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Canadian Nurses Can See "SiCKO" for free this week

MICHAEL MOORE OFFERS TO REIMBURSE THE UNITED NURSES OF ALBERTA FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF HIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED FILM SiCKO

CANADIAN DISTRIBUTOR APPLAUDS MICHAEL MOORE'S ACTION AND OFFERS FREE
ADMISSION TO ALL NURSES ACROSS CANADA STARTING MONDAY, JULY 16TH

TORONTO, ONTARIO – July 12, 2007 –  In an effort to encourage members
of the public to see Michael Moore's latest provocative and acclaimed
film SiCKO last week, The United Nurses of Alberta purchased 150
tickets to distribute to the public.  Today, Michael Moore
congratulated their efforts and offered to reimburse the union for
their action.

When reached for comment, Michael Moore stated, “Nurses across Canada
are on the front line in the battle against those forces who want to
inch the Canadian health care system toward the American way. They know
that once a Canadian sees SiCKO, the last thing they will want is an
American-style approach. The problems that do exist with the Canadian
system are a result of it being under-funded. The solution to better
health care in Canada cannot be found south of the border.”

As further show of appreciation, Alliance Atlantis* Motion Picture
Distribution announced today that it will offer one free admission to
see SiCKO to all nurses across Canada for a limited time starting on
Monday, July 16th  through to Thursday, July 19th.  Nurses must present
valid documentation at the box office of participating theatres**.

 
“Sometimes it takes an American like Michael Moore, to remind us of
what Canada does right,” says United Nurses of Alberta President
Heather Smith.  “Some people are constantly pushing to turn health care
into a profit-making business. SiCKO is an excellent vaccination
against that privatization disease. It's good for our health.”

Jim Sherry, Executive Managing Director of Alliance Atlantis* Motion
Picture Distribution comments, “We applaud the United Nurses of Alberta
for their enthusiasm and hope to encourage others in the nursing
profession to see the film that continues to spark debate across this
country.  By offering this opportunity to nurses across Canada, we are
acknowledging the considerable amount of interest that has been
expressed to us by several nurses unions and it is our hope that this
gesture will resonate in continued dialogue and debate surrounding this
remarkable film.” 

Canadian exhibitors, Cineplex Entertainment and Empire Theatres, have
displayed overwhelming support by participating in this special
promotion as well as displaying generous support to the nurses' unions
throughout the country.

SiCKO, Michael Moore's highly acclaimed and entertaining expose of the
American health care system, continues to captivate audiences across
the country. It is written, directed and produced by Michael Moore. The
film is produced by Meghan O'Hara and co-produced by Anne Moore.
Kathleen Glynn, Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein serve as executive
producers.

**Nurses must present one of the following along with photo id at the
box office to obtain a free ticket for SiCKO:  License, Practice
Permit, Registration Card or Valid Union ID.  Participating theatres
include Cineplex Entertainment, Empire and Landmark Theatres only.

About Motion Picture Distribution LP

Motion Picture Distribution LP (“MPD”) is a leading distributor of
motion pictures in Canada, with motion picture distribution operations
in the United Kingdom and Spain. MPD distributes filmed entertainment
to theatres, on DVD, and to television broadcasters. Alliance Atlantis
Communications Inc. (TSX: AAC.A, AAC.B) indirectly holds a 51%
ownership interest in MPD and Movie Distribution Income Fund (TSX:
FLM.UN) indirectly holds the remaining ownership interest in MPD.

-30-

*          “Alliance Atlantis” with the stylized “A” design is licensed
from Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., an indirect limited partner
of Motion Picture Distribution LP, not a general partner.

Posted 15 July 2007 § Canada § Main Page § Politics ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

When Did Facebook Replace E-mail?

Okay, we're not quite there yet (or you aren't if you're my age – I suspect 18-24 year olds are) but it feels like we're heading in that direction. 

E-mail was the original “killer app” of the Internet.  It was the one service that everybody online had since you got issued an e-mail address as soon as you signed up with an ISP or registered at a college.  If you were looking for a bit more permanence, you got a Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail or Gmail account.  Even though these services are web-based, they were really about e-mail, not web.  And not only did everybody have e-mail but it was the one thing online, possibly challenged only by Google, that everybody used as well.  (In fact, the only sites rated higher than Google on Alexa today are MSN and Yahoo – mainly on the strength of the traffic their e-mail systems bring in.) 

