http://mark.pavlidis.org Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:04:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en globeandmail.com: Tories have no confidence in Elections Canada “I find it unbelievable that a governing party in Canada would refuse to support a motion expressing confidence in the institution that keeps our country's elections fair... And I think Canadian citizens will find it unbelievable,” Mr. Ignatieff told reporters Tuesday. Seriously?! No seriously, ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/04/29/no-confidence-in-elections-canada/ TheStar.com | ParentCentral | Pool money should be public: Crombie "No one has ever said we shouldn't have these pools; they're important for safety and teaching good social habits and they're absolutely wonderful for the disabled and for older people," said the former Conservative MP, who said he hopes to find ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/04/29/school-pools-are-a-health-and-safety-issue/ Pigs escape onto 401 following traffic accident First there were cows on the QEW and now pigs on the 401. Highway driving is tough enough with the right lane passers, left lane slowpokes, and drowsy truckers. Now I have to contend with livestock!? http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/04/14/why-to-is-called-hog-town/ TheStar.com | Business | Let markets curb banking: Flaherty Hey Jim, the "free market" operating as the psychopath that it is is what got us into this mess in the first place. http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/04/10/kick-the-free-market-to-the-curb/ TheStar.com | Business | Wal-Mart offers organic, fair trade coffee Starbucks has resisted moving to fair-trade organic coffee because it cites the fact that there is not enough in the marketplace to procure the volume of beans it needs. If Wal-Mart can do it, anybody can. If Howard Schultz ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/04/01/time-for-fair-and-organic/ There are over 1500 downloads of my Traffic Widgets for Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver per month. Unfortunately that has correlated into 2 donations, one independent and one no so (thx sweetheart). Do you use one the Toronto, Calgary, or Vancouver traffic widgets daily? Would you mind seeing ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/03/11/advertising-on-traffic-widgets/ CBC News In Depth: Federal Budget 2008 Under the heading of Environment: $300 million to the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) for its operations, including development of the Advanced CANDU nuclear reactor. Considering its environmental policy (or lack thereof), the Chalk River affair, and the fact that the Harper government isn't hiding ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/26/money-to-aecl-in-the-budget-2008/ Did the Conservative government rush the CBC board appointments? -- Inside the CBC Late last week, the federal government appointed three new members to the CBC Board of Directors. Two of the three have strong ties to the Conservative party: ... The appointments were made without the supervision ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/26/accountability-election-again/ The Associated Press: Internet Ad Revenue Exceeds $21B in 2007 Internet advertising is expected to slow from the previous exponential growth, but still accounts for less than 10% of all ad spending. Do you advertise online? What is your return on investment? Is that the most effective use of ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/26/net-advertising-slows/ Paper Cups Versus Styrofoam Cups: Surprise Winner | Green Thinking for the Average Joe “A study by Canadian scientist Martin Hocking shows that making a paper cup uses as much petroleum or natural gas as a polystyrene cup. Plus, the paper cup uses wood pulp. The Canadian study said, ‘The paper ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/26/time-to-tax-coffee-cups/ is the unintended connections and uses of the tool. Like getting a tweet when your plant needs water. Botanicalls Twitter DIY http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/25/the-power-of-social-networking/ TheStar.com | Business | Chain hopes premium cup will perk up sagging sales Starbucks is testing a 360-millilitre cup of "fresh-pressed" coffee at $2.50 (U.S.) each. The price is $2.25 in a Boston trial. Starbucks charges $1.55 for a regular brew in those stores. Much like a French kiss, a French ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/22/french-press-me/ Why are the Microsoft Office file formats so complicated? (And some workarounds) - Joel on Software A normal programmer would conclude that Office’s binary file formats: are deliberately obfuscated are the product of a demented Borg mind were created by insanely bad programmers and are impossible to read or create correctly. You’d be wrong on ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/20/ms_culture/ reportonbusiness.com: Flaherty lashes Ontario for 'lack of vision' The McGuinty government suffers from a “lack of leadership, a lack of vision and a lack of economic stewardship,” he said in an early morning speech in Toronto to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The provincial government “fails to understand the long-term ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/20/thanks_jimbo/ RickMercer: Science: 21st century menace Read the link above, because only Rick can tell it like it is so bluntly obvious, sad, and comedic at the same time. I know the options are grim, but is this best path for Canada? Update:Supporting evidence, from the right-most leaning newspaper. Update 2: ... http://mark.pavlidis.org/blog/2008/02/20/21st-century-menace/