Entries Tagged as 'Uncategorized'

January 8, 2007

An encounter with a federal cabinet minister

After my mom, dad and I had finished dropping my sister off at the Kelowna International Airport so that she could catch her flight back to Calgary, AB, where she is studying business at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, we went to Costco to buy a few household staples and food stuffs. [...]

October 11, 2006

Amazon Sinks A9

Amazon Sinks A9: “In a surprising retreat, Amazon.com is dismantling many of the features that helped make its A9.com search engine stand out from the crowd. Things like the A9 toolbar, intricate street-level mapping, and the Instant Reward program that gave active A9 users a 1.57% discount on Amazon.com purchases are all history.”
This news item, [...]

October 1, 2006

Too many churches in Stafford, Texas?

ABC News: Worship, But At What Cost?: “Hindus aren’t the only ones drawn to Stafford. In a town with just one movie theater, two grocery stores, and 14 gas stations, there are 51 houses of worship, representing the united nations of religions.”
An interesting report, linked above, concerning the number of churches and other religious shrines [...]

July 18, 2006

Eleven people, including CEO of offshore gambling website, face charges

Eleven people, including CEO of offshore gambling website, face charges: “FORT WORTH, Tex. (AP) - Federal officials have charged 11 people, including the CEO of a big gambling website, with conspiracy, racketeering and fraud for taking sports bets from U.S. residents.”
It’s about time the U.S. Department of Justice started cracking down on the explosion of [...]

May 20, 2006

Ontario Provincial Police nab vodka-sipping, barely-dressed "big rig" driver

Vodka-sipping, barely-dressed driver among those rounded up in Ontario blitz (Canadian Press): “Elsewhere, officers who pulled over a tractor-trailer, loaded with steel, for erratic driving were treated to an eyeful when the driver descended from the rig.
‘Driver got out, just staggered out of the cab wearing only underpants, and he was drinking a bottle of [...]

December 14, 2005

Experian acquires PriceGrabber.com

Experian Acquires PriceGrabber.com
Experian has acquired comparison-shopping site PriceGrabber.com for approximately $485 million - making it on par with Scripps’ buyout of Shopzilla and slightly less than eBay’s purchase of Shopping.com, I believe. (Experian earlier bought LowerMyBills.com.)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this leaves NexTag as the last major comparison-shopping Web site that has [...]

December 5, 2005

On the Conservatives’ so-called Choice in Child Care Allowance plan

Earlier today at a rally for Ottawa-South Conservative star candidate Allan Cutler (former mid-level bureaucrat-turned-whistleblower employed within the Sponsorship Program bowels of the federal Public Works and Government Services Canada), Conservative leader Stephen Harper announced his party’s new national child care plan. It is two-fold. One is the “Choice in Child Care Allowance” and the [...]

October 16, 2005

Thoughts on BC Teachers’ job action

For those Canadian readers of this blog, I’m sure by now you are well aware of the job action by the BC Teachers Federation, the union of which all public-school teachers in the province of B.C. are required to belong. For those unaware, forgive my lack of a preamble or backgrounder, if you will. I [...]

September 25, 2005

Sullivan defeats Clark, for NPA mayoral nomination in Vancouver

‘A fighter, a survivor,’ Sullivan wins key battle: “Father really does know best. Sam Sullivan’s father, Lloyd, was calm in the nerve-wracking hours leading up to the announcement of Sullivan’s win over Christy Clark in the Non-Partisan Association mayoralty nomination yesterday.”
In a headline rivalling the New York Post’s famed “Dewey Defeats Truman” of the 1948 [...]

September 9, 2005

eBay to buy Skype?

“EBay Inc. is in talks to buy Web telephone phenomenon Skype Technologies SA, a source said on Thursday, prompting a 4 percent drop in shares of the online auctioneer amid concern Skype could crimp highly-profitable eBay’s growth.” (Justin Hyde and Eric Auchard, Reuters)
According to the named Reuters reporters, who cite Wall Street Journal and New [...]