Last night at around 4 p.m. (chinook on its way here)
Weather yesterday and today (so far)
The temperature has dropped 11°C in the past couple of hours and this chinook is making it almost impossible for me to think or write today.
Why I don’t wear a poppy:
The Vietnam War 1959–1975 coincides exactly with the first 16 years of my own life
I grew up with these terrible images every night and day in the media
wearing a poppy feels like tacitly approving such terrible violence
Newsdesigner.com | Bhutto Front Pages
Fascinating collection of International and U.S. newspaper front pages on the Benazir Bhutto assassination.
globeandmail.com: Canadians need not dream of a white Christmas
Many Canadians who have already spent the better part of a month shovelling and shivering through below-average temperatures and above-average snowfalls probably won’t bat a frosty eyelid as winter officially descends early Saturday.
Despite a jump in temperatures forecast for the weekend in Eastern and Central Canada, 95 per cent of the country should have a white Christmas — far higher than in recent years, says Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.
… In Resolute, Nunavut, which is as close as he could get to the North Pole, Phillips predicted temperatures for Christmas look at -34 C, but with clear skies.
“Nothing should get in the way of blocking Santa from getting out and getting home. It looks like clear sailing.”
tech ronin: Leopard on iMac 24 2.8 - Bliss
This is my first iMac. Who knew I would love the integration and simplicity? I am beginning to see things Steve’s way on this. It’s so easy. So elegant. Sometimes options are more trouble than they are worth. That’s the religion you get with the iPhone…. I’m being corrupted but perhaps for my own good.
redhat.com | Intro to design thinking
David Burney: Design thinking is a term being used today to define a way of thinking that produces transformative innovation. While the term feels trendy, the way of thinking is hardly new. One can think of the cave painters in Lascaux 25,000 years ago as design thinkers— they first began to collect data about the world they experienced, express that data by creating visual stories, document those stories in a way that could be shared into the future, and use that data to create new and innovative ways to solve their problems. The creation of alphabets thousands of years later is an example of design thinking.
Blast from the past? Coldest winter in 15 years, Environment Canada says
Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said the trend in recent years of uncharacteristically warm, short winters will be wiped out by a chilly reminder of what a real Canadian winter feels like.
AMA Road Reports - Cameras It’s winter.
Thanks to Maria Langer at An Eclectic Mind for the post idea.
I am a big fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and like most people from the “Rider Nation,” I will be watching and hoping for them to win their third Grey Cup today.
Update: We won!
The CKUA Radio Network was founded in 1927 on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton. CKUA is Canada’s first educational broadcaster and Canada’s first public broadcaster.
Since its inception, CKUA has grown from a one room, low wattage radio station staffed by exceptionally dedicated amateur radio enthusiasts, into a full fledged radio and Internet broadcast network staffed by world class broadcast and business professionals.
CKUA has evolved from a government of Alberta operation to a public not-for-profit foundation, with a limited commercial license. CKUA currently enjoys over 160,000 weekly listeners and is financially supported by listener donations, program sponsorships, subscriptions, and through corporate partnership.
… On February 29, 1996 CKUA became the first radio station in Canada to go online, carrying its entertaining message of life long learning to people everywhere.
CKUA is also a supporter of the Medicine Hat Folk Club Tongue on the Post Folk Fest.
Some links on Canadian book pricing since our dollar reached parity:
Canadians are Getting Fleeced by Their Own Dollar
… that book I very recently purchased (for which there was no price adjustment), reflects a Canadian dollar value of $0.68. The last time the Canadian dollar was at that value was in 2003.
Parity puts book prices under the microscope
And the consumer hasn’t liked what he’s been seeing. His ire has focused on the discrepancy between what a Canadian pays for an imported, American-made book in this country and what an American consumer pays for that same title, with the two different prices printed right there on the book flap for all to see.
And an interesting perspective from the CBC’s Neil MacDonald on why prices aren’t going down.
Canada might be technologically advanced and well educated, and a nation with its public finances in apple-pie order, but even in our free-trading, globalized world, Canadian consumers are a second-class citizenry.
