So shortly after my recent post (and an email to webmasters) about the New York state senate's anti-anonymity on the internet bill's website and the non-appeareance of comments comments from the past week appeared.
While I don't know if my actions were directly responsible for the appearance of comments on the site, the time does seem a little suspicious. That being said, I really hope that New York State Senate doesn't have a system that requires additional feedback before they post comments on legislative proposals. Such a system would seem to undermine much of the point of a system of web-based commenting on legislation.
Anyway, it's nice to see that there are now 16 comments on this questionable piece of legislation. It would be even nicer if the public had some way of knowing how many comments have been submitted and if any have been rejected.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
If that's all the re-writting you're going to do why don't you just re-post the press release?
A few minutes ago I noticed an Ottawa Citizen article about an Russell Peters' upcoming appearance in Ottawa.
Not surprisingly, it was noted that the quotes attributed to Peters' came from the press release. The rest of the 'article' doesn't appear to be so upfront about its origins.
I was a little bit surprised to see that the 'article' mentioned that
And what about that part about "his signature audience improve," is that the kind of phrasing that would normally appear in a newspaper article about an upcoming show?
Anyway, a few of the passages in the article caught my attention. They just didn't read like an article - they read like a news release. In the end I thought I should try to find the news release mentioned in the article and compare it to the Citizen's article. Turns out they are pretty similar.
Here's a pretty good example of the copy-paste journalism employed in this instance.
As the article puts it:
And as it appears in the original press release:
There are a few aspects of this practice that I don't understand. First of all, isn't this basically copyright infringement? If it isn't, does it mean that I could I re-write the Harry Potter books as the Larry Sotter books and sell them for $5 less and make billions? Or maybe just remove all of the Oxford comas?
Secondly, isn't there something of a moral issue here. The newspaper is presenting the content as though it is a piece of journalism. I'm sure media studies types have a better way of framing the issue, but to represent something as journalistic output that is really nothing more than a modified press release seems, at the bare minimum, a little misleading.
Thirdly, isn't this just hugely inefficient? If the paper thinks that the press release content is valuable, but not valuable for independent reporting, why not just re-post the original press release as a press release of interest? Why spend the time and money to hire someone to make a few minor stylistic changes that can't possibly be significant enough to eliminate any copyright-related issues? In an era when newsroom cuts are rampant, this seems a particularly strange practice and an area ripe for modernization and reform.
Not surprisingly, it was noted that the quotes attributed to Peters' came from the press release. The rest of the 'article' doesn't appear to be so upfront about its origins.
I was a little bit surprised to see that the 'article' mentioned that
The tour will feature ... video cameras and screens for an up-close and intimate show that will capture his signature audience improv in an arena setting.Did a newspaper article really just include a passage about a modern stadium show having video cameras and screens? Is the author assuming that the audience hasn't seen such a show in 20 years?
And what about that part about "his signature audience improve," is that the kind of phrasing that would normally appear in a newspaper article about an upcoming show?
Anyway, a few of the passages in the article caught my attention. They just didn't read like an article - they read like a news release. In the end I thought I should try to find the news release mentioned in the article and compare it to the Citizen's article. Turns out they are pretty similar.
Here's a pretty good example of the copy-paste journalism employed in this instance.
As the article puts it:
Peters has given away more than $1 million over the past several years to various charities, from the Brampton Civic Hospital to Heart House Hospice, Gilda’s Club, the MS Society and a scholarship at his former high school (The Russell Peters North Peel Scholarship) to send a deserving student to college. The scholarship is now in its third year.
And as it appears in the original press release:
Peters has given away more than a million dollars over the past several years to various charities, from the Brampton Civic Hospital, to Heart House Hospice, Gilda's Club, the MS Society and a scholarship at his old high-school, TheRussell Peters North Peel Scholarship to send a deserving student to college. The scholarship is now in its third year.Similarities like these can be found throughout the article. Paragraph after paragraph has been basically lifted from the press release.
There are a few aspects of this practice that I don't understand. First of all, isn't this basically copyright infringement? If it isn't, does it mean that I could I re-write the Harry Potter books as the Larry Sotter books and sell them for $5 less and make billions? Or maybe just remove all of the Oxford comas?
Secondly, isn't there something of a moral issue here. The newspaper is presenting the content as though it is a piece of journalism. I'm sure media studies types have a better way of framing the issue, but to represent something as journalistic output that is really nothing more than a modified press release seems, at the bare minimum, a little misleading.
Thirdly, isn't this just hugely inefficient? If the paper thinks that the press release content is valuable, but not valuable for independent reporting, why not just re-post the original press release as a press release of interest? Why spend the time and money to hire someone to make a few minor stylistic changes that can't possibly be significant enough to eliminate any copyright-related issues? In an era when newsroom cuts are rampant, this seems a particularly strange practice and an area ripe for modernization and reform.
The appearance of inclusiveness in New York
Some of you may recall that a few days ago I posted about a bill before the New York state Senate that would prohibit anonymous commenting on websites. While looking into the bill while I was preparing the post I stumbled across a New York state website that provides access to a copy of the text of the bill (as well as all other bills before the legislature as well as other legislative documents), as well as some additional information about things like expected fiscal implications.
One aspect of the website that stood out immediately was that at the bottom of the page they provide an opportunity for members of the public to publicly comment on the bill or give the page a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down.' Not surprisingly, to comment they require one to sign in through one of any number common web identifiers (Ex. OpenID or a Yahoo account). Though this hurdle is likely meant to cut down on nonconstructive comments and spam. Once you've submitted a comment one is notified that before comments are posted for the public to see they must be approved by a moderator.
Because no one had yet commented on the bill, or at least that's how it seemed at the time, I thought that I might give their system a shot and show who their whole system worked. And as this is the first time I've seen this option available to members of the public I thought I would try to help those responsible for implementing the system out by giving them some traffic.
I can't remember what my first comment a few days ago was, but I know it was pretty mundane. I probably commented/asked about enforcement. Whatever the case may be, it's now been almost a week since I made the comment on the site and it still hasn't been approved by the moderators nor have I received a notice indicating that my comment has been rejected. Even the 'thumbs down' that I gave the bill hasn't yet made an appearance.
