Multitasking

Daddy?

You were joking about blowing the college fund on the ponies? I'm too young for sarcasm. Besides, I would have taken the third horse in the eighth race instead of the nag you picked.

Winnipeg Children's Museum

Marie, Hubert, Austin, Renee, Michelle, Emma, Felicity

Winnipeg Children's Museum

 

Felicity

 

In Praise of Red Tape

In Praise of Red Tape: "But a funny thing has happened over the past six years. At a time when the press failed to check a reactionary Administration, when the opposition party all too often chose timidity, it was the lowly and anonymous bureaucrats, clad in rumpled suits, ID badges dangling from their necks, who, in their own quiet, behind-the-scenes way, took to the ramparts to defend the integrity of the American system of government."

Austin and Casey

Austin

 

Why England is rotting

England leads Europe in illiteracy, obesity, divorce, drug use, crime and STDs. Bloody hell

Tony Blair on the natue of media and politics (Click here)

The purpose of the series of speeches I have given over the past year has been deliberately reflective: to get beyond the immediate headlines on issues of the day and contemplate in a broader perspective, the effect of a changing world on the issues of the future. This speech on the challenge of the changing nature of communication on politics and the media is from the same perspective.

I need to say some preliminaries at the outset. This is not my response to the latest whacking from bits of the media. It is not a whinge about how unfair it all is. As I always say, it's an immense privilege to do this job and if the worst that happens is harsh media coverage, it's a small price to pay. And anyway, like it or not, I have won 3 elections and am still standing as I leave office. This speech is not a complaint. It is an argument.

As a result of being at the top of the greasy pole for thirteen years, ten of them as Prime Minister, my life, my work as Prime Minister, and its interaction with the world of communication has given me pretty deep experience, for better or worse.

A free media is a vital part of a free society. You only need to look at where such a free media is absent to know this truth. But it is also part of freedom to be able to comment on the media. It has a complete right to be free. I, like anyone else, have a complete right to speak.

My principal reflection is not about "blaming" anyone. It is that the relationship between politics, public life and the media is changing as a result of the changing context of communication in which we all operate; no-one is at fault - it is a fact; but it is my view that the effect of this change is seriously adverse to the way public life is conducted; and that we need, at the least, a proper and considered debate about how we manage the future, in which it is in all our interests that the public is properly and accurately informed. They are the priority and they are not well served by the current state of affairs.

Confessions

27 Confessions Of A Former Circuit City Worker

Cake

Note to self: Do not leave three and a half year old alone with cake fresh from oven and expect her to stop after one piece. Of course, I have issues stopping after one piece too. Simple vices...

Why DRM won't ever work | Tech News on ZDNet

Why DRM won't ever work | Tech News on ZDNet: "Believing in a DRM business model is like joining Star Fleet security, putting on your red shirt, and volunteering to beam down to the new unexplored plant with Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Someone will be coming back from that mission, it's just not likely to be the security guard. Always a true engineer, Scotty had the good sense to stay safely on board the ship."

Stuck in reverse

Situations like this are challenging when you can only crawl backwards.

Birthday party chocolate cupcakes

Felicity enjoying a chocolate cupcake after running around the gymnastics warehouse for a birthday party. The cupcakes were amazing. Who would have though my daughter would really dig chocolate? :-)

The photo was shot by a family member of the birthday girl. I love the detail on the hair.

Congressman Living off Food Stamps

Congressman Tim Ryan's Blog | Posting Detail

Take time to read the comments.

Spring Flowers

Papa and Austin

Chicken Eating Spider

The idea of a spider 11.8 inches across sent me into a panic - but I had to check out the site. I hope to be able to convince myself that given the distance between my family room and Peru it would be safe to put my feet on the floor again. :-)

In NATURE's DEEP JUNGLE: MONSTERS OF THE FOREST, spider expert Martin Nicholas travels to South America's Amazon in search of a spider known as the chicken-eating spider."

