Fagstein

Moving on

2007-02-27T22:58:00.000-05:00

Today I finally decided to get off my ass and setup a website for myself.

And move my blog there.

Behold my new address:

blog.fagstein.com

ADQ candidate predicts ADQ win

2007-02-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

I guess we'll have to take this guy at his (perhaps somewhat ill-chosen) word.

All B countries are the same

2007-02-27T11:52:00.000-05:00

This is just funny:

A map that appeared Saturday with a story about Canada's merchant navy in the Second World War identified Bermuda incorrectly as the Bahamas. And what the map should have shown was a different country altogether, Barbados.

More attention for a Montreal band

2007-02-27T01:18:00.000-05:00

The manager of Montreal-based singer/band Dee (couldn't he pick a more search-engine-friendly name?) emailed me today to let me know that this music video, a parody of renowned video diary fraudster lonelygirl15 which I wrote about last year, has been (finally) chosen as a featured video on YouTube's homepage, and that another song by the guy/group is being used for a big Ford commercial that a lot of money was spent on but is not original in any way.

Principle? No, just greed

2007-02-26T17:04:00.000-05:00

Looks like EMI is ready to give up its principles on digital rights management in exchange for more money.

Sweet, sweet greed.

Rgrs iz krstl clr in itz txt msgs lol.

2007-02-26T13:37:00.000-05:00

Rogers, my cellphone provider, felt it necessary today to text me this message:

Change that boring ring ur callers hear 2 a cool tune w/CallerRingTrax. It's fun & easy! Reply YES 4 more info. 2 opt out of mktg msgs reply STOP

Aside from the fact that it's spam that I never asked for, and the fact that it's insanely inconvenient and insults my intelligence, I can't help asking the question: What is a 55-year-old technophobe who doesn't speak l33t supposed to do when he receives this message and wants to stop further ones? Is it just assumed that everyone with a cellphone writes messages like a desperate-for-acceptance 12-year-old?

Speaking of Craigs

2007-02-26T00:20:00.000-05:00

Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey showed he has the poker face of a champion by trading longtime (and hard-working) Hab defenceman Craig Rivet.

Hopefully Bob still has something in his cards that will give us a forward who can score goals.

Meanwhile, the blogosphere is starting to react.

Some are doing it philosophically:

We who follow the Habs have known for a while that Craig Rivet might be traded, and there had already been considerable debate amongst fans about the value of that decision. It was a difficult, wrenching discussion, since it almost completely centered on the concept of ‘intangibles’.

Others not so much:

LATENDRESS RYDER AND HIGGINS SUCK. HEATLEY IS THE MAN. [...] GO SENS GO

Meanwhile, the media in California seem to think this is a good deal for them too.

Dollar Cinema is dead. Long live Dollar Cinema

2007-02-26T00:09:00.000-05:00

Tonight, in order to overcome an incredible surge of boredom, I went to Dollar Cinema to catch Casino Royale with the new Bond, Daniel Craig.

As I entered I noticed the Dollar Cinema is now a $2 cinema. It's still worth going (popcorn and soda are still $1), but on principle it seems strange. Kind of like seeing stuff at the Dollar Store that's more than a dollar.

The movie itself was OK. Craig makes a believable (though incredibly naive) Bond. But ... is there a second part to this movie or something? I feel unsatisfied. He doesn't even get a girl at the end! (Sorry if that spoiled it for you)

Montrealer wins unimportant Oscar

2007-02-26T00:06:00.000-05:00

And most importantly, she was wearing a black dress when she did.

Congrats, Torill Kove.

It never rains but it pours

2007-02-25T23:58:00.000-05:00

A girl ejected from a soccer game for wearing a hijab.

I'm not about to try to solve the reasonable accommodation debate here, but didn't anyone predict that this would happen when they created a rule to ban religious headwear?

UPDATE: Jean Charest takes the referee's side. Probably because the kids can't vote.

A nucleodensimewhat?

2007-02-25T17:27:00.000-05:00

Anyone seen one of these recently? If so, it's probably stolen. (Gazette article)

Far offshore

2007-02-25T17:23:00.000-05:00

Some New Zealanders are unhappy about an online gambling site run by a Costa Rican company with a Kahnawake gambling license.

