Saturday, January 29, 2005

AMS elections: let the saturation begin

For Queen's grads and those not familiar with the Queen's student government, the Alma Mater Society's (AMS) elections are under way, with our student centre the JDUC completely blanketed with campaigning and bad music to go with it.

This year is certainly different from the past in that there are six teams (the President and two VP positions are vied for together, for those who don't know) running and a new voting system: preferential balloting. This is one type of proportional representation, in which the teams are ranked such that the votes are counted and recounted until one team receives more than 50% of total votes cast, after candidates are eliminated and votes shifted to each voter's next preferred choice (go to HERE for a more complete explanation).

This was installed after last election's debacle of disqualifying a team and its votes and thereby disenfranchising a bloc of the voting student population. Granted, student elections are nothing like the real thing, since a lot of the votes are cast based on pure popularity rather than policy. While I'd rather see some form of Proportional Representation in the actual levels of government, this will be good because it'll give me some idea of PR at work in Canada and how well it works out on a small scale.

This election will also be interesting because there are supposedly two 'joke teams' running, one of whom (Team BMP, aka. Khaki Snack) have a blog HERE. As I said before, some votes are based on popularity. I guess I'm just wondering, what if Khaki Snack wins? Or would they sabotage their own campaign in order for them not to have to actually deal with student politics and go back to playing fun music?

Since I can't vote as a grad student and the grad society here's not all that influential/important anyways, I'm going to enjoy watching this election consume the campus. I just hope student turnout will be as high if not higher than previous years (~30% of the total student population)...

Friday, January 28, 2005

The future is green. Find it there.

In my ongoing search for environment-related blogs, I came across Treehugger, courtesy of Accordian Guy and the 2005 Bloggies. So, they're out there. They're just damn-hard to find. I only found this one because it's huge and being nominated for an online award.

The search continues...

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Environmentalism as nostalgia

This piece will probably be up for about 5 more days, but it ties in nicely with what I posted below. A piece by a former environmental reporter for the Toronto Star, David Israelson opines about the older generation of environmentalists' obsession with the heyday of the environmental movement and less with our current situations.

While he's a bit optimistic that the new generation of environmentalists being less shy about working with business, he wants the whole movement to get up from looking through the photo albums of past successes and get back to working for the future. As he says,

"The environmental movement needs to be less excited about being invited into the room and more interested in what they're bringing away."

See, I'm not the only one cracking the whip here...

Kyoto no more, it's time to move forward

Feb. 16 is the day that the Kyoto Accord comes into effect and word has leaked out from the Federal Government that we won't meet our commitments by 2012, that our targets will be lower than required for industries, etc. etc. Different media outlets are reacting as they're expected, with the National Post and the Calgary Sun relieved and plain happy about the collapse of Kyoto; the Toronot Star, courtesy of Richard Gwyn, is stating the obvious: that we were never serious about Kyoto from the beginning.

While I supported the ratification of Kyoto and believed it to be an important first step in international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, I also am now of the belief that Kyoto is a lame duck. Our government was never serious in the first place. Chretien wanted it as a legacy without actually putting in strategies or frameworks to make it happen. Some have said that it was a last 'screw you' to Paul Martin. Perhaps. Regardless, I'm quite confident that as stated in the Gwyn article, that Canada, Japan and probably Russia will pull out in 2012, when Kyoto is up for renewal (though Russia stands to gain from the treaty, so I don't know why they would pull out).

Government policies on combating climate change will limp its way into 2012, causing little effect on our emissions. So what happens in 2012? Europe and the other countries who actually pulled their weight and implemented policies will not only be years ahead of us in using environmentally friendly technologies (can somebody say, economic advantage?), they will certainly be scrutinizing our response to our current weak efforts.

However, our failure at Kyoto does not mean we have to give up on dealing with climate change. We can look at 2012 with either an opportunitistic outlook or with a sense of dread. If we're serious about reducing emissions (which I think we should be), then the Martin government should declare up front that we've failed in our current endeavours. However, he should turn this defeat into a future victory. He can seriously use these next seven years (whether his government will last this long is another post, but I mean him and subsequent governments) to set up the frameworks and the strategies (working in conjunction with industries to promote, say, industrial ecology, or municipalities with energy conservation) to coordinate a massive effort to be launched in 2012.