While I think it is admirable of the New York State Senate to try to use new technologies to encourage the participation of the citizenship in the legislative process, I fear that implementing a system that is either non-functional or incredibly slow may actually be worse for public participation. Also, by making the terms of comment moderation unclear users aren't able to know if any comments that do make it past the moderators are really reflective of public sentiment, or if the comment they are reading are those comments favoured by the moderator/censor. Even if the comments aren't being censored/skewed the fact that they are moderated makes it hard for a skeptical public to know that this is actually the case and that the viewable comments do accurately reflect the views of the comment posting public.
My gut is telling me that it seems likely that the level of discussion that we are seeing on these New York Senate bills will be not to dissimilar from the type of discussion we might come to find standard in a world where anti-anonymity on the internet legislation is the norm.
One aspect of the website that stood out immediately was that at the bottom of the page they provide an opportunity for members of the public to publicly comment on the bill or give the page a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down.' Not surprisingly, to comment they require one to sign in through one of any number common web identifiers (Ex. OpenID or a Yahoo account). Though this hurdle is likely meant to cut down on nonconstructive comments and spam. Once you've submitted a comment one is notified that before comments are posted for the public to see they must be approved by a moderator.
Because no one had yet commented on the bill, or at least that's how it seemed at the time, I thought that I might give their system a shot and show who their whole system worked. And as this is the first time I've seen this option available to members of the public I thought I would try to help those responsible for implementing the system out by giving them some traffic.
I can't remember what my first comment a few days ago was, but I know it was pretty mundane. I probably commented/asked about enforcement. Whatever the case may be, it's now been almost a week since I made the comment on the site and it still hasn't been approved by the moderators nor have I received a notice indicating that my comment has been rejected. Even the 'thumbs down' that I gave the bill hasn't yet made an appearance.
While I think it is admirable of the New York State Senate to try to use new technologies to encourage the participation of the citizenship in the legislative process, I fear that implementing a system that is either non-functional or incredibly slow may actually be worse for public participation. Also, by making the terms of comment moderation unclear users aren't able to know if any comments that do make it past the moderators are really reflective of public sentiment, or if the comment they are reading are those comments favoured by the moderator/censor. Even if the comments aren't being censored/skewed the fact that they are moderated makes it hard for a skeptical public to know that this is actually the case and that the viewable comments do accurately reflect the views of the comment posting public.
My gut is telling me that it seems likely that the level of discussion that we are seeing on these New York Senate bills will be not to dissimilar from the type of discussion we might come to find standard in a world where anti-anonymity on the internet legislation is the norm.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
My hours of Raccoon Watch finally paid off
Soon after we moved into our new Ottawa apartment we learned that, like many urban areas in North America, our neighborhood has something of a raccoon problem. Much to our surprise it took only a few days for us to spot a local raccoon making its way across the roof of the garage behind our building.
After this first sighting we soon learned that if you wanted to see this local raccoon all you needed to do was sit on our balcony at dusk and, like clockwork, it will make its way across the roof and through a gap between the garage and the adjacent fence.
After about two days of this apparent pattern I was hooked. I started spending at least a few minutes our balcony each night watching and listening for this neighborhood raccoon to make its nightly appearance. Even after only five or ten minutes to my stakeout I was almost always rewarded with an appearance by the raccoon.
Of course one of the frustrations of my nightly watch was my seeming inability to take a photo of the creature that didn't look as though I had taken a photo of dirt. After a few dozen photos I was beginning to think that I might never be able to properly capture a reasonable image of our furry friend.
Finally on Friday night my luck turned. Our neighbors seem to have been kind enough to have left some trash out for the raccoon to rummage through on Thursday night, and then they were also kind enough to leave the shredded bag in the same place on their back steps all day on Friday.
This great generosity on the part of our neighbors turned out to be enough to attract the raccoon back for a second feeding from the same source on Friday night. Because the back porch on which the pile of garbage was located was a story off the ground and also not the ground I was finally able to have a much better view of the animal.
It turned out all I needed to get a better shot of the animal was a better view, and maybe also the raccoon's innate sense of performance.
While I won't go so far as to say that this is a great, or even good, photo of a raccoon, at least it is a photo of a raccoon that is clearly a photo of a raccoon.
After this first sighting we soon learned that if you wanted to see this local raccoon all you needed to do was sit on our balcony at dusk and, like clockwork, it will make its way across the roof and through a gap between the garage and the adjacent fence.
After about two days of this apparent pattern I was hooked. I started spending at least a few minutes our balcony each night watching and listening for this neighborhood raccoon to make its nightly appearance. Even after only five or ten minutes to my stakeout I was almost always rewarded with an appearance by the raccoon.
Of course one of the frustrations of my nightly watch was my seeming inability to take a photo of the creature that didn't look as though I had taken a photo of dirt. After a few dozen photos I was beginning to think that I might never be able to properly capture a reasonable image of our furry friend.
Finally on Friday night my luck turned. Our neighbors seem to have been kind enough to have left some trash out for the raccoon to rummage through on Thursday night, and then they were also kind enough to leave the shredded bag in the same place on their back steps all day on Friday.
This great generosity on the part of our neighbors turned out to be enough to attract the raccoon back for a second feeding from the same source on Friday night. Because the back porch on which the pile of garbage was located was a story off the ground and also not the ground I was finally able to have a much better view of the animal.
It turned out all I needed to get a better shot of the animal was a better view, and maybe also the raccoon's innate sense of performance.
While I won't go so far as to say that this is a great, or even good, photo of a raccoon, at least it is a photo of a raccoon that is clearly a photo of a raccoon.
Marathon day in Ottawa
Today was the second day of Ottawa's annual "Race Weekend." Consequently, the marathon and half marathon were run today. As Jeannette was participating in the half marathon I ended up observing a few more of the festivities than I likely otherwise would have.
Almost as soon as we arrived on the scene it was clear that this was a bigger event than I had imagined it would be (despite the fact that Jeannette had already told me that about 11 000 would be running the half marathon with her).
Even though there were thousands of runners assembling for the race when we arrived it was pretty easy to find Jeannette's starting position. Once she decided to head into her corral I made my way to the other side of the starting line so that I could watch the race begin, which was scheduled for 9:00 AM (the marathon had started at 7:00).
My plan was to hang around the finish line until I saw Jeannette pass by. Unfortunately, the density of the runners prevented me from seeing her as she passed. Eventually it became clear that her corral had been emptied and that I had somehow missed her.