E-mail was (and is) effective because it provided a great mixture of  flexibility, speed and access.  You could send files with nearly any kind of attachment, your message would (usually) arrive in near instantaneous fashion no matter where the sender and receiver were in the world and, although there was never a successful e-mail directory like there are for phone numbers, you could usually hunt down e-mail addresses of the people you wanted to reach fairly easily. 

There were (and are) problems with e-mail.  Have you  tried sending a message with a large attachment lately?  How many spams do you get every day? Ever send a message to the wrong person in your address book accidentally?  But even with those problems, e-mail was the ultimate connector in a way that no single web site – not Wikipedia, not YouTube, not Ebay – could be. 

Now, that seems to be changing.  Facebook continues to grow exponentially and its messaging features are a big part of the reason.  Ironically, you need an e-mail address to sign up for a Facebook account and then, the default is that you get e-mail notification whenever anything happens related to your profile – a new wall post, a new private message, a new comment on a photo you've uploaded.  But Facebook has proven so “sticky” with the majority of people using it (ie. users log in regularly – often multiple times per day) that you're bound to see these items anyhow even if you never look at your e-mail in-box first. 

So we're heading to a point where Facebook could possibly be seen web site that finally shifts the e-mail vs. world wide web divide.  Why is this?

Advantages of Facebook Over E-Mail
1. Permanence
The problem with that ISP or college generated account is that it changes when you moved cities or graduated.  Hotmail and Yahoo! were free and traveled with you but (used to have) severe restrictions on how much space you had and often suffered security errors or data losses.  Facebook provides a new type of permanence in what (so far) appears to be a very stable platform. 

2. Spam Blocking
Facebook acts like e-mail but isn't so spam messages can't get through to your account in the same way they can with a standard e-mail address.  In fact, by being a closed system, so far, nobody seems to have found a way to send messages to your profile without your explicit permission at all.

3. Space Savings
As with Gmail, Facebook appears to have unlimited space provided for storing not only your messages but also your photos and blog posts (called “notes” in Facebook lingo.)  A major failing if Facebook is trying to replace e-mail is that it doesn't allow direct attachments and instead requires you to link to a file hosted elsewhere.  But if this option were included, e-mail's demise might be assured. 

4. It's E-mail (plus)
As noted above, Facebook provides a number of activities beyond what standard e-mail allows – everything from meaningless “pokes” to sharing blog-like posts, photos and more.  The recent addition of Facebook applications extends this capability infinitely and makes Facebook something even bigger – more akin to a web-based Windows than a web-based e-mail system. 

5. It's Also The Phone Book
Facebook provides what the massive range of e-mail providers never could – a single spot where millions of people are able to find each other and be found.  I've written how this still isn't perfect – people sign up using false names or initials, women can't provide their maiden name, people aren't required to join networks which would make it easier to find the John or Jane Smith you sent to high school with.  But if you're on Facebook, chances are pretty good that you've had better success tracking down long lost friends than via anything online allowed previously.

Those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head.  Here are a couple articles I found that touch on the same topic:

“Is Facebook Replacing E-mail?”
This article adds a couple reasons to my list above about why Facebook is replacing e-mail – namely that it's Mobile features are like having a free e-mail delivery service and also that the in-box layout is more intuitive than traditional e-mail.

“Facebook is stickier than email”
“How is Facebook stickier than email? Facebook is email, plus more (a lot
more). You use Facebook to send friends messages. Facebook Inbox will become
your spam-free email – only Facebook can do it because all your friends are on
it…That's why 50%+ users return
daily. Facebook's network effects make it impossible to duplicate their
network. Facebook is the phone number you will never change. Facebook is built
to last more than anyone. Now, which do you think is stickier?”

The Proprietarisation of Email
A negative take on the idea of Facebook (or any other closed system) replacing standards-based e-mail: 

“It would be terrible if email were to descend into something like the
multiple incompatible domains that afflict instant messaging – the
heroic efforts of gateway providers and multi-protocol clients
notwithstanding. Will we one day need accounts on every social website
in order to stay in touch? Will someone need to write a
Facebook/MySpace mail gateway?”