Oh the complicated jurisdiction fight that is to ensue...

When polling goes bad

2007-02-24T22:28:00.000-05:00

A new "poll" has determined that rich kids work hard, are responsible for their money and give to charity.

How did this scientific endeavour come up with these conclusions? It asked the rich kids what they thought of themselves.

Now strangely they find out the rich kids paint themselves in a positive light. And since rich kids wouldn't lie or anything, it must be true.

Oh, and the control variable? You know, asking the not-so-rich kids what they thought of themselves as a basis for comparison?

They didn't bother doing that.

And since "they" is a "wealth management company", I guess we'll just have to trust that they don't have some sort of hidden agenda here.

On the return of Newswatch

2007-02-24T18:40:00.000-05:00

Midnight Poutine has a review of CBC's one-hour News at Six, focusing on their new sports commentator P.J. Stock.

The return to one hour of local news, which CBC hopes will bring it back into the same league as CTV as it was many moons ago, was first discussed back when I had a brief stint at the Corporation TWO YEARS AGO.

Hopefully future improvements won't take as long.

Behold, something we haven't seen at the Big O

2007-02-24T00:43:00.000-05:00

Spectators.

Also cool in this video: monster trucks.

Careful, Le Devoir

2007-02-23T23:19:00.001-05:00

Keep doing this and you'll go blind.

Test the Nation: CBC stumbles out of the gate

2007-02-23T19:08:00.000-05:00

So CBC has been running ads for this Test the Nation "event" that came out of some brilliant mind in the senior programming boardroom.

I'm not quite sure what the point is. It seems to be some sort of nationwide IQ test, complete with break-the-stereotypes revelations where they show stupid surgeons and smart tattoo artists.

What struck me on their website is this "mental gym" quiz. Ten surprisingly difficult questions about logic, memory etc. Below the big link to the test is a list of the top 5 finishers so far.

Apparently all five answered the questions 100% correctly in under a second and a half.

Could have something to do with the fact that you can take the test over and over again and the answers never change.

Leave it to the idiots

2007-02-23T17:38:00.000-05:00

The Park Ave. YMCA, which was involved in that unfrosted windows peeping tom debacle, has decided not to think about the issue too much (or trust some provincial commission), but to simply conduct polling and see what Joe Schmo Quebecer thinks.

Shawinigan Handshakee runs for office

2007-02-23T17:34:00.000-05:00

In a desperate grab at relevancy, Bill Clennett, who tussled with Jean Chrétien 11 years ago, is running for office for Québec solidaire in the Quebec riding of Hull.

New Montreal tech blog

2007-02-23T13:45:00.000-05:00

The Gazette's Roberto Rocha has quietly started up a Montreal tech industry blog (fixed link) with some startup fodder. It should probably be announced some time over the next few days.

On successful Amber Alerts

2007-02-23T13:34:00.000-05:00

CNN is reporting that a 13-year-old Florida boy has been found alive hours after he was abducted at gunpoint.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the SQ located two Pierrefonds children who had been abducted by their mother (I think).

Both cases sparked Amber Alerts, which prompted countless calls from the public, though in neither case it seems did the public make a difference.

Attack on ref saves ref's life

2007-02-23T02:44:00.000-05:00

Hopefully people don't use this as an excuse to start cross-checking refs in the face though.

Don't forget about the other third party

2007-02-23T00:50:00.000-05:00

Québec solidaire (the fringe-left association of hippies that pretends to be a serious party) has a new strategy this election: focus on some key ridings.

Good luck with that.

How's Mickey doing, anyway?

2007-02-23T00:45:00.000-05:00

Fanatique.ca has a roundup of how former Habs are doing in their post-Montreal hockey careers.

It's official: Trudeau's running

2007-02-23T00:28:00.000-05:00

Try to act surprised.

He'll be seeking the nomination in Papineau, where the BQ's Vivian Barbot narrowly beat Pierre Pettigrew last time around.