I then made my way over to the finish line with hopes that I might see the winners of the marathon. While making my way to the finish line, a task that proved more complicated than I originally anticipated, I saw a few runners on the other side of the canal as they were nearing the end of the race. While I don't know if these were the first and second place finishers (though I think they were), I do know that they must have been near the front of the pack (and that they certainly arrived with a few minutes of the first place finisher's 2:09 time if they weren't the winners).
I finally made it to the finish line at about 2:23 after the beginning of the marathon. Fortunately I was still early enough to see a few of the international marathoners come in.
Actually, the first guy I saw finish turned out to be a guy from New Zealand.
As this guy ran past me it look as though he had run through some mud, which seemed strange considering how dry it was. A second or two later, while the guy was still in sight, I finally realized the source of the 'mud' running down this guy's leg. I'm now pretty confident that I won't ever be trying to run a marathon.
A few minutes later I learned that I had, in fact, managed to make it in time to see the first female. My memory is that she finished around the 2:30 mark (and seemed to be going strong).
Just before the three hour mark, maybe at about 2:53, I spotted MP Ryan Leef (the runner in white in the photo below). A recent Ottawa Citizen story on the MP alerted me to the fact that he would be racing today. Fortunately he came through at a time when there were few enough racers finishing that individuals were still easy to spot even if you weren't too familiar with their appearance.
At the 3:10 mark I noticed the 3:10 'pace bunny' finishing. Much to my surprise, this individual managed to finish within about 50 seconds of their target time. This seems particularly impressive given the delays that one can experience at the beginning of a race.
At about this time the first of the half marathon competitors finished. My guess is that the first half marathoner finished at about the 1:11 mark, or 3:11 on the marathon clock (you may recall that the two races started two hours apart).
At about the 3:16 mark a runner being guided towards the finish line by a member of the medical team crossed just as they made it to the finish line. It was really quite impressive to see them lose all control of their body, but only once they had finished. Though this wasn't the only medical emergency of the day, I'm glad to report it was one of only two that I saw (the other was a woman being similarly guided towards the finish line but I didn't see if she collapsed or not).
But then Batman came by and cheered everyone up.
About four minutes later I saw a guy running without shoes. As far as I could tell his feet seemed to be in fine shape, though I guess without a closer inspection might be hard to tell.
At the 1:43 mark of the half marathon I finally saw someone I recognized, our friend Duncan, though just as he was passing me. It turns out that our friend Kate finished just before Duncan and some how made it past without me spotting her.
Just after the two hour mark for the half marathon I spotted Jeannette.
She ended up finishing less than a minute after her targeted time. When you consider the quantity of congestion she had to deal with at the end of the race I think it's pretty fair that she met her goal (even if she doesn't see it that way).
Almost like magic Jeannette and I found each other easily after the race (I was worried that the thousands of racers and spectators might prove to be a barrier to meeting). After walking around the festivities for a while, and hitting up the four free cans of beer tent, we grabbed a few coffees and made our way back home.
Almost as soon as we arrived on the scene it was clear that this was a bigger event than I had imagined it would be (despite the fact that Jeannette had already told me that about 11 000 would be running the half marathon with her).
Even though there were thousands of runners assembling for the race when we arrived it was pretty easy to find Jeannette's starting position. Once she decided to head into her corral I made my way to the other side of the starting line so that I could watch the race begin, which was scheduled for 9:00 AM (the marathon had started at 7:00).
I then made my way over to the finish line with hopes that I might see the winners of the marathon. While making my way to the finish line, a task that proved more complicated than I originally anticipated, I saw a few runners on the other side of the canal as they were nearing the end of the race. While I don't know if these were the first and second place finishers (though I think they were), I do know that they must have been near the front of the pack (and that they certainly arrived with a few minutes of the first place finisher's 2:09 time if they weren't the winners).
I finally made it to the finish line at about 2:23 after the beginning of the marathon. Fortunately I was still early enough to see a few of the international marathoners come in.
Actually, the first guy I saw finish turned out to be a guy from New Zealand.
As this guy ran past me it look as though he had run through some mud, which seemed strange considering how dry it was. A second or two later, while the guy was still in sight, I finally realized the source of the 'mud' running down this guy's leg. I'm now pretty confident that I won't ever be trying to run a marathon.
A few minutes later I learned that I had, in fact, managed to make it in time to see the first female. My memory is that she finished around the 2:30 mark (and seemed to be going strong).
Just before the three hour mark, maybe at about 2:53, I spotted MP Ryan Leef (the runner in white in the photo below). A recent Ottawa Citizen story on the MP alerted me to the fact that he would be racing today. Fortunately he came through at a time when there were few enough racers finishing that individuals were still easy to spot even if you weren't too familiar with their appearance.
At the 3:10 mark I noticed the 3:10 'pace bunny' finishing. Much to my surprise, this individual managed to finish within about 50 seconds of their target time. This seems particularly impressive given the delays that one can experience at the beginning of a race.
At about this time the first of the half marathon competitors finished. My guess is that the first half marathoner finished at about the 1:11 mark, or 3:11 on the marathon clock (you may recall that the two races started two hours apart).
At about the 3:16 mark a runner being guided towards the finish line by a member of the medical team crossed just as they made it to the finish line. It was really quite impressive to see them lose all control of their body, but only once they had finished. Though this wasn't the only medical emergency of the day, I'm glad to report it was one of only two that I saw (the other was a woman being similarly guided towards the finish line but I didn't see if she collapsed or not).
But then Batman came by and cheered everyone up.
About four minutes later I saw a guy running without shoes. As far as I could tell his feet seemed to be in fine shape, though I guess without a closer inspection might be hard to tell.
At the 1:43 mark of the half marathon I finally saw someone I recognized, our friend Duncan, though just as he was passing me. It turns out that our friend Kate finished just before Duncan and some how made it past without me spotting her.
Just after the two hour mark for the half marathon I spotted Jeannette.
She ended up finishing less than a minute after her targeted time. When you consider the quantity of congestion she had to deal with at the end of the race I think it's pretty fair that she met her goal (even if she doesn't see it that way).
Almost like magic Jeannette and I found each other easily after the race (I was worried that the thousands of racers and spectators might prove to be a barrier to meeting). After walking around the festivities for a while, and hitting up the four free cans of beer tent, we grabbed a few coffees and made our way back home.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Things that are the best
As a follow-up to my recent post about things that should be banned I thought that I should try to spread some positivity.
So here is a list of things that are the best, at least for today and according to me:
1) Our two new window air conditioning units.
