- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – - – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Here are the details from one of the performances that I saw over this past weekend’s Interactive Futures conference here at Emily Carr. Click critical_review_john_deveaux for a PDF download.
– FlashAddict

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – - – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

t2:Echo – by Henry Daniel

Due to the fact that my schedule was quite full this past weekend along with the fact that I get quite severe motion sickness from watching 3D movies, ride films and IMAX movies, I was not able to see most of the presentations that were shown at this year’s Interactive Futures conference at Emily Carr. That being said, the one performance that I was able to see in at least some form was t2:Echo by Henry Daniel.

While I was not able to see the entire performance, due to the fact that the concourse gallery walls that were blocking my seeing most of the actual dancers’ performances. On top of this, I was also helping direct the audience members to their respective locations, facilitating their viewpoints and actively going to get benches for more vertically challenged people to stand on.

By positioning the dancers in two separate yet interlinked locations, the director was able to create a bridge between the performances. This was further articulated by the video coding and processing for telepresence technology that was used to create the concurrent ghosting effect that was seen on the wall of the ECUAD concourse gallery and the main display screen in the IDS Motion Capture studio.

The ghosting effect that was projected onto the concourse gallery wall showed the dual performances and interlaid them onto one another and provided a somewhat random video playback quality as each dancer took centre stage in front of the crowd. They also entered the stage from multiple entry points and once their rotation in each location was complete, they then ran either to or from the concourse gallery and IDS MoCap studio in order to continue their respective performances there.

I have never seen a live dance performance like this before and it was quite the sight to see, as the dancers themselves were able to glide through the space with the greatest of ease and truly encompass it. From what I could see, it was a beautiful and creative bridging of technology and human performance into a multi-faceted co-locative art piece and would enjoy seeing more performances by Henry Daniel and his accompanying dance troupe.

I came across a link on Velux’s website to whats being called “Active House.”  From what I can gather, it’s a (primarily) Belgian initiative to use the Passive House standard as a base model for construction, and build onto that with active systems to create houses that make more energy than they need.

Active house:
http://www.activehousing.net/publications/innovative-solutions-passive-house-details

On that site, there are links to the Passive house Belgium site, which has pdf’s of Passive House details in 3D that are helpful in understanding where the rubber hits the road with this construciton model.

Passive house site:
http://www.bouwdetails.be/index.php?col=-welkom&lng=nl&doc=op_deze_site

Passive house construction details:
http://www.bouwdetails.be/

Find out how to retrofit renewable energy sources to an existing property

In an ideal world our homes would be airtight, super-insulated and feature cutting-edge renewable technology. But in reality, they’re not. So in lieu of a miracle eco-housing super-boom, can we retrofit renewables to our existing homes? The answer is yes, but many of the technologies on offer are costly and payback periods can stretch to many decades. The good news is that by installing them now, you’ll ensure they gain popularity and become cheaper for future generations. In a nutshell, make your home Future Proof.

Insulation

If your home isn’t well insulated it can’t possibly be energy efficient – it’s as simple as that. Just insulating your cavity walls could save around £160 a year on your fuel bills and, as it costs in the region of £250, would pay for itself in about two years. If your home was built before the 1920s, it probably won’t be suitable for cavity-wall treatment. Instead, consider installing solid-wall insulation. It’ll be cheapest to do this if you’re already repairing or renovating exterior walls.

Loft insulation acts like a duvet, trapping heat that has risen from below and preventing it from being lost through the roof. Without it, you could be losing as much as 15 per cent of your home’s heat. As it costs approximately £190 to install, you could get payback in less than a year.

Glazing

If you can feel cold air or draughts coming in around your windows, it means warm air is escaping. Poorly insulated frames and single glazed windows account for up to 20 per cent of heat loss in the average home. Double-glazing creates an insulating barrier by trapping air between two panes of glass, which cuts heat loss, reduces noise and helps to prevent condensation.

The cost of replacing windows will vary greatly depending on the product you choose – whether it’s gas-filled; whether the pane is self-cleaning; the list goes on. Contact our friends at info@dynamight-internorm.co.uk for more details.

