Not one, but two days after Broadcaster magazine reported it in their online edition, CBC’s online arts site finally does a story on the cancellation of CBC TV’s ZeD.

It’s too bad they didn’t take the time to celebrate some of ZeD’s accomplishments.

Instead, they simply repeated the Canadian Media Guild’s take on the whole thing and grabbed whole chunks out of the union’s press release.

Here’s an example of the depth of the reporting:

From the Broadcaster story:

“This is another blow to the concept of public television,” says Lise Lareau, national president of the CMG. “In its quest for high ratings and commercial success, CBC management is abandoning the things that make public television special, like its ability to take risks, chart new courses for TV and other media, and reach audiences who are not well served on the rest of the 500-channel dial.”

From the CBC.CA’s story:

“This is another blow to the concept of public television,” Lise Lareau, national president of the CMG, said in a statement. On April 20, the CBC announced it would lay off 79 people involved in in-house production in Toronto. “In its quest for high ratings and commercial success, CBC management is abandoning the things that make public television special, like its ability to take risks, chart new courses for TV and other media, and reach audiences who are not well served on the rest of the 500-channel dial,” she said.

Meanwhile, the very same CBC arts web site has a huge piece on Mission Impossible III (including a Tom Cruise Quiz), and is all over this important Canadian cultural story:

The owners of New York hip-hop station “Hot 97” have filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against its landlords over an eviction notice.

Surely one of the self-proclaimed stewards of Canadian culture can do better.

While camping out with Cubs and Scouts at Camp Byng on the Sunshine Coast this weekend, some of us adults got engaged in a discussion about gas prices and our own personal choices about dealing with our gas guzzlers.

We didn’t come up with any brilliant solutions, other than (almost) universal agreement that what we’re doing now, driving internal combustion vehicles, has got to change to something better. The discussion centred around what.  We certainly didn’t come up with any insights.

Home now and back online, one of the first things I came across (thanks to Engadget) was this baby from Wrightspeed.

It’s an all-electric car that will blow the doors off anything on the road.  No hyperbole here – this thing will do zero to 60 in under 3 seconds. It covers a standing quarter mile in 11.5 seconds. If you know nothing about cars, all you need to know is this:  that is faster than just about any car made anywhere in the world.  All the speed comes with no noise & no shifting gears. Wrightspeed X-1 is good for 120 miles before it needs a recharge.

The point is, alternative vehicles don’t have to be boring. 

I can’t think of anything better for cruising the streets of the Lower Mainland. Well, ok, it might be a bit of a challenge bringing home that big bag of groceries from Capers, but I’ll be home FAST.

There are more great picsture of the Wrightspeed car at Flickr. 

[note: make sure you read the follow up article here] 

I’ve had a Vonage VoIP line for a year now in my home/office. I’ve been really pleased with it much of the time and quite annoyed with it some of the time.

The biggest issue is quality of service and 1-800 numbers. The latter is totally annoying – Vonage simply can’t seem to connect to many 1-800 numbers which means I have to use my home Telus line to make those calls.

Quality of service issues generally involve those nasty half-second delays, even on local calls, which really makes business conversations difficult. And frankly, sometimes the line just sounds like crap even when I’m calling across town.

On the other hand, Vonage has a great web interface to the phone features, being able to change call forwarding and other functions from the web site is vastly superior to doing it through a phone menu.

So, with some new options available, I figured it was time to give try something new.

Today Shaw installed my digital phone. I’ll use both services for a while and see if Shaw’s QOS is as good as they claim.

If my first call out is any indication, they may be coming back to pick up the gear real soon. When I asked my client if the phone quality sounded any better, he said ‘no’ and that in fact the line sounded like I was on a bad cell phone that was cutting out. Interestingly, he sounded fine to me – so we’ll see.

No web interface to the phone features from Shaw, so that sucks.

Also, be warned. The digital phone installer attaches a very big Motorola modem right to the wall where your phone jack lives. Shaw’s promotions for the digital phone make a big deal about not having to run wires, but they sure don’t say anything about the HUGE black box they attached to the wall near my phone jack. Dudes, this is progress ?

The big (and ugly) black box does come with it’s own built-in UPS, so if the AC power fails, it will keep running on its internal battery for up to 8 hours.

I’ll keep you posted on my comparison of the two services. Seems like the perfect opportunity for one of my famous pie charts.

We’ve had the pleasure been working with Capers for a while now.

