Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy

Most people think nothing of borrowing a hammer from a neighbour. It’s an ancient tool, and the original inventor died thousands to millions of years ago, with no chance of his/her heirs collecting royalties from modern use of the pounding device. In fact, each human is probably at least partially a decedent of the person who invented hammers. This is why I find the concept of “information property” such a touchy subject. Who owns knowledge? The inventor, or humanity?

It’s widely considered just for an inventor of a popular device to be showered with riches as their reward. At what point though do we stop rewarding them for work they did in the past, and encourage them to create something new, or do something useful in the present? 2 years? 20 years? After their children milk the invention for all it’s worth?

This rather one-sided editorial by Scott Valentine at the CBC had me wondering about these questions. It’s one-sided because it takes only the perspective that creators of information property need to be protected for the economy to thrive. I agree with some protections, but if you look at them critically, you’ll see flaws that spin off of them. For instance, record companies in the States have their IP so well protected, that they are brazen enough to sue people who might be involved in piracy of their IP. Assumption of innocence is lost in the pro-IP meida, and victims of frivolous lawsuits cave into the extortion of multi-national & multi-billion dollar industries.

Our government will improve the protection of cultural and intellectual property rights in Canada.”

That kind of talk is exciting, because it hints at a plan for Canada’s under-supported innovations community.

I don’t see Valentine’s evidence for an “under-supported innovations community”. Quoting Ilse Treurnicht doesn’t serve as proof in my eyes.

“It would be a lot simpler if we could look out at a uniform set of policies,” says Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, a non-profit corporation that works to accelerate the commercialization of IP by networking innovators with venture capitalists, scientists and business people.

“Universities and government research facilities all have varying policies regarding IP,” she says. “So whenever an innovator at one of these facilities has something worth commercializing … it’s ‘let’s make a deal.’ ”

It’s bad for IP holders to haggle for the best deal they can get? Free market indeed.

Did you know that ovens can be used as cupboard space? It’s true, if you don’t turn the oven on when things that shouldn’t be baked are inside.

Fortunately my mother told me to check inside an oven before turning it on. Someone needed a mother like I had growing up, because turning an oven on with dangerous chemicals stored inside it, causes quite the scene — and fire. At least, that’s the explanation I heard for the fire at the UofR Lab building last week.

It was not a good week for property damage. A group of up to five males is being sought by Regina Police in connection with vandalism to the fire suppression system on the 5th floor of the South Residence tower. Last year there was a flood after someone hung something on a sprinkler. This time the morons opened up a valve intentionally, and due to construction error (a sealant tube left in the pipe), the water pressure jammed the tube into the valve so that it couldn’t be closed quickly.

Some bloggers haven’t had enough fun yet picking apart and over-analyzing my efforts to co-run an Canadian blogosphere awards site (for the entire Canadian blogosphere) with several other bloggers of different backgrounds. So here’s a post to go wild, and vent a little at me who is at least partially responsible for ruining Christmas, or whatever next I’ll be accused of doing.

Caution, if you try to be nice to me here, I’ll assume you’re being sarcastic. :-)

Since I closed the comments on the latest announcement, some bloggers have been buzzing about how the CBA Operator’s solution to the threats of boycotts and bad feelings, has been less than completely satisfying, or a complete screw up like the last attempt to resolve matters through compromise.

Some have gone to such a level of not caring what happens, that they write numerous lengthy blog posts on the subject. I’ve asked Canadian Cynic, impolitely, to mind his own bee’s wax. Dave at TGB had a more thoughtful post on the subject of standing aside. But he too argues for an exclusion of some bloggers because ‘they just don’t mix’ well enough. Co-blogger Dana, unfortunately, would be happier boycotting any part of the Internet I’ve touched, lest he (Corrected, sorry Dana, I didn’t know it was a gender neutral name, I’ve only met female Danas before.) get Saskatchewan boy cooties.

There is, perhaps, some belief that once we all get down in the dirt, we’ll drop our coloured ties and just get along in a good old Canadian polite competition. That won’t happen.

The ideological differences are too great and because of that, awards of this type might work best if both sides stayed in their own camp.

I think there’s something to be said for sitting down together, even if you don’t like the people on the other side of the table very much. Sometimes familiarity breeds contempt, but so too does ignorance. We like to think of ourselves as experts on other people and their intentions, but after being an expert for so long, does one become more ignorant of other fields?

Anyway, now I’m a lightening rod for discontent on the Canadian political interwebs. Good thing my online-skin is thicker than it is in the real world because online I’m apparently an… “outright liar”, “hapless cluster monkey”, “assmonkey”, “monkey” (have these people seen me without my shirt on by chance?), “Biggest Asshat in Canada”, “Disingenuous ass hat”, “useful idiot”, “fucking predictable”, “irredeemable”, “obtuse” (not the first time someone’s claimed that; they may have a point ;-), “insecure”, “impervious”, “boy from Saskatchewan”, and “sexy”.