Fark compares Trudeau to what Brian Mulroney's kid is doing now.

Chez Schwartz

2007-02-23T00:05:00.000-05:00

I'm out of the loop. Just heard about this documentary today, co-produced by Concordia documentary prof Barry Lazar.

Campaign websites critiqued (updated)

2007-02-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

Quebec bloggers are critiquing the websites of the three major parties in the upcoming provincial election.

Eric Baillargeon gives top marks to the PQ's website, which for some reason redirects to an administrator site with a bad security certificate:

Issued to:
E = root@server3.astralinternet.com
CN = server3.astralinternet.com
OU = SomeOrganizationalUnit
O = SomeOrganization
L = SomeCity
ST = SomeState
C = --

Besides being issued with incomplete information, the certificate is also assigned to the wrong domain and by an unrecognized certificate issuer, all of which raised alarm bells in my browser.

The real website is still available here.

The ADQ website, meanwhile, starts up with an annoying typing sound and plays a video without asking me first. Once upon a time these things were bad netiquette. Has that changed or something?

Michel Leblanc takes a more statistical approach to critiquing the PQ vs PLQ websites (no mention of ADQ), and notes that they both have their technological issues.

This is impressive since there's very little at the Liberal website besides some candidate photos and promises of a blog.

UPDATE: Canoe's Dominic Arpin jumps into the fray, adding brief critiques of the Quebec solidaire and Green party websites. He adds that the ADQ's domain (adqaction.com) isn't exactly intuitive.

Death to lattes

2007-02-22T15:43:00.000-05:00

It seems a letter writer has found the solution to Quebec's post-secondary education funding issue: Students are buying too many iced cappuccinos and should be spending it on increased tuition:

Here are a few suggestions: Students – or parents footing the bill – can rent one fewer video a week, go to one fewer movie, buy one fewer latte or iced cappuccino.

And here I was thinking that these students are buying 99-cent pizzas because their maxed-out credit cards won't allow them any money to live on, and they still owe their four roommates three months back-rent.

How silly of me.

Meanwhile, Henry Aubin points out that Quebec's adult workforce is the laziest in Canada, with shorter work hours, more sick days, less productivity and more early retirement:

They’ve simply absorbed a ethos that we, their elders, have unintentionally taught them by example. Many of us in older generations have established a culture of entitlement, a sense that everything is due us.

Maybe they're the ones who should be spending less time sipping lattes and more time on the job?

Montrealers cure diabetes

2007-02-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

(well, not quite)

Doctors have found genes that apparently increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

It's all about the separatists, baby

2007-02-21T22:26:00.000-05:00

Here's how Reuters sees the upcoming provincial election.

Bloomberg, meanwhile, takes a more matter-of-fact approach.

37 people we've never heard of

2007-02-21T15:57:00.000-05:00

were appointed to the Order of Canada.

As usual half of them are CEOs of big companies who bought their way in through donations to charities.

Am I the only one who finds it odd that "philanthropist" and "philanderer" sound a lot alike?

Telus caves in

2007-02-21T15:37:00.000-05:00

The surge in media attention that has thrust Telus into the hot, sweaty spotlight has gotten too hard for the overly sensitive wireless provider, who has pulled out of its porn services to cellphones, leaving its johns stroking their heads wondering where their next climaxes are going to come from.

And yet Videotron still has SexTV on its lineup.

The Guy Lafleur disco album

2007-02-21T15:29:00.000-05:00

I have no words.

Some things are best left in the past. Il fait beau dans l'métro this is not.

Shawinigate Hotel for sale

2007-02-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

Got $1 million lying around? Now you can spend it on a piece of political history.

The inevitable XM/Sirius merger

2007-02-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

Greetings, new monopolistic overlords.

Do people actually subscribe to these services?

New BNL video features YouTube stars

2007-02-19T19:36:00.000-05:00

The Barenaked Ladies, who are playing the Bell Centre tonight (I'd see them, but Heroes is on), have a new video featuring YouTube stars like the Numa Numa guy, "Where the hell is Matt?" Matt Harding, and a few other people I don't recognize. Lonelygirl15 is nowhere to be found.