Sure, these window based units aren't central air, but they are already making life more pleasant. And if appreciate them this much in late May I can't imagine how much I will appreciate them in July.
I knew it would be hot in Ottawa in the Summer, I just had no idea that it would be so hot in May.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Things that should be banned
While I'm not normally in favour of legal heavy handedness, over the past few days a number things necessitating bans have come to my attention
1) Kitchens with single sinks
2) The wearing of three piece suits in the summer
3) Tomatoes
1) Kitchens with single sinks
Is there anything more infuriating than trying to wash dishes in a single-sink? And there's no way that using a single sink dishwashing is less efficient in the long run. Simply put, a requirement for at least a double sink should be in all building codes (and retrofits required for those kitchens not in compliance).
2) The wearing of three piece suits in the summer
I get it that all kinds of guys with three piece suits don't have that many opportunities to wear them, but that doesn't mean it's OK to wear them when it's 30 degrees outside (just think about all of the AC costs). A further benefit is that this ban will prevent those who might be inclined to wear a three-piece suit in the summer from looking like doofuses. Everybody wins with this one.
3) Tomatoes
Just because they're the grossest. Yuck.
Is this the Telegram?
I picked up my copy of today's Ottawa Citizen and turned it over to see a picture of St. John's East MP Jack Harris. For a second it felt as though I had picked up a copy of the St. John's Telegram.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
NY's potential contribution to the perfection of the internet
On the Media, a great public radio show from New York, just brought to my attention a bill from New York that is aimed at the elimination of anonymous commenting on internet sites (I can't tell if their goal is to reform the entire internet, or just the part of the internet that resides in New York state - in either case the whole thing seems a little futile).
Given that the bill is less than a page long (and is really just an amendment to the civil rights law) I was able to breeze through it in just a few minutes.
The first aspect of the bill that caught my attention was the definition of the term 'anonymous poster.' In the bill an
Another definitional matter that is worth thinking about is that they haven't defined what constitutes a 'message.' Might a 'thumbs up' or a 'like' be a 'message'? In some ways, these non-verbal interactions with web-based content may be just as important or meaningful as various forms of written contributions. And what about videos or audio content, are these things 'messages'?
Aside from obvious jurisdictional, technological, and enforcement issues, I was also struck by the bill's brief business end. If passed the bill will require
Secondly, and this is maybe the most striking feature of this bill, the suggestion that one can engage in anonymous posting as long as 'anonymous posters' provide their name, address, and contact information seems to be something of an oxymoron to me. It would seem to me that if an 'anonymous poster' is providing all of this information that they are no longer anonymous - but that's just my non-legal reading of this text (and if you recall the earlier definition 'anonymous poster' meant basically anyone posting anything on the web so maybe this isn't as crazy as it seems).
Of course, the substantive issue that this bill seems to be addressing is the legitimacy of anonymous communication. It would seem that those in support of this bill don't think that residents of New York/users of the internet should be able to engage in anonymous communication despite the fact that anonymous communication has a long and storied history in the United States, The Federalist Papers being a particularly prominent example of an important anonymous publication in the US. Given first amendment protections of free speech in the US this position seems strange, and, based on a quick internet search, not only that is likely to fare well under the harsh light of judicial review.
Anyway, I guess we'll see if this makes it anywhere (and as nothing has happened since the bill's introduction on March 21 my fears may be for naught).
Given that the bill is less than a page long (and is really just an amendment to the civil rights law) I was able to breeze through it in just a few minutes.
The first aspect of the bill that caught my attention was the definition of the term 'anonymous poster.' In the bill an
ANONYMOUS POSTER IS ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO POSTS A MESSAGE ON A WEB SITE INCLUDING SOCIAL NETWORKS, BLOGS FORUMS, MESSAGE BOARDS ORANY OTHER DISCUSSION SITE WHERE PEOPLE CAN HOLD CONVERSATIONS IN THE FORM OF POSTED MESSAGES.According to my reading of this definition the 'anonymous' descriptor is really superfluous as they seem to be referring to any and all who post messages on websites. Why not use this basic definition of a 'poster' and then suggest that anyone who engages in such actions without providing their legal name and contact information is an 'anonymous poster'? Or is that too obvious a solution?
Another definitional matter that is worth thinking about is that they haven't defined what constitutes a 'message.' Might a 'thumbs up' or a 'like' be a 'message'? In some ways, these non-verbal interactions with web-based content may be just as important or meaningful as various forms of written contributions. And what about videos or audio content, are these things 'messages'?
Aside from obvious jurisdictional, technological, and enforcement issues, I was also struck by the bill's brief business end. If passed the bill will require
A WEB SITE ADMINISTRATOR UPON REQUEST SHALL REMOVE ANY COMMENTS POSTED ON HIS OR HER WEB SITE BY AN ANONYMOUS POSTER UNLESS SUCH ANONYMOUS POSTER AGREES TO ATTACH HIS OR HER NAME TO THE POST AND CONFIRMS THAT HIS OR HER IP ADDRESS, LEGAL NAME, AND HOME ADDRESS ARE ACCURATE. ALL WEB SITE ADMINISTRATORS SHALL HAVE A CONTACT NUMBER OR E-MAIL ADDRESS POSTED FOR SUCH REMOVAL REQUESTS, CLEARLY VISIBLE IN ANY SECTIONS WHERE COMMENTS ARE POSTED.First of all, who can lodge such a request? Is this opportunity open to anyone, and if so how are they expected to go about doing this? Can I use New York and its courts to unmask trolls even if I nor the trolls are in New York?
Secondly, and this is maybe the most striking feature of this bill, the suggestion that one can engage in anonymous posting as long as 'anonymous posters' provide their name, address, and contact information seems to be something of an oxymoron to me. It would seem to me that if an 'anonymous poster' is providing all of this information that they are no longer anonymous - but that's just my non-legal reading of this text (and if you recall the earlier definition 'anonymous poster' meant basically anyone posting anything on the web so maybe this isn't as crazy as it seems).
Of course, the substantive issue that this bill seems to be addressing is the legitimacy of anonymous communication. It would seem that those in support of this bill don't think that residents of New York/users of the internet should be able to engage in anonymous communication despite the fact that anonymous communication has a long and storied history in the United States, The Federalist Papers being a particularly prominent example of an important anonymous publication in the US. Given first amendment protections of free speech in the US this position seems strange, and, based on a quick internet search, not only that is likely to fare well under the harsh light of judicial review.