Solar hot water

Thermal panels capture energy from sunlight, transfer it to water to heat it, and then store it in a tank until it’s needed. According to the Energy Saving Trust, they can supply almost all of your hot water in summer. The system costs around £4,000 to install, and you should get payback in around eight years.

Fitting is relatively simple, and can usually be completed within a couple of days. You will need an additional water tank and it is ideal to combine it with heat pump. Drop us a line at info@futureproofenergy.co.uk and we will provide you with the details.

Solar electric

If you want to generate your own electricity, then solar photovoltaic (pv) cells may be ideal. It’s a myth that solar pv requires direct sunshine, although the more intense the light, the more electricity will be generated. Pv cells are available as panels that can be roof-mounted or inset. They also come as tiles to replace traditional coverings. Installation can cost around £20,000, but average annual CO2 savings – about 1.2 tonnes – are greater then solar thermal panels. And you can sell excess electricity back to the national grid to slash your payback time.

Planning permission shouldn’t be needed for solar thermal panels or photovoltaics thanks to new permitted development rules, but just to play safe, contact your local planning department before you install.

Ground source heat pumps

In a well-insulated property, GSHPs can provide 2-4kW of free energy for every 1kW of electricity used to power them, and are ideal for use with underfloor heating. Installation requires significant pipework to be laid in your garden, either horizontally or vertically.

A typical system suitable for a detached home will set you back about £8,000-£14,000. Running costs (to produce heating and 50 per cent of domestic hot water) are likely to be around £540 per year, but depend on factors such as the size of your home and how well insulated it is. Payback can be anywhere from eight to 12 years. Planning may be an issue so make enquiries with your council.

Air source heat pumps

There are two types of air source heat pumps (ASHPs): air-to-air systems provide warm air for circulation around the building, while air-to-water types heat water to provide heating via radiators or an underfloor system. Air source heat pumps don’t need a borehole or ground collector, making them ideal for small plots. A typical 9kW domestic system, suitable for a well-insulated detached property, costs £7,000-£10,000 installed.

You could save around £870 a year by operating an air source heat pump as the sole provider of heat, compared to the cost of running an electric system. Planning permission is not usually required, but it’s always prudent to check with your local council before installation. At Future Proof Energy we can advise you on the most suitable system and we are not connected with one manufacturer / supplier.

More information can be found at Future Proof Energy or ask us anything by writing to info@futureproofenergy.co.uk

Now you’re familiar with this structure:

This portrait of the Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci

The topic of the lesson was WASTE, POLLUTION, THE ENVIRONMENT and RECYCLING. We viewed lots of vocabulary about the environment (Vocab page 122 – unit 5). You talked about which of the three pictures in unit 5.1 showed the worst environmental disaster - an oil covered bird from an oil spill out at sea; air pollution caused by industrial chimneys throwing out huge amounts of smoke; or a waste site full of plastic waste.

Words beginning with RE- usually mean “again” (see Pet boards page for an example) and some with NON- (eg Non-smoker).

Listening practice: Finally, we listened to an interview with a man who has written an interesting book about THE STORY OF ICE CREAM….

Homework: Unit 5.2 exercises and the WRITING task too.

I hope all those going to Nottingham have a wonderful time!!!! Enjoy yourselves!

Let’s see how environmentally friendly we are. Click on the option that’s best for you:

Apparently I have enough time to update my post tag list, nothing new in the land of N yet, trying to figure out how I’m going to interlink all of my story’s into movuies and stuff.

Topic : CHOCOLATE

Language focus: The past passive form

subject + was/were + past participle

eg: chocolate was eaten in the nineteenth century

homework: unit 5.1 ex 3 – 10 and think about ex 11.

I first learned about earning passive income when I read Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ years ago. It made so much sense to me.

What’s better than working fewer hours while earning without much effort—that is, after the initial investment or product is put in place.

One area that I would suggest you entertain where you can increase your revenue stream is information products, i.e. e-books and reports.

People are hungry for information; hence, there is an on-going need to feed their curiosity. With information products, your imagination is not limited. Further, the web is a great place to sell your creations.

