Searching for Tao, 7573 Kilometres from Home

March 28, 2008 18:43 +0000 | Net Neutrality Politics Technology 0

A lot of people are still lost as to what Net Neutrality is, let alone why it's important. I posted about it a while back, so I won't reiterate here.

What's new and exciting on the Neutrality front however seems to be the brewings of a perfect storm of sorts. Just as the CBC announced plans to release some of it's programming via bittorrent, Rogers decided to put new bandwidth caps on it's downloads, and Bell started throttling bittorrent traffic to all of it's users as well as all of the companies reselling Bell service without their knowledge or consent.

The result is that the general public is finally starting to wake up to the fact that ISP consolidation and their willingness to abuse their power for their own profit might be a problem. More importantly, we're all starting to feel like there might be a solution. Say it with me boys and girls: Regulation.

I just found out today that the an NDP MP is taking up this issue, and the Council of Canadians has issued a press release on the subject. There's also been considerable media coverage on the mess from mainstream sources like The Globe and Mail. Small beginnings to be sure, but you'll forgive me if I'm just a little hopeful :-)

March 18, 2008 20:12 +0000 | Net Neutrality Technology 3

I just read this on Michael Geist's blog and had to share:

Sources indicate that the CBC is set to become the first major North American broadcaster to freely release one of its programs without DRM using BitTorrent. Next Sunday, CBC will air Canada Next Great Prime Minister. The following day, it plans to freely release a high-resolution version via peer-to-peer networks without any DRM restrictions. This development is important not only because it shows that Canada's public broadcaster is increasingly willing to experiment with alternative forms of distribution, but also because it may help crystallise the net neutrality issue in Canada.

The CBC's mandate, as provided in the Broadcasting Act, requires it to make its programming "available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means." Using BitTorrent allows the CBC to meet its statutory mandate, yet with ISPs such as Rogers engaging in non-transparent traffic shaping, millions of Canadians may be unable to fully access programming funded by tax dollars. If the CBC experiment is successful, look for more broadcasters to do the same and for the CRTC to face mounting pressure to address net neutrality concerns.

Ahem, GO CBC!

December 27, 2007 01:10 +0000 | Nifty Links Technology 2

Happy Christmas/Solstice/Kwanza/Eat-food-sleep-and-get-presents everyone!

I'm up in Kelowna with the parents for a few days so don't call me unless you're willing to buy me dinner in exchange for the cost of the phone bill ;-)

This was a nice laid-back couple of days, with my parents spoiling me with lots of nifty presents that will likely be rediculously difficult to haul back to my apartment from the bus station. I got to see the family, and meet my cousin's new boyfriend who is actually pretty cool as well as see my Aunt and Uncle's new place in slightly - less - than - the - middle - of - nowhere - but - still - nowhere - I'd - ever - want - to - live. Fun and food was had by all.

Oh, and to get to the subject of this blog post, check it out: INVADER ZIM RINGTONES!. The site uses an AJAX-type system to download the mp3s which makes it really hard to just download the whole lot, but still, it's all there. You can even search the list by speaker or keyword :-)

THE PANTS COMMAND ME! DO NOT IGNORE MY VEINS!

March 27, 2007 19:11 +0000 | Consumerism Environment Technology 0

Via technologies, the company who made my little firewall machine is in steep compettition with chip giants Intel and AMD for market share and it hasn't done very well.

However, one area they've always been very good at has been the low-wattage boards like the hardware in my firewall. While a standard desktop computer drinks down about 60-80W just sitting there doing nothing, my Via box uses ¼ of that.

Via has since come out with a new benchmark for those of us interested in the amounts of carbon we spew into the air as a result of our computer purchases. They call it Tree Mark™:

To underscore the importance of the environmental impact of computing, VIA is introducing a new benchmark, TreeMark™, intended as a useful tool for organisations looking to balance environmental impact in their computing purchase decisions. The methodology behind the calculations, validated by independent consulting firm Best Foot Forward Ltd, take into account average use of a PC and derive the amount of carbon dioxide created as a by-product of the electricity generated to power the processor over its operational lifetime – and, thus, the number of trees required to offset that amount in the environment.

The math works out like this. If you're using an Intel or AMD based machine, the chip in the computer you're reading this site with will put about 26 trees worth of carbon into the air over the course of its lifetime. A Via chip on the other hand needs only 4 trees to make up for the CO2.

I guess I know from where I'm getting my next computer.

February 21, 2007 22:42 +0000 | Environment Published Rydium Technology 3

In my time at Rydium, I came to be known as the office environmental fascist, a mantle I wore with pride, and something that came in handy when Max needed someone to write an article for PCStats about what to do with your old computer hardware after you're done with it. The focus of the article was to be about new environmental standards in Europe, what they mean and what your options are when you're dealing with this stuff.

Anyway, if you're interested, the article was finally published a few days ago.