Last year Canadians witnessed too many data breaches of their data and the federal government is reacting. Large Canadian corporations didn’t do enough to protect their databases against attackers and…
There are those who argue that the greatest mistake we humans ever made was agriculture. And they have a point. For 200,000 years we lived a hunter-gatherer way of life,…
Surveillance capitalism benefits companies who have large datasets about what people do and where they are – without the consent of those being monitored. The pervasive modern surveillance which is…
Of course calendars are a construct and don’t mean anything, but the end of the year and, even more so, the end of the decade are useful times to take…
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Bernie Sanders and Rashida Tlaib discuss Donald Trump’s holiday menu of serving the rich and feasting on the poor, while Paul Krugman…
Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Ali G. and Borat, among others) won an award from the Anti-Defamation League. Here’s his 25 minute acceptance speech. It’s in writing, abridged a bit, below…
If you’re like everyone else then you still have a Facebook profile that you barely check, yet still need. Yes it’s handy to be in touch with people using one…
The infamous (and very talented) hacker Phineas Fisher has offered $100,000 to people who hack into oil companies, banks, and other companies. There’s a catch: the hacks better be used…
Little Robot Friends is a Toronto-based startup that wants kids to not only be comfortable with code, they want kids to have fun playing with it too. The company runs…
The sharing economy should be about sharing more than profits. At least that’s what the thinkers behind the sharing economy called for in the early days of the term; however…
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,…
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Ernest Canning writes about the importance of treating corporatism as a specific and extreme position, rather than allowing it to define the political…
Large tech companies find ways to make money off of your data without you knowing about it, they might even be sharing personal information about you with governments or advertisers.…
The China/U.S. trade war heats up. The rest of us get dragged along willy-nilly. Nonetheless, there is a lot of sympathy for the American case. The Chinese have hardly walked…
21 May 2019; Chelsea F. Briganti, left, CEO, LOLIWARE, Dianna Cohen, centre,rnCEO, Plastic Pollution Coalition, and Catherine Abreu, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada, on planet : tech Stage during…
21 May 2019; Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist, National Geographic, left, with, Andrew Sharpless, CEO, Oceanaon centre and Sean Casey, Parliamentary Secretary, Government of Canada, on Planet : Tech Stage…
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Daniel Drenzer reviews Joseph Stiglitz’ People, Power and Profits, while noting the importance of pairing progressive policy ideas with a plan for implementation.…
Surveillance capitalism is a truly 21st century innovation which is having a major impact on society. Policies around data protection and privacy aren’t strong enough yet and trade deals don’t…
This and that for your Thursday reading. – David Ball reports on the movement forming in support of a Canadian Green New Deal. Kyla Tienhaara discusses how it fits into…
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Sigal Samuel reports on Gary Bloch’s work in prescribing secure incomes to address health problems arising out of poverty. And Murtada Haizer and…
