Archive for December, 2007

He folded

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

Biff, did you call Prentice again today? ’cause if not, then it was definitely me this time.
No Canadian DMCA This Year
The roller coaster that is the Canadian DMCA has taken another turn. Sometime between yesterday afternoon and this morning, the government decided to hold off. At 10:00 am this morning, the introduction of [...]

Canadian DMCA — Act Now

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

If you didn’t do anything last week, you really need to do something now. Here’s what Geist posted yesterday:

There are rumours in Ottawa this evening that Industry Minister Jim Prentice has decided to forge ahead with the Canadian DMCA with the bill to be introduced tomorrow morning. There has obviously been a huge amount [...]

Minor Victory

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007

I’d like to think my call and email were the straws the broke the camel’s back. Because it’s not enough for my ego for me to be part of a success (no matter how minor or temporary), I have to be pivotal to it!
Michael Geist - Canadian DMCA Introduction Delayed
The word this afternoon is that [...]

Groening

Monday, December 10th, 2007

Why are old Life Is Hell cartoons from over a decade ago suddenly showing up everywhere I look?
And why are they so apposite and topical?

(click to see the full strips)

Confounding the nerd/Asperger’s stereotype

Sunday, December 9th, 2007

I’ve seen results from the Asperger’s quiz posted by lots of people I know, and I just want to point out something about these results. I know “me and my friends” is the essence of an anecdotal sample, and not a useful one, but still…
The stereotype is that people who are particularly apt at programming [...]

Canadians: Did You Call Jim Prentice Today?

Saturday, December 8th, 2007

I did.
Don’t know who Jim Prentice is? Why he’s the Minister of Industry in Harper’s evil regime.
And why should you have called him today? Well, that’s a long one. The short version is that he’s spearheading a really, really, REALLY bad law–essentially a Canadian version of the American’s dire DMCA–and since he’s been either dodging [...]

Friday Playlist

Friday, December 7th, 2007

What does this say about my mood?

Something Great: Courtney Crumrin

Friday, December 7th, 2007

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of positive posts about things that are great. It seems like I should balance out all my ranting in some way, and this seems like a good way.
This time out I want to talk about Courtney Crumrin and the Fire-Thief’s Tale. I read [...]

There’s A Chance To Flip It Back Over

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

You know that inverted flag that’s been over in the right sidebar for more than a year now? If you don’t remember why it’s there, then click it and read the (lengthy) post.
Then read this. (If you’re not reading this more-or-less contemporaneously with my writing it you might need to read this instead–that’s the permanent [...]

Thought for the day

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

“We are here to witness; if we were not here the show would play to an empty house . . . .That is why I go for walks . . . to keep an eye on things.”
–Annie Dillard

While I am unsure about the teleological implications, I am sure I love the quote. I believe [...]

Yes, Yes I will blog about this

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007