Thrill of victory - bitter taste of defeat

Doctor Felicity

Discussing String Theory and Particle Physics

Toddler Project Plans

Dressing up 2

Dressing up

Webby Nominees

Webby Nominees

Posts (page 2) - Marc Johns’s blog

World Controlled by Pipe Smoking Rabbit

This makes me chuckle every single time.

S.

Pictures from Alexa's party

We went to a birthday party on Sunday at a gymnastics gym. Lots of mats, trampolines, ropes and balance beams. My daughter promptly found the highest thing above the foam pit and threw herself off it. :-)

Art

Some art done by family members. The painting of the teacups was used recently for the program for my grandmother's memorial service. A wonderful choice.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristenjohns/

See also:

http://draw.vox.com
(blog)

Borders - Feature - Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney

---

I
Had Enough?

Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets Tour

Google Docs & Spreadsheets Tour


Finally had the opportunity to use Google Docs with multiple users, in different locations, editing the same document at the same time. Completely seamless. I was impressed.

I sit on the executive of a non-profit society. We have to get a presentation ready for a board meeting. I created the document, used everybody's email to invite them to collaborate and away we went. Every change automatically saves a new version of the document allowing you to see who made what change and roll back to any version of the document.

A gmail address is not required though if you collaborate regularly it would be useful since you could then use the Google Chat (IM client) built into email and/or Google Talk (voice over ip) while working.

Documents can be uploaded and downloaded in MS office, Open Office and rich text, comma seperated value formats.

Not enough arms

Austin and Renee

Sad, Mad, Glad

In this video I am holding up small foam circles with faces on them corresponding to the various emotions.

If she really wants to be Cinderella....

No point in half measures. She needs to experience the entire Cinderella story. :-)

The Space Review: The dozen space weapons myths

The Space Review: The dozen space weapons myths: "As an attempt at a roadmap through this space minefield, here is my own take on the ideas that need to be avoided or discarded on the trek towards a useful plan for handling the subject and for developing a workable, reality-based response to the problem."

How to Grow a Super-Athlete - New York Times

How to Grow a Super-Athlete - New York Times: "A quick analysis of this talent map reveals some splashy numbers: for instance, the average woman in South Korea is more than six times as likely to be a professional golfer as an American woman. But the interesting question is, what underlying dynamic makes these people so spectacularly unaverage in the first place? What force is causing those from certain far-off places to become, competitively speaking, superior?"

Austin in Carseat

Vista's Fine Print Raises Red Flags

Appeared in the Toronto Star on January 29, 2007 as Vista's Legal Fine Print Raises Red Flags

Vista, the latest version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, makes its long awaited consumer debut tomorrow. The first major upgrade in five years, Vista incorporates a new, sleek look and features a wide array of new functionality, such as better search tools and stronger security.

The early reviews have tended to damn the upgrade with faint praise, however, characterizing it as the best, most secure version of Windows, yet one that contains few, if any, revolutionary features.

While those reviews have focused chiefly on Vista's new functionality, for the past few months the legal and technical communities have dug into Vista's "fine print." Those communities have raised red flags about Vista's legal terms and conditions as well as the technical limitations that have been incorporated into the software at the insistence of the motion picture industry.

The net effect of these concerns may constitute the real Vista revolution as they point to an unprecedented loss of consumer control over their own personal computers. In the name of shielding consumers from computer viruses and protecting copyright owners from potential infringement, Vista seemingly wrestles control of the "user experience" from the user.

Vista's legal fine print includes extensive provisions granting Microsoft the right to regularly check the legitimacy of the software and holds the prospect of deleting certain programs without the user's knowledge. During the installation process, users "activate" Vista by associating it with a particular computer or device and transmitting certain hardware information directly to Microsoft.

Even after installation, the legal agreement grants Microsoft the right to revalidate the software or to require users to reactivate it should they make changes to their computer components. In addition, it sets significant limits on the ability to copy or transfer the software, prohibiting anything more than a single backup copy and setting strict limits on transferring the software to different devices or users.

Vista also incorporates Windows Defender, an anti-virus program that actively scans computers for "spyware, adware, and other potentially unwanted software." The agreement does not define any of these terms, leaving it to Microsoft to determine what constitutes unwanted software.

