Paul Kedrosky calls it catnip for bloggers. Introducing egoSurf.

My current standings:

• google.com: 8386
• yahoo.com: 7987
• msn.com: 4354
• del.icio.us: 0
• technorati.com: 7806

Fun stuff.

Posted by Ken Dyck as Uncategorized at 8:20 PM EDT

No Comments »

Rick Mercer has put together a rather humourous fantasy cabinet for the Conservative Party:

I have it on very good authority however that Stephen Harper is spending a lot of time playing the game these days. Word is the back room on the Harper bus resembles the woodshed from A Beautiful Mind; the walls are littered with the names of potential conservative cabinet ministers. Luckily my secret mole in the Tory Campaign (Tom Flannagan) has been taking photos of the notes with his hand held palm device and forwarding me the information on a daily basis. This is what the Tory Cabinet looks like so far.

Posted by Ken Dyck as Uncategorized at 7:58 PM EDT

No Comments »

Out of curiosity, I took the autism spectrum quotient test that Steve Pavlina mentioned in today’s post. The result of the test is a score that indicates your level of autism:

• 0-10: low
• 11-22: average (most women score about 15, and most men score around 17)
• 22-31: above average
• 32-50: very high (most people with Asperger Syndrome or high functioning autism score about 35
• 50: maximum

I managed to score a 29, just three points away from the ‘very high’ category. Now I’ve always known that I’m an introvert, but that result came as a bit of a shock.

I guess I’d better find a Toastmasters’ club. And fast.

Posted by Ken Dyck as Uncategorized at 7:53 PM EDT

No Comments »

CBC News:

Anyone who buys illegal drugs is contributing to the gun violence that is plaguing Toronto, the city’s police chief says.

Later in the story, police chief Bill Blair is quoted as saying,

“I think everybody who uses illegal drugs and gives money into these things bears some responsibility for the violence that’s taking place.”

I guess it’s safer for him to blame drug users than to blame the politicians who have created the black market with their outright ban on drugs.

The story goes on to say

As a result, Blair says part the police strategy to curb gun violence will be measures to cut off the demand for illegal drugs.

Cut off demand? Good luck with that.

Posted by Ken Dyck as Uncategorized at 7:56 PM EDT

No Comments »

The leaders of the major political parties in Canada are having a televised debate tonight.

Dave Pollard gives us some food for thought by arguing that a vote for the Conservatives is a vote for disintegration of Canada:

So why am I talking about the breakup of the country? When Mulroney was Conservative leader, his Québec wing was substantially separatist. Separatists saw the Conservatives as their allies. Western alienation is not all that different from Québec nationalism, except that until Harper came along it was less virulent. Now, 14 years after they last governed, the Conservatives and the Bloq separatists are again poised to take power. As I mentioned, the Bloq is strongly left-of-centre, while the Harper Conservatives are strongly right-of-centre. The only thing they have in common is the same desire to shift power from the federal government to the regional (provincial) governments that Mulroney tried to impose on Canadians with the Charlottetown Accord. The only difference is that this time there will be no referendum — the Conservatives and Bloq will try to use their 44% ‘majority’ to do the only thing they can agree on, the very thing that Pierre Trudeau warned against: weaken the federal government to the point of gradual disintegration, leading to the eventual, substantive breakup of the country. Once federal powers have been given away to the provinces they can never be taken back.

Posted by Ken Dyck as Uncategorized at 7:27 PM EDT

No Comments »

Gary Will confirms the rumour. Google acquired Reqwireless:

It’s true … Google is in Waterloo. It acquired Waterloo’s Reqwireless last summer. Confirmation was made today by Google following months of speculation — both about Google coming to Waterloo and about who acquired Reqwireless.

Posted by Ken Dyck as Uncategorized at 7:20 PM EDT

No Comments »