Anyway, I guess we'll see if this makes it anywhere (and as nothing has happened since the bill's introduction on March 21 my fears may be for naught).
A Few Quick Notes 578
-Who knew that 22 and 65% humidity could feel so good? Anyway, after a few days of oppressive heat 22 seems divine. Even if we make it all the way to the forecast high of 25 I think I will be able to rid it out.
-The other nice thing about it not being 30+ is that my computer doesn't seem to be reacting so negatively to the temperature. Though I guess having an excuse to no use my computer when it's over 30 isn't all bad.
-Peter brought the following video to my attention.
[Embedded video]
Who knew that switching between basketball teams would require the jumbotron/scoreboard unit to be lowered?
-Yesterday night, for the first time as far as I can remember, I tried some faux-meat stuff in the form of fake taco meat. While whatever I ate wasn't exactly like taco meat, it definitely kind of worked like taco meat and was probably sufficient for most of my taco needs. In addition to this stuff being red meat free, it was nice that I didn't need much time to prepare it before it was ready to go.
-The other nice thing about it not being 30+ is that my computer doesn't seem to be reacting so negatively to the temperature. Though I guess having an excuse to no use my computer when it's over 30 isn't all bad.
-Peter brought the following video to my attention.
[Embedded video]
Who knew that switching between basketball teams would require the jumbotron/scoreboard unit to be lowered?
-Yesterday night, for the first time as far as I can remember, I tried some faux-meat stuff in the form of fake taco meat. While whatever I ate wasn't exactly like taco meat, it definitely kind of worked like taco meat and was probably sufficient for most of my taco needs. In addition to this stuff being red meat free, it was nice that I didn't need much time to prepare it before it was ready to go.
Monday, May 21, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 577
-I'm starting to become a little a little worried that Ottawa is going to be pretty hot this summer. Yesterday it was 32 in the afternoon, and we're still only in May. I am starting to worry what June, July, and August are going to look like.
-Though I'm not entirely sure that this makes sense, I think my computer was responding negatively to the high temperatures. Just as the day reached its hottest point my computer stopped responding to left mouse clicks. Now that it's cooler everything seems to be back to normal. It will be a real bummer if I can't left click during the mid-day all summer long.
-This weekend I engaged in some serious re-potting and seed planting. While we don't yet have much to show for my efforts plant-wise, we are starting to make a good dent in the space available for such pots. I am also starting to get the sense that the potting soil we purchased may have had all kinds of tomato seeds in it as we are getting what appear to be small tomato plants in quite a number of the pots. I guess I'll keep an eye on these over the coming days.
-I kind of want to go on a walk just to get some exercise and to leave the apartment for a little while. Of course because I didn't do this in the morning I will now have to wait another five hours or so if I want to do this without being assaulted by full intensity of the mid-day sun.
-Maybe I can adopt some kind of reverse sleep schedule that would see me sleeping from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM so that I could avoid the hottest part of the day? Unfortunately, this probably isn't too likely.
-Though I'm not entirely sure that this makes sense, I think my computer was responding negatively to the high temperatures. Just as the day reached its hottest point my computer stopped responding to left mouse clicks. Now that it's cooler everything seems to be back to normal. It will be a real bummer if I can't left click during the mid-day all summer long.
-This weekend I engaged in some serious re-potting and seed planting. While we don't yet have much to show for my efforts plant-wise, we are starting to make a good dent in the space available for such pots. I am also starting to get the sense that the potting soil we purchased may have had all kinds of tomato seeds in it as we are getting what appear to be small tomato plants in quite a number of the pots. I guess I'll keep an eye on these over the coming days.
-I kind of want to go on a walk just to get some exercise and to leave the apartment for a little while. Of course because I didn't do this in the morning I will now have to wait another five hours or so if I want to do this without being assaulted by full intensity of the mid-day sun.
-Maybe I can adopt some kind of reverse sleep schedule that would see me sleeping from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM so that I could avoid the hottest part of the day? Unfortunately, this probably isn't too likely.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
At least there's no tax?
Just a few minutes ago I learned that Cirque du Soleil will be visiting Ottawa this summer with their new Michael Jackson show. I was curious to see how much tickets are so I followed the links to the online vendor associated with the performance venue.
Not surprisingly, there is quite a range in ticket prices. While some tickets are available for $50, quite a number of the tickets for seats closed to the stage are $175.
When I used their system to calculate the price for two $80 tickets I was surprised to see that the total price was much higher than $160.
Apparently there are a few fees associated with each ticket.
I realize this position isn't particularly new or original, but what's with a $13.50 ticket fee? That's more than 25% of the value of a $50 ticket. Is it just me or does that seem a bit high? And what's with the separate $3.50 Capital Replacement Fund fee? Why don't they just roll the ticket fee and Capital Replacement Fund together, or, even better, just include both of these items in the price of the ticket/rental? I know that I'd rather see a $67 ticket price than a $50 ticket only to find out that it will cost $17 more than advertised. I have a hard time believing that I'm alone on this one.
Oh, and then the other great thing is that they include an order charge of $3.50. As far as I can tell this is basically the customer paying for the privilege of shopping with them. Again, if the business model isn't sustainable without this additional fee why not just include it in the rental or ticket price up front? Why risk pissing customers off in this way?
Of course maybe I'm the one who's got it all wrong. Maybe they've learned over time that a lower ticket price is what matters and that people don't respond negatively to an almost %40 difference between the advertised ticket price and total cost.
So while I might have been willing to pay $68.75 for a $68.75 ticket I am much less inclined to pay $68.75 for a $50 ticket. At the end of the day it's maybe a good thing that I find these fees so offensive because I probably shouldn't really be paying $68.75 for any ticket, no matter its sticker price.
Not surprisingly, there is quite a range in ticket prices. While some tickets are available for $50, quite a number of the tickets for seats closed to the stage are $175.
When I used their system to calculate the price for two $80 tickets I was surprised to see that the total price was much higher than $160.
I realize this position isn't particularly new or original, but what's with a $13.50 ticket fee? That's more than 25% of the value of a $50 ticket. Is it just me or does that seem a bit high? And what's with the separate $3.50 Capital Replacement Fund fee? Why don't they just roll the ticket fee and Capital Replacement Fund together, or, even better, just include both of these items in the price of the ticket/rental? I know that I'd rather see a $67 ticket price than a $50 ticket only to find out that it will cost $17 more than advertised. I have a hard time believing that I'm alone on this one.