This will be the so-called 'Made in Canada' solution that the right have been blabbing on about without doing a damned thing. There are enough companies out there (Dow Chemicals, DuPont in Kingston, Interface Carpets, etc.) as evidence that being environmentally friendly have definite economic benefits. All the rest of them need are structures and incentives. As for energy conservation, it's a no-brainer. Reduced reliance on foreign oil, increased savings for citizens, reduced costs on infrastructure, reduced emissions. All it takes is a massive public effort. If we can get Toronto to separate its garbage, it can't be that tough to get us to use less energy.

All our talk about the world needing more Canada, well, here's our chance. Time for us to make the 21st century Canadian economy a green economy; something we can export abroad, something to show that Canadians can make a difference on the world scene. We have so many rich environments and ecosystems, how can we teach developing nations to leapfrog past our mistakes if we can't keep our own house clean? And yes, instead of forcing developing nations to live the mistakes of our industrial revolution in order to develop to our standards, let's help them leapfrog them. Otherwise, we're merely generating the problem over again.

It's time for the government to let the leashes off Environment Canada. Let them talk to the private sector. They boast so much about being able to run things so much more efficiently (only in certain cases), let's make them prove it.

The fight between business and environmentalists is over. We've kicked at each other's shins for long enough. It's time for us to grow up and be mature individuals. It's time for us to own up to our collective responsibility and work together to come up with solutions.

No one else will do it for us. Now get to work.

Real Climate

Soon after posting my thoughts below, I came across Realclimate, courtesy of Crawl Across the Ocean. This is a group blog composed of scientists of various disciplines all studying climate change. Here, they try to combat their view of inaccuracies in the media and elsewhere regarding certain claims about climate change. Although it can get technical some of the times, this is an excellent resource to tap into if you want to learn more.


Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Where are the green blogs?

I was talking to my friend Angela tonight and she asked me about environmentally-focused blogs. I was at a loss. I hadn't come across any in my purview of the blogosphere. So this is a call to anybody who may come cross my blog. If you know of any 'green' blogs, let me know. Otherwise, I'd like to find out why they aren't as prevalent as other blogs.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Little Fish and Big Fish

There's a small computer 'game' (it's actually not that fun) out there called Fishbanks, which is used to teach students about resource allocation. The prof for the Global Food Security class that I'm TAing is using the game for its intended purpose. The caveat was that we needed several laptops to work from and lo and behold, she didn't believe there was a Mac version.

She was wrong, because there certainly is a Mac version and it is now sittin' pretty in my hard drive.

My beef is not with Fishbanks, but rather all the GIS and CAD software out there. There's tons of anecdotal evidence that Macs are used all the time for graphic design and such. Obviously, Apples have no problems dealing with graphical software. My question is, why the hell aren't there GIS and CAD software out there for Mac users.

Granted, we're a small percentage of overall users, but guess what, GIS and CAD users are a small percentage in and of themselves. While you may argue that this is their argument, that the market is way to small for them. Yet, Microsoft has no problem creating cross platform software (see MacOffice and MSN messenger) and neither did the creators of Fishbanks. So what gives?

ESRI, makers of ArcGIS, and what I believe to be the leader in GIS software, is a pretty big group. I would think that they could definitely reach out to new users if they offered a Mac version, even if it's a basic, streamlined one. MapInfo, the other major GIS software designer, used to put out a Mac version about 3 versions ago. Now? Nothing. and don't get me started on Autodesk, makers of AutoCAD...they're nowhere.

Maybe this is an anomalous company, but Matt's dad's consulting company does transit consulting work, the entire office uses Macs, except for the PCs required for the GIS software. That's at least one example where MacGIS software would come in handy. I'm sure I could find more if I looked hard enough.

So, in the end, I'm an urban planning student with Fishbanks on my computer but not MapInfo or ArcGIS or AutoCAD Map.

Yeah, this makes a whole lot of sense to me.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

To A.

"You Came Along"- Joel Plaskett Emergency

True love is sharper than stones and sticks
Louder than bombs and clocks that tick
I feel as deep as the ocean blue
When I'm standing here with you
And the world keeps spinning faster
What am I to do in the face of a disaster?
I've been here before but I don't know what comes after
The night's a lonely place to be
When the lights go out I want you here with me

When I could not trust myself
I put my trust in someone else
But she led me astray and then she went away
All my lessons learned after all my bridges burned
Everything felt wrong until you came along

It's quicker than sand
It's thicker than blood
It's like the slight of the hand
The stick in the mud
It's as deep as the ocean blue
What am I supposed to do when all the fire's gone?
How do you want me to play along?
I know it's true
Somewhere we went wrong
The night's a lonely place to be
When the light's go out
I want some company

Mr. Brightside

Caveat: A., don't take this the wrong way, please. I meant every word I said to you this afternoon. I just have to say this...

I had something special. I had never felt this way before. It felt so good. It felt so good to make someone else happy. It had been a long time since I've been this happy. And now...

There's a postponement. I understand every reason behind and I support her (you) all the way. If it means time away now so that we can be together later, so be it. I will be with her (you) every step of the way. I meant it then, I mean it now. I want to be able to be her (your) friend through this time. I do.

It was fine. Until I took a step out onto the street, and my foot just fell through the pavement and I got swallowed up by this emptiness. It was strange. The world just developed this weight, making everything FEEL heavier. To have someone special like her and then not, in a heartbeat, I felt...incomplete. Again, I've never felt this before. It was strange. That's the only way to describe it.

I have my memories and my copy of Men with Brooms. I have her friendship. But most importantly, I have hope. That is what I hold onto. That is what I hang my toque on. Because my memory's shoddy at best. And it sometimes fails me when I need it most.

Those who know me, know I'm a cynical bastard. So, it will come as a surprise to those people (and even me) when I say I have hope. I've always thought of myself as without hope. Not in life overall, but in some instances, yes, without hope. But then she came into my life and I thought for the first time, that the world may actually be different. That, maybe, I have hope after all. This is why I hope. Because it is my hope that she will return, that we can start over and make something even better.

Hope, don't fail me now.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

I'm not hinting at anything...

Oh, just as an addendum to the Apple post below,

They show the iPod Shuffle beside a pack of gum to showcase the size of the mp3 player. On a footnote it says,

2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle.

I kid you not. It's noticeably absent from the Canadian site. That's all I'm sayin'.

The Apple rage

At today's MacWorld (expo for all things Apple), It released three new products and numerous upgrades, two of which are aimed at getting more mainstream people to buy Apple.

First, the iPod Shuffle. Basically, a USB mp3 player with no display, holds 512 mb or 1 Gb of music (around 240 songs), battery life of 12 hours but the size of a stick of gum starting at $129 Cdn. Nothing innovative here because it's basically Apple's offering into the flash player market. I don't know what the price difference is like with players already out, but it'll at least appeal to people like me who don't have a flash player right now but loves the ability to integrate an mp3 player with iTunes without shelling out for an iPod. That, or anyone who wants follow the Apple crowd. Plus, it's probably easier to exercise with and there've been increasing reports of people being robbed for their iPods. So, it'll likely appeal to more people than I think it will.

Second, the iMac Mini. It is around $629 Cdn, doesn't come with keyboard, mouse or monitor, but has the power and storage of my 12-inch powerbook. Oh my god, am I drooling over this right now. I think this will definitely sell and convince people to switch. It's cheap, it's small (light), it should appeal to people who only used their PCs for basic things (word processing, email, internet, movie) and can now switch over to avoid the spyware, viruses and instability with windows. Plus, they can use their existing peripherals or buy cheap aftermarket USB keyboards and monitors. A cheap, versatile, one-time purchase computer for the mainstream user. I'm definitely considering getting one for my parents.

Finally, iWorks. Currently, it consists of Pages, the Apple created word processor, and Keynote, its answer to Powerpoint. Now, both have unique features, but I particularly like Keynote's new features of providing two displays: the presentation for the audience and the other that can include notes, a timer and the next slide. It basically integrates the stopwatch and cue cards directly into the program. Beautiful. While I like MacOffice, I'm hesitant about getting iWorks. It still lacks a spreadsheet and a database program that can work with SQL. Also, I would also be concerned that this would deter cross-compatibility since software developers would see this as Apple responding to MacOffice to take a bite out of Microsoft's market share and wouldn't want their own product to suffer the same fate.