(via BoingBoing)

La Presse turns the tables on tenants

2007-02-19T17:47:00.000-05:00

After a fascinating series on horrible landlords, La Presse takes a look at bad tenants with garbage-filled apartments left by people who don't clean, or worse, wilfully damage their own apartments or those of others.

(via mtlweblog)

Some humour escapes me

2007-02-19T17:42:00.001-05:00

Are these people serious?

Is my MP Canadian?

2007-02-19T15:42:00.000-05:00

Yes she is.

But The Gazette's Liz Thompson has a piece in today's paper about so-called "lost" Canadians who are now realizing they were never Canadian citizens for bureaucratic reasons. Marlene Jennings is safe, but apparently was worried for quite a while about it.

This concerns me somewhat. Does Parliament not check that MPs are Canadian citizens before allowing them to take office?

Also today: Gazette freelancer (and Habs Inside/Out Puckcast host John MacFarlane ~~lectures~~ educates us about the politics of food, and Part 3 (subscriber-locked) of my supermarket shopper series.

And on Page A6, a far-too-large story on a CanWest spelling bee is surrounded by stories on shootings, stabbings, home invasions and drunk driving.

Lost explained

2007-02-19T03:03:00.000-05:00

This video made me laugh. It also reminds me why I don't watch Lost.

She ordered St. Hubert once. Oh the horror!

2007-02-18T13:38:00.000-05:00

As part of its six-day food series, The Gazette today looks at the personal culinary habits of its restaurant critic, complete with photos that keep her off camera so she won't get recognized doing her job.

It's about what you'd expect.

My daily profile of a supermarket shopper isn't online, but it's in the paper on Page A4. Today is Daisy Leclerc, who was lots of fun to interview (albeit for a brief period).

The Crazy Left unaccommodating on accommodation

2007-02-17T23:35:00.000-05:00

A gaggle of the usual radical left subjects is already condemning a debate on reasonable accomodation as "racist and sexist."

Their diatribe produces golden gems of sociological claptrap like this:

In this respect, we reassert the dynamic nature of the various manifestations of our beliefs or cultural identities, which express themselves within a larger social and political context.

In particular, we observe that the analysis of the oppression of women and gender inequality, as expressed in the mass media, as strictly a phenomenon internal to religions, explicitly ignores the external, universal systems of patriarchy and sexism which all women face, while also definitively homogenizing religion.

Among the things they denounce:
- mass media
- the State
- capitalism (not quite sure what that has to do with Hérouxville)
- "imperialist feminist discourse", whatever that is
- war proponents
- colonialism/imperialism

Things not denounced:
- oppressive religions

CanWest to expand

2007-02-17T16:46:00.000-05:00

CanWest Publications, the print media arm of CanWest MediaWorks, which is owned by CanWest Global Communications Corp., is expanding its CanWest News Service to open new bureaus locally and abroad.

What the glowing press release masquerading as a news story doesn't say, however, is that the reason for this expansion is that CanWest is pulling out of Canadian Press, the national nonprofit wire service that just about every news outlet in the country is part of because of its comprehensive coverage of Canadian affairs.

The expansion is necessary because CanWest has no publications east of Montreal and only a couple of bureaus abroad. Pulling out of CP (and by extension losing Associated Press copy as well) will save the chain a few million dollars but kill its main source of wire copy. Even the hiring of 25 new journalists isn't going to make up for all of that.

Nevertheless, I'm not entirely denouncing the decision. Wire copy (and especially copy from CP and AP) is so easy to get online that it gives almost no added value to the newspaper. Those 25 new journalists, however, will probably represent a net gain as far as the industry goes; CanWest represents only about 10 per cent of CP's revenue, far less than it used to now that free wire-service-only papers like Metro and 24 Heures are all over the place.

I could be wrong about this, but I'm hoping that this turns out positively for the industry. I just wish CanWest would do more with its seven-figure savings than hire 25 journalists and pocket the rest.

UPDATE: Deborah Jones has some comments as well on the announced expansion, and some concerns as well.

Today in the paper: Me!

