When your day is a little off

Friday the 12th.....

Would make a great tee, no?

Wars, lies, corruption, torture = OK, Health care reform = No way

Best American rant..... ever.

The last paragraph was unnecessary, but whatev....

Cereal trivia

Do you think you know your breakfast cereals?

Try this quiz and see.

In a nutshell: teens can't afford media

15 year old Matthew Robson, while an intern at Morgan Stanley in London, wrote a research note called 'How Teenagers Consume Media'. For anyone studying generations, advertising, media, this is a must read as it is an honest insight into the way up-and-coming consumers think. If I could force one group of people to read the report, I would have to say the entertainment (movie and music industry) CEOs need to read it, so they can see just how ineffective their business model has become.

Here's an interview with the guy, explaining how he got the internship, how he did his research and a little explanation for his findings.

75% of tweets created by 5% of twits... err 'tweeters'

If the Twitter communty were represented by 100 people, this is what it would look like.

From Information is Beautiful.

"Need thou not be afraid..."

If you're a fan of Napoleon Dynamite and/or Nacho Libre and like Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords (pictured), get ready for Gentlemen Broncos.

A Wee comeback?

I know that I may be in the minority when I say this, but I'm really looking forward to a potential comeback of Pee-Wee Herman. A new version of his show is being billed as “Re-imagined, re-invented, and nuttier than ever.”

The press release says it will include the regular characters Miss Yvonne, Mailman Mike, Cowboy Curtis and Jambi the Genie, as well as
Pee-Wee’s talking chair, Chairry, Pterri the pterodactyl, robot Conky, Magic Screen, Randy, and many more. Many of the show’s original artists, both on stage and behind the scenes are involved, but it will be interesting to see who will play Cowboy Curtis (I doubt Laurence Fishburne will reprise his role), and Captain Carl now that Phil Hartman is no longer with us.

Slashfilm has more.

Front view

I spotted this car in the parking lot of a nearby mall.

I just had to share.

Nuclear not as bad as you're being led to believe?

I never saw this episode of 60 minutes when it aired in 2007, but the story tells of how France has ignored the nay-sayers of nuclear power, in fact some would say shown them that much of what they go on about regarding the downside of going nuclear is false (apologies in advance for the quality and the sudden end of the video). I wonder why so few people know about the latest in nuclear technology? Here are some statistics for you:

In 2007, 14% of the world’s electricity came from nuclear power, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for 56.5% of nuclear generated electricity. There are 439 reactors in operation in the world, in 31 countries. According to the World Nuclear Association, during the 1980s one new nuclear reactor started up every 17 days on average, and by the year 2015 this rate could increase to one every 5 days. Nuclear power gives France the cleanest air of any
industrialized country, and the cheapest electricity in all of Europe. France gets 80% of its electricity from 58 nuclear plants. France reprocesses its nuclear waste to reduce its mass and make more energy from it. Reprocessing can potentially recover up to 95% of the remaining uranium and plutonium in spent nuclear fuel, putting it into new mixed oxide fuel. This results in a reduction in long term radioactivity within the remaining waste, since this is largely short-lived fission products, and reduces the volume of waste by over 90%. France is generally cited as the most successful reprocessor, but it presently only recycles 28% (by mass) of the yearly fuel use, 7% within France and another 21% in Russia.

If you watch the 60 minutes clip, you'll see that the main reason Americans have never considered reprocessing the nuclear waste is because of the risk of it falling into the wrong hands (terrorists). I wonder if Americans know this. All this time, most of us in the West were under the impression that nuclear waste is this huge problem, but France seems to be demonstrating the opposite.

Learn how to speed read

Darlene has a specific skill that I have never mastered. (Get your mind out of the gutter)

She has been a speed reader for many years. This video shows how you can become one too. A speed reader.

"My God...... it's full of stars!"

Astronomers pointed the Hubble Space Telescope to a region of space the size of a speck of dust that is 'seemingly empty' and kept the telescope watching for 10 days. They could’ve very well ended up with a blank image - but they saw something mind boggling.

Here’s a wonderful clip about the Hubble Ultra Deep Field that illustrates just how small we are in the grand scheme of the universe.

Let's go watch the stars

Southwest of Calgary, away from the light pollution, is an observatory operated by the University of Calgary. The Rothney Astrophysical Observatory will finally be open to the public when it matters most - at night! This takes place from Wednesday August 19th until Tuesday August 25th.

Each night (weather permitting) the observatory will be open from 10pm until 2am for late Night observing to view deep space objects with their large telescopes.

August 25th marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's demonstration of the telescope in Venice, Italy.

Where are the global warmings when you need them?

Note the date - August 14th, 2009.

We actually put our furnace on today. It reached the balmy high of 10C (50F) today.

It's freaking August people!

The ice cream shops are understandably pissed.

