In a recent blog posting, Michael Geist discusses a Quebec recording industry group seeking Canadian Content regulations on internet traffic in Canada, by prioritizing Canadian content traffic.

This makes my head spin. As I said in a comment on Geist’s blog, how do you determine what is Canadian content and what is not? Plenty of Canadian content is hosted outside of Canada, and non-Canadian content is hosted within Canada, so geography couldn’t do it. Is this group suggesting all traffic be analyzed to see if it is sufficiently Canadian? I can’t see a reliable technical mechanism to enforce this, based on an honest evaluation of the content.

Or, as I suspect, would old media use this as a way to prioritize their own content, by playing the rules game with their friends in government and ISP’s so that the definition of what is CanCon (and enjoys faster bandwidth) suits their needs, not the needs of Canadians, or independent content producers. Remember, this suggestion is coming from a group representing the recording industry, a group with a less than stellar record in looking out for the interests of Canadians. A new set of regulations like these would merely hasten media concentration in this country. Imagine having to pass a yearly content review to have your blog, web site or podcast “certified Canadian.” Imagine this yearly coming with a $10,000 license fee (to pay for the bureaucracy, natch.). Chump change for old media and large conglomerates; the kiss of death for folks like me.

Even if this were technically possible, why do we need this? Let’s take the training wheels off our culture, and fully exploit the possibilities that new media has to offer for promulgating Canadian culture, instead of trying to apply the old media shackles of the past. The barriers to joining the cultural new media space have never been lower, and I would put Canadian culture up against any other country’s culture. What have we got to be afraid of?

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This article reports that many Mac users upgrading to the new Leopard release are getting what sounds a lot like the “Blue Screen of Death.”

Meanwhile, I upgraded one of my Ubuntu Linux boxes to the latest version, 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), and it went smooth as silk, the best ever for me in terms of a Linux upgrade, as opposed to a fresh install.

And it didn’t cost me 129 dollars, or whatever it is.

Tags: Ubuntu, Linux, Leopard, Apple

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According to this story, the FBI has heightened concerns about terrorists using shoes to conceal bombs.

When concern was raised about liquids on planes, the rules regarding what could be carried on were changed, and any one who flies knows about the ridiculous restrictions. To be consistent, will there now be a rule requiring us to fly barefoot? To be consistent with what they did for liquids, there would almost have to be a rule of this nature.

And why stop there? Maybe we should all be required to fly naked, to reduce the chance of concealed weaponry? Actually, that might appeal to travellers, and might help the industry.

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As I write this, the Canadian dollar is worth close to $1.04 U.S. But the Canadian version of the online Apple Store seems to have missed the memo. Prices for hardware are higher across the board; for example a MacBook Pro in the U.S. starts at $1999, but in Canada we are expected to pay $2199. Across the board, prices are about 10% higher for hardware.

Now, Apple has a long, sorry history when it comes to overcharging, as well as “spitting on their customers and telling them it’s raining” (as one commentator put it in an article I read many years ago), but in this case they are just one of many retailers who seem to have gotten used to fat Canadian profits from customers who have gotten used to higher prices. They need to remember that 90% of the Canadian population lives under 200 kilometers from the U.S. border, and there is always online shopping.

To the bleating retailers, I would say, this is the free market working, the same free market you have repeatedly invoked when it was to your advantage. With cross-border shopping at historic levels, the shoe is quite literally on the other foot. As I’ve said before, it is not our patriotic duty to be gouged.

Tags: Apple, Canadian Dollar

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There were a couple of people selling Girl Guide cookies at the Bloor/Yonge subway station today, in the middle of the afternoon rush hour. When I was going downstairs to the lower level, I heard one woman utter the following words of wisdom to her companion:

“I don’t normally support pseudo-militaristic enterprises, but the cookies are so good.”

Ah, OK.

Not only is she fundamentally misguided, she admits to being willing to sell out her principles for a cookie.

Tags: TTC, Girl Guides

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In a recent article, Michael Geist accurately points out the lack of innovation in the Canadian music industry, as they desperately try to hang on to the obscene profits generated by their outmoded business model. It occurs to me that a similar business model is also being employed by the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs (for any non-Canadian, non-Hockey fans reading this blog) are a sad-sack National Hockey League team, that has not won a league championship in 40 years, and have only demonstrated sporadic fits of competence in in the past four decades. Based on their early performance so far this year, it’s a safe bet that they will miss the playoffs yet again (and that takes some effort, with the play-off system in the NHL!).

Despite their poor performance, the Leafs have the highest ticket prices in the league, confident that Toronto hockey fans will obediently pay whatever the price is, to sell out the Air Canada Centre (the Leaf’s home), game after game, year after year. It is a business model that displays contempt for the customer: if the customer is stupid enough to pay inflated prices for a crappy product, the team will be more than happy to take your money; after all, when it comes to the NHL, they are the only game in town. Why should they bother trying to put a better team on the ice?

This attitude reminds me of the recording industry: they made millions selling garbage, and overcharging for it at the same time. There is a sense of entitlement when it came to profits, and controlling what music was promoted or made available to the consumer. The contempt for the customer, the artists, and music itself (except as a product) is palpable.

The difference with the music industry is that customers are finding ways to fight back, by supporting independent artists, alternate distribution methods etc. The industry is running scared, and is doing its best to buy politicians to legislate permanent profits.

