Author: Rick

Malcolm Gladwell’s Return to Faith

I read an interview where Malcolm Gladwell talks about his new book “David and Goliath”. The interview suggests that he seems to have had a return to “faith”. I have not read his book yet, and may not after reading this interview, because it struck me that this talk about “faith” is pretty misleading. Gladwell

Fighting in Hockey is Stupid

Yesterday Montreal Canadien’s tough guy, George Parros fell on the ice and was knocked out cold during a fight. As Kelly MacParland of the National Post said in commenting on the incident, “It’s a bit like a Canadian version of sumo wrestling, but with much more padding. Everything is staged and negotiated in advance; the

Atheism Has a Bad Name

One of the more interesting suggestions made by one of the “new atheists” over the last 5 years or so, is that the term “atheist” should be jettisoned from the sceptic’s lexicon. Sam Harris’ contention is that “atheism” and “atheist” have received such a bad press – especially in the U.S. that non-believing people who

Online Guitar Lessons – Part 1

There are hundreds of free guitar lessons and demonstrations on Youtube. Many of them link to websites where you can find more free lessons, and, more frequently, packages of instructional videos you have to pay to access or download. How effective are free guitar lessons like this? Can they be as good as traditional lessons

Moncton a surfing destination

On our way back from PEI this summer we drove through Moncton, N.B. In Ontario we’re used to thinking of “down east” places like Charlottetown and St. Johns as somewhat quaint backwaters that have tourist potential. New Brunswick? Well, there’s call centres and the Magnetic Hill, but that’s about it. These stereotypes are obviously outdated.

Religion in Ontario schools

In a recent opinion piece in the Waterloo Region Record, Luisa d’Amato suggests petty infighting among separate school board trustees is more evidence we don’t need these trustees at all. Many citizens would take this a big step further, and argue it shows why we don’t need a separate school system in Ontario. I’m well

CBC Kitchener-Waterloo a welcome addition

A few years ago CBC started broadcasting to the K-W area at 89.1 FM because the Toronto frequency (99.1) had problems in this area. Then, several months ago 89.1 was elevated to a full regional station with local K-W news and events coverage and a local staff. I’ve been listening to CBC Toronto since I

Blackberry’s App Problem

Where are all the apps. OK, let’s admit it. Blackberry is in serious trouble. The more bad news we hear about layoffs and bad sales numbers, the more the company’s propsects for recovery are hurt. Even diehard BB lovers like the guys at Crackberry.com are starting to question recent moves the company has made. Unquestionably,

Anti-atheist discrimination in the US Post Office

Shoes from Germany for atheists. Apparently not appreciated by some US Postal workers. I recently read a report of a delivery test done by the company that produces “Atheist” brand shoes. Yes, I know, why exactly anyone would name their shoes “atheist” is an interesting question which I will deal with in another post. But

South Korea’s impressive economy

Samsung makes lots of phones. The news this week that Samsung was unveiling its newest smartphone, got me thinking about Korea. In spite of the instability involved in being in a technical state of war with their cousins to the north, South Korea is doing amazingly well in the world. Korea was divided after WWII.

Dominican supremacy in World Baseball

The undefeated team from the Dominican Republic The World Baseball Classic finished up this week after what seems like about two months of preliminary games. The coverage was spotty at best, so it was relatively difficult to follow what was happening. For us in North America it was like the divisions that played over seas

Just another day in the RC Church

Is the Roman Catholic church serious? I guess they have to do it somehow: choosing a replacement Pope. But you have to admit, it’s a pretty bizarre exercise. Many non-catholics like me think this just underlines how weird some RC traditions are, and in the minds of religious sceptics this cements numerous negative feelings about

Is Apple serious about its “smart watch”?

Apple is secretive about their watch project, but reportedly have about 100 designers working on it. This buzz about an Apple watch is just slightly puzzling to me. Actually, I am surprised to hear that watches still represent a profitable (and expanding) consumer goods market niche. I stopped wearing mine about 30 years ago because

Indian Chief’s salary demonstrates lack of controls

There is something terribly wrong with a system that allows political “leaders” to manipulate the system of governance to score large salaries, while shortchanging the very people they are elected to serve. I know we’ve become accustomed to this sort of thing, but, really…? This was (humorously?) highlighted in the media story that broke this

BB 10 and the Mobile Computing Future of Blackberry

One of the many (formerly) RIM buildings in Waterloo. BB10 was launched last week, and I noticed that very afternoon that the sign people had two new signs on the buildings down the street. RIM logos were gone, replaced by Blackberry logos. Personally I think this name change thing is pretty unimportant. I guess it