Mereja

Author: kempton

  • One month of WIND Mobile: how is your experience?

    Here is an excerpt from Kate O’Brien at Mobile Syrup “One month of WIND Mobile: how is your experience?” (emphasis added),

    Today marks the 1-month (4-weeks) of having WIND Mobile active in the Canadian market. The new entrant had a number of challenges starting up and with all their enthusiasm bolted into the hearts of Canadians. When we sat down with Chairman Tony Lacavera last week he stated they have signed up over 5,000 subscribers… so by now they are probably over the 12,000 – 15,000 mark.

    One of the best traits that new entrant Wind is doing well is standing by their tag line of “The Power of Conversation”.

    […] For those Wind customers who have signed up, how are you liking the everything and what is your experience like?

    See my previous video interviews with WIND Mobile CEO Ken Campbell and CCO Chris Robbins at the Calgary launch on Dec 18th, 2009. Borrowing a page from Kate’s post, please share your WIND Mobile experience?

    Note: I trust people are honest and only leave comments if you are a WIND customer. If you are a Bell, Telus, or Rogers employee trying to badmouth WIND, I remind what it does to your karma and the reason why your customer services are considered poor by Canadians.

    Posted in Business, Calgary, Canada, Telecom, Toronto

  • Flowers for Google.cn (Goolge likely to exit China)

    Jan 14: More from WSJ “Flowers for Google in China”.

    ***

    As a result of Goolge’s decision and likely exit from China, some people decided to deliver flowers to Google.cn.

    Flowers for Google.cn

    Flowers for Google.cn

    For the last few years, I have little respect for Google’s way of operating in China. Today, Google has regained a portion of my lost respect. It is probably to early to draw a conclusion. Lets see what happen in the next few days.

    Posted in China, Chinese, Democracy, Economics, Entrepreneurship, ethics, Google, World, World Affairs

  • Google attacked and likely to exit China

    Here is an excerpt from an entry posted by David Drummond, Google Chief Legal Officer on Google’s official blog (emphasis added),

    First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses–including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors–have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

    Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

    Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.

    […] We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.“

    These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. [*****] We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China. [*****]

    The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China [k-note: I read this as a message to Chinese government, don’t blame the Chinese employees] who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

    An excerpt from WSJ “Google Warns of China Exit” (emphasis added),

    “For Google to withdraw from China would be an extremely rare repudiation by a Western company of what is almost universally seen in business circles as one of the world’s most important markets. The country has 338 million Internet users as of June, more than any other country. Even the public suggestion that it is considering such a move is likely to infuriate Chinese authorities. Google’s statement could complicate matters for other tech companies sensitive to being seen as [****] accomplices of the Chinese government. [****]“

    More reports in UK Guardian “Google sends a shockwave through Chinese internet”, TIME “Google Ends Policy of Self-Censorship in China”, Wired, CNet, ZDnet, Reuters “Chinese Internet activists applaud Google, see no backdown”, UK Guardian “Google strikes a blow to China’s Great Firewall”.

    Congrats to Google for regaining its backbone in China! And I also agree with ZDnet in saying “Bravo! Google takes a stand for human rights in China”.

    Posted in China, Chinese, Democracy, ethics, Google, Internet, Law, people, politics, World, World Affairs

  • Dollarama is a billion dollar business

    Andrew Willis has an interesting article “Bain puts on a clinic at Dollarama“,

    Bain Capital is putting on a clinic in how to exit an investment, as the private equity fund begins to sell down its stake in retailer Dollarama.

    Boston-based Bain and Dollarama’s management team took $250-million off the table on Monday by selling 11.65 million shares to investment banks at $21.50 each. The bought deal could be bumped up to $288-million if there is investor demand for this stock.

    Posted in Business, investment

  • Companies to shape the decade: China Mobile

    UK Guardian has a “Companies to shape the decade” series, the China Mobile article is an interesting one to read.

    Posted in Business, World, World Affairs

  • Anne Frank protector Miep Gies died at 100

    From UPI,

    Miep Gies, who helped shelter Anne Frank’s family from Nazis in the Netherlands during World War II, died Monday, the Anne Frank Museum said. She was 100.

    […] In a memoir published in 1987, Geis rejected the notion what she and the others did was heroic.

    “I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did and more — much more — during those dark and terrible times years ago, but always like yesterday in the heart of those of us who bear witness,” she wrote in “Anne Frank Remembered.”

    See reports from BBC, CNN, and NPR.

    Posted in Love, people, World, World Affairs

  • Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang remembered in Vancouver

    From Calgary Herald,

    The father of Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang told over 400 mourners at her funeral service in Vancouver today that he hopes peace will returns to Afghanistan so that the death of his daughter and Canadian soldiers will not have been in vain.

