Note that some of these links lead to private posts.

2006 was a big year for the planet. Americans woke up and realised that their leader was insane (well enough of them to kill the Republican dominance in the House and Senate), Europe and China gained momentum on the world stage and the "War on Terrorism" did little more than make more terrorists.

Canada ousted one leading party and invited in a new one that promised to be much the same and our reputation as an environmental leader is now in the toilet. The air is dirtier, the water murkier and we're all trapped in this handbasket of our own weaving.

But contrary to what some might think upon first reading this blog, this site is not about the world, it's just about me and what I'm doing in it. ...and on my own front, a lot of good things happened this year.

On the personal front, some wonderful ladies made their way into my life. Most notably of course would be Melanie who I've been with for over 6months now. We've had our ups and downs, but I'm quite happy with her and I'm glad she's here for the New Year.

I also made a good many new friends through my activist work, not the least of which is Stephen, who I've come to hang out with outside of my responsibilities to the TPSC.

On the professional level, I hopped around a lot this year. February saw me start my career in network administration at Rydium. I loved working there, but couldn't stay for my own moral reasons so I moved onto Primus who treated me so poorly that I chose to leave after only 3months, where after a couple months of job hunting, I found Bodog, a place in which I'm currently quite content with my working arrangements.

I'm proud to say though that the biggest changes for me this year rest in the Why I'm Here section. I joined the Toronto Public Space Committee, a "within the lines of legality" political action group devoted to making this city a place for people not cars or corporations. It's been a great place to get into politics from the bottom up. I've come to learn how City Hall works, talked with councillors directly, given deputations (albeit badly) and most importantly come to understand what needs to be done, and where the power to make those changes rests.

I've worked on campaigns opposing the selling off of street furniture to companies like CBS, helped write the philosophy document for the group, wrote the code for the TPSC website that made headlines during the municipal election and now I'm heading up a very high-profile campaign to fight police cameras on the streets of the city. It's exciting work and its exactly why I came here.

So while we're all still trapped in this handbasket heading straight to hell, I suppose I can still be an optimist. I'm doing what I can to get us out of there, and I suppose that's all I can really hope for. I'm looking forward to 2007.

Bow Down
Bow Down
Before the power of Santa
Or be crushed
Be crushed
By
His jolly boots of doom!

As per my Meat Is Killing Us post, I ventured out into the vegetarian world yesterday on my lunch break. I decided that Milestones was a good place to start and spent about 10minutes looking over my options until I decided to order.

"I'm going to order something I've never had before", I told the waitress, "so if it turns out that I've left it all on my plate, I want you to know that it's not a reflection on the chef."

The waitress smiled, "alright, what is it then?"

"The veggie burger" I sighed.

"It's really good" she beamed, "I'm sure you'll love it."

The verdict on my first veggie burger ever:

• Looks like cow
• Smells like cow
• Tastes like cow
• Feels like soybean

Since I'm all about texture when it comes to food, I had a tough time forcing it down, but I finished it all... I just hope my choice for next week is better than this one.

At 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 -- four days before an election caused a seismic shift in Washington politics -- Ritscher, a frequent anti-war protester, stood by an off-ramp in downtown Chicago near a statue of a giant flame, set up a video camera, doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire.

Aglow for the crush of morning commuters, his flaming body was supposed to be a call to the nation, a symbol of his rage and discontent with the U.S. war in Iraq.

"Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country," he wrote in his suicide note. "... If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country."

"War Protestor's Public Suicide in Chicago Went Unnoticed by Media"
Editor & Publisher, November 26, 2006

From Anna's Blog:

1. Two names you go by:
   1. Dan
   2. Daniel
2. Two things you are wearing right now:
   1. Jeans
   2. Napster Tshirt (bought pre-sellout thankyouverymuch)
3. Two things you would want in a relationship:
   1. Faith
   2. Support
4. Two of your favorite things to do:
   1. Write code at 3am
   2. Play video games at 3am
5. Two things you want very badly at the moment:
   1. A few more days off
   2. A PS3
6. Two pets you had/have:
   1. Syntax
   2. Stupid
7. Two people who will fill this out:
   1. Noreen (if she hasn't already)
   2. Lara (maybe)
8. Two things you did last night:
   1. Dinner
   2. Movie (The Pursuit of Happyness: meh)
9. Two people that live in your house:
   1. Me
   2. My stuffed pig
10. Two things you ate today:
    1. Eggs
    2. Starbucks Hot Chocolate
11. Two people you last talked to:
    1. Aileen
    2. Julie
12. Two things you're doing tomorrow:
    1. Anime Night
    2. Cooking dinner
13. Two longest car rides:
    1. Vancouver to Ottawa
    2. Vancouver To Los Angeles
14. Two favorite holidays:
    1. Montreal way back when I went to visit Annie
    2. Acapulco cruise
15. Two favorite alcoholic beverages:
    1. Crispy Crunch
    2. Tootsie Roll

From the Toronto Star:

In response to local concerns about crime on the shopping and tourism strip north of the Eaton Centre, the Toronto police announced today they will install three closed-circuit television cameras along the busy street.

