Thanks to modern technology it can be really easy to always be checking email and taking calls. This is great for some circumstances but it’s always important to take a break from being always-connected to work. In fact, it can be good for you! Another trick: simply ask yourself “will
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Things Are Good: A Step Beyond Positive Thinking
Positive thinking gets a lot of praise because people think that just changing one’s thoughts their lives would improve. This is not entirely true. It turns out to really make change in your life you need to change how you act. Sure this sounds obvious upon reading it, but read
Continue readingThings Are Good: Farming Could Save Detroit
Detroit has been hit hard by the ongoing economic claptrap that’s plaguing the global economy; the once-thriving oil-driven economy of the city is not fairing well. The city of Detroit is now looking to environmentally friendly sources of renewing their economy: farming. Housing in Detroit is so cheap that it
Continue readingThings Are Good: WikiLeaks Releases Syria Files
WikiLeaks continues to bring the world information that would otherwise be hidden from the masses, this time it’s millions of emails and documents from Syria. The Syria Files have been given to some media organizations to filter through (much like the last large release of documents from WikiLeaks). This new
Continue readingThings Are Good: Declaration of Internet Freedom
Around the world governments are trying to restrain the ability of people to freely share information across the internet. Bills like SOPA in the USA and Bill C-30 in Canada to the more recent TPP all focus on propping up old media monopolies and curtailing people’s privacy and communication rights.
Continue readingThings Are Good: USA Urban Population Growth Outpaces the Suburbs
Regular readers know that in the modern world an urban lifestyle is more sustainable than a suburban lifestyle so it’s pretty good news to see that more people in the USA are moving into urban centres. America is where the suburbs started and have had the largest cultural impact and
Continue readingThings Are Good: Reading for Faster Freedom in Brazil
Prisoners in Brazil may be able to shorten their stay in jail by reading and writing. It’s only 48 days but it can make a difference, the prisoners need to read from a collection of philosophy, science, literature, or the classics then reflect on them in a submitted paper. Educational
Continue readingMike Powell Fanclub: Radio Topics for June 26th
The last Tuesday in June. Happy early Canada Day as next time you hear us, Canada will be another year older. We have an exciting show lined up for you. At 7:30 Adam will talk to a member of local area band The Flats about their new E.P and their
Continue readingThings Are Good: Google to Catalog Languages
The Endangered Languages Project is a new initiative run by Google to catalog languages that are threatened because of globalization. As nice as it is that the people on the planet are finding more languages in common, we still need to encourage people to embrace languages that aren’t as popular.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Iceland is the Most Peaceful Country on Earth
Iceland is a beautiful country and it’s one that is known for weathering the current economic calamity by fining bankers instead of punishing average people. It turns out that their attitude towards helping the average person and respecting the environment makes it the most peaceful country on the planet! Iceland
Continue readingThings Are Good: Two New Services to Exchange Things and Improve the World
Two similar services have sent me emails letting me know about their new startups and they both share something in common: they want you to make the world better by engaging with strangers. The way they encourage this is through web services that connect your skills with other people and
Continue readingThings Are Good: Etsy Encouraging More Women to Hack
The online craft marketplace Etsy has started funding a school that teaches people how to hack and use technology. That’s fine in itself, but what makes it good news noteworthy is that they are openly encouraging more women to get into the tech space and is having a positive impact.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Quiz: How Much do You Know About Fuel Subsidies?
I had no idea that global government subsidies for fossil fuels were at least $409 billion (USD) in 2010 compared to $66 billion for renewable energy! You can test your knowledge of how subsidized the fossil fuel industry is at National Geographic’s fuel subsidy quiz. I guarantee you’ll learn something
Continue readingThings Are Good: Australia Creates Largest Network of Marine Parks
Australia has taken a step in the right direction when it comes to protecting their natural environment. The country has announced that they’ll be creating the largest network of protected marine areas in the world. Fishing and drilling for non-renewable resources has been been banned inside the network. The announcement
Continue readingThings Are Good: Daydreaming is Good for You
I’m a fan of daydreaming so finding out that it helps one process information and be more creative has made my day! Here’s where things get interesting: those students assigned to the boring task performed far better when asked to come up with additional uses for everyday items to which
Continue readingThings Are Good: Renewable Energy Boosts Profits for UK Farmers
Farmers in the UK have benefited from complimenting their growing of crops with renewable energy production. Some farmers have installed wind turbines and others solar, but the result is the same: farmers can keep farming and profit from energy production. Renewable energy is promising to overtake rural tourism as a
Continue readingMike Powell Fanclub: Radio Topics for June 12th
Today promises a break from the heat but it returns on Wednesday and is here to stay. We have an exciting show lined up this week as Mike and Adam speculate and give their opinions regarding the Polaris Music Prize. The long list of 40 nominees is announced on Thursday.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Start-ups Founded by Women on the Rise
The tech industry is filled with men and a near-machismo culture that can be intimidating to both men and women. Fortunately inroads have been made by women into the tech world and are creating quite the splash. The emergence of young female tech founders and executives reflects sweeping change in
Continue readingThings Are Good: Toronto Joins Other Cities and Bans Plastic Bags
Toronto has joined other cities around the world that has banned plastic bags. San Francisco banned plastic bags earlier in the year, and we mustn’t forget that a small town of Leaf Rapids, Manitoba was the first place in North America to enact such a ban. This ban flies in
Continue readingThings Are Good: Tiananmen Square: Citizens Still Remember
In 1989 protestors in China took to Tiananmen Square and were confronted by tanks and the full Chinese state apparatus to shut them down. The most iconic image is the man standing in front of a row of tanks (his identity and his current whereabouts are still unknown). Even though
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