E-books and reports are relatively easy to create and can be done in a matter of a few hours or days. A large e-book however, may take several weeks or months, but it’s worth the effort because once it’s done, with good promotion and well-chosen keywords, search engines will help with massive exposure thereby leading to enormous sales 24- hours a day for years to come.

In addition, you can add an affiliate program to increase the number of sales by getting other people to sell it for a commission. This enables further increase for passive income.

Reprint rights, too, creates passive income as you can charge a fee for people to have the complete reprint rights, and they can place their own affiliate links in the product and sell it for the same price to others.

I’ve researched other avenues where you can generate passive income, but I quite like information products. You don’t necessarily have to do any micromanaging per se. Once in place, the investment/product is not dependent on hands-on effort on a 9-5 basis, yet you can generate unlimited income 24 hours, 7 days a week. It’s so worth the initial investment.

© 2009 Cherry-Ann Carew

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, NEWSLETTER, MAGAZINE OR WEBSITE? Please do, but ensure you include this complete resource box with it: Cherry-Ann Carew is The Power Write Coach and Editor of Writetastic Solutions. Learn how her coaching and editing services can help you become a published author at www.writetasticsolutions.com.

Watch out for your FREE REPORT: ‘The 3 Simple Steps That Will Help You Start And Finish Your Book.

Winter. It sucks. I’ve probably mentioned it before at some point. Something a little different from women in rope and me ranting about anything in particular, yet in keeping with the idea of “experimental”, I have been looking into DIY solar panel designs. I stumbled upon the idea of aluminum cans used in a heat box and found that there is quite a lot of information about it. Some seem to be more productive than others. Some people are running businesses where they’ll build you one of these things for a couple thousand bucks or so. Of course, it will pay for itself. Of course.

I looked around the shop thinking that I probably have enough random crap to actually build one and try it out for myself. My only downfall is that I hardly ever have aluminum cans around.

I also noticed that there were never any real clear images of these in design form. There are a few, but I designed this based on the available crap in the shop. Specifically, the clear front panel is a piece of sign face plastic that I have used as a floor in photography from time to time. It is a little scuffed up but it should work. Most of the rest of the crap is scrap wood from sign faces or crated sign packing.

I’ll keep you posted.

President Barack Obama toured Solar Energy Plants in 2009. In the spring he toured Las Vegas, Nevada; then he visited Arcadia, Florida; where he announced that $3.4 billion in “smart grid” energy technology grants included $267 million in Tampa, Florida.

A Florida Power & Light project received one of the nation’s largest grants: $200 million to create a smart grid in the company’s service area. The University of South Florida was also involved in the research and technology of the Arcadia Plant, but they received significantly less grant money.

Solar Power has taken a back seat to Oil, along with all other alternative energies for decades. Oil took the Industrial Throne from Coal, although Coal is certainly alive and burning pollution all over the United States. Oil as a dark liquid evil, also inherited the crusades in the Middle East, which Spices once caused for centuries.

It is only by supporting alternative renewable, clean energies like Solar Power that we can begin to take the dominant causes of War and Pollution away. Active Solar Power has come a long way, but not nearly as far as it would have if it were not owned by Oil Companies (see the history of BP Solarex). Passive Solar as well have much potential.

Both Passive and Active Solar Power can be used by almost every home in the United States if we make the technologies more accessible to the public. Advertising campaigns have done nothing to educate the public on these issues for decades as well. Some may still not understand the Power of our own Star, the Sun; and it’s continuing ability to provide us with more Power than we can use.

[notes: Active refers to Solar Panels where sunlight is made into electricity; Passive refers to any designs which harness the thermal energy of sunlight for heat gain]

Tis better to share and hunger than to hoard in shame.

Who reigns is fool to the rule.

Peace is not simple passivity; it is proactive, it is progress.

War is warful.

Peace, not without support of all; War, but with consent of two.