OK, I made that last one up to make me feel a bit better ;-)

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UPDATE: I see CC offered a sort-of apology here after I’d written this, but I’d already posted it before I went to bed last night, so didn’t see it before the world read this.

Why does what an editorial board decides, matter? Why are they picking sides publicly too? Why does CNN care?

I care because media should not be telling people WHO to vote for, they should (at most) be telling them WHY they’d vote for someone, and WHY NOT everyone else.

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A little bit of me is going to hit the airwaves in January. Head to the website, and vote for Team-Bloggers!

It looks like at least 4 of my teammates are from BlogTO.
I’ll also meet Photojunkie Rannie in the crowd of other Bloggers participating in the trivia event. If you’re going to be playing with or against me, please leave a comment :-) I’ll be in TO a day or two early to play tourist. If any ProgBloggers and/or LibLoggers want to meet for a tiny party, that would be fun too.

Over 220 people will be in the studio, so it will be crowded. The show is 2 hours, and shows at 8:00 PM according to the website. No word if that’s prime-time adjusted across the entire country.

Here are the bloggers, including a formerly pseudonymous blogger who I worked with on ProgressiveBloggers.ca and Amber Mac whose Tech blog I co-beat in last year’s Canadian Blog Awards for best Sci/Tech blog. My profile is already listed, so have fun clicking over to that. I’m sure you can figure out which one is me if you don’t know.

In what is sure to be a long line of amusing, and somewhat costly blunders by the new Saskatchewan Party government, they’ve canned the “Saskatchewan!” logo. Or did they? Yes? Yes.

I love the sheaf logo, but having grown up with it, it means “Saskatchewan” to me. I’m sure there are others with a different perspective, and not many logos stand the test of time.

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Hat tip to the Leader Post, my government chums, and Buckdog.

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The backlash against unions has begun. After the politicized CUPE Saskatchewan executive made it quite clear in any public speaking event or publication that they supported the NDP, and despised the Sask Party, it’s not very surprising that the government comes up with a bill that makes SIAST (a tech school) an “essential service”. Yeah, people are really going to die if some teachers go on strike, eh?

I was hoping that the Sask Party would go through their four years in power, keeping things on a fairly even keel, and not act on the animosity that has been growing in the province toward unions and urban centers from all other demographics. Maybe they’ll fix this bill, or drop it entirely, and get back on track. The healing should begin now that the NDP are pushed aside. Don’t create new and different wounds by attacking the right of people to strike when they are being bullied by an employer.

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Sean S. has more, including the excellent point of minimum staffing levels during non-strike periods.

Well, months after free Wi-Fi Internet has been offered by the local computer shop in Wood Mountain, SaskTel got around to fixing the cell tower they installed (when it would only work for about 30 minutes in a day local people reported). Wood Mountain joins most of the rest of the developed world, and has cell phone access that doesn’t have to work on a hope and a hill. Now, more than ever, I hope that cell phone radiation doesn’t kill bee hives off.

I’ve been waiting for a bacteria fighting solution to be made practical for years. Hopefully this “new” brush with a solar panel tests as safe, and it’s in stores soon. Brought to you by Japanese ingenuity, solar power, and Saskatchewan testing.

Dr. Komiyama tested Soladey-J3X on cultures of two types of bacteria that play a major role in periodontal disease. He found that there was a “complete destruction of bacterial cells,” according to the Edmonton Journal.

The toothbrush needs about as much light as a solar-powered calculator.

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SaskBlogger Andre had a picture on Green Zone Football blog (on Nov. 26) where the Rogers Center is renamed the Riders Center. It’s an easy fix. But I still like SkyDome just as much.

Based largely on the success of my “2007 year in review” written in 2006 with Ashley, I present our predictions for 2008. If I get any more right, I may have to start charging a psychic fee. I just want you to know you get these predictions while they are still free ;-)

PETA goes after Small Dead Animals, only to find out they are only a political blog, and don’t sell meat or fur.

Baskin and Robins invents the “Sidewalk Smoothie” to compliment “Rocky Road”.

The Hamilton Tigercats make it to the Grey Cup… only to lose in the last minute.

The TV writers strike ends, and millions of people leave The Teleban to drain their brains into the boob tube once more.

Saskboy makes an appearance on live TV, totally nude, while people applaud.

The Internet is shaken after it’s revealed that Facebook is operated entirely by monkeys bent on enslaving humanity!

When Hillary Clinton wins the US presidential election, Americans realize they’ll been ruled by Bushes and Clintons for over 24 years. Sadness ensues, despite the page being turned on all male presidents.

There will be more people growing gardens in 2009, after 2008 is a bit of an economic wake up call.

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You may notice that there are only 8. The other two have been censored by the FCC and CRTC, respectively.