2007-02-17T13:20:00.000-05:00

My profile (subscriber-locked) of this blog (Page B2).

The first in the supermarket streeter series, and the accompanying video (Page B4).

And a Bluffer's Guide to celebrities in politics (no link due to a confusion in copyright).

Keep quite!

2007-02-17T02:39:00.000-05:00

Here's a sob story about someone coming into town, trying to pay cab fare by credit card, and then giving the guy a 40-cent tip when she finally gets some cash.

Speaking of sob stories...

Did I mention I hate MySpace?

N.Y. man charged with money laundering ... TO TERRORISTS!

2007-02-17T02:33:00.000-05:00

The big story is about sending $150,000 to the Middle East, but this man is also charged with laundering money through a Montreal bank account, also allegedly for terrorism purposes.

Rael's UFOland for sale

2007-02-16T17:23:00.000-05:00

The world's most notorious attention whore Rael is back, on the front page of the Globe and Mail today with this story about his organization's "UFOland" up for sale for $3 million.

Any takers?

Ryan Larkin died

2007-02-16T17:08:00.000-05:00

Ryan Larkin, he of the Oscar-winning NFB film Ryan, died on Valentine's Day.

UPDATE: CP has an obit

OMG: Dog, cat get along

2007-02-16T14:53:00.000-05:00

It's all over the press:

Workers at the Meriden Humane Society are marveling at a short-haired mother cat that has adopted a 6-day-old Rottweiler puppy that was rejected by its mother.

Udder failure

2007-02-16T14:42:00.000-05:00

Maybe the Vachibou wasn't such a good idea after all (byline is one of my J-school classmates who's clearly more successful than I am).

Reasons not to trust Wikipedia

2007-02-16T14:24:00.000-05:00

From today's Gazette:

An item that appeared in last Saturday's Take 5 section ("If there is justice, NFL greats will get digital career replays") and attributed to Wikipedia incorrectly stated The Princeton Review had named Liberty University "the least sexually active university in America." There is, in fact, no such study.

Cranky old guy takes bus

2007-02-15T17:39:00.000-05:00

I took the 105 today to get home. Behind me in line was an older fellow, tall with a trenchcoat. He seemed frustrated by something as he put on his tuque, as if he should be yelling at the weather for being cold.

As the bus pulled up beside the long line, he started moving forward ahead of me, as if that would make the line move faster. I quickly reclaimed my place as the line moved forward, and grabbed the last single seat just ahead of him.

I thought nothing of it until he sat down, then quickly got back up and walked toward the driver, with people still getting on. He complained: there's a window open.

To my astonishment, the driver actually got up, walked back and closed the window, explaining to the old man that it's the passengers, not the driver, who control window openings and closings.

The old man didn't seem pleased. As if the world should apologize for inconveniencing him.

Landry gets special treatment

2007-02-15T15:10:00.000-05:00

So says The Gazette's Peggy Curran:

"Only a fraction of the $35,000 Concordia University will pay former premier Bernard Landry this semester is for teaching, with the rest covering "other tasks," like networking and forging links with business leaders and government, Concordia officials said last night." more...

Why spend all that money on education when you can hire people to schmooze?

You think he'd see it coming

2007-02-15T12:40:00.000-05:00

Now I'm the last person in the world who would make fun of someone's family name.

But you can't help but chuckle when the guy whose car is firebombed (subscriber-only, but the intro paragraph should be enough) is named Denis Laflamme.

Highway robbery

2007-02-15T02:42:00.000-05:00

$1,000 to see The Police?

I can't even think of any prostitutes who would charge $1,000 for two hours of entertainment.

For my lady friends on Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T18:18:00.000-05:00

A photo of hot man-on-man action at the Genies.

Sober second thoughts

2007-02-14T15:12:00.000-05:00

It is now legal to stone women in Hérouxville.

Logic triumphs again

2007-02-14T14:31:00.000-05:00

1. New superhospital will have fewer beds than the hospitals its replacing. Big shots say that's fine because despite an aging population, hospitals are more efficient and fewer beds will be needed. Also, flying monkeys will sprinkle pixie dust on patients to speed their recovery.

2. Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital has run out of beds in the ER and has 85 patients on stretchers. This news item has no relation to the previous one.

Peep shows are theatre, judge rules

2007-02-14T03:24:00.000-05:00

You can't make this stuff up. An Amsterdam judge rules that peep show club owners get to take advantage of tax breaks for theatre companies.

HD-DVD set free

2007-02-14T03:18:00.000-05:00

Proving once again that information cannot protect itself, HD-DVD has been hacked, which will make copying them possible.

BoingBoing's Cory Doctorow makes the point eloquently: When will these companies stop trying to fight a battle that will only get harder for them?

Homolka's mother status downgraded to "unconfirmed"

2007-02-14T02:26:00.000-05:00

The nurse union spokesperson who apparently confirmed Karla had a baby is now backtracking faster than Mel Gibson, Ted Haggard and the French army combined.

So technically we don't know for sure that she had a baby. But no doubt all the papers and TV stations have scrambled investigative teams to get the truth out.

You win again urinator

2007-02-14T02:16:00.000-05:00

Brilliant spellcheck at the Ottawa Sun reminds us how computers will stop all typos from getting into headlines.

The Rocket steals Genies but loses the big prize

2007-02-14T02:13:00.000-05:00

Bon Cop Bad Cop won only two: best picture and best sound.

The Rocket won in 9 of 13 categories it was nominated in, including a braindead obvious best actor award.

Those poor books

2007-02-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

A lot of bloggers are up in arms about this La Presse story on the dumping of 500,000 books. English translation/commentary is here.

alt.wesley.crusher.rules.rules.rules

2007-02-13T20:40:00.000-05:00

Another hilarious yet insightful review of an early Star Trek: The Next Generation episode from my hero Wil Wheaton. Wil's other ST:TNG reviews

The Left

2007-02-13T17:05:00.000-05:00

During the Feb. 7 Day of Action protest, it seems some students were protesting against other students. The leftist group Our Concordia screamed that the Concordia Student Union wasn't doing enough, even signing a petition to that effect.

Also this week, The Link profiles student groups who get their own taxes on students, to try to steer the debate on whether student-funded organizations should have to defend their fees every three years.

The other side of Montreal

2007-02-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

This Uncyclopedia page about Montreal has been circulating the local blogs. It makes no sense and is unfunny for anyone over the age of 15, so it'll be spreading like wildfire soon.

He peed freely

2007-02-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

Charges dropped against the National War Memorial urinator Stephen Fernandes. He had been charged for the all-encompassing "mischief" (which is legalese for "old people were offended").

The Fraser-Hickson saga continues

2007-02-13T15:20:00.001-05:00

Just when you thought it was all over, the dead horse gets another beating.

It's coming

2007-02-13T14:20:00.000-05:00

The metro party, at the end of March.

St. Catherine Street is on fire

2007-02-13T13:33:00.000-05:00

LCN has some details. CJAD has photos. Word on the street suggests it's on the north side of St. Catherine between St. Mathieu and Fort.

UPDATE: The Gazette has details. Photos from Josh Brown and Christelle FV.

Steps to journalistic success

2007-02-12T23:48:00.000-05:00

1. Find a store owner with a temper and unhappy customers.
2. Go to his store with camera in tow.
3. Keep the camera rolling as reporter and subject get into a sissy fistfight.
4. Watch as he barricades himself inside his store and the cops haul him away for assault.
5. Sell the footage to CNN.
6. Profit.

Mainstream media investigates

2007-02-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

How online teens (read: idiots) talk, from Canadian Press. Not that I've ever heard teens talk like this. Maybe it's because I'm out of touch.

Has h@x0r d0odism become mainstream?

We've made Fark

2007-02-12T01:08:00.000-05:00

A Fark.com post today about this Ottawa Citizen story on how purchases of the gun Kimveer Gill used for the Dawson College shooting have gone up since.

A typical comment from the thread: "Why would sales triple when it has such a lousy kill rate?"

Welcome

2007-02-12T01:07:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the blog. Hope you enjoy your stay