It is important that active voice be used in writing. BORING! That’s an example of passive voice. How do you change it to active voice? Just get rid of the verbs “is”  and “be.” What verb is left when you remove them? Use! So use “use” in the present tense and as a command. Begin the sentence with it. For example, “Use active voice in writing.” Short and sweet! Is “important” important? Not necessarily; you could put it in an introductory sentence, such as “Good writing contains these important elements:”

The “being” verbs: “is,” “was,” “be,” “am,” “are,” “were,” “being,” and “been” and their contraction (’s) and (‘re) flag your sentence as a passive one. Notice I could have written “…are red flags that indicate your sentence is a passive one.” But that would have made my sentence less active.

People use passive voice in a scientific paper, news article, or encyclopedia article because it gives these writings an impersonal, objective quality. But some reporters or scientists overdo it. making their article or paper boring. Try this exercise to develop active voice: Take a newspaper article or encyclopedia article and find the passive sentences by looking for the “being” verbs. Then convert them to active sentences. Get in the habit of writing in active voice, but remember that sometimes it’s okay to write in passive voice. Notice I wrote “it’s okay to write” instead of “you can write” because I wanted to emphasis the fact that it’s okay.

There are several ways to profit out of your business and every day activities. As business men we are focusing on profiting by providing good margin products and services through well organized sales channels. Products and services that follow the “value for money” and “value addition” rules. Correct! Basic marketing and sales principles are here because wise people studied the market and declared them in order to make our life (and work) easier. But this is only “one side of the coin”. The definition of profit is gain. Profit can be either active or passive. What I previously mentioned goes under the “Active profit” label. On the other hand, the “Passive Profit” is the gain from resource management. Resources in a business environment can be: Time, Assets, Personnel, Infrastructure, etc. In order to keep a company really profitable, balance between “Active” and “Passive” must be maintained. There are many cases where companies with remarkable active profitability, were destroyed because of lousy asset management or personnel overuse. The passive profitability can be easily tracked and watched by use of the correct tools. HR software, Asset Tracking software, Outsourcing, CRM software and ERP’s are a few of the tools a company should always invest on in order to keep costs low and manageable. The company size should not be an excuse, because bad results can always overcome the corporate numbers. The other investment is “the right people”. The right people can really forward your business, can teach you how to use the tools and closely watch the process and the progress. As a conclusion, I suggest you to consider all the aspects concerning your business. Measure, judge, test and finally result. But above all, maintain balance!

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – - – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Here are the details on the two internships that I am working on this semester for my DIVA 300 class – the first being the Motion Capture Studio at Emily Carr University and the second being CODElab, a look into surveillance during the Olympics taking place here in Vancouver in 2010. Click mid_term_report_john_deveaux for a PDF download.
– FlashAddict

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – - – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

IDS Motion Capture Studio Internship
http://crossfitmocap.wordpress.com/
- blog setup to provide project info to participants and show progress
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=177700972600&ref=mf
- Facebook user group setup as well with video links on group wall

LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Rick’s philosophy on learning is to be fluid and allow for creative freedom
- he did not want me helping with mundane tasks such as answering email
- seeing as how he has no set schedule, he wanted to have as much fun in the process
- on his own, he would calibrate the cameras by running back and forth = boring
- having me working with him, gives him a greater chance to explore new outcomes
- “If I have to do one more damn US Marine with a machine gun walk cycle again…”
- CrossFit coaches and athletes were brought together with artists for group meeting
- much easier to learn by bringing in and suiting up actors to have them perform
- ability to work with the performers and fine tune walk cycles or isolated movements
- unfortunately, we had a major software glitch which nixed our live MoCap filming

- Rick pulled up some pre-recorded footage to show multiple data captures instead

CrossFit – Motion Capture – group meeting 1

CrossFit – Motion Capture – group meeting 2

CrossFit – Motion Capture – group meeting 3

CrossFit – Motion Capture – group meeting 4

CrossFit – Motion Capture – group meeting 5

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – - – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

CODElab Internship
UPDATE
http://codelab.blprnt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
- Wiki page setup as a collective of project information and outcomes
http://codelab.blprnt.com/wiki/index.php/Information_on_the_Olympic_Games#Olympics:_
Secured_.E2.80.94_Past_and_Present
- researched previous and future Olympic cities’ security and surveillance activities
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- overall project is still open-ended as far as final outcomes
- I foresee my continued responsibilities as becomming a researcher
- our first task was to get a video camera and go around Granville Island and record
- criteria asked for unique and creative locations in order to record people and events
- possible location of setting up a “Ministry of Mis-Information” at Granville Island info board

If you know me, you know that I’ve been preaching about tapping into the hidden job market for…gosh…I can’t even tell you how long. Going after the hidden job market really pays off. But it does take quite a bit of work.