Imagine if the Leafs stopped selling out their home games; more and more empty seats, seats not producing revenue. If they were to act like the record industry, they would be pushing for legislation banning Toronto hockey fans from attending any other hockey games, or even sporting events generally, until their profits were guaranteed. If the Leaf’s ownership tried this, there would be a public outcry, but in essence it would be no different from what the recording industry is trying to do right now.

Tags: Maple Leafs, Music Industry

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This news report gives an overview of Wearable computing, and reading about the capability of various sensors that can detect speech patterns, etc. it occurs to me that this technology could be used by the RIAA against copyright infringement via a medium that so far has proved resistant to DRM and revenue generation: singing or humming a song from memory.

To show the hardships I am willing to undergo in the name of science, I will now sing a line from a Britney Spears song. Believe me, this will hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you (since you won’t have to hear it).

OK, that’s done (and I will feel forever diminished as a human being). Now let’s look at it from the RIAA’s point of view; I just “enjoyed” a copyrighted song, without paying anybody any money! Further, there is no log file, no record anywhere of this heinous act! And worst of all, this scene is repeated billions of times everyday in every corner of the globe. How can this opportunity for obscene profits from cultural slavery be ignored?

The good news is that Wearable Computing promises relief from this profit deficit — sensors can be worn against the throat that could analyze all the sounds a person generates and perform a sound frequency analysis to detect any singing. The sound pattern could then be crosschecked (via a WIFI connection) against a central RIAA database of music. If a match is found, the singer can then be charged automatically for using a record company’s property.

A further step would be a more interactive system: if it is determined that the would-be singer does not have the funds to pay for the cultural property they are attempting to appopriate, a signal could be sent back to induce a temporary paralysis of the vocal chords, thus preventing the copyright infringement from occurring. This step should not be too controversial — after all, the poor are used to having no voice.

The only misuse of cultural property not prevented by this technological savior would be hearing a song in your head, but I’m confident that in time even this loophole will be closed, and the world will be made safe for the profits of our cultural gatekeepers.

Tags: RIAA, DRM, Wearable Computing

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Since we gave up our second car almost a year ago, I have been taking the subway and bus to and from my job every day. (It makes for a longer commute, but my iPod keeps me sane). I go in very early, and so I catch the first train, just before 6 a.m., and it is interesting that I see most of the same people day after day. The song below , “The Intruder” was written about them:

[audio:http://meadowsonline.com/John_Meadows_The_Intruder.mp3]

Most of these people appear to be immigrants, and given the time of day they are traveling I would say most of them are going to blue-collar/service jobs. In a city like Toronto, with its expensive housing, living on the typical salary of a blue-collar/service job can be a struggle. My fellow passengers at this time of day are not “Toronto Fat-Cats.” They live in a very different Toronto compared to myself and others, and my presence at that time of the morning leaves me feeling like I am the intruder, hence the name of the song.

Here are the lyrics:

Intruder Here

It’s another young morning, not yet six a.m.
I see the same faces, on the subway again.
Some in groups, with friends talking, find a smile for the day.
Others sitting in silence, with their thoughts far away.

Gust of wind from the tunnel now announces the train.
I see silent tears from a nameless man’s pain.
Through the doors we all shuffle, and we all take our seats.
Each day like the others; it always repeats.

It’s a shift at the factory, or a dance with a broom.
Or making the bed in some hospital room.
Was this what they signed up for, when they came to this land.
And am I the intruder? Can I understand?

At the end of the line now, they rush up the stairs.
Breathlessly hoping that the bus is still there.
Every day is the same thing; they’re running the race.
But feeling they’re destined to stay in last place.

Music and Lyrics covered by Creative Commons License (Attribution required, non-commercial Usage)

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This news story reports on a study that found that expensive running shoes are no better than cheaper ones, and I can’t say that I’m surprised.

With expensive running shoes (made by the same essentially slave labour as the cheaper ones), it isn’t shoes that are being sold; it’s an illusory sense of self-worth. It is depressing how successful marketers have been in recasting and redefining our intangible psychological needs as tangible needs that can be be solved by the purchase of whatever is being sold on a given day. To my mind, all commercial advertising can be sumarized as follows, based on the target group:

Men: Buy this product, and women will have sexual intercourse with you.

Women: Buy this product, and you will been seen as young, beautiful and desirable.

Children: Get someone to buy this product for you, and you will be popular and have lots of friends.

It’s sad just how successful this approach has been.

Tags: Advertising

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While it is incorrect to draw conclusions about Global Warming on the basis of one day of weird weather, I have to say that I’m almost tempted to do so today, with the mercury hitting 32 degrees Celcius (about 90 degrees Fahrenheit) for Thanksgiving Day, (Monday, October 8th, 2007), smashing the old record. As a proud Canadian, I have to say this just doesn’t feel natural. I remember many lovely Thanksgiving Days in Southern Ontario, but they were lovely Fall days. You needed long pants at the very least, and normally a jacket.

It’s after supper now, and because the kitchen got so hot (and heating up the rest of our bungalow in the process) , we have had to turn on the air conditioner. That is just too weird. It was so hot we could have skipped basting the turkey — it could have worked up a sweat on its own.

There is obviously just too much weird weather going on to discount Global warming; if we don’t start acting on this issue now, we’ll end up like the Thanksgiving turkey — our goose will be cooked!

Tags: Thanksgiving, Toronto

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