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Loading ...High-tech lobsters foil crime, still die
CBC News reported this week on a recent Department of Fisheries and Oceans sting that involved planting microchipped lobsters in poachers’ traps.
The poachers had been laying unmarked traps off the coast of Newfoundland’s Burnt Islands. “During a stakeout of the area, officers saw three men hauling two of the untagged traps from the water and approached the men. Officers searched their boat and found all six microchip (sic) lobsters,” according to the story.
This led to busting the rest of the poaching ring, which included 13 traps and 54 lobsters seized. Dread poacher Everett James was brought to justice, and was dealt the deadly blow of a 14-day licence suspension at the start of the 2009 fishing season. Accomplices Wallace James Sr. and Kevin Courtney were fined $500 each.
That fine money might go toward promoting protection of fish and lobster habitat in Newfoundland and Labrador, apparently, but what of the brave undercover lobster officers?
Aaaaaawkwaaaaard.
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(1 votes, average: 8 out of 10) Loading ...Attention Tim Horton’s addicts
If you’re a coffeeholic and won’t settle for anything other than Timmy’s, Apple Inc.’s App Store has something for you.
According to IDG News Service, the TimmyMe application, for the iPhone 3G, is designed to give users directions to the nearest Tim Horton’s.
Of course, a true Tim Horton’s addict doesn’t need one of these. If, hypothetically, the author of this article was a Tim Horton’s addict living and working in Toronto, he would be aware there are two Tim Horton’s locations in Scarborough Town Centre, plus locations:
- -on the west side of Warden about 300 metres north of St. Claire;
- -on the northeast corner of Pharmacy and Eglinton;
- -on the east side of Victoria Park just north of the 401;
- -on the south side of Sheppard Ave. between Consumers Road and Highway 404;
- -on the west side of Yonge south of Sheppard in the gas station;
- -on the west side of Yonge two blocks north of Sheppard,;
- -on the west side of Victoria St. north of Dundas;
- -on the east side of Yonge immediately north of Bloor;
- -in the Finch subway station inside the fare-paid zone near the escalators on the south end;
- -on the west side of Leslie St. immediately north of Lakeshore Blvd.
- -on the north side of Front St. west of Peter St.
But of course, that’s only hypothetical.
Now all we need is one that will give you directions to the Tim Horton’s that has the fastest-moving lineup.
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(1 votes, average: 10 out of 10) Loading ...Parenting in the mobile Internet age
Normally at IT World Canada we get flooded with press releases from companies like Cisco, Microsoft, IBM and other large, established vendors looking for publicity for their business products.
But recently we received a release from a woman who identified herself as a “North Texas Mom” promoting The Enforcer and eSembler, which lets parents view their kids’ school grades online and then punish poor performance by cutting off online or mobile access.
The Enforcer would work in conjunction with eSembler. In the event that a student received poor grades, The Enforcer would restrict other activities, such as cell phone use and Myspace.
“The student would be notified, via text or email, giving them an opportunity to redeem themselves prior to interruption of privileges” the release stated. “In an ever-changing world of technology, this cuts their life-line without the physical or emotional confrontation between parent and child.”
So, let me get this straight. These products are innovative for two reasons. They let parents find out about their children’s grades without having to go to the trouble of contacting their teachers or reading their report cards. Then they cut off access to cell phones and the Internet without having to undertake the archaic task of actually talking to their children in person.
Welcome to 21st century parenting, where software and messaging technologies make the old-fashioned, cumbersome chore of having a heart-to-heart discussion with your children a things of the past.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Steve Jobs: Dicktastic!
Steve Jobs haters have had a good run lately, whether it be the MobileMe debacle or his evasiveness around ripping down seemingly innocent apps from The App Store.
Through the magic of wikis, the haters can now collectively hate on Jobs over at Dickipedia (”A Wiki of Dicks”), where they can take a stroll through Jobs’ lifetime of alleged dickitude, including his being ousted from Apple (”It takes a pretty big dick to get fired from your own company”), his prediliction for mock turtlenecks (”now everybody’s doing it”), and his alleged secret PC envy (”no matter how many PC users he manages to convert, Steve Jobs will always totally sweat Bill Gates’ jock”).
The only thing missing from the Wiki is a YouTube clip of Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs angrily hitting everything off a table while raging on employees. You can troll through the many “Pirates of Silicon Valley” YouTube clips for that gem, but, in the meanwhile, you can make do with the fictionalized vignette of “Steve Jobs, Dick Job Interviewer” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcbOGamZrhI.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Romancing the screen
Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. says it’s the “first publisher” to offer electronic books with “interactive buttons” that link to sites with more information about the content.
Toronto-based Harlequin is a subsidiary of Torstar Corp.. better known for the Toronto Star newspaper. Earlier this month, the company announced its novel Unmasked includes hyperlinks to sites containing photos, historical commentaries, illustrations, sound effects, maps and articles.