So we’ve beaten the “pro-active horse” to death. What else do we have?

Surprisingly…being “passive.” I’m saying “passive” and not passive as there is still some action required on your end. But compared to all the other ways to change jobs or careers, this one is going to feel like a breeze for most people! Especially if you are already on FaceBook, LinkedIn, or any other social networking site. I’ll even bet you’ll find it fun!

If you’re not yet on those sites…my friend…you need to get your butt in high gear and get with the program. If you are not active online in a professional way, employers will not find you when they Google your name. Most employers now Google candidates. Luckily, to a big extent, you control what they get to see.

So let’s talk about this “passive” strategy. What does it entail?

Applying a “passive” approach means that you stay in frequent communication with your network through social networking sites and through personal contact, it means you have your own blog – and are writing on it! It means you’re commenting on other people’s blogs that are relevant to your field or the field you want to transition into. And it means being on forums and in groups – i.e. on LinkedIn.

What you’re doing here is being visible. Both to people in your industry and your network, and to Google.

You’re staying on the radar, you’re making yourself visible.

How? By sharing the details of your morning routine and your grievances with the world?

Hardly.

You want to “talk” about your area of expertise, share comments, tips, and advice with others, so people get a feel for your talents and skills. Once it’s time to move your transition into high gear, you have created awareness around yourself, your abilities, and your “brand” within your network.

Better yet, it is not unheard of that those who employ this technique receive job offers through their networks based on the value and expertise they have demonstrated online. What’s happening is that you are attracting attention from decision makers – and you never know who they are and where they hang out! – Instead of you going after companies, contacts, and job openings.

By the way, the pro-active, approaching-companies-method is still very much in vogue. I would never recommend you go “passive” in lieu of all the other job search strategies.

So when is the best time to start using this “passive” strategy?

The best time is when you are employed and preparing for your transition. Or, better yet, when you’re not even in the market for a new job. This will give you plenty of time to establish your online persona – without raising suspicion from your current employer, catch people’s attention, and have your network ready to refer you or approach you with great leads or exciting opportunities.

You could build your professional online identity 30 minutes per day at a time – probably even less. If you are in the middle of your transition and are a total stranger to social networking and blogging, you have some catching up to do. As with anything, getting started is the hardest part. Once you’re up and running, I’m confident you’ll even enjoy it!

There is no real pressure, you’re doing what you do best, or at least talking about what you do best by showcasing your expertise.

And you’re making new connections online. If you hate those in-person networking events where you show up with your stack of resumes and walk around with your name tag stuck to your shirt or jacket all night – only to forget to take it off when you go home..nice when you take public transportation…then the online alternative is your rescue. Besides the fact that most of the working world is now hanging out online, these days.

Not sure where to start, what to write about?

Start by browsing group discussions and blogs from others in your field. See what speaks to you – always keeping your career target in mind – and leave a comment when appropriate. Join the conversation and before you know it, you feel compelled to have your own say. Chime in! Answering other people’s questions that pertain to your area of expertise is also a great way to get started.

Rome wasn’t built in one day either, so be easy on yourself if this freaks you out. No need for that. And remember, we call it “passive” for a reason. A little bit at a time, and before you know it, you’ve created your own, sizzling online identity and a few pages of search listings on Google!