Speaking of LOLwhatever....

Überlolz here at roflrazzi.

Thanks to Gale for the find.

The musical

LOLCats. You knows what theyz iz? Sure you do. Get ready for the next evolution.

I Can Has Cheezburger: The musicLOL!

Technology and the one person band

Here is a song played layer upon layer by one artist. It starts slowly, but continues to build over the length of the song.

Nicely done, I'd say.

Message to America about health care

Hello from Canada! I am watching and listening with great interest and much bewilderment over the harsh scare tactics and propaganda being used by those against health care reform in the US. The anti-reform lobby is pulling out all the stops to whip as many people as possible into a frenzy of paranoia regarding how awful universal health care would be. So let a Canadian, someone who lives in a country with (mostly) universal health care lob a view from this side of the fence.

First off, I suspect that the people shouting the loudest have the most to lose. That would be the HMOs and those who support them or benefit by them. Wouldn't it be interesting to see which politicians get donations from health insurance companies? No matter - I cannot imagine any logical reason why access to health care for every living soul would not be in a society's best interest.

Quality of service versus cost is the issue and it's one that the US will have to figure out smartly. In Canada, we have what I would consider to be pretty close to universal access. It makes no difference which doctor or hospital you visit. One thing about universality that has eroded in this country is what is covered and what is not. Basic health needs are covered. The official spin from our government: "Universal coverage for medically necessary health care services provided on the basis of need, rather than the ability to pay." You can supplement your basic government health coverage with 3rd party coverage like Blue Cross, but this may or may not cover everything else. Probably the biggest complaint in Canada regarding our health system in is wait times, which, depending on where you live, can be long for certain procedures (see graph). MRI is a big one. I have an MRI scheduled in October for a problem that evaporated 3 months ago. I could opt to 'pay' for more immediate access, but that neither fits within my budget, nor my expectation of what constitutes universal access. Our next biggest issue is availability of doctors. I know many people still trying to find a family doctor. Once you do find one, moving to another is painful. Many doctors opt to retire early, cut back their hours, go into private (paid) practise (something I wish were illegal in Canada) or move to the US where doctors supposedly get paid more money. But our system is lacking key problems present in the US system. There is no such thing as qualifying for coverage here. You pay - you're covered. There's no paperwork. The doctor's bill is sent to your government health system and they pay. This doesn't include dentistry or prescription drugs of course. That's a whole other story.

What I find interesting is that while America tests the waters of a more Canadian-style health system and the nay-sayers warn of an awful experience under such a system (it's not awful at all), Canada is slowly abandoning the philosophy of universal access and sneaking in a multi-tier system (based on what you're willing to pay) that is slowly tearing apart the fabric of what was once a proud and functioning system. I believe this could be fixed if government allocated enough money to the system instead of trying to cut corners.

So there you have it America - our system is something to look forward to in principle, but make damned sure your government spends what it needs to to make the system work. If the HMOs survive the transition and have their way, there will still be excuses for why people can't qualify for necessary treatment. At least, that's my take on it.

In case you can't read those procedures in the graph, they are (from left to right) cardiac bypass; all cancers; CT scan; prostate cancer; MRI; cataract surgery; breast cancer; hip replacement; knee replacement.

My encounter with the Olympic torch

Last weekend while visiting the little neighbourhood festival in Marda Loop known as Marda Gras, I had access to the Olympic torch for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

My schedule doesn't allow me to be part of the official torch run, so....

...of course I posed with it.

Chrome shorts

I love these Chrome shorts. They're basically video clips espousing the virtues of the Google Chrome web browser.

In my opinion, the best one is 'Evolution of Simple'.

"I've got a bad feeling about this"

If you're a Star Wars geek, then you're going to love these Star Wars Trash Compactor Bookends. It even has the Dianoga Garbage Squid for crying out loud!

Maybe we're called 'hosers' because we're always getting hosed

According to a new study by the OECD, the Canadian cellphone user is paying among the highest bills in the developed world. We supposedly have the third-highest wireless rates among developed countries.

Using a comparison package of 780 calls made, 600 text messages and eight multimedia messages sent per year, Canadians shelled out an average of $500 US a year for their cellphone service, compared with $635 for Americans. But Dutch users only paid $131 for the same plan. Not surprisingly, Canada now ranks last for cellphone users per capita in the OECD, having been surpassed by Mexico since the organization's previous study.

Canadians are also paying more for their internet access, according to the OECD study.

Guilty until proven....... no you're just guilty, period

New Zealand is trying that ridiculous 3 strikes law again. The logic is that the movie industry "want to be able to disconnect your Internet connection without giving you a chance to defend yourself in front of a judge because that would be "time consuming."

More from Cory Doctorow.

Best Geek Mom Tee ever

Reads: If I’ve Told You N Times, I’ve Told You N+1 Times

I love it.