Oh, and then the other great thing is that they include an order charge of $3.50. As far as I can tell this is basically the customer paying for the privilege of shopping with them. Again, if the business model isn't sustainable without this additional fee why not just include it in the rental or ticket price up front? Why risk pissing customers off in this way?
Of course maybe I'm the one who's got it all wrong. Maybe they've learned over time that a lower ticket price is what matters and that people don't respond negatively to an almost %40 difference between the advertised ticket price and total cost.
So while I might have been willing to pay $68.75 for a $68.75 ticket I am much less inclined to pay $68.75 for a $50 ticket. At the end of the day it's maybe a good thing that I find these fees so offensive because I probably shouldn't really be paying $68.75 for any ticket, no matter its sticker price.
Friday, May 18, 2012
What's up with all of the vegan hating?
Today I, once again, made the mistake of reading a post on the Freakonomics blog and then reading engaging in the comment section. This post was kind of about biking and veganism and their relative environmental merits, though in many ways it wasn't really much of a post or all that much about either of these topics.
Despite the fact that there really wasn't all that much meat in the post itself, quite a number of commenters latched on to the vegan thing and ran with it. And with their cause in hand they ran right to the land of criticism.
While reading the comments I learned,
and that
The other part of the equation that I don't quite understand is the apparent indignation that many people exhibit when they hear about the idea of a vegan diet. Does it really make sense to be upset that someone else has decided not to eat any animal products? Especially in the US context where 'freedom' is a cause célèbre, why should it matter if some one has decided not to eat meat for for whatever reason?
A related issue that I find similarly frustrating is the suggestion that humans have evolved to eat meat and therefore should eat meat. Unfortunately, for better or worse, despite that the fact that most humans share many traits, it is not the case that all humans react the same way to all foods. It's pretty clear that quite a large portion of the population doesn't respond well to dairy products, and there are other portions of the population that don't respond well to other foods - some people even have a hard time with meat. So in those cases when the consumption of particular animal products may cause illness or discomfort it seems reasonable that they should be avoided.
But this also demonstrates that a uniform human diet isn't feasible or desirable. Promoting the misconception that all humans need to consume meat and/or dairy is likely to lead to adverse effects in some portion of the population. By denying the fact that humans are different and that they may respond to foods differently we risk discouraging individuals from becoming aware of the fact that the consumption of certain foods may be having negative impacts on their health.
Despite the fact that there really wasn't all that much meat in the post itself, quite a number of commenters latched on to the vegan thing and ran with it. And with their cause in hand they ran right to the land of criticism.
While reading the comments I learned,
It’s a moral choice because Vegan foods are almost always [sic] awful than foods that actually cater to human biology and evolutionary preferences.
and that
Biking is fun. Eating vegan not so much.Maybe these aren't the most anti-vegan comments that are out there, but, at least as far as I am concerned, they pretty obviously incorrect. I would guess that most foods people eat on a daily basis are already animal product free. Maybe more importantly, I would guess that most people quite like many of the vegan foods they enjoy on a daily basis. Furthermore, many vegan foods are pretty straight forward to make/acquire and are pretty tasty.
The other part of the equation that I don't quite understand is the apparent indignation that many people exhibit when they hear about the idea of a vegan diet. Does it really make sense to be upset that someone else has decided not to eat any animal products? Especially in the US context where 'freedom' is a cause célèbre, why should it matter if some one has decided not to eat meat for for whatever reason?
A related issue that I find similarly frustrating is the suggestion that humans have evolved to eat meat and therefore should eat meat. Unfortunately, for better or worse, despite that the fact that most humans share many traits, it is not the case that all humans react the same way to all foods. It's pretty clear that quite a large portion of the population doesn't respond well to dairy products, and there are other portions of the population that don't respond well to other foods - some people even have a hard time with meat. So in those cases when the consumption of particular animal products may cause illness or discomfort it seems reasonable that they should be avoided.
But this also demonstrates that a uniform human diet isn't feasible or desirable. Promoting the misconception that all humans need to consume meat and/or dairy is likely to lead to adverse effects in some portion of the population. By denying the fact that humans are different and that they may respond to foods differently we risk discouraging individuals from becoming aware of the fact that the consumption of certain foods may be having negative impacts on their health.
Monday, May 14, 2012
You all remember the Millington Massacre, right?
Somehow, and I really don't know exactly how, I've been included on the fundraising mailing list for the Tuscola County, Michigan's Sheriff. Thanks to a scan from my Uncle I've been able to examine the most recent mailing, a letter from the Sheriff seeking donations to the Michigan Sheriff's Association.
One thing that amazed me about the letter, though it probably shouldn't have, was the clear inclination to emphasize threats to the community and the pervasiveness of crime. In just the second sentence the letter warns that
(I was curious to know how much crime there is in Tuscola County and how many of the reported crimes are resolved, so I visited a Michigan State Police site that provides crime and arrest stats on county and agency basis. It seems that in 2010 the Tuscola County Sheriff received 89 reports of Burglary - Forced Entry while the county total was 179. As far as arrests go, the Tuscola County Sheriff reported 7 Burglary - Forced Entry arrests while the arrest total for the county was 18. I should also mention that in the same year there were zero murders reported and zero arrests for murder.)
Anyway, fear mongering aside, the part of the letter that really got under my skin was the following sentence.
At this point I think it is important to think about what a crime against humanity really is, and whether or not such crimes really exist in a rural county in one of the richest countries in the world. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines crimes against humanity as follows:
Unless the "crime against humanity" the Sheriff is talking about is simply the "great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health" that may come as a result of living in Michigan, I have a hard time imagining that the Sheriff of Tuscola County, Michigan's "law enforcement officers witness some of the worst crimes against humanity." Not only do I doubt that they witness the "some of the worst crimes against humanity," I doubt they even witness any such crimes.
So not only does this letter betray a limited understanding of the term 'crime against humanity,' I think it goes one step further. By labelling run-of-the-mill rural crimes as 'crimes against humanity' the significance of the term in the global context risks being diminished. By using the term in this way at least one key aspect of the concept, which is that the crimes must be "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population," is lost. Thus recipients of this letter, or other individuals who've seen the word used in a similar way, may not understand the significance and particular meaning of the term. When they hear the term in relation to a real 'crime against humanity' they may not understand the widespread nature of the crime that the term is meant to indicate. We risk diminishing our common understanding and appreciation of the particularly heinous nature of this class of crime, a class of crime that has included such things as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide.