But the Shuffle and the Mac Mini. Man, two more reasons to switch to Apple (if you don't have a flash player and you're not a hardcore computer user).

Wearing sunshine on my sleeve

One late night, I was joking with my friends how we should somehow adapt chlorophyll into our bodies so that we could just convert sunlight into energy, thus removing the need to eat. Now that I think about it, it also allows us to walk around naked...(hmm...)

While that's not going to happen anytime soon, something just as good is on its way. I was told earlier in the summer by Rob Harrap, a very smart man in the Queen's GIS lab, that somone in the US was working on a sprayable material for solar panelling. The potential applications seem endless, since it would be possible to add this material to any surface (cars, houses, clothes) and allow it to convert solar energy into electricity. Now I didn't hear about it much since then. Until now.

This is the CBC story. Not only is it flexible (since it's formed from quantum dots and polymer...ahh, nanotechnology at its finest) but it purportedly captures 5 times as much energy as existing technology.

This technology needs to be funded ridiculously. It could be a major answer to the energy question. The quicker this becomes marketable, the quicker we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. That is a prospect I'm very excited about.

Putting the DART before the SEAHORSE

The Toronto Star reported yesterday that the Canadian DART response team is now being deployed to one of the worst hit regions of the tsunami. Due to the not-so-rapid response of our government, they're arriving to an area where their expertise...is no longer required. It seems their specialty, providing safe drinking water and medical treatment, are already being covered by assistance agencies already in place. There is now a concern that the overlapping roles will confuse the victims there, that some are being diagnosed more than once and given more medication than necessary.

I'm not certain whether such confusion would emerge in any large-scale relief operation such as this, but it seems DART could be deployed elsewhere, or not at all. Our late deployment has given us time to assess the situation and realize that DART's roles have already been covered by existing organizations. The now retired Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie wrote a piece in the National Post discussing our ineffectiveness this time around, that there are more than enough NGOs to cover such functions as medical assistance and water treatment.

Instead, he advocated a proposal submitted by a group of military officials called SEAHORSE, which called for a rapid-reaction military force instead of a humanitarian response team. It would rely on assualt transports and helicopters for transportation. Not only has this idea (rapid-reaction force) been discussed for a while, but I didn't realize a proposal existed. SEAHORSE seems to make more sense in this context and future situations.

In the tsunami scenario, they could be there to help clear debris, find bodies, reconstruct roads and clean up water sources instead of just treating them. Reconstruction will be the next big challenge and it could be there for a long haul to help the many nations that need to rebuild their coast. Canada's role in providing help would not overlapj as much, if at all, with the many NGOs already there. I doubt the Red Cross or Oxfam are picking up their hammers and nails.

In addition to the many functions this force would have (transport, evacuation, security, construction), there are other advantages. We would no longer be relying on other nations (US, Russia, etc) for transporting our own troops nor incur the cost of maintaining a fleet of Hercules or Antonovs. This force could be used in both disaster-relief and peacekeeping missions, since they are still trained as military personnel. It is the exact type of force that seems to fit Canada best as a middle power- small, yet flexible, self-sufficient and quick-response.

Besides, Mackenzie's a major-general for pete's sake. I think he knows what he's talking about. PM Martin and his defence minister definitely needs to seriously consider SEAHORSE or a similar idea for the Canadian armed forces. It's a win-win. You win support for spending on the military, but you're not just buying troops and equipment for a war effort because they can be deployed for the above reasons. You've just covered the entire political spectrum.

Your move, PM Martin.

Fear-mongering, on both sides

Michael Crichton's "State of Fear" is now a bestseller. For those who don't know the plot, the premise is that a string of environmental disasters occur due to a "nefarious" plot by environmentalists to convince the world that climate change is occurring. The "brave," contrarian scientists who don't believe in climate change goes off to save the world. Obviously, I'm not going to look to Mr. Chrichton for my knowledge of climate change. His contribution to the debate has about the same value as "The Day after Tomorrow." In this movie, climate change is responsible for cataclysmic disasters around the world and governments ignore a 'brave' believing scientist's warning.