My posts have been so damn lazy that all the hits I get no doubt leave disappointed. A juicy title attracts them and then what, they get one line of copy. It’s not fair and I shall now attempt to write a little more. My very short posts are a result of my A.D.D. and perhaps my own boredom with my life. Maybe boredom isn’t the right word, and maybe it’s not my whole life that I’m referring to. The kids are wonderful and the puppy offers me endless hours of wiping piss and picking up shit. Maybe it’s my job that’s growing like a malignant tumor in my image, out of my neck. I have no idea why I have not engaged in anything active. Okay sure, I dabble with Adonis and yes there’s a monthly visit to the Buddah who knows which of my chakras to manipulate and massage, but that’s about it. I’m starting to think more and more of Kabbalah classes. I need to flex my brain muscles. I need to be exposed to different minds and experience passionate people doing interesting things. I feel like I am just a spectator in this game of life. I’m either watching proceedings from a boardroom chair or lying on a massage table or sitting at a diningroom table or sleeping or sitting on a sofa glued to the TV or laptop. Or lying in a dermatologist’s office or doctor’s office or sitting in a waiting room of some kind or sitting in the car waiting on kids. Or in a business class lounge fixated on my blackberry or on a plane fixated on the clock. Or standing on line at Tescos or at the security machine at airports or I am always lying, sitting, sleeping, eating, shitting or typing. But I am learning nothing. Making nothing of beauty. And pretty much waiting around for a big phat crisis to electro-shock me into an active state. WAKE ME UP !! It’s ridiculous. I have to do something about it. And I am starting to. From tomorrow morning I will have breakfast with Andre, the possible new friend who is a photographer from Brazil. I am going to open my world up to new people, new experiences and new places and look for pleasures beyond my taste buds or loins. Watch this space.

Just take a look at the TV schedule for this weekend.

Media imperialism refers to the one-way, non-reciprocal flow of information and cultural influence in the international media environment, which embodies cultural domination of the ‘Third World’ by the West [Wang, 1997, p.15].  It was argued that the expansion of US media economy and culture to other countries resulted in the imposition of US values onto other cultures and the displacement of local tradition. Such a trend is especially rapid with the proliferation of modern communications technologies [Wang, 1997, p.16].

World’s Most Extreme Homes. Simply Delicioso. The Doctors. The Rachael Ray Show. Air Buddies. So You Think You Can Dance. Ocean’s Thirteen.

What do they all have in common? They’re all “imported” shows! Just looking across the board, how many locally produced shows are on? Other than the usual prime time news and a single Sports@SG, our media have been monopolised by external influences and its dominance, especially from the US.

However, the government is concerned about how these American products may affect our own Singaporean culture. Singapore is a multicultural society, which has resulted in a mass media that have to represent a variety of ethnic cultures and languages, already balancing on such a thin line between the myriad of cultures, another external influence may result in conflicts in the society.

Why this cause for concern?

Marshall McLuhan developed the theory that the medium is the message. He focused on how we perceive media messages by looking not only at the content of the message itself, but at how the message was delivered, or its form. For media, people often only notice the content of the media (a speech on radio, a comedy on television, etc.), but not the media that transmit the messages. McLuhan believed that the medium itself influences how we perceive that medium’s messages. And our government belief that whatever is shown on television will be taken up entirely by the audience through the hypodermic needle (Powerful Effects Theory: Believe that the audience is passive, and that the media is injecting information and rules about desired behaviour into a mass audience who would react in the appropriate manner), hence this fear of it being culturally dangerous. Thus, the government have set up barriers to filter and censor what comes on our televisions.

In a capitalistic country such as Singapore, what is the real purpose of the media in the society? Is its role to inform and for enjoyment, or is there a hidden underlying agenda such as to make a profit? Why the shrinking number of media providers through mergers and cross ownership? Is the liberalisation of Singapore’s media the result of relaxing morality or again, for economic reasons?

And with that, I bid you all farewell, I hope you have enjoyed this blog the last couple of weeks. Tis the end. thetonguegetssharper.

Sources:

Channel 5: MediaCorp TV ~ http://5.mediacorptv.sg/default.aspx

Research Paper: Film & Television In Singapore – Economic Development & Media Policies ~ http://www.geocities.com/adeylim/research.html

Wang, J (1997) ‘Global Media and Cultural Change’. Media Asia. Vol 24 No 1

On October 20, Kash Heed, the Solicitor General of British Columbia, introduced new legislation that would effectively ban body armour in the province of BC (see here for the news story).

