I’ve spent much of the summer on vacation, and overall it’s been quite enjoyable.  But to hear some of my fellow Canadians whine, you’d think it was the end of the world.  Sure it’s been a bit rainy this summer, and yes it was cooler than usual in June and much of July, but it’s […]

I heard a saying once that there is one thing that transcends race, religion and language:  Everyone thinks that they’re an above-average driver. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2008 was a good year.  Only 37,261 motor vehicle fatalities in 2007, down from 41,259 in 2008. An estimated 2.35 million were injured. […]

Back in the 18th century trade unions made sense.  They fought for safe working conditions and important things that Governments didn’t take care of.  Since then, the world and the workplace have evolved, but unions haven’t.  Once leading-edge guardians of the safe workplace, unions today struggle to remain relevant. So they spend their time convincing members that […]

[Carter is on vacation, but he’ll be back next week, cranky as ever!] Last week Carter wrote about some positive aspects of the Canadian health care system.  But it’s certainly not all roses. While Canadians are guaranteed a basic level of healthcare, those with conditions that fall outside this basic level are on their own, and some […]

I’m tired of hearing American commentators rail against “Canadian style health care” as if our system is more flawed than theirs. The U.S. Health care system works if you’re a healthy 30-something with a good job and employer paid health care. It also works if you’re the CEO iof a Fortune 500 company, and it […]

Microsoft Vista proved one thing: The software giant has lost touch with their customers. I’m sure that the geeks in Redmond thought features like semi-transparent windows, a sidebar and a ‘better’ search feature were great ideas.  Probably because they didn’t have to buy the hardware to run it on.  Vista, already in history as Microsoft’s largest operating […]

Nobody with any business sense would invest in General Motors.  The company has displayed an inability to compete in today’s world market. They can’t make cars people want, don’t understand the concept of quality and have the business sense of a first grader.  In fact, strike that – a first grader would probably figure out […]

The question they asked was “Will you help save local TV?” and the public said, “Sounds good, sure, that’s a no brainer, where do I sign?” They ought to be ashamed for not asking the real question.  The real question is, “Will you pay more for cable or satellite to enrich Bell Global and Rogers?” […]

I hear a lot of complaints about poor technical support.  Let’s not beat around the bush here — the tech support that most companies provide sucks. They staff their first-level support lines with the least expensive luke-warm bodies they can find and train them to follow set scripts in an attempt to fix the most common problems. I […]

Our editor, Eric Jacksch, is a huge Twitter fan.  But if you want a good example of why I’m not on