If you’re in Vancouver, you might want to check out the new Capers newsletter, Fresh.Picked.

Nice work Sara.

Oh.  And if you’re feeling organic, check out these Technorati tags at the bottom of this page.

Wow! Someone at CBC is very excited !

Super excited !

We should be too !

They’ve discovered podcasting !

Welcome to CBC Radio’s podcasts!    Discover programming that tickles your curiosity, feeds your brain and sparks your emotions! …we’ll make sure to keep you updated! Please let us know! Welcome to podcasting! …transfer it onto your MP3 player to listen to it on the move! …as easy as listening to your radio — but with so many more advantages! All you need is a computer with an Internet connection! …and we’ll make sure to let you know what our latest offerings are! This is a different medium!   see cbc.ca for even more

I’m no Strunk and White but you have to figure that’s just a bit too much enthusiasm for any public broadcaster.

Then again, if an exclamation is “an exclamatory rhetorical device” it may just fit.

Rather.

It may just fit !

You shouldn’t really believe everything you read on the Internet. Then again, you really should write everything you believe on the Internet either…

A teenage girl who gradually poisoned her mother into a coma while keeping a blog about her worsening health will be sent for treatment in a reformatory, a court official said today... full story – Sydney Morning Herald

This will completely ruin the teen male’s twin pursuits of a) sneaking into bars and b) dating older women. Technology really does suck…

Kodak may soon be able to accurately gauge one’s age when it comes snapshot time. They apparently filed a patent in 2004 for a system which…determines the age of a photographer’s subject full story – EnGadge

Even though this story seems like something out of the archives, it’s new today. With average condo prices in the 450k range, Vancouverites can only weep at this story out of Manitoba…

Brandon’s first loft-style condo complex, Paragon Lofts, is being developed in a former Manitoba Telephone System building. Built in 1913, the building has huge windows that look out over Brandon’s downtown and the Assiniboine River valley. Prices for the condos start around $99,000. full story – CBC Manitoba

Those crazy kids at Bryght are offering up a chance of a lifetime. Negotiating tip: make sure you get your own stool at Take 5 and some freebie Yoga for Geeks sessions…

Vancouver students: Want to earn $US 4500 while working on Drupal Google Summer of Code projects? We’ve got free WiFi, desks for two students and Drupal culture that you can soak up in spades (as well as Bryght guy Adrian being a SOC mentor) from us here at the Vancouver Bryght offices at 525 Seymour. What’s the catch? Well you have to apply by May 8th full story – Bryght web site

While on the subject of Bryght – catch Will (meet the flocker) Pate’s new haircut, alpha version.

And finally, as others have noted in droves, there’s just something WRONG here…

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is having top-secret treatment in an Auckland private hospital after suffering head injuries in a fall from a coconut tree in Fiji on Thursday. full story – Sydney Morning Herald

Imagine for a minute that you are Keith Richards.

Someone says “Hey Keith buddy, want to climb a coconut tree ?”

Even you, an imaginary Keith Richards, would surely say, “no f’n way”.

My closet harbours the occasional flashback. 

After speaking with writer James Glave the other day, I dug into my closet to pull out this black, circa 1995 T-Shirt.

I doubt many of you remember the this logo.

It was an early version used by HotWired.com, when Wired  (the magazine) first launched its online version.

James was one of those guys who saw the potential of the web and who launched Vancouver Magazine’s web site, as far as I know, the first print publication in Canada to go online.

James then headed out to San Francisco to write for HotWired as their senior technology writer.

The t-shirt sleeve had yet another logo rendition, using the circles and the name.       

To give you an idea of how new online was at the time, URLs were always give in their complete form, including that all important /

Print was on thing, but we were having to give the URLs out on the air, and I can remember on-air people like Leora Kornfeld and Garnet Harry having to slowly say:

“aych-tee-tee-pee colon forward slash forward slash…double-you double-you double-you dot cee bee cee stereo dot com forward slash realtime forward slash”

 

 

I scored the T-Shirt when Hotwired did a feature story on the RealTime web site that we had launched for CBC in 1994.

James by the way, later went on to Outside Magazine and now is back in Canada.  Yay.

The BBC had not one but two major gas stories today.

Story #1

Petrol prices in the UK could soon top 1 pound a litre if oil costs keep rising, the head of BP has told the BBC.

and Story #2

A method of creating super-nutritious but flatulence-free beans has been developed by scientists.