To put it rather bluntly, Bill 16-2009 (Body Armour Control Act) is an abomination of legislation that should never have seen the light of day.  In an effort to reduce gang violence, Mr Heed has proposed that only those who can prove a legitimate need for body armour should be allowed to purchase and possess it in BC.  Additionally, the legislation proposes that the province should create a permit system and a registry to keep track of all citizens who are legally allowed to own body armour.  Anyone found to be in illegal possession of this armour could face up to a $10,000 fine and/or 6 months in jail.

I can see several problems with this proposed law, right off the top.

1)  There’s this pesky little document known as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Section 7 goes something like this:

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

Somehow I really don’t think that the government’s argument, that a passive safety device needs to be restricted just because a criminal might use it, really qualifies as a “principle of fundamental justice”.

2)  The logic (and I use that word very loosely) employed by Mr Heed, is that if access to body armour is restricted, gangsters will no longer be able to use it, taking away their “sense of security”, and therefore reducing the number of shootings in our cities.

By that same “logic”, in order to reduce high speed chases, we should ban seatbelts.  After all, without them, criminals would no longer feel “safe” speeding and would stop running away from police.  Right??

Does anyone else smell the BS?

3)  By definition, a gangster is a criminal.  They have proven time and again that they have no regard for the laws of our society.  So by what stretch of the imagination does the Solicitor General believe that even one single gang member will abide by this one?  If, for some unlikely reason, a criminal wasn’t able to purchase body armour on the black market within BC, it wouldn’t exactly be a hardship to legally purchase it in either Alberta or the Yukon.  The last time I checked, there wasn’t a manned border between provinces and territories in this country.

4)  Say a criminal is caught committing a crime, and the crown throws the book at him, charging him with every firearm, weapon and body armour offense they can think of.  Do you really think he’ll ever be convicted of any of those lesser charges?  Of course not.  As has already been proven time and again with the Firearms Act, the lesser charges will be plea-bargained away in order to make the “important” charge stick.

So under this proposed new law, as usual, it will only be the general public who are convicted.  It will be the men and women who innocently forget to renew their permit, or make a simple mistake on their forms, who will suffer.  They are the ones who will be found guilty, convicted of “paper crimes”, while the real criminals go about business as usual.

5)  As I previously mentioned, one of the key components of this proposed Act is a permit and registry system.  Everyone who has a legitimate need for body armour will have to fill out a form and apply for a permit to possess body armour.  Every person who is deemed eligible to possess body armour will be recorded in a database. It will be that person’s responsibility to keep the permit current, and to ensure that all the information contained in the registry is correct.

So, where is the money to operate this permit and registry system going to come from?  Setting up the permit office(s) and starting the registry will be an expensive proposition, and that money will be coming straight out of the taxpayer’s pockets.  At a time when the global economy is in turmoil, you’d think the government could find something better to spend our money on.

6)  Continuing on the theme of the registry, one more question comes to mind: How does making a list of law-abiding citizens have any affect whatsoever on crime?  I’m sure the criminals are just shaking in their boots right now thinking about this proposed new law.  Shaking with laughter that is.  Our government and lawmakers are going to be so busy making lists of honest people that they’re not going to have time to go after the criminals!

This Bill has just passed first reading in the provincial legislature, so there is still time to try and stop it.  Even if it does pass (which I’m afraid it will), it would likely be overturned on a Charter Appeal.  But it shouldn’t need to be.

Why do our lawmakers insist on continually putting forward such flawed legislation?  If I, an average Jane, can immediately see so many holes in their argument, why can’t they?  Our leaders can’t really be this naïve and misguided can they?

There is a part of me that still wants to believe that these are just honest men and women doing the best they can for our society.  But the jaded cynic in me is winning out.  I can’t help but wonder why every single new law seems to strip away more of our rights.  I can’t help but wonder why so many people are so eager to willingly give up their basic freedoms. 

What makes me really sick though, is that this gradual erosion of our rights, always seems to be done in the name of “public safety”.  Call me crazy, but here’s a thought: if our leaders are truly interested in public safety, shouldn’t they be focusing on the criminals, rather than making lists of the innocent?

