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,

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The inside of Fort Albany Chief Edward Metatawabin’s home. For the past months we’ve been fed a steady diet of dismal reports from Attawapiskat in the James Bay area. Combined with Theresa Spence’s fish broth diet and the Idle No More protests, this has been a particularly bad bad news period for Canada/First Nations relations.

I recently stumbled on this article callled “Bad Apple: Could the Era of Exploitation Outsourcing Be Near Its End?” in which the author argues that the moral implications of Apple’s use of Chinese labour to cut costs is catching up with them. Apple’s success, he argues, has to some extent been built on the backs

Last week when the Ontario Elementary teachers union called a wildcat strike, inconveniencing millions of Ontarions in the process, it was predictable what our weasle Premier, Dalton McGuinty would do. Rather than confront the union and penalize them for holding an illegal strike, the McGuinty government put the case before the Ontario Labour Relations Board

Piers Morgan of CNN has recently raised the hackles of the pro-gun folks in the U.S. by inviting a number of those folks to his show, and essentially setting them up for what seems like a blatant gun control pitch. As many commenters have pointed out, Morgan and CNN have been losing viewers and this

A few months ago I created a little video with the help of Judy and my grandkids, called “Cane Golf“. It was in late August, exactly three months after I had my stroke, and a little less than two months after I came home. It’s easy to lose perspective when you’re going through something like

I get shivers just thinking about Attawapiskat. Shivers as in cold and damp. The Indians of that community may have a long long history of living out there in the elements near James Bay, but I just can’t believe that makes it any more pleasant. This really is one of the big problems with communities

I haven’t bothered following NHL hockey for many years. I will occasionally watch a big game, like the final game of the playoffs, but not knowing the players makes it pretty uninteresting. What impresses me when I do watch is the speed and skill of the players. Having been involved in kids hockey, I know

The recent horrendous slaughter of children at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut has once again sparked serious debate about gun control – mostly in the U.S., but in other countries (including Canada) as well. A few days ago, when I went to the Christmas concert at the school where five of our seven grandchildren attend

I had this thought the other day: that being a stroke victim must be something like being in jail. You can see people moving around out there, doing (more or less) what they want, but that freedom just isn’t available to you. You think “I can do that”, but in fact you can’t. You just

Anyone who has had a stroke and has a realistic chance of recovering all or some of the faculties they’ve lost becomes something of an expert in various therapies. Of course the therapists I’ve known and worked with at agapetc.com are all sincere, dedicated and well-meaning to be sure – are pretty unanimous in saying

Last spring, May 26, 2012, my life was changed in just a few seconds. Early in the evening, after a fairly uneventul day, I had a stroke. It did not seem especially catrostrophic at the time. The symptoms, I am told, were fairly typical. A definite dizziness and disorientation – quite specific, related to an