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Archive for the ‘Social Welfare’ Category

TED Talks: Rory Sutherland on perceived value

This is a great talk by Rory Sutherland, the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, about perceived value. From the description on the TED page: Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value ... Read more »

Brian MacKay-Lyons waxes critical about the Halifax Central Library design selection process

As will become clear, the above photo is not what the new Halifax Central Library will look like (it's actually a Selexyz bookstore inside a former Dominican Church in Maastricht, Holland, designed by Merkx+Girod). There was an article in The Coast last Friday by Tim Bousquet that outlines local architect Brian MacKay-Lyons' beef ... Read more »

NASA finds significant water on the moon. Yeah, I know.

November 15th, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | Comment »

So apparently there's water on the moon: NASA said Friday it had discovered water on the moon, opening "a new chapter" that could allow for the development of a lunar space station. The discovery was announced by project scientist Anthony Colaprete at a midday news conference. "I'm here today to tell you that ... Read more »

Rachel Maddow on Obama’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize

October 10th, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | 1 Comment »

I had never heard of Rachel Maddow before. What strikes me most from this video is how not Glenn Beck she is. It's so refreshing. She's quiet, soft spoken, well-informed, and insightful. I don't think she's necessarily unbiased, but she's so much easier to listen to and agree with simply ... Read more »

Umm…

October 1st, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | Comment »

There's no way this kid grows up to be well-adjusted. You can't grow up thinking that you single-handedly were responsible for killing a monster and not develop a Superman complex. You just can't. If I were his parents, I'd prevent him from ever visiting Niagara Falls. Aaaand...there it is.Related posts: Oddly enough… Read more »

From my brother: The Real Michael Clayton

June 23rd, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | Comment »

From an article at PolitickerNY.com on Patrick Gaspard, a fixer for President Barack Obama: In December 2006, Mr. Sharpton asked Patrick Gaspard to help him assemble an emergency meeting of about 300 activists, black nationalists, union and political leaders to decide on an appropriate response to the police shooting death of ... Read more »

Final Draft 7.1.3 not printing text in PDFs on Windows Vista

June 4th, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | Comment »

I've been using Final Draft for well over a year, and it's worked fine on both Windows XP and Windows Vista (32 bit), despite its many annoying bugs. Today, however, something...broke. After writing a script in Final Draft, I usually click on File -> Save as PDF so that I can share it ... Read more »

Using Virtual CDRom Control Panel with Windows Vista

June 3rd, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | 3 Comments »

I hate downloading programs that will clutter my hard drive and bog down my system. So Microsoft's Virtual CDRom Control Panel for Windows XP was a treat - only 59kb and it would allow me to mount iso images without any fuss. But when I got a system with Windows Vista pre-installed, the word ... Read more »

1000 kinds of nasty

May 29th, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | Comment »

From an article in today's Globe and Mail: Unsightly waste prouducts known as “floatables” are once again bobbing along the waterfront in Halifax harbour. The last barriers between the city's raw sewage and the harbour are being taken out of operation. Mayor Peter Kelly confirms screens have been removed from four of eight ... Read more »

Why do we live here?

January 14th, 2009 | Social, Social Welfare | Comment »

I'm in Los Angeles. It's 26 degrees here. Clear blue sky. Faint breeze. In January. I can see some of the pros to living in Canada. No earthquakes. No poisonous creatures. Free health care. Children who aren't obviously stupid and close-minded. And I can see some of the cons to living in LA. The poverty ... Read more »