    Art Lang, who lives in Vancouver, said that his daughter — “our baby, our shining star” — had long been fascinated by Afghanistan because of photographs he had brought back from that country during a trip there in 1972 when the country was relatively peaceful. Art Lang said that Michelle Lang wanted to tell Canadians what was happening to the Canadian soldiers and the civilians in that country.

    The grieving father added that he hoped that stability would eventually return to Afghanistan so that Canada’s mission there is “not a futile effort.”

    Calgary Herald Video: Michelle Lang Funeral

    CBC report with video.

    *******

    Goodbye Michelle.

    Posted in Calgary, Canada, Love, people

  • The Professors’ Letter Against the Prorogation of Parliament

    Have a read of the original letter by University of Montreal Prof. Daniel Weinstock “Against the Prorogation of Parliament” (site contains full list of 175+ cosigners (political scientists, legal scholars, and university philosophers) and the French version).

    For the record, I have copied and pasted the professors’ letter and added some emphasis and comments not in the original letter.

    [HT Maclean’s for linking to the original full letter]

    More reports from Ottawa Citizen (with full letter), CBC (with video interview with Prof. Weinstock), Maclean’s, Canada.com (include phone interview with Weinstock).

    ***

    Against the Prorogation of Parliament

    As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about democratic institutions, we are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row in circumstances that allow him to evade democratic accountability. The Prime Minister is not only making cavalier use of the discretionary powers entrusted to him in our Parliamentary system, but in so doing he is undermining our system of democratic government. [k-note: “evade democratic accountability” and “undermining our system of democratic government”]

    It has been noted by many observers that the Prime Minister did nothing technically wrong by requesting that Parliament be prorogued and in fixing the date for a Throne Speech after the Vancouver Olympics.

    The Prime Minister does have the sole responsibility to request prorogation from the Governor-General (although the custom is to request it in person, out of respect for the office of the Queen’s representative, and that was not done in this case). But it is highly unusual – and improper – to request it in circumstances like these.

    What, precisely, did the Prime Minister do wrong in proroguing Parliament?

    Our parliamentary and constitutional institutions are grounded not just in explicit rules but also in the spirit of those rules.

    Think of the idea of a “loyal opposition” so central to our practice of responsible government. The role of the opposition parties is to hold the government to a high standard of justification. The opposition parties can neglect their responsibilities by being servile and pliant. They can also misuse their powers for narrowly partisan purposes.

    We expect them to avoid both these pitfalls. We expect them to be vigorous. And, while an element of partisanship is inevitable in democratic systems of government, we expect that it will be moderated by public-spiritedness and a shared concern for the country’s common good. If it isn’t, then the opposition has failed to do its job.

    What is true of opposition parties is true in spades of the office of the Prime Minister, given the very great powers that are concentrated there in our system of responsible government. We expect that the Prime Minister will do his part to ensure that this system works, and that MPs can fulfill the role we elect them to do. Part of what that means is to exercise self-restraint, and not use the powers that he possesses to shut down the mechanisms of accountability to Parliament and the Canadian people.

    The use of the ability to prorogue by the present Prime Minister clearly displays no such self-restraint. It was nakedly partisan when it was invoked to save his government from defeat in a confidence motion in December 2008, and it is nakedly partisan now, when it is being used to short-circuit the work of the Parliamentary Committee looking into the Afghan detainees question and evade Parliament’s request that the government turn over documents pertaining to that question.

    The normal way in which a government secures a break in a parliamentary session is through adjournment. That permits the institutions of government to continue. Committees can do their work. Legislation that is in the system can be picked up and advanced once the adjournment is over. In prorogation, all the business of Parliament ceases. Any laws that are in process, with the exception of private members’ bills, have to be introduced again, at the very first step of the process.

    The government’s post-election legislative agenda is nowhere near having been fulfilled. The Prime Minister cannot, therefore, credibly invoke the purpose that the power to prorogue properly serves, which is to provide the government with space outside the cut and thrust of Parliamentary sessions in which to submit a new legislative agenda to Parliament.

    Given the short-term, tactical, and partisan purposes served by prorogation, and given the absence of any plausible public purpose served by it, we conclude that the Prime Minister has violated the trust of Parliament and of the Canadian people. We emphasize moreover that the violation of this trust strikes at the heart of our system of government, which relies upon the use of discretionary powers for the public good rather than merely for partisan purposes. How do we make sure it serves the public good? By requiring our governments to face Parliament and justify their actions, in the face of vigorous questioning.