Posted 15 July 2007 § Internet § Main Page ‡ Comments (9) ° Tagged:

Friday Fun Link – If Public Libraries Didn't Exist, Could You Start One Today? (July 13, 2007)

The author of the popular Freakonomics book looks at the question, “If public libraries didn’t exist, could you start one today?”

“But
here’s the point I’m (finally) getting to: if there was no such thing
today as the public library and someone like Bill Gates proposed to
establish them in cities and towns across the U.S. (much like Andrew
Carnegie once did), what would happen?

I am guessing there would be a huge pushback from book
publishers. Given the current state of debate about intellectual
property, can you imagine modern publishers being willing to sell one
copy of a book and then have the owner let an unlimited number of
strangers borrow it? I don’t think so.”

He doesn’t bring it up but I wonder if an analogy could be made to bit torrent sites
today? One person buys a legitimate copy and then others are able to
obtain a free copy? The only difference is that instead of dozens of
uses as for popular library items, bit torrent allows thousands of
copies to be downloaded. The other big difference is that bit torrent
tends to focus on movies, music and TV shows that don’t have the
history of “free” borrowing like books in a library do. And of course,
you don’t have to “return” a digital copy.

It’s not a perfect analogy but the similarities are there.

(via Reddit)

Oh, and in a semi-related story, a PhD candidate in economics contends
that the optimal length of copyright in today’s digital age is…fourteen years. (via Boing Boing)

Posted 13 July 2007 § FridayFunLink § Internet § Library § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Why I Owe Pace $100

I've had four speeding tickets in my life… 

#1 – I was driving home late at a night from a summer job during college after a week working in northern Saskatchewan.  Anxious to get home, I was going pretty fast when an RCMP officer passed me just outside a town on the other site of the Qu'Appelle Valley.  He whipped around, stopped me, then warned me that “speeding is dangerous because of all the deer” as he handed me the ticket (which also ate up the sales bonus I'd just earned that week as an added insult!)

#2 – I was going to pick up Shea during a practicum here in Regina when she was a nursing student.  I went through a school zone at about 7 clicks over the posted speed limit but in what could only have been an attempt to get more money, the cop wrote up the ticket as if the school zone was in effect already.  (It wasn't – the school zone began at 8am and I went by at 7:57am – which is the time he wrote on the ticket.  So I protested that ticket on these grounds and the court dismissed it.)

#3 – when I was working in Alberta, my boss flew down from Edmonton to Calgary, rented a car and picked me up to go to a meeting in Crows Nest Pass.  But we were way behind schedule so she asked me to drive while she worked on some paperwork.  She also told me to “fly” and so I did.  Along the way, there's a town called Longview which does the most evil trick a town can do – it goes from highway speed to town speed to school zone speed within a very short distance.  I was whipping through town, slowed down to town speed but completely missed the school zone sign while talking to my boss about our upcoming meeting.  I got stopped, tried an excuse and when the cop said “Well, the children at the school won't care if you're late for a meeting if you hit them.” Ouch!  So when he went back to his cruiser to run my license, I asked my boss if the organization would pay for the ticket since she'd been the one who told me to drive so fast (and truth be told, was the reason we were late due to a scheduling mistake on her part.)  She said it would so I handed over the ticket and we carried on our way. 

#4 – on a Sunday morning, I was driving through Calgary with Shea's parents on a mad quest to find a Flames jersey since I'd managed to score a single ticket for the first Flames home playoff game in seven years.  I didn't get a jersey but I did get a $100 ticket from a photo radar camera a few days later.  I protested this one too, mainly because I object to photo radar in general.  The reason I used was that the photo didn't clearly identify the driver but since the vehicle was registered to me, I got the ticket.  How was I to know that it wasn't my father-in-law driving?  They didn't write off the ticket but reduced it by 50%.  I never did end up buying a jersey though.