We haven’t tested the links, but given the subject matter of Harlequin novels, we recommend you test the sound links only at home.
The company says the interactive buttons “enhance the reading experience” and bring “the world of the novel to life without the reader having to leave the computer.” With these advances in technology, you can experience romance without the requirement of archaic, 20th-century items, such as an actual partner.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Shooting Google Messenger
According to IDG News Service, prosecutors in Italy are finishing an investigation into whether Google should be charged with defamation or invasion of privacy in connection with a video posted in September, 2006.
The clip, which was only on Google Video for a few hours, showed bullies harassing a disabled teenager. A Down Syndrome advocacy group, Vividown, later complained, so prosecutors in Turin are reportedly considering criminal charges against the search engine company.
IDG quoted Google spokesman Stefano Hesse as saying a prosecution could prove
“dangerous for the future of user-generated content.”
The video reportedly showed the bullies hitting the disabled boy with tissue boxes.
No word yet on whether the Italian prosecutors are going to charge the lowlifes who actually harassed the disabled kid.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Forget brain tumours - these cell phones are healthy :-)
KDDI Corp. of Tokyo has launched a line of handsets designed to keep you healthy, according to IDG News Service.
KDDI’s handsets include motion sensors and GPS receivers designed to figure out how far users walk. The Walk and Run application is designed to figure out the number of steps you’ve taken (in case you lose count), how far you’ve gone and the number of calories burned. When you’re finished working out, the data is sent to a server, and can later be analyzed by your PC (presumably while you’re sitting down and not burning too many calories).
To help motivate people to exercise, the handsets include links to the Lismo music download services, and users can send selected tunes to a pair of wireless headphones. The “Beat Run” application also matches musical tracks to the pace of the person’s exercise.
No word yet on how many users of these healthy handsets got hit by trucks while they were engrossed in their music or counting their calories while running in traffic wearing their wireless headsets.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Facebook developer takes a stab at reform
Online users who would like to virtually shove a nine-inch blade through someone’s pancreas will be disappointed now that Slide has removed its Shank application from the Facebook site.
According to a report published in PC Advisor, Shank was one of the “virtual activities” that Facebook users could use through the “Superpoke” application. But shank is also a slang term for stab, and the developer decided the app was in “poor taste.”
The app, which features a cartoon image of a knife, was originally designed as a lighthearted method for Facebook users to contact each other. Superpoke lets you wink, flirt with, hug and throw sheep at other people on Facebook – virtually, of course. But now that Slide has removed Shank, you can no longer stab your friends (or enemies) online through SuperPoke.
It’s only a matter of time before someone develops an app that lets you shoot someone online. but there’s no word yet on when the “take your patient’s pulse” app will be available to paramedics through SuperPoke.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Hackers announce World War 3
Websense Inc. has announced it has discovered a spam and Web site spoofing campaign designed to fool people into thinking the U.S. has invaded Iran.
The San Diego-based messaging security vendor’s Security Labs ThreatSeeker Network announced Thursday the Storm Worm campaign has started “social engineering” campaign with this aim.
On a blog, Websense posted screen shots of spam messages making claims like “Negotiations between the USA and Iran have ended” and “US soldiers have occupied Iran.”
It also posted a screen shot of a spoof Web site which posts a videotape, allegedly taken by an American soldier, of a mushroom cloud presumably resulting from a nuclear weapon.
In a message to journalists, Websense stated: “Given recent tensions between the US and Iranian governments, and recent news about missile tests in Iran, users could be easy targets for this campaign.”
It’s true users could be “easy targets” for such a campaign – if they don’t follow the news and believe everything they read in spam messages.Then again, if they don’t follow the news, they probably think Iran is a song by A Flock of Seagulls.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...More fun in press releases: jetting to Infinity Bay
Working in the publishing field means reading a lot of press releases, most of which are targeted at your magazine’s readership. Sometimes they aren’t.
Today, ComputerWorld Canada got a couple of doozies, including one we got “free of charge” (?) from Seasmoke PR about the Infinity Bay Resort and Spa. Included is: “I’m sure you and your readers are interested in discovering this new Caribbean hot spot. Especially with weekly non-stop flights from Miami, Atlanta and Houston, other markets are soon to follow. I am sending you this story free of charge. I have stunning artwork to accompany the release, and would be happy to send it along.”
Well, we’d love a free trip to the Caribbean, but it’s not exactly a hotbed of enterprise IT.
If we were interested and needed to get down there, we’d know just who to turn to: a private jet! So says Public New York City PR: “Business travel needs to be effective, and more savvy business travelers-cum-private jet passengers are finding it just that…For example, in a New York to Boston flight charted by Blue Star Jets is about $4,700 for seven people. Rounded out, this becomes roughly the same price as a last minute commercial ticket.”
Perhaps they should take their own advice and use the cost savings for another go-’round at PR school.
