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Don’t Cry For Me CBC

I vowed, really I did, not to publish any more articles about the CBC.

So, I’m cheating a bit, because this really is about the CBC, but via the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. (Who I also vowed not to write about, again, ever.)

But this is actually quite good.

Part of their campaign to sidetrack adverts on CBC Radio.

In return for breaking my vow, I have one request of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting — please let us know just how many hits on the video file you get from inside the CBC.

Ads on CBC Radio? Mouth of Gold – FCB from Friends of Canadian Broadcasting on Vimeo.

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Heritage In Your Backyard

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We had a great time tonight at the Handsworth School Heritage Fair in North Vancouver.

Students showed off the displays they created to illustrate dozens of important events and people, all part of Canada’s heritage.

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As you might expect, there were displays on historical events like Canada’s role in World War II & the underground railroad. Also, important Canadian personalities like Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas – and – Geddy Lee.

I was thrilled to see a few bits of local history get their due.

One student showcased North Shore boy Bryan Adams, and included a model stage complete with guitars and PA stacks.

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Just around the corner was a display that would make Dangerous Dan proud, celebrating world-renowned North Shore trail riding (complete with the student’s own Banshee parked in front of the display).

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It’s great to see teachers encouraging this kind of thing, recognizing that history makers don’t have to be ancient, and could just as well be walking up the street in Edgemont Village.

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Life Needs Error Reporting

I’m convinced that, like those buttons at the cross-walk, error reporting when your software misbehaves is simply there to make you feel better. Pressing the walk button at the light doesn’t really do anything, other than giving YOU something to do.

And all those error reports you’ve been sending to Redmond ?

Given the placating nature of these devices, I think we could all use something similar in life.

Some benign, easy to maintain error reporting. Bug tracking from birth.

How hard could it be ?

I can think of quite a few times when simply rebooting my day would have been the most productive thing to do. We already have a perfectly fine example of how this would work.

Oh, and if I do decide to restart my day ?

Please, please, make sure to lose the information I was working on.

Forever.

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Flickr Uploads Gone Wild

I wonder what’s going on with Flickr.

Up until a couple of days ago, it was pretty normal to see 4,000 to 5,000 photo uploads a minute, according to the Flickr  Most Recent Uploads page.  In the evenings, Pacific time, these numbers would be a little lower, usually between 2500-3500 per minute.

Last night, I noticed the numbers were in the 24,000 to 30,000 photos per minute range !

And today, they’re in the 45,000 photos per minute range.

Either there’s been some kind of massive (by a factor of 10) sudden increase in usage – or Flickr’s number is  now based on something completely different.

Anyone have any insights ?

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