Favourite tv shows, anyone? Post your favourites below. I do hate tv, but I love documentaries and history shows, and I make an exception for certain things, like Star Trek, hockey playoffs, world cup soccer, the Olympics… In no particular order, I’d say my favourite tv shows (originals only; most
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THE FIFTH COLUMN: Why #DeleteFacebook
Not because Mark Zuckerberg is a self-entitled white-privileged frat boy who based Facebook on an app he developed called Facemash to rate students “hotness”. Not because of Facebook’s Predatory Business Model that leverages users and their friends personal information to maximize profits. Not because Facebook wants to replace the open
Continue readingThings Are Good: Mozilla Launches an Incubator to Fix the Internet
Due to increased consolidation of influential websites on the internet (like Google and Facebook scrapping content from other sites) the quality of the web has arguably decreased. To stymie this corporatization of the internet, the makers of Firefox, Mozilla, have decided to launch a fund to create companies that make
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Website Powered by the Sun
The world wide web consumes a lot of energy to keep running as it is. The energy sources we use to power the net can make a big difference in the baron footprint of the entire web, which has led one website owner to see if they could run their
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Being a “Boomer”
Generations When I was growing up in the 1950s and onward there was not all this talk about generations that seems to have become a fascination of the last twenty years. Although I became aware of the baby boom and even the term baby boomers (now apparently just boomers), I
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Michael Mann writes about Australia’s deadly lesson in the dangers of a climate breakdown. Ian Gill offers a reminder that we may soon be next – and that we have every reason for rage at the oil barons and politicians responsible. And Duane
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Rupert Neate writes about the twelve-figure tax avoidance by the U.S.’ largest tech firms, while noting that Amazon stands out as the worst offender. And Meagan Day interviews Ramesh Srninivasan about the need to democratize the administration of the Internet. – Meanwhile,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Jeremy Rifkin sets out how Canada can implement a Green New Deal – while also reminding us of the costs of failing to do so. And Brett Dolter charts the path toward net zero emissions from Saskatchewan’s perspective – even as Scott Moe’s
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Writers opposing free expression is a new low for Canadian ‘progressives’ – Meghan Murphy Speaks, full Repost
Internet Life Media The crusade to cancel my talk at Toronto Public Library Meghan Murphy Meghan Murphy Meghan Murphy October 18, 2019 4:50 PM This week, three Canadian writers launched a petition demanding the Toronto Public Library cancel a room rental for a sold-out event, ‘Gender Identity: What Does It
Continue readingThings Are Good: Use TOR to Access the BBC on the “Dark Web”
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has launched on the dark web to help those in authoritarian regimes access international news. To access the the site one only need the Tor browser and don’t need to use a VPN to get around national censorship firewalls. The TOR browser works anonymously by
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The timeless media tempest.
It seems as though this election is taking place just for the benefit of the news media. I am not sure of the right word for it but it is the most over-reported and over-analyzed campaign I have ever seen and it is only week two. I can only hope
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: We can do that ourselves, thank you.
This ongoing concern for foreign countries interfering with our federal election is more of a joke than a threat. It is not that it could not happen, but why bother? What would be the mythical country’s objective? Why would they, for example, prefer one of our leaders over another? This
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Podcast on Sunday
Jeff Cliff interviewed me for his Facebook Live stream on Sunday. We discussed Saskatchewan politics, media, blogging, censorship, and the Amazon Fires. For instance, I can link to Facebook, but people trying to link here from Facebook are told my blog doesn’t meet Facebook’s “Community Standards”. If you can figure
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The state, not the private sector, invented the modern economy
I read an article in The Economist a while ago that insisted the state should constrain itself to providing basic services and otherwise stay out of the economy. That is, of course, a common belief on the right. The Economist, however, ought to know better. Let us assume that governments
Continue readingDemocracy Needs Gatekeepers
When the Internet arrived and then computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee unleashed the world wide web, a paradise of communication loomed. Now everyone could have access to all the world’s knowledge. We would all know everything we wanted or needed to know to make us ideal citizens. We would make wise
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Can We, Should We, Will We Live Forever Online
When typing for this blog I have often wished I could just think my thoughts at the computer and have them type out on the screen. This, no doubt, has much to do with the fact I am a one finger hunt and peck typist (having been streamed into drafting
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Television
Definitions: 1 A system for converting visual images (with sound) into electrical signals, transmitting them by radio or other means, and displaying them electronically on a screen. 2 A device with a screen for receiving television signals. Source: OED https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/television Television (TV), sometimes shortened to tele or telly, is a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Justin Fisher laments the fact that we’re still talking about first steps toward combating a climate crisis after decades of understanding the problem. Jake Woodier points out that Brexit has been the UK’s recent distraction from the most important issue facing humanity. And
Continue readingThings Are Good: Get Off the Internet and Onto Your Life
Stop reading this post and get out outside. I mean it, put down your mobile or walk away from your computer. The weather isn’t good? Doesn’t matter. Go, get away from this techno surveillance society that is always tracking you. Go be with yourself – it isn’t scary. I believe
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