Once operational, the agreement warns that Windows Defender will, by default, automatically remove software rated "high" or "severe," even though that may result in other software ceasing to work or mistakenly result in the removal of software that is not unwanted.

For greater certainty, the terms and conditions remove any doubt about who is in control by providing that "this agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights." For those users frustrated by the software's limitations, Microsoft cautions that "you may not work around any technical limitations in the software."

Those technical limitations have proven to be even more controversial than the legal ones.

Last December, Peter Guttman, a computer scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand released a paper called "A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection." The paper pieced together the technical fine print behind Vista, unraveling numerous limitations in the new software seemingly installed at the direct request of Hollywood interests.

Guttman focused primarily on the restrictions associated with the ability to play back high-definition content from the next-generation DVDs such as Blu-Ray and HD-DVD (referred to as "premium content").

He noted that Vista intentionally degrades the picture quality of premium content when played on most computer monitors.

Guttman's research suggests that consumers will pay more for less with poorer picture quality yet higher costs since Microsoft needed to obtain licences from third parties in order to access the technology that protects premium content (those licence fees were presumably incorporated into Vista's price).

Moreover, he calculated that the technological controls would require considerable consumption of computing power with the system conducting 30 checks each second to ensure that there are no attacks on the security of the premium content.

Microsoft responded to Guttman's paper earlier this month, maintaining that content owners demanded the premium content restrictions. According to Microsoft, "if the policies [associated with the premium content] required protections that Windows Vista couldn't support, then the content would not be able to play at all on Windows Vista PCs." While that may be true, left unsaid is Microsoft's ability to demand a better deal on behalf of its enormous user base or the prospect that users could opt-out of the technical controls.

When Microsoft introduced Windows 95 more than a decade ago, it adopted the Rolling Stones "Start Me Up" as its theme song. As millions of consumers contemplate the company's latest upgrade, the legal and technological restrictions may leave them singing "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Tiger vs. Chicken

Cryptogram

Information rich and thought provoking. Check out: http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0701.html

Topics this month:

• Automated Targeting System
• Surveillance Cameras Catch a Cold-Blooded Killer
• Crypto-Gram Reprints
• Auditory Eavesdropping
• Tracking Automobiles Through their Tires
• Licensing Boaters
• Wal-Mart Stays Open During Bomb Scare
• News
• NSA Helps Microsoft with Windows Vista
• Microsoft Anti-Phishing and Small Businesses
• Not Paying Attention at the Virginia DMV
• More on the Unabomber's Code
• BT Counterpane News
• Radio Transmitters in Canadian Coins
• Choosing Secure Passwords
• Comments from Readers

Librivox free audiobooks

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

Link came from: http://collectik.net

The new Iraq initative

Check out the links below for some solid analysis on the recent troop increase in Iraq announced by President Bush.

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/the_presidents_address_counter.php

http://debka.com/article.php?aid=1248

http://debka.com/headline.php?hid=3719

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/static.php?f=wherecamefrom.php

Setting public goals

Success in many things is helped along by friends and family. In that vein here are three of my goals for the year 2007. They involve running even though my life is not endangered and fall under the general health and fitness category. I'm hoping to retire the "picked last in gym class" t-shirt. :-) The possibilities for gear fetishism will likely be the subject of another post.

Vancouver Sun Run April 15, 2007 (sub 52 minutes)

BMO Vancouver Half Marathon - May 6, 2007 (sub 2 hrs. 10 min)

Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon - June 24, 2007 (sub 2 hours)

Useful resources I discovered while researching and considering this decision.

Royal Victoria Half Marathon/Marathon training schedules

Marathon Rookie

Half Marathon Training with Hal Higdon

Sun Run Training Clinics

Comments, suggestions, encouragement and training partners welcomed.

The general comments about my state of mind position has already been filled by one of my close friends who replied that my ability to run 21.08 km had no relation to the whether or not I was crazy. :-)

Opening Christmas Presents

Facing the post holiday email inbox

These are posts from a special 43 Folders series looking at the skills, tools, and attitude needed to empty your email inbox — and then keep it that way. You can visit each of the posts by clicking the title.