So anyhow, I was sure that ticket #5 (and my first in probably three years) was going to come today.  I took today and tomorrow off so we were heading out of Weyburn for Regina at noon.  I was accelerating up to highway speed on a road leading out of Weyburn but which was still a 70kph zone.  So the cop stopped me and I was sure that I was in for a nice big ticket.  But he saw Pace in his car seat and after glancing at my license and registration, said “I don't want your son to stay in the hot sun while I'm writing you up so I'm going to let you go.”  He didn't even write me a warning!  So anyhow, Pace, if you're reading this someday, I owe you a hundred bucks (probably more than that actually – I don't even know what speeding tickets are these days.) 
Posted 13 July 2007 § Baby § Canada § Main Page § Saskatchewan § Shea § Travel § Work ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Jason As A Simpsons Character

As opposed to the last time I did this, this avatar is officially sanctioned.  (Oh, and the Simpsons movie better not suck – even though I have an inordinate amount of fear that it will!)

Inspired by Kristina O, Michelle L and various others who changed their Facebook profile photos to 2-D form (which I'm told means “too dorky”), I changed my own profile pic for the first time.  Although the Simpsons is a huge corporate entity these days, I still think it would be pretty subversive for everybody to switch from a photo to a Simpsons avatar!

Posted 12 July 2007 § Humour § Main Page § Meme § Photo § PopCulture ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged:

By Request – My Web Design Evolution and What Every Librarian Should Know

I finally managed to catch up on responses to the comments that have come in over the last month (my policy is to try to respond to every comment I get – post a “hey Jay” and see if it's true! )  There was one a month ago from Taryn that said this:

“Hi Jason, I'm a prospective MLIS student who reads your blog
occasionally. Could you please do a post on how the technical aspects
of Web site creation/blogging have evolved for you? Also, in your
opinion, what skills should every librarian have with regard to Web
site creation/management? Basically, I'd like to expand upon my basic
HTML/Dreamweaver skills, and I don't know where to start! Thanks.”

Okey-dokey, big responsibility – the first “post by request” as opposed to my usual “post by rambling monologue”.  Let's break this assignment into two parts.

How have the technical aspects of web design evolved for me over time?
I am a self-taught web guy who designed my first web page in 1997.  In the beginning, I was doing straight hand-coding of HTML, a skill that anybody should be able to pick up fairly quickly and the best place to start (ie. don't just rely on a front-end program like Dreamweaver but learn what's happening behind the scenes.)  Eventually I moved to using  front-end programs as web design became more complex – Luckman's WebEdit was a shareware program I used for the longest time that was quite useful.  I've tried a variety of programs over the years – both freeware and uhm, copywrong-ware.  I was usually pretty anal about not using programs that messed up my code very much and tried to avoid things like FrontPage and even Dreamweaver which I found often added crap you didn't want or deleting stuff that you did.  Eventually (around 2002?), I began using another Macromedia program called Contribute for the majority of my basic updates.  Contribute is a really handy front-end program – it makes web design as easy as using Microsoft Word (although obviously, it isn't as crappy as Word at doing HTML stuff).  Around this time, I also began letting most of my contract work go as I realised that the skills needed to be a successful stand-alone web designer had passed me by (very few people these days have the trifecta – web design, graphic design/layout, and programming). 

The next step in my “evolution” was starting a blog last year.  I'm very glad that I have the background and skills to go in to tweak things as needed but essentially, the biggest change over time for me was that web design was very easy at first (basic HTML only), got more complex over time (stylesheets, Flash, programming, etc.) but then got easier again as blogs, wikis, widgets and other tools became available.  Now, a person with absolutely no knowledge of HTML or any other web design skills (CSS, programming languages, etc.) can be up and running with their own site/blog/listserv/wiki in minutes.

What Skills Should Every Librarian Have In Regards To Web Site Creation/Management?
This is a contentious issue that I've had arguments with various fellow students about (often on this blog!)  So let me begin with an anecdote.  When the Writers Guild of Alberta was redesigning their web site in 2003 (?) or so, I was put in charge of the project based on my web design background and experience.  But because of the scope of the site they wanted to design with an interactive membership directory, dynamic pags and so on, we hired an outside contractor to do the actual design of the site while my role was to simply be the project supervisor.  Somewhere, maybe halfway through the project, the contractor and I were talking and he goes “I'm so glad you speak my language.  That's so rare in the work I do that people can communicate what they want.”  Translation: maybe I couldn't do all of the database programming and related work that needed to be done to design a site like this myself anymore.  But I knew enough to be able to understand what was (and wasn't) possible and to communicate what we wanted to him effectively.  (Of course, I look at that site now and find it pretty underwhelming.  But at the time, I assure you it was cutting edge!)  So that's a long answer to the question.  A short answer is that, yes, as others I've argued this point with in the past have pointed out, in this day and age, if you're in a library of any size, you'll likely have specialists who do the actual web work – either internally or contracted externally.  But I still would argue that a librarian should have a pretty good grasp of basic web design principles, databases, graphic design and related topics.  And ideally, they should at least be able to do some of these things as well as understand them.  (Of course, this can backfire – I've seen official library web pages which were obviously done by people with very little to no understanding of web design – weird colors, distorted images, obscure fonts – the list of sins is endless.)  Still, as technology and the Internet become more central to our profession, the need for informed librarians will only increase. 

