Finally!  The CRTC’s Do Not call List, as implemented by our friends at Bell Canada, throttlers of Internet feeds everywhere, has gone live today.  Then keeled over and died because Canadians across the nation pounced at the opportunity to shield themselves from the nefarious effects of telemarketers.

If you want to register, and I recommend you do, you can reach the website at https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/ or call one of these toll-free numbers: 1-866-580-3625 or 1-888-362-5889.  Telemarketers will then have 31 days more with you, then they need to stop.

Update: By mid-afternoon, on the first day of the DNCL, over 1.2 million phone numbers had been registered.

Last weekend, an earnest young lady named Taylor Lewis knocked on my door.  She was wearing a Sick Kids Hospital vest, and had a special tag hanging on a lanyard around her neck, identifying her as a certified agent of the hospital, empowered to represent the institution for the purposes of collecting donations.  I listened to her enthusiastic descriptions of the good works the hospital was engaged in, and how the benefits of their highly successful research extended far beyond their walls, to other hospitals, and other countries.

She answered my questions forthrightly, and I was prepared to donate twenty bucks.  Why not?  As she showed me the form, it was evident they were looking for monthly donations, rather than a one time hit.  Sure.  That made sense.  Fund raising is an expensive proposition.  If you take a one time donation, you have to start all over again the next day.  But if you find people prepared to donate monthly, it’s an ongoing revenue stream. (more…)

Ever wonder about what your Member of Parliament is up to?  How he or she voted on legislation that interests you?  Well, wonder no more.  Just clock in at http://parl.howdtheyvote.ca/ and check up on your MP or on that bill you were wondering about.

It’s not perfect:

• some bills gak the Ruby app
• they only have data for 3 sessions of parliament
• there’s no information about who put this together, or how you can help out
• they tend not to have the names of bills, never mind the text

But for now, it’s better than nothing.  And, unless I’m prepared to do something better, I can just keep my trap shut.

Over a month ago I contacted Ken Dryden’s riding office to arrange a meeting with my Member of Parliament.  I expected to see him within a week or two; I’d tell him of my concerns related to various issues of the day, and he’d take that into consideration when he returned to Ottawa.

But no.  It’s been over a month, and I don’t even have an appointment yet.  I was told his office had been flooded, and was currently being renovated.

If my office were flooded and needed to be renovated you can be sure I wouldn’t wait for the renovations to be completed before seeing my clients and assuring them I’m still on the job; that they can count on me to continue getting things done for them.  That it was business as usual.  I wouldn’t let a small matter like a bit of water get in the way of the important work I’m doing for them.

But hey, I’m not a politician. (more…)

Come September 30, 2008, Canadians can register on the CRTC’s Do-Not-Call List (DNCL).  “It was about time!” you may be saying to yourself.  Unfortunately, by some estimates, 85% of outbound telemarketing calls will NOT be affected by this list.  Which means only a meager 15% relief for the beleaguered Canadian consumer. (more…)

Mom invited me over for dafina yesterday, and as my car was in the shop most of the day, I spent the afternoon with M&D.  I had Bender with me and, to pass the time, I uploaded a few episodes of Weeds I had on my hard drive, to a jump drive.  Then I played them on Mom’s Ubuntu computer.

I always enjoy watching TV and movies with my mom: she’s very emotional and expressive.  Without fail, she’s more entertaining than the show itself.  In fact, even though she was tired and had said she was going to have a nap, she watched six episodes back to back!  She was hooked! (more…)

They called it a “strategy building session”, but it sure felt like a pep rally to me.  Don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing wrong with pep rallies.  Especially when they’re done right.  And this one was done very well.  From the hip and inspiring location, to the fresh snacks, to the articulate, well-informed, engaging speakers; it was a pleasure to participate in this event. (more…)

The spectrum auction is over, and from all accounts, the big winner of the new entrants is Globalive, which runs the “I can’t believe it’s a phone company!” Yak Communications.

Myself, I can’t believe they’ve survived this long!  These buffoons are so massively incompetent it staggers the imagination. (more…)

What cool people I work with!  Today at 12:30, we gathered in the boardroom with our lunches.  Buddy Richard hooked up his MacBook Pro (oh!  How I’m missing Bender.  And it’s only the first day…) to the projector, and regaled us with the first episode of Joss Whedon’s latest effort: a micro-miniseries (3 episodes, 15 minutes apiece) entitled Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

It’s high camp, to be sure, and artfully showcases Harris’ impeccable comedic timing, as well as Whedon’s mastery of the genre. (more…)

Chad Hensler writes in his blog about Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, encouraging Google to challenge a ruling forcing them to turn private user logs over to Viacom.  In Dr. Cavoukian’s words:

…business should not, in my opinion, rely on the surveillance of consumers to protect their copyright interests. It is not acceptable to allow copyright enforcement to come at the expense of users’ privacy.

My new personal hero.

Read the whole letter here.  (Thanks, Richard, for the link.)