The magic of the mask

I have been known to go on and on about the wonderful Loose Moose theatre. I can't help it, improv is my favourite art form and the Moose has been very good to me.

If you're looking for something a little different from the Moose, be sure to check out a special Thursday night show put on by the Mask Summer School (Aug. 13 at 7:30). If you've never seen a mask performance, this is something extra special that you really ought to check out. The best part - it's 'pay what you can'. That's a great deal!

Shown: Mask instructor Steve Jarand.

A PPSA - Plesz Public Service Announcement

Message to people posting stuff on YouTube and other online video hosting sites:

If you film yourself doing something illegal, immoral, or inappropriate, then post it on the internet - beware. You will very likely become very popular, and not the kind of popularity you crave.

Summary: Dumb-asses should not film themselves being dumb-asses. But if you do, be prepared for the consequences.

That is all.

Best selling car not street legal

The best selling car in the US is not an Accord or a Camry or a Civic or an F-150.

It's a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. It sold 457,000 units in 2008. It would land in the top 20 best selling car models of all time, if it were considered a car, having sold more than 10 million units in its 30 year history.

Landmarking to prevent getting lost

I'm often spotting people who come out of a mall into the parking lot as they look around in desperation, trying to figure out where they parked their vehicle. For people with a bad sense of direction, remembering where one has parked can be difficult.

For these people, I have some suggestions. A technological solution is the portable GPS navigation device. Some models have a feature that allows you to set the spot where you parked and bring the device with you into the mall or whatever, then when you're ready to return to your vehicle, the device will guide you back to your vehicle's location. A not quite so technological method involves landmarking. While standing beside your vehicle, take note of your surroundings in terms of what you can see that's recognizable from this spot. You might notice that down the aisle from your car is the entrance to a particular store, or a sign on the side of a building, or some other uniquely memorable item. To get a more precise spot, you could even use multiple landmarks to create a specific spot within the lot (see picture). When you exit the mall, simply find that landmark again and head down that particular aisle. This might seem like a logical technique but you'd be surprised how many people have never tried it.

In the picture example, the driver of the car circled notes that they are straight down the walkway from the treed end of said walkway (A) in one direction, and straight down the aisle from a mall entrance (B) in another direction. So when they exit the mall later, they simply have to walk straight and once they arrive at the walkway with the trees at one end, they should be pretty close to their car.

Bring on the Volt

I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I'm actually looking forward to a new car by Chevrolet. Of course, I'm speaking of the Chevy Volt. This car is pegged as the contender to dramatically overhaul the image and practicality of electric cars. Now this car isn't purely electric - it does still have a gasoline engine, but it's pure electricity driving the wheels and the gas engine is simply being used as a generator, topping up the battery as needed.

I think this is a great way to advance the concept of electric cars until we have an electric infrastructure in place to support recharging cars in every city and town. What remains to be seen is how well Chevrolet implements this new paradigm. The Volt can travel up to 40 miles (64 km) on a single battery charge, at which point the little gas engine kicks in and starts to recharge the battery. The battery can also be charged in 8 hours using a regular AC outlet. That means most commuters won't need any gas to get to work and back. GM said the typical Volt driver would pay $2.75 (if plugging in at home) for the electricity needed to drive 100 miles (160km).

Chevrolet isn't the only car maker to capitalize on the sudden interest in electric cars. Nissan plans to introduce the Leaf in 2010 for less money than the Volt. This is a 5 seater, fully electric car with a range of 100 miles (160km) that can recharge in 7 hours or 30 minutes on fast charge to get 80% capacity.

I would expect that since most recharging will be done at night when the electrical grid has lots of spare power, this shouldn't put much of a strain on it.

Eco shower

Imagine a shower that uses a natural filtering principle to turn your bathroom into a mini-eco-system by recycling and regenerating the wastewater. The water from the shower and the sink is filtered through an organic system. This allows it to be re-used.

I can haz rant now?

I've been unemployed since April. In April the government sent me a nice letter explaining my benefits situation. And by 'explaining' I actually mean 'obfuscating the truth'. They used the word 'deduct' in one sentence, then 'allocate' in the next. But it turns out they both mean the same thing. The information in the letter turns out to be so riddled with half-truths, misdirection and is lacking such critical facts, they should have included this disclaimer:

"Dear EI recipient. The information provided in this letter is meant only as a guide and is not to be taken literally. You'll get your money when you get it. We will likely find plenty of reasons why you can't have your money or why you have to wait longer for your money than you thought we meant in the first place. We sincerely hope you don't have serious financial obligations like a mortgage or anything, because that would suck. Don't bother trying to decipher when you'll start receiving benefits, you'd have better luck decoding a WWII German cypher machine.

This letter has not been monitored for quality assurance."