Taryn, I hope that answers the question and thanks for the request! 

Posted 11 July 2007 § Internet § Main Page § Work ‡ Comments (4) °

A Hipper Crowd of Shushers

Here's an article that's making the rounds from the New York Times' Fashion & Style section – A Hipper Crowd of Shushers

“How did such a nerdy profession become cool — aside from the fact
that a certain amount of nerdiness is now cool? Many young librarians
and library professors said that the work is no longer just about books
but also about organizing and connecting people with information,
including music and movies. And though many librarians say that
they, like nurses or priests, are called to the profession, they also
say the job is stable, intellectually stimulating and can have
reasonable hours — perfect for creative types who want to pursue their
passions outside of work and don’t want to finance their pursuits by
waiting tables.”

(Thanks to Christina W. for the pointer to the article.  And as always, MetaFilter – which is haunted by many librarians and co-administered by Jessamyn West of Librarian.net – has lots of great discussion that's just as interesting as the article, if not moreso.)

Posted 10 July 2007 § Jobs § Library § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (3) °

Shock of the Day – Madonna Is A Hypocrite

When I posted that jokey one-liner yesterday about the ridiculousness of Madonna lecturing me about saving the environment, I knew her blather was typical celebrity hypocrisy.  I didn't realise just how bad she is though.  Thanks Madge.  Go steal another kid from the third world. 

(Of course, we live in a world where even “celebrity-as-saviour” official spokesman, Bono allows his business manager to use tax dodges so money doesn't go to the very governments he's lobbying to eliminate third-world debt.  So what can you do?  Just keep breathing is my best advice.)

Posted 08 July 2007 § Main Page § Politics § PopCulture ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged:

777 (+7)

I didn't do much about the July 7, 2007 (777) hype.  I know there were lots of weddings (and c-sections!) and other milestone type events planned for yesterday.  And I know casinos expected to be extremely busy.  But it took me until today to realise that Pace was seven weeks old yesterday.  So there's another happy, lucky coincidence! 

Oh, and awhile back, I wrote about a book called “The Poo Bomb” that was originally an Internet column.  The full contents of the book are back up – I think because the hard copy version is now remaindered.  The entry for Week 7 was eerily familiar:

“We just got one of those electronic swing things. You know? Those things
you put the baby in, and a little battery powered motor rocks it until
it quiets down, simultaneously hypnotizing it into submission and churning
the contents of its diapers into a frothing poo milkshake? Those things?

They're great. It feels like cheating.

Whenever our little fusspot is fed, burped, changed, and otherwise cared
for in every way the law requires, and she's still fussing/whining/screaming/being
heavy, we put her into the device one of our friends aptly named “The
Neglectomatic.” And it rocks her worries away.

I now know exactly how long it takes for a thought to develop in our
baby's tiny, tiny brain: 1 minute. You can watch the process as she swings
back and forth. The motion empties her brain of her concerns, and then
you can watch them creep back, the new expression creeping over her face
like the skin on a bowl of pudding, until she has fully decided what is
bothering her. Then you can watch as the Neglectomatic shakes the thought
out of her brain, like rolling a marble out of a hole in the bottom of
a coffee can. And she's sedate for another minute.”

Posted 08 July 2007 § Baby § Humour § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Okay, I've Changed My Mind Again

Madonna can't do it but I sincerely believe that Duran Duran still has the power to save the world.  Thank God for Simon Le Bon!

Posted 08 July 2007 § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: