“Hundreds of people attended the Ottawa funeral of Alex Zolpis, the young man killed in a vehicle accident in a Byward Market parking garage on Christmas Eve.
Zolpis’s friend Jack Tobin — the son of former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Tobin — has been charged in connection with his death. Neither Jack nor Brian Tobin attended the funeral.
[...] Zolpis’s family asked for privacy at this time. They requested that people attending make donations to Mothers Against Drunk Driving instead of sending flowers.”
More about this and other sad tragedies here, here and here.
I would like to wish Prof. Ronald Coase good health and all the best on his 100th Birthday (Dec 29th, 2010) and his new book to be published in 2011 (see attached Economist article)! “… Mr Coase will publish a new book in 2011, with Ning Wang of Arizona State University, on “How China Became Capitalist”“
By the way, I have watched the following lecture videos by Prof. Coase probably over 5-10 times already and I am still learning something new every time. Enjoy. Note: More info after the videos.
FOR philosophers the great existential question is: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” For management theorists the more mundane equivalent is: “Why do firms exist? Why isn’t everything done by the market?” Read the rest of this entry »
One early morning when the parkade was empty in the back area, there were over 20 parking lights showing red, a “false negative” indicating those parking spots weren’t available when they were empty. And on Boxing Day, when the parkade was super busy, countless indicator lights were showing green, a “fales positive” indicating parking spots were available when they were occupied making shoppers extremely frustrated and disappointed (I gave up after a few minutes of looking for a parking spot)!
(Update: As you can see from the above picture, Chinook centre actually shut down the system later on Boxing Day.)
I am disappointed with the Park Assist technology. And I wonder why it failed so badly yesterday?! May be someone with special insights at Park Assist or Chinook centre can explain?
P.S. I’ve sent Park Assist an email and hopefully someone there can provide some additional information to add to this article.
Few days ago on Dec 15th in Calgary, there was a flash mob at TD Square organized by Pulse Studios. The following are two video clips (from different cameras). Enjoy. [HT Angie]
“Bell Canada paid a record-high $1.3-million penalty for “unauthorized telemarking practices,” including the peddling of its own services to people on the national do-not-call list, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced Monday.
“All telemarketers must respect the wishes of Canadians who have registered their telephone number on the National DNCL (do-not-call list) . . . ” Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s chief telecommunications enforcement officer, said in a statement. “Even though the calls in this instance were made by third parties, Bell Canada must ultimately ensure that the rules are followed. We appreciate Bell Canada’s willingness to work with us to address our concerns.”"
Here is “Always With Me” (いつも何度でも Itsumo Nando Demo) sang beautifully by Youmi Kimura (木村 弓), a song in the popular 2001 anime film Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki, a film that I watched again recently thanks to the Calgary Public Library 2-disc DVD version with additional bonus features.
Can’t believe it is one year already, happy first year WIND Mobile !!! Here are some of my entries and video interviews related to WIND Mobile (older entries first),
“Howie Mandel, veteran actor, comedian, author and game show host, will be honoured at BANFF 2011 with the prestigious Award of Distinction. As part of the Banff World Television Awards, the Award of Distinction recognizes an outstanding Canadian whose body of work has set the standard for excellence in the country’s entertainment industry.
With an impressive career encompassing virtually all aspects of the entertainment spectrum, Howie Mandel has been selected as emblematic of the influential role Canadians play in the global entertainment industry.
Previous Award of Distinction winners include Eric McCormack, Kim Cattrall, Paul Gross, Colm Feore and Paul Haggis.”
I saw this style of changeable ads on the HK subway. I wonder will this ad/display system work in Calgary to make some money for the city/Calgarians and provide some info for the riders?
I think in future Chinese history books, it will be noted that countries that are true friends of China were present at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony.
“Jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo, serving an 11-year sentence for writing a pro-democracy manifesto, was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia Friday despite vocal opposition from China.”
- Liu Xia, wife of Liu Xiaobo, is under house arrest. Many Chinese friends and supporters of Liu Xiaobo are under surveillance in China and are not allowed to leave China because the Chinese government feared they “might” attend the Nobel ceremony. In fact, ABC news reports, “An Australian-based Chinese dissident said police detained him for 24 hours at Shanghai’s airport and forced him to return home in a bid to stop him attending Friday’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.“
“We regret that the Laureate is not present here today. He is in isolation in a prison in north-east China. Nor can the Laureate’s wife Liu Xia or his closest relatives be here with us. No medal or diploma will therefore be presented here today.
This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate. We congratulate Liu Xiaobo on this year’s Peace Prize.
There have been a number of previous occasions when the Laureate has been prevented from attending. This has in fact been the case with several awards which have proved in the light of history to have been most significant and honourable. Read the rest of this entry »
“The mere mention of photo radar can set motorists’ teeth gnashing, but what if a portion of the money collected from speeders went into a lottery for law-abiding drivers?
Lifted your foot off the pedal a bit?
Meet the Speed Camera Lottery designed by Kevin Richardson: Senior Producer at Nickelodeon by day and innovative traffic controller by night.
[...] Richardson’s design was placed on a street in Stockholm in an experiment that ended this November. The average speed of traffic on the street before the experiment was 32 kilometres per hour. The average speed during the experiment was 25 km/h, a 22 per cent reduction.
“This is a really positive thing – drive legally and earn money. Perfect!” one motorist is heard saying on a Fun Theory video.
One lucky motorist received a $20,000 krona ($3,000) cheque.“
If Americans need any warnings of what a blind pursue of “grades” can lead to, they just need to pay attention to what has happened to Hong Kong and its educational-industrial complex.
The following are some November 2010 photos of advertisements on buses, outside of buildings, and inside buses, etc selling tutorial services for students to get better grades. There are enough money involved that some of these companies hire TV/movie stars for their advertising campaigns.
Note: The term “educational-industrial complex” is created to remind us of US President Eisenhower’s “military–industrial complex“.
***
For the record, an article about “Race to Nowhere” in New York Times.
It isn’t often that a third of a movie audience sticks around to discuss its message, but that is the effect of “Race to Nowhere,” a look at the downside of childhoods spent on résumé-building.
“How do you help your children balance when the whole education system is pushing, pushing, pushing, and you want your kids to be successful?” Alethea Lewis, a mother of two, asked a roomful of concerned parents who had just seen the film, a documentary, last week in Bronxville, N.Y., at a screening co-sponsored by the private Chapel School.
With no advertising and little news media attention, “Race to Nowhere” has become a must-see movie in communities where the kindergarten-to-Harvard steeplechase is most competitive.
Posted by kempton 
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