And don’t miss the “Related Articles” for our all-time popular posts on productively dealing with email.

Can't play it? Then just fake it -- they do

Competitors make phantom guitars sing

LISA HARDING

Special to The Globe and Mail

WHISTLER -- It's a Saturday night in Whistler, and the lineup outside the Garibaldi Lift Company pub looks like the wait for a chairlift on a weekend.

Inside, 220 people are on their feet, craning their necks to get a better view of the mock stage. There's an air of excitement and a smell of beer.

Contestant No. 15, Cole Manson, whose stage name is Johnny Utah, captures the crowd's attention as he climbs onto an elevated tabletop clutching nothing but air -- all the instrument he needs to compete in what's being billed as Canada's first official air guitar competition.

Wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, Mr. Utah starts moving his fingers in time with the chords as Metallica's Damage Incorporated surges through the speakers. The music peaks, and in a theatrical manoeuvre, Mr. Utah squirts water from his mouth as he leaps off the table and onto the stage, grasping an imaginary guitar. The crowd goes wild.

One by one, contestants with stage names such as James Bondage, the Mittens and Woody, face the packed house grasping their phantom six-strings.

Each contestant must play the air guitar for a minute to any song. The top six competitors must then perform the compulsory song, a mystery until the round begins. Performances are judged on originality, stage charisma, technique and "airness." Scores are on a scale from 4.0 to 6.0, much like figure skating.

The top six competitors are announced and Van Halen's Panama is revealed as the compulsory song. Johnny Utah wows the crowd with his "airness" by throwing up his air guitar, spinning and catching it. He is declared the winner.

Afterward, Mr. Manson tried to explain the appeal of standing in front of a crowd of strangers and pretending to play an instrument.

"It's as close to being a rock star as it gets. It's like a dream come true. Sort of. I'd like to be able to play a real instrument and play with a real band, but this way I can entertain people with music."

Official air guitar competitions may be a rarity in Canada, but the rest of the globe has been strumming air for years.

Since 1996, Finland has been home to the Air Guitar World Championships, and next year Canada will be sending a competitor there for the first time.

Mr. Manson is no stranger to the stage. He's a member of a male burlesque troop, a dancer in Whistler's Fire & Ice show, has five black belts and pays the bills by teaching martial arts at his own school. He is hardly ordinary, but according to his girlfriend, 28-year-old Magda Regdos, he has done "nothing as unique as the air guitar."

Mr. Manson finds it hard to express why he likes it, but doesn't think air guitaring is all that unusual. "It's acting combined with a rock concert. . . . The fact that it's a competition gives me a chance to have more fun with it.

"You want people in the crowd to see the imaginary guitar. They thought there was a guitar in my hand. That's the magic of it."

Mr. Manson acknowledged some people will think playing the air guitar is a joke and points out that part of a performance is comedy. But to him, the air guitar is serious business.

"I'm not there to make anyone laugh. I'm there to impress people."

Now that he's won a spot in the Western Regional Championship next spring, Mr. Manson practises to any song he likes, convinced he'll be Canada's representative in Finland in September.

The air guitar phenomenon hit the United States in 2003, inspiring the film Air Guitar Nation, currently on the film festival circuit. Producer Anna Barber believes air guitar will be a phenomenon in Canada, too.

"I think Canada has huge roots in rock 'n' roll as well, and I think the desire is universal. The desire to feel the crowd cheering for you and to feel like you're a star for 15 minutes crosses national lines and language barriers," she said.

The Bill of Wrongs

The 10 most outrageous civil liberties violations of 2006.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006, at 6:30 AM ET

I love those year-end roundups—ubiquitous annual lists of greatest films and albums and lip glosses and tractors. It's reassuring that all human information can be wrestled into bundles of 10. In that spirit, Slate proudly presents, the top 10 civil liberties nightmares of the year:

Christmas Eve

Cool things you can do with a mac

My favorite picture for 2006

Felicity and Emma

We had some friends in from Winnipeg with their two year old daughter. Dora owns her soul too. :-)

Spirit of the season