bill would have on long-distance education. In particular, we are totally opposed to provisions that would require students and educators to destroy their class notes after 30 days. While we support the right of consumers to time shift and back up legal works, we oppose the government’s
attempt to erase the right of artists to receive compensation for private copying of works. Further, the refusal of the government to update the private copying levy into the digital realm will cost artists millions of dollars a year in lost royalties. Finally, we oppose plans to remove mechanical royalties for radio as well as attempts to erase collective licensing rights in schools. While there is much we dislike in this bill, there are measures that we can support — for example, provisions that would bring Canada into compliance with the WIPO copyright treaties including the “making available” right of artists. We also support the move to ensure photographers are given copyright over works their works. We support efforts to extend fair dealing rights for satire and parody.

For our part, we will try to improve this deeply flawed piece of legislation. First, we will look to amend the digital lock provisions to ensure there is a balance between the right of a creator to protect their work and the right of the consumer to access content for which they are legally entitled. In addition, we are committed to clarifying the fair dealing rights in terms of education so that students and educators are able to access works in the classroom while, at the same time, ensuring collective licensing regimes for the fair remuneration of creators are not undermined. Again, I appreciate knowing of your interest to have Canada adopt improved copyright legislation for the 21st century.

And now for the governing party's response, rife with talking points and my arguments (in bold) against each erroneous or misleading statement:

Thank you for your letter regarding Bill C-11.

This bill will provide legal protection for businesses that choose to use technological protection measures (TPMs) or “digital locks”, to protect their intellectual property as part of their business models. Even if those protection measures restrict consumer rights, trump fair use provisions and even if the owners of the locks or content creators who chose them go out of business or stop supporting them.

This legislation will bring Canada in line with international standards and promote homegrown innovation and creativity. By standards, we mean WIPO, which we haven't ratified for decades, and SOPA/PIPA, which died as soon as non-government, non-entertainment industry people got invloved. It is a fair, balanced, and common-sense approach, respecting the rights of creators. Of course, the only people who truly believe that are the cartel of entertainment industry corporations. The federal government is working to secure Canada's place in the American digital economy and to promote a more prosperous and competitive country (the US).

This bill gives creators and copyright owners the tools they need to protect their work in a manner never before seen in the history of creativity and to grow their business models, and by 'grow', we mean monopolize the market and stifle creativity born of remixing and inspiration of previous works. It provides clearer rules that will enable all Canadians to fully participate in the digital economy, now and in the future. What's not very clear is why the government is trying to make criminals out of ordinary consumers by making actions considered reasonable by most users of content into illegal acts.

Digital locks are an important tool for creators and copyright owners to protect their work except that they prevent purchasers of content from using that content in a variety of legal and appropriate ways. Software producers, video game and movie distributors, for example, continue to use digital locks as part of their business model because they wish to protect the significant investment each makes in developing the products. Instead, they could be adapting their business model to the 21st century and earning even more than the billions of dollars they earn in profits now. Canadian jobs depend on their ability to make a return on this investment.  Actually, jobs in the distribution network for content have been lost because the industry still relies on an outdated business model. But they don't want to talk about that.

In other markets, however, in light of consumer demands, some businesses have chosen not to use digital locks because they actually respect and value their customers. Copyright owners may decide whether to use a digital lock, and consumers can then decide whether to buy the product. Unless you own DVDs, which all have digital locks - no choice there. Or, unless you own locked music CDs, because if an artist you like sells their CDs through a company that uses locks, it's not like you can buy one of their CDs from another source.

The bill also provides a regulation-making power to allow the circumvention of digital locks in certain cases, for example, where the presence of a digital lock unduly restricts competition in an after-market sector. In other words, here's some legalese that sounds terrific, but only means that we're allowing for the unlocking of cell phones when you switch service providers. There's no other examples of where this provision is helpful. If a digital lock creator goes out of business or stops supporting a type of lock, owners of content with that type of lock are on their own and the breaking of the lock is still illegal.

What passes for winter now

It's February 4th, 2012.

It's 13C outside (55F). This is Calgary. Canada.

As you can see, there's not much snow left.

The happy secret to better work

This is my favourite TED talk of the year.... so far.

"We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk from TEDxBloomington, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity."

Things I learned this week 4 Feb 2012

• Mitt Romney thinks the middle class in America needs more help than the very poor.
• Android phone users are more likely to have sex on a first date.
• Android phone users are more likely to partake in a one-night stand.
• White supremacists don't like their identities being exposed by hackers.
• Conservatives are all aghast at the 730 CBC public radio and television staff making over $100,000 per year. No comment about the 23,585 government bureaucrats (10% of the federal workforce) making over $100,000 per year.

Sony Blu-Ray default settings may hamper Netflix quality

So, if you own a Sony Blu-Ray player and you're using it to watch Netflix also, and you notice that some shows and movies are playing back at crappy speeds, but not all the time, and you know it's not your internet connection, I may have a fix for you.

Go into the network settings and change the Primary DNS to 8.8.8.8 and the secondary DNS to 8.8.4.4. I never would have guessed that a DNS change would fix the problem, but lo and behold, so far it has.

Overheard in a Rogers board room

Exec 1: So, we have to stop throttling our internet customers, eh?
Exec 2: You mean, that practise we do that we once denied we were doing?
[Everyone laughs]
Exec 1: Damned CRTC.
Exec 3: It wasn't the CRTC that started this. We had them on our side - bought and paid for. Of course, the public will never know that.
Exec 2: You're right. It was that openmedia.ca that started all of this with their net neutrality bullshit. Only then was the CRTC forced to wade into the issue.
Exec 1: Stupid.... openmedia....
Exec 2: OK, so now what?
Exec 3: Send out a press release that we're phasing out all internet throttling by the end of 2012.
Exec 1: Phasing out?
Exec 3: Yeah. We need time to divide our network pipes in half. The people file sharing and streaming Netflix will get to share the ghetto pipes...
Exec 2: And everyone else gets to use the shiny, speed-demon pipes!
Exec 3: More or less, yes.
Exec 2: Including our own streaming services?
Exec 3: Absolutely. And nobody will be the wiser.
Exec 1: That's em-effin' awesome!
Exec 2: We should give the folks in network management a raise.......
All: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Helvetica is so 2011....

In a world where everything is Comic Sans.

It's definitely not sans sans. [giggle]

You could say children had to die for the change to happen

The Netherlands.

You're thinking - bicycles! So what's the deal? How did the Netherlands get their infamous bicycle infrastructure?

It might interest you to know that they had the same pressures as most parts of the world to re-align their infrastructure to favour cars. But the people protested when things got out of hand. They eventually convinced the government to change transportation policy to change things to accommodate bicycles. The rest is history.

Music trivia

What 1970's pop song starts out being sung by two different singers (one after the other), before the actual artist sings the rest of the song?