Sure, to quote Cheech and Chong, "Things are tough all over," but that doesn't mean that when describing these problems we should overemphasize the frequency of their occurrence or overstate the nature of the problem. Not only does the bearer of this questionable news risk undermining their own credibility, but they risk diminishing our collective understanding of important and meaningful concepts like 'crimes against humanity' that have very specific definitions and are thus not something that should be used as a rhetorical tool.
One thing that amazed me about the letter, though it probably shouldn't have, was the clear inclination to emphasize threats to the community and the pervasiveness of crime. In just the second sentence the letter warns that
Every day we hear of the ravaging effects of violence, theft, predators, drug abuse, and many other deadly types of crime.Seems to me that the Sheriffs might be better served by focusing on the good work they've already been doing preventing crime rather than emphasizing the continuing spread of crime under their watch. You know, provide some evidence that existence of Sheriffs helps keep a lid on crime rather than implying that crime has continued to spread. But this disinclination to highlight achievements was really hammered home when by the Sheriff suggesting not that he is busy doing everything is his power to keep you safe, but that "I will do everything in my power to keep you safe [emphasis in original]." I can't help but come away with the feeling that the message is that he will step up to the plate and start doing his job, the job for which he is currently being paid by the County, once the voters have made enough donations to his Association. Or am I being to cynical?
(I was curious to know how much crime there is in Tuscola County and how many of the reported crimes are resolved, so I visited a Michigan State Police site that provides crime and arrest stats on county and agency basis. It seems that in 2010 the Tuscola County Sheriff received 89 reports of Burglary - Forced Entry while the county total was 179. As far as arrests go, the Tuscola County Sheriff reported 7 Burglary - Forced Entry arrests while the arrest total for the county was 18. I should also mention that in the same year there were zero murders reported and zero arrests for murder.)
Anyway, fear mongering aside, the part of the letter that really got under my skin was the following sentence.
My law enforcement officers witness some of the worst crimes against humanity.Really? Are you sure about that?
At this point I think it is important to think about what a crime against humanity really is, and whether or not such crimes really exist in a rural county in one of the richest countries in the world. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines crimes against humanity as follows:
1. For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(j) The crime of apartheid;
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
Unless the "crime against humanity" the Sheriff is talking about is simply the "great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health" that may come as a result of living in Michigan, I have a hard time imagining that the Sheriff of Tuscola County, Michigan's "law enforcement officers witness some of the worst crimes against humanity." Not only do I doubt that they witness the "some of the worst crimes against humanity," I doubt they even witness any such crimes.
So not only does this letter betray a limited understanding of the term 'crime against humanity,' I think it goes one step further. By labelling run-of-the-mill rural crimes as 'crimes against humanity' the significance of the term in the global context risks being diminished. By using the term in this way at least one key aspect of the concept, which is that the crimes must be "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population," is lost. Thus recipients of this letter, or other individuals who've seen the word used in a similar way, may not understand the significance and particular meaning of the term. When they hear the term in relation to a real 'crime against humanity' they may not understand the widespread nature of the crime that the term is meant to indicate. We risk diminishing our common understanding and appreciation of the particularly heinous nature of this class of crime, a class of crime that has included such things as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide.
Sure, to quote Cheech and Chong, "Things are tough all over," but that doesn't mean that when describing these problems we should overemphasize the frequency of their occurrence or overstate the nature of the problem. Not only does the bearer of this questionable news risk undermining their own credibility, but they risk diminishing our collective understanding of important and meaningful concepts like 'crimes against humanity' that have very specific definitions and are thus not something that should be used as a rhetorical tool.
Monday, May 07, 2012
Golden wheat fields just months away?
A few days ago Jeannette and I started planting our container garden. Already we've filled much of the available space and seen several signs of growth.
Much to our surprise, our dollar store tomato start kit seems to be working wonderfully. Within just a few days quite a number of the seeds sprouted and have continued to look quite promising.
We also seen a few of our herbs doing quite well. The thyme and chives looks particularly good, though their small pots might make this look easy.
And while the beans haven't yet wowed us, the limited signs of growth are encouraging. Of course, a few more signs of growth wouldn't be bad.
Interestingly, the most impressive growth has come from wheat seeds I bought almost as a joke.
Maybe if we're lucky we'll get enough for a small loaf of bread, or maybe just enough to add a whole wheat element to professionally processed flour.
Much to our surprise, our dollar store tomato start kit seems to be working wonderfully. Within just a few days quite a number of the seeds sprouted and have continued to look quite promising.
We also seen a few of our herbs doing quite well. The thyme and chives looks particularly good, though their small pots might make this look easy.
And while the beans haven't yet wowed us, the limited signs of growth are encouraging. Of course, a few more signs of growth wouldn't be bad.
Interestingly, the most impressive growth has come from wheat seeds I bought almost as a joke.
Squawking?
This morning I was sitting drinking a coffee when I heard some squawking overhead. I looked to see some relatively large number of geese (?) flying over head in a series of Vs.
It was kind of exciting to see such a large number of animals traveling in formation. At times it's almost easy to forget that this kind of thing happens pretty regularly.
Friday, May 04, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 576
-It seems as though it has been grey and overcast almost the entire time I've been in Ottawa. Fortunately it's only been the past day or two that the humidity has made itself apparent. I guess at least it's not oppressively hot?
-On Wednesday Jeannette and I were walking down Rideau when we both suddenly and independently said "Hi" to a guy standing in the doorway of a falafel shop. It was our friend Greg and it turned out he was in town with a band for a show that evening. While the audience was smaller than hoped for, we both enjoyed the music and had a good time hanging out with Greg before he went on.
-For some reason over the course of the past few months I've heard several people tout the merits of cast iron cookware, frying pans in particular. While I guess I've always been a little hesitant to buy into the effectiveness the non-stick ability of seasoned cast iron, these recent exhortations did cause me to have the idea at the forefront of my mind when I recently came across a cookware sale.
After holding off for a few days, I eventually made a return trip to the store and purchased my first cast iron item. 'Skillet' isn't an entirely appropriate descriptor as the item in question doesn't have sides, but it is flat bottomed and clearly intended for frying.
Since I've had this thing I have been trying to use it and 'season' it. So far I think I am making progress, but it's hard to tell how much progress or much much is possible. I guess I am still a little skeptical that cast iron will ever be as non-stick as some of the synthetics are (though the absence of certain health risks may make it worth the hassle).