The CCTV cameras - which will be placed at the intersections of Yonge and Dundas Sts., Yonge and Gould Sts. and Yonge and Gerrard Sts. - will go up Monday and will remain on the roads until Jan. 7.

Their purpose, police say, is to help deter would-be criminals, and also to provide visual evidence of any crimes are committed in the area.

"The cameras are there to protect public safety," said acting Chief Kim Derry in a press release Thursday. "The have two clear purposes: deter those who may be considering committing crime, and provide evidence to identify, arrest and charge those who choose to commit crime."

Nick Kyonka, The Toronto Star

Does anyone honestly believe that they'll be removed on the 7th? I love how they routinely throw around lines like "The cameras are there to protect public safety" when there is absolutely no evidence that they do anything of the sort. Criminals simply victimise people down the street where there aren't any cameras... yet.

If anyone has any background or research on this issue, please send me what you have, sources included.

Robin will love this one...

I got this link the other day from one of the geek lists I'm on. The Post-Rapture Post is exactly what it looks like: a service that promises to deliver your mail to those left behind after the rapture:

Just write your letter and it will be hand-delivered immediately following the exodus of the pure from the Earth. But you must be thinking to yourself, "How can the letters be delivered after the Rapture?" The answer is simple. The creators of this site are Atheists. That's right, we don't believe in God. How else would we be able to deliver your correspondence after the Rapture?

Absolutely brilliant.

Colin just sent me a link to a distressing New Scientist article pointing to livestock as a leading cause of global warming... above transport (ie. cars).

The numbers worked out this way by including the emissions created in all sectors servicing our meat consumption. Not only are we counting "cow farts" but the exhaust from the trucks transporting the livestock and their food, the deforestation for use in their grazing etc.

The article does stress however that it's not so much the meat that's the problem, so much as the resources we use in cultivating it... and a vegetarian diet is not much better (though it doesn't go into detail... I'd like to see a scientific breakdown of the options myself).

It's enough to make me reconsider my own impact on the environment wrt my own dietary habits. I won't be going vegan anytime soon (I still don't think it's as healthy as its proponents claim) but it seems only reasonable to ration my meat consumption. David Suzuki's Nature Challenge includes a suggestion to go "meat free" one day a week... I'll start there. I encourage anyone reading this to do the same.

There was one component of the article that I found rather disturbing though:

Ultimately, the authors argue, environmental services such as sustainably managed land and clean water, need to be given a price.

"Most frequently, natural resources are free or underpriced, which leads to overexploitation and pollution," write the authors, concluding that "a top priority is to achieve prices and fees that reflect the full economic and environmental costs".

New Scientist, "Cows, pigs and sheep: Environment's greatest threats?"

While I can understand the logic, no one will ever be able to convince me that the best way out of this capitalist mess is to add more capitalism:

One of the things I find very interesting in our current debates is this concept of who creates wealth -- that wealth is only created when it's owned privately. What would you call clean water, fresh air, a safe environment? Are they not a form of wealth? And why does it only become wealth when some entity puts a fence around it and declares it private property? Well, you know, that's not wealth creation, that's wealth usurption.

Harvard Professor Elaine Barnard

Jen	Maybe it's all this stuff that you both eat... Ok Moss, what did you have for breakfast this morning?
Moss	Smartie cereal
Jen	Oh my god, I didn't even know Smarties made a cereal
Moss	They don't, it's just Smarties in a bowl with milk

Quinn sent me a copy of the IT crowed, a British show about the isolated IT department in a dysfunctional company. ...it's frickin' hilarious. I should have gone to bed hours ago, but instead I watched all six shows he sent me in one shot...

Thanks Quinn, I do hope you'll send more :-)

My company is using Barracuda's IM Firewall and I had to figure out how to get hooked up with my linux box. It took some poking and various attempts with different checkboxes enabled in both Kopete and Gaim to work, but given that I couldn't find any help regarding this online, I'm posting it here.

Kopete

Basic Setup
  [x] Jabber ID: username@domain.com

Connection
  [x] Use protocol encryption (SSL)
  [x] Allow plain-text password authentication
  [x] Override default server information
  Server: server.domain.com
  Port: 5223
  Resource: Kopete
  Priority: 5

Gaim

Basic Setup
  Protocol: Jabber
  Screen Name: myusername
  Server: server.domain.com
  Resource: Gaim

Connection
  [ ] Use TLS if available
  [x] Force Old SSL
  [x] Allow plaintext auth over unencrypted streams
  Port: 5223
  Connect server: server.domain.com

Here's hoping that this helps someone else when they're in the same position as I was.