    [*****] The Prime Minister’s actions risk setting a precedent that weakens an important condition of democratic government – the ability of the people, acting through their elected representatives, to hold the government accountable for its actions. [*****]

    *****

    Postscript:

    Quoting Canada.com,

    “Weinstock, in a telephone interview Monday, said that he had intended to simply submit the letter under his own name. But before doing that, he asked two friends to review it and they asked if they could attach their names to it. Eventually it began to circulate among academics involved in politics, philosophy and the law and now has 175 signatories.“

    I want to personally thank Prof. Weinstock taking time to write the letter and other cosigners for supporting it. When Canadian democracy is under attack, it is nice to see people willing to speak up for Canada and be counted.

    Posted in Calgary, Canada, Democracy, Law, people, politics, World

  • Harper underestimates Facebook at his own peril (by David Eaves for G&M)

    David Eaves has an insightful piece entitled “Harper underestimates Facebook at his own peril” in the G&M today. I am posting it here for the record with emphasis and notes to be added when I can find some free time.

    ***

    Harper underestimates Facebook at his own peril

    “As the Prime Minister knows from last year’s anti-coalition campaign, online activism can be a powerful political tool”

    by David Eaves
    Special to The Globe and Mail
    Published on Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 10:46AM EST

    Over at the National Post, Matt Gurney recently stated that “Facebook groups are just about the dumbest way to advocate a political cause.” His comments echo those of a number of pundits and politicians who give online activism – and Facebook groups in particular – short shrift.

    For a variety of reasons online activism is discounted as not being “real” politics. Well, Facebook isn’t going to remake politics, but it does matter – something the explosive growth of the 150,000 person (and rising) group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament and the first anniversary of the anti-coalition Facebook campaign offers us a chance to reflect on. So here are three lessons on online activism for the Prime Minister, the news media and the rest of us.

    1. Taking out the trash is no more

    Back on Dec. 30, when Stephen Harper decided to shut down Parliament, John Ibbitson called it a record “take out the trash day .” Journalists use this expression to describe government’s nasty habit of burying stories by releasing them on Friday afternoons, ideally before a long weekend.

    Such tactics worked because traditional media believed the public wouldn’t read a story that by Monday would be considered “old” (old being three days ago). Social media sites like Facebook break this cycle by allowing people to self-identify as members of an interested audience (and electorate).

    A 150,000-strong Facebook group means the prorogation story now has a built-in audience. Since a really big story on the Globe website can receive 100,000 pages views in a day, a 150,000 group (which hints at a still much larger audience) is a tempting target for investigative journalists and political commentators hoping to attract the attention of readers. Consequently, Facebook activism takes a story that five years ago might have been buried and gives it strong, powerful legs.

    2. Lower barriers to entry are a strength, not a weakness

    Easily the biggest fallacy around online politics is the belief that because something is easy, it doesn’t matter. Joining a Facebook group is easy; marching is hard. So pay attention to marchers and ignore Facebook groups, the reasoning goes.

    But a Facebook group’s low barrier to entry allows people to join who might have been uncomfortable marching (read mainstream voters). Indeed, Facebook is particularly clever about this. When logged in and looking at a group’s members, it will list your friends first. This makes the group more inviting than if it you showed you a pack of strangers you weren’t sure you could trust.

    Facebook and other social media campaigns nudge people who might have previously ignored an issue into become more aware and mobilized. Indeed, this appears to be happening with Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. A number of smaller, city-based sub-groups are springing up with the goal of organizing local rallies. Suddenly people who didn’t care about an issue are willing to march. It is arguably also what happened last year during the anti-coalition rallies organized by conservative bloggers.

    Yes, the Facebook group is a low rung on the ladder of political engagement – but that makes it more powerful, not less so.

    3. Look at the impact, not the medium

    The same critics who ignore Facebook and social media because “it’s easy” have also taken their eye off the prize. Why do citizens march? Ultimately, to raise awareness among the broader public, gain more support and force a change (usually at the ballot box). These happen to be the same goals of a Facebook group.

    In this regard, a Facebook group is a rally, and assessing effectiveness around how hard it is to join is like assessing the effectiveness of an athlete by how much they train instead of how they perform on game day. What matters is not the barrier to entry, but how much awareness the group brings to the cause – which, in this particular case, is a great deal.

    Indeed, if the anti-prorogation group is smart, it will announce it intends to keep the group running until the next election and no further. This will make it clear to its members that they want them to connect their online activism with their voting intention – and the group will serve as a persistent reminder of the current Prime Minister’s choices regarding accountability and democracy.