Anyway, I'll be sure to let you know if I see any drastic improvements in the non-stick nature of this pan as time goes on.
-A few days ago I Jeannette and I started planting our Summer container garden. The overcast and cool weather hasn't been helping the sprouting process, but we have had a few things come in. I think we've already seen evidence of development of the following seeds: thyme, lettuce, spinach, wheat, poppy, rapini, broccoli, and tomato.
I'm particularly impressed that we already have tomato growth as I really thought these were really going to be a lost cause.
Eventually, assuming they live, these tomato plants will be flipped over and grown in one of those upside-down growing contraptions. I'll finally get to see if these are as great as they claim to be.
-On Wednesday Jeannette and I were walking down Rideau when we both suddenly and independently said "Hi" to a guy standing in the doorway of a falafel shop. It was our friend Greg and it turned out he was in town with a band for a show that evening. While the audience was smaller than hoped for, we both enjoyed the music and had a good time hanging out with Greg before he went on.
-For some reason over the course of the past few months I've heard several people tout the merits of cast iron cookware, frying pans in particular. While I guess I've always been a little hesitant to buy into the effectiveness the non-stick ability of seasoned cast iron, these recent exhortations did cause me to have the idea at the forefront of my mind when I recently came across a cookware sale.
After holding off for a few days, I eventually made a return trip to the store and purchased my first cast iron item. 'Skillet' isn't an entirely appropriate descriptor as the item in question doesn't have sides, but it is flat bottomed and clearly intended for frying.
Since I've had this thing I have been trying to use it and 'season' it. So far I think I am making progress, but it's hard to tell how much progress or much much is possible. I guess I am still a little skeptical that cast iron will ever be as non-stick as some of the synthetics are (though the absence of certain health risks may make it worth the hassle).
Anyway, I'll be sure to let you know if I see any drastic improvements in the non-stick nature of this pan as time goes on.
-A few days ago I Jeannette and I started planting our Summer container garden. The overcast and cool weather hasn't been helping the sprouting process, but we have had a few things come in. I think we've already seen evidence of development of the following seeds: thyme, lettuce, spinach, wheat, poppy, rapini, broccoli, and tomato.
I'm particularly impressed that we already have tomato growth as I really thought these were really going to be a lost cause.
Eventually, assuming they live, these tomato plants will be flipped over and grown in one of those upside-down growing contraptions. I'll finally get to see if these are as great as they claim to be.
I hope you weren't planning on using Amicus this weekend
Today I saw a tweet from Library and Archives Canada that their catalogue, Amicus, will be down from this afternoon until Sunday evening.
For some reason Amicus seems to be unavailable one a somewhat regular basis. What's up with that?
Anyway, if you were planning on doing any Amicusing you should either do it now or be prepared to wait until Sunday afternoon.
For some reason Amicus seems to be unavailable one a somewhat regular basis. What's up with that?
Anyway, if you were planning on doing any Amicusing you should either do it now or be prepared to wait until Sunday afternoon.
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Men at work
So it seems that there is a construction site not to far from our new apartment. From our kitchen window I've been able to watch the the building progress. I've also been able to snag a few boring time-lapse clips - at least this one involves a little crane action.
[Embedded video]
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It only took a year
Just over a year ago after reading an editorial I found particularly distasteful I terminated my daily subscription to the Globe and Mail. For better or worse, for the past year I have been without a daily newspaper subscription.
Now that I am in Ottawa I have a few more newspaper choices. I decided to give the Ottawa Citizen a shot.
Today was the first day of my subscription. So far I'm pretty pleased. The price seems reasonable and they have a pretty good mix of national, international, and local content. And they also have a real daily crossword puzzle, not one of those lousy cryptic crossword things.
Now that I am in Ottawa I have a few more newspaper choices. I decided to give the Ottawa Citizen a shot.
Today was the first day of my subscription. So far I'm pretty pleased. The price seems reasonable and they have a pretty good mix of national, international, and local content. And they also have a real daily crossword puzzle, not one of those lousy cryptic crossword things.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Yup, that's still a thing
Much to my surprise, it's a month and a half later and I'm still updating my vegan food identification blog It's Already Vegan!
Who would have ever expected a non-vegan like me would ever have such a blog?
Though I guess that since Jeannette has become vegan I've become much closer to becoming vegan than I ever though I would. And it hasn't hurt that at about the same time Jeannette became vegan I learned that red meat consumption can encourage kidney stone formation. I'm kind of inclined to think that trying to avoid another kidney surgery would be a good idea.
All of this is basically just a way of saying that if you're looking to kill time on the internet by reading a second rate blog that I've got you covered (in more ways than one, two, three, or four).
Who would have ever expected a non-vegan like me would ever have such a blog?
Though I guess that since Jeannette has become vegan I've become much closer to becoming vegan than I ever though I would. And it hasn't hurt that at about the same time Jeannette became vegan I learned that red meat consumption can encourage kidney stone formation. I'm kind of inclined to think that trying to avoid another kidney surgery would be a good idea.
All of this is basically just a way of saying that if you're looking to kill time on the internet by reading a second rate blog that I've got you covered (in more ways than one, two, three, or four).
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Big changes
About 10 days ago I moved to Ottawa, joining Jeannette about two months into her residency here. The day after I arrived we moved into our new apartment. One of the great things about our apartment is that we are only a short walk away from Parliament.
While it was definitely a bit of a bummer to leave Wolfville, I have been enjoying my time in Ottawa. In addition to getting a rush each time I catch a glimpse of the peace tower flag there are a number of other cool things here that are pretty neat (though we haven't found the time to do too many of them yet).
Instead of focusing touristy stuff I've been trying to get a sense of the neighbourhood (and the fact that the weather's been horrible hasn't made the idea of touring very appealing). Today while I was walking to a prospective laundry site I noticed several piles of move-out related garbage.
One caught my eye as it seemed to have an Ikea table similar to tables I've had in Montreal and Wolfville. Upon closer inspection I learned that not only was the table similar to the tables I've had, but that there was also an unopened Ikea table in the pile. Apparently the former owner bought the table and didn't even ever get around to taking the five minutes required to assemble it. Wow.
Had I not been on my way somewhere I should have made sure that this unopened table was pulled out and visible so that someone could pick it up. It seems an awful was to buy a table and then throw it away without ever even so much as opening it.
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