I have recently been reading an article entitled ‘The Passive Journalist’ which was written by Deirdre O’Neill and Catherine O’Connor. They carried out a study to discover “which sources are “making” news and whether these sources are simply indicating the type of news that appears, or are shaping newspaper coverage”. Their study circulated around four  West Yorkshire daily newspapers, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, the Bradford Telegraph, the Yorkshire Evening Post and the Halifax Courier.

The aim of the study was to identify how many primary and secondary sources are used when reporting a news story. The study only examined news stories, what they call “editorial content”.  What they found was that the majority of the articles (76%) were influenced by a single source, hence their argument that journalists in this day and age are becoming lazy and passive, and just wait for the news to come to them instead of going out to find it themselves. O’Neill and O’Connor state that “In such a pressurised and demoralised working environment it is all too easy for journalists to become dependant on the pre-fabricated, pre-packaged “news” from resource-rich public relations organisations”.

The newspaper industry is in turmoil at the moment; with the recession the way it is now, many staff are losing their jobs. However,  just because there are less employees, doesn’t mean that the news stops. Journalists are finding themselves doing their own work as well as those who have lost their jobs. Time is something they don’t have right now, so I would have to say, that at times like this, press releases must seem like a godsend to those journalists who just don’t have the time or resources to go out into the world and dig out their own fresh, original stories.

However, if I were lucky enough to become a journalist after university, if this was how I had to do my job, I would feel disappointed and useless. What good would it do for my skills as a journalist to just sit at a desk and wait for the news to come to me? I would want to be active and talking to the people, writing my own news. I have to agree with O’Neill and O’Connor when they say that  “Journalists are relying less on their readers for news…and are consequently less in touch with a broad cross-section of their readers on a regular basis”. As we are looking at local newspapers in the study, I believe it is more important for journalists on local newspapers to engage with the public because it is their community that the paper is representing. If the local people aren’t being heard and are shown no interest by the journalists then this supports O’Neill and O’Connor’s notion that it poses as a “serious threat to local democracy, the public interest, public trust the local public sphere, and the standards of journalism”.

I do agree that journalists are passive nowadays. With a heavy reliance on press releases and single sourced news, journalists are not interacting with their audiences, this is especially damaging for local newspapers because they are papers for the people of the surrouning communities and if journalists are not out there, scoping out the latest events and happenings, then they are not recieving fair representations. I believe that journalists definitely need to find their own news and not rely on news that has already been packaged for them. This is not true journalism. Newspapers are declining in circulation, this could be because the readers don’t think they are receving quality news anymore. News isn’t as exciting as it once was. Journalists are more passive now, but maybe this isn’t entirely their fault. Only time will tell.

The article that the above post is based on can be found at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t762290976

I have now been doing active recruitment for a little over 6 years. I can in no way claim to be an expert recruiter but do need to act as one to build confidence in recruiters working for my Recruitment firms in India and the Middle East.

What I often find surprising is that Recruiters with much more experience than I often do not understand or appreciate the difference between Active, Passive and Unqualified candidates – what I call the “Talent Supply Chain of Recruitment” and the sourcing methods for each. I have create this diagram below to summarize the information in one visual

Sourcing Methods for Active, Passive and Underqualified candidates

I find this to be a great visual to make recruiters understand the supply chain of the recruitment industry. I also find it to be motivator for recruiters to work harder and unravel more passive candidates once they appreciate that Active candidates form less than 20% of the jobseeker market.

In this diagram even though job portals has been identified as a Active candidate sourcing tool – this is primarily true for job postings available on job portals. Resume Searches – done with purpose can be used to yield great passive candidates also. This diagram also excludes new and evolving social media tools – once I have more clarity around some of these new media and their applications – I intend to include them in.

Empirical data for the type of jobseekers in any market is provided by the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

• 32% passively looking
• 34% not looking
• 20% casually looking
• 14% actively looking

Quick note about unqualified candidates – this is large component of the Indian employment market and mostly excluded from recruiter training and literature. In the Indian context – “Last Mile Employability Training” has been identified as a HUGE opportunity and tapped by companies such as Educomp and Veta in a major way in the past few years. These companies seek to empower a large section of the population with the training and tools that they need to move higher in their careers.