No wonder the world always turns to the BBC.

I’m doing some work on the blog and you may find some odd behavior.
Progress always has a price.
It should be cleared up in the next day or so.

Done. Loc’s a star for making it all work.

Walking around the neighbourhood yesterday I was reminded why it’s so great living here.

Even on a dull grey day, catching a glimpse of the North Shore mountains makes those super high house prices seem, well, still super high, but at least you’ve got something to look out at.

Canada’s own psychic Zimmer Twins are nominated for a Webby Award!

The Webby’s are the web’s most prestigious awards, also known as the Oscar’s™ of the Internet.

The Twins have been stars of the web for years now, and more recently on Teletoon TV.

It would only be right for them to win a Webby: they’re fun, funny and Canadian (well, they’re from Toronto, but that’s ok).

Check out their web site and make some movies with Edgar, Eva and their cat 13, and you’ll quickly see why they should win.

The Webby’s have a juried award and a People’s Voice Award, and that’s where you can help. Every vote in the People’s Voice puts them one step closer to the red carpet.

Comon’ Canada ! Register here and vote for the Zimmer Twins now ! They’re in the youth category.

You only have until May 5th to vote.

Required Canadian Tug at Heartstrings:
Believe me, these awards are tough to win, and its a huge deal just to be nominated. There are hardly ever Canadians in the winners circle, so do what you can to support these guys.

I’m sure it had nothing to do with my post over the weekend, but Cypress Mountain is extending its riding season.  Yahoo.

FORGET SUMMER!!! – CYPRESS EXTENDS WINTER SEASON WEST VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – We have received 45 cm of fresh snow in the past couple of days and due to unprecedented April snow and ski conditions, we will be open for downhill skiing and riding on the EAGLE EXPRESS HIGH SPEED QUAD CHAIR next weekend April 22nd & 23rd. Cypress Mountain has already surpassed our record for the longest winter season and we still have metres of snow with excellent coverage on all the trails on Black Mountain. The downhill area will open Saturday April 22nd and Sunday April 23rd from 9:00am to 4:00pm with discounted tickets in effect.

Both Cypress Mountain and Grouse Mountain are scheduled to close for the season on Monday the 17th – no word on the Mount Seymour web site.  

Ironic, considering they’re getting a huge dump of snow, enough to close the Mount Seymour Road today – and thats on top of a base of 4 metres.  Yummy.

Going through some old files for a project, I came across this screen grab from 1997.

It seems like a lifetime ago that IE was the ‘new kid’ on the browser block.
By the way, this ‘hot stats’ box was on the front page of Wired Magazine’s online site,

Author Nathan Sellyn sent me an invitation to his ‘launch’ party.  Here’s what his email said:

I’m not a fan of self-promotion, but I love a good party. Thus I’d be thrilled if you’d join me at Fiction on the night of April 18th.    Fiction is a funky little place on Broadway with a great selection of beverages and a fine menu. The plan is to show up at 7, have me read just before 8, and then put a playlist on and have a good time. This invitation is open to all, so I’d encourage you to drag along as many people as you possibly can. All the best,    ns

Taking him at his word, I’m extending the invitation out to you. If you’re in the Vancouver area, you should come out.  You’ll get to meet a new young author and years later will be able to tell everyone you “knew him when…”. 

Click the invite for a printable PDF version.  See you there.

Here in Vancouver CKNW continues to dominate the market. Here’s the skinny from Broadcaster Magazine:

CKNW held their lead, remaining #1 with a 14.7% share of hours tuned for A12+. 103.5QM-FM retained the #1 F25-54 spot with a 14.8% share (up from 15.5%). #1 for M25-54 goes to 96.9 JACK-FM which continues to grow with a 13.3% share (up from 12.8%) followed closely by Rock101 at 12.2%. The FOX stays on top with M18-34, delivering an impressive 19.5% share of hours tuned for that demo (up from 17.9%). Sadly, despite impressive ratings results, Corus recently had to cut 12 staff members, reportedly to improve the “bottom line”.

To put some perspective on CKNW’s domination here, their 14.7 share of hours tuned is more than CBC Radio One and Two combined, and almost twice CBC Radio One’s hours tuned.

If you’re interested in seeing what’s going on in other markets, check out the full story in Broadcaster.
A12+ = adults 12 and up
F25-54 = females 25-54 years old
M25-54 = males 25-54
M18-34 = males 18-34