    Of course, Mr. Harper whould understand how powerful online activism can be since, last year, he benefited from a popular Facebook group opposed to a coalition government. But while that effort worked in his favour, the next three months are likely going to be long and uncomfortable for the Prime Minister as the media and an activist public refuse to let him forget his recent choices very quickly.

    David Eaves is a public-policy entrepreneur, open government activist and negotiation expert based in Vancouver

    Posted in Calgary, Canada, people, politics

  • Nadia Boulanger

    Found something about Nadia Boulanger (wikipedia). This is a followup to my entry on Philip Glass.

    Note that Nadia taught the likes of Quincy Jones, Philip Glass, Elliott Carter, and Aaron Copland.

    Posted in Music, people, Video, YouTube

  • Michelle Lang’s funeral to be held today 2pm in Vancouver

    From Calgary Herald,

    VANCOUVER — A funeral service for Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang, killed late last year while on assignment in Afghanistan, will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in Vancouver.

    Lang, 34, was killed on Dec. 30 along with four Canadian soldiers when the vehicle they were in struck a makeshift bomb buried under a muddy road south of Kandahar City. A reporter with the Calgary Herald, Lang was in Afghanistan working for Canwest News Service, and was on her first patrol with Provincial Reconstruction Team “outside the wire” when she died.

    Lang was born and raised in Vancouver and her immediate family still lives in the city.

    Funeral services are also being held Monday in Yarmouth, N.S., for Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, who died in the attack.

    Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21, Sgt. George Miok, 28 and Pte. Garret William Chidley, 21, also died in the incident.

    Posted in Calgary, Canada, Love, people

  • Geist: Ottawa pulls its own Internet hoax

    Interesting Torstar article by Michael Geist “Ottawa pulls its own Internet hoax“,

    While the sites were obviously an embarrassment, there were several avenues to address the issue. Officials could have filed a complaint with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which manages the dot-ca domain (both sites used dot-ca addresses). Alternatively, they could have turned to the courts for an order to either shut down the sites or suspend the domain name registrations. Instead, the phishing claim effectively substituted one hoax for another and, in the process, undermined the trust in a global system designed to guard against identity theft.

    Posted in Canada, Law, politics, World, World Affairs

  • Grow-Op Cover Up: CBC Marketplace with Mike Holmes – Can your home inspector be trusted? (Please share your Calgary home inspection horror story)

    In the season premiere of CBC Marketplace Grow-Op Cover Up (this episode with Mike Holmes) last Friday, the host Erica Johnson asked the question, “Can you trust home inspector?” The conclusion from the show’s research is sadly an emphatic NO !!!

    You see, Marketplace invited Mike Holmes to inspect a house where he was able to find many obvious telltale signs the house was a former grow-op. And these obvious signs were missed by a home inspector the home owner hired before making their home purchase decision. And when this same house was shown to four randomly chosen house inspectors after Mike identified the problems, the shocking findings were ALL four of these “house inspectors” missed all the obvious signs.

    In the show (you can watch the full episode online), you can see footage of police busting a grow-op and you will realize how easy you can pick up these telltale signs of a house was a grow-op that you wonder why the four randomly chosen home inspectors were so incompetent.

    If you’ve hired a home inspector in Calgary and have some horror home inspection stories (either they found major problems and saved you from buying a bad house or they missed major problems and you are stuck with the problems), please share your horror home inspection stories so other Calgarians can learn something from your experiences.

    Posted in Business, Calgary, Canada, CBC, ethics, Law, Television, Video

  • Three hours of extras – glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts

    At the 2008 CIFF, I had a ton of fun and learned a lot from watching the beautifully made documentary glass: a Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts. Highly recommended. Now, I’ve got the glass DVD from the library and I’m watching the three hours of extras on the disc with great interests (a few extended interviews with Philip and some performances).

    If you haven’t seen the film yet, here is trailer of the film on YouTube. See also the tailer in HD at Apple.com.

    Here is the director Scott Hicks being interviewed at 2007 TIFF.

    Watch some outtakes from the film.

    Posted in Calgary, Calgary International Film Festival, CIFF, Documentary, Movies, united states, Video, World, YouTube

  • Google Nexus One BoM cost $174.15 (Build of Materials cost estimated by iSuppli)

    Check out this iSuppli’s Build of Materials estimate of the Google Nexus One.