A lot of reviewers picked up on the underlying tone of both works as a call for or against climate change. Unfortunately, both merely raise the raucous of the hype while giving nothing of substance, thereby only confusing the general public further. I know the movie received a lot of bad reviews, and oddly enough, I've yet to see a good review, let alone, any review on the story itself. The only news are angry reactions from environmentalists about how they're portrayed. It's a good thing we're focused on the important topics...

In a more perfect world, neither piece would exist.


Thursday, January 06, 2005

Jon Stewart 1, Tucker "Dick" Carlson 0

Apparently, Crossfire will no longer be its own show in the near future, as it has also no longer renewed the contract of one pundit, Tucker Carlson.

Thinking that Jon Stewart's appearance (part of the transcript and videoclip HERE, google elsewhere for the full thing) is the reason for Crossfire's cancellation would give him too much credit. What he did was announce to the viewers outright what they knew, that the show was not a debate show. He merely said what no one would. As the article states, viewership had decreased from last season and had lost its previous slot for the show.

While the very public fight between Carlson and Stewart probably made the decision easier, it doesn't make CNN's job any easier. The fight probably brought some viewers to the show, even if it was to see for themselves how bad it was. Of course, that kind of viewership doesn't last long. While the slot to be filled isn't too important, I wonder whether CNN will try again with another debate-type show and try to compete again with the likes of Hannity and Colmes from Fox News or whether they'll keep a good distance from that show idea.

Either way, it's not a total victory for Jon Stewart's vision of media programs. We've removed a bad, vacuous show. Now it's time to replace it with a better, insightful, more thought-provoking one.

Sunday, January 02, 2005

Damn It!

I did a stupid thing and reformatted my template for this blog without saving my changes....ARGH! Therefore, the site's going to be constantly updated repeatedly so that all my old links are back up. Sorry for the inconvenience (mainly the inconvenience is to myself).

This is the direction they want to head in...

"US Said to Mull Lifetime Terror-Suspect Detentions"

This is the headline from the Reuters article, whose information they received from the Washington Post (which I don't have an online subscription to; otherwise, I'd be linking the Post). It seems that since they lack the evidence to try these terror suspects, the Pentagon is asking for money either to build a better prison in Guantanamo Bay to hold these people...indefinitely. Or, they're going to have them moved to US built facilities elsewhere (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc.) to hold them...indefinitely.

So, the idea here is to imprison people permanently (based only on suspicion of terrorism) in Guantanamo Bay or transfer them to US built facilities in countries with poor human-rights records and ask their treatment abide by human rights standards. Can someone PLEASE explain the logic or the legality of this?

The best line from the article still has to be, "it would be modeled on a U.S. prison and would allow socializing among inmates." This must be so comforting to all those who will never see the light of day ever again.

What a happy way to start off the new year...



Fruitcake

Like an old fruitcake that nobody wants after Christmas, I was thinking about discussing the supposed 'war on Christmas' (so-called by some conservatives), which if you think about it, is way too ironic for them to understand. Anyways, I realized that I'm a little late for the party on that one so instead, if you're interested, go read J. Kelly Nestruck HERE.

The way I see it, if you want to say Merry Christmas, go nuts. If you don't, that's fine. If you're not sure, than take the time to ask if that person celebrates Christmas. Yes, it may be a pain at times, but we're not in some time warp where we don't have the sensabilities to realize that NOT everybody celebrate Christmas...

Oh, and by the way, to all those who think there's a 'war on Christmas' going on...you do realize that Jesus wasn't actually born on December 25th, right?

Would my hand still be broken?

For those of you who went to high school with me, or just any high school, this was probably the time when you were introduced to the time-waster and distraction known as pen-spinning. Basically, you spin your pen around your thumb. For those of us who could do it, it was a way to keep busy after wasting hours learning how to do it. For those who couldn't, it was pure frustration.

Now, for those of you in my Grade 11 English class, you may remember how me and Matt did it ALL the time. So much so, that our very good and very funny english teacher, Mr. Dunlop, once threatened to break my hand if I spun my pen one more time.

And that was just for spinning it around my thumb. My question is, would he have let it go and be impressed if I could do any of THIS, or would he just not only break my hand, but the rest of my arm to go along with it?