    [HT Techmeme]

    Posted in Business, Google, Telecom, World

  • China’s creeping censorship

    UK Guardian has an interesting article by Alice Xin Liu, “China’s creeping censorship – The steadily growing list of banned websites makes it impossible to predict, let alone stop, your favourite sites being blocked“. The last paragraph especially caught my eye,

    “The Guardian has been translated into Chinese by a translation group called Yeeyan. Their website, Yeeyan.com, has been down since the beginning of December, but the founders have said that republishing would begin this week, with a closer watch on their material. The demise of a translation community, and the now unclear status of its return, is yet one more indicator that as there is no stopping, and little way of telling, what will happen next.”

    P.S. Translation (good Chinese and English translation) is a topic close to my heart, so it is nice to see a group of dedicated volunteering translators in China working hard to make “influential English-language media accessible to a Chinese-speaking audience”.

    Posted in China, Law, media, people, politics, World, World Affairs

  • Everybody loves Canada (Canada’s euro bond sale finds big demand)

    Boyd Erman at G&M noted in “Canada’s euro bond sale finds big demand” (emphasis added),

    Everybody loves Canada.

    That’s the conclusion after the government raised €2-billion in a sale this week […]

    The federal goverment is paying 6 basis points less to borrow than similar bonds issued by the French, and 4 basis points below the rate on the Dutch benchmark. (A basis point is 1/100 of a percentage point.)

    Posted in Canada, Economics, investment, World Affairs

  • Scotiabank: Canada’s biggest publisher

    Andy Willis at G&M has this interesting observation (emphasis added),

    Call them the accidental publishers: Bank of Nova Scotia is now the largest owner of newspapers in Canada, and seems likely to hold that unintended role for some time.

    Lenders took control of CanWest L.P. on Friday, a long-expected move at the debt-heavy chain, as the company filed for protection from creditors. […]

    Scotiabank and the rest of CanWest LP’s lenders, and executives at the newspaper chain, see keeping the papers together as the best way to maximize value for the company.

    The most likely future for CanWest LP is as an independent, pure-play newspaper company, with lenders cashing in by staging an initial public offering the moment the market seems receptive.

    P.S. Ah, it financially sucks to run newspapers in their traditional forms these days. Now, running them as an online news source plus mini video TV stations may be an interesting play.

    The old joke of people can’t tell if you are a dog or a human online applies to newspaper. Online, people can’t tell if you are a TV news website or a newspaper website as both can play videos and report on information live!

    Posted in Calgary, Canada, Economics

  • Boy or Girl? – Rebel Rebel, Norman Rockwell?

    What do you think? Boy or Girl?

    From Rebel Rebel, Norman Rockwell?

    Norman Rockwell (yes, Norman Rockwell) had many readers “in a whirl” after his cover illustration for the August 24, 1940 issue ofThe Saturday Evening Post was published. The oil on canvas painting (later titled Home From Camp) featured a young child in proper dress sitting amidst a collection of rough and worn outdoors items, including an old trunk, axe, backpack, flowers, and even live snake and turtle. However, this assortment of lively souvenirs is not what got most readers talking… it was whether the child pictured on the cover was a “he” or a “she!”

    Posted in Arts, Fun, Love, Lovemarks, united states

  • The 26 Steps: People Power Rises in Hong Kong (and lessons for Canadians re prorogation of Parliament)

    I’ve read and am reflecting on my friend Daisann’s insightful report, “The 26 Steps: People Power Rises in Hong Kong“. Although the issues are widely different, I think there are lessons and strategies applicable to Canadians’ anit-prorogation rally across Canada and in Calgary.

    Here is a brief excerpt from “The 26 Steps“,

    “These students marched around and around the Legislative Council building for hours. It was the most moving part of this multi-dimensional demonstration. Slowly and deliberately, like monks in Vipassana meditation, they made their way forward to the beat of a loud drum. Every 26 steps they halted in unison, and fell prostrate to the ground in silence.

    Why 26 steps? Because the 67 billion dollar railway link to China’s high-speed railway network that the Hong Kong government wants to, um, railroad through the legislature would extend exactly 26 kilometers. That’s 2.57 billion taxpayer dollars per kilometer. At a time when the wealth gap between rich and poor in Hong Kong is one of the greatest in the world, the government wants to build a project that would cost the equivalent of taking 10,000 from the pockets of each Hong Kong citizen.”

    […] And they know this: when democracy fails […] you have to take matters into your own hands.

    P.S. It is ironical that even the farcically elected chief executive of Hong Kong dare NOT to shutdown the legislature (nor such power exist for him to do so).

    It is funny in Canada, our Prime Minister is such a chess master that he felt he could simply outmaneuver Canadians (twice), shutdown democracy, and we won’t care nor do anything to challenge him. For the sake of Canada, I hope Prime Minister Harper is wrong.

    Posted in Calgary, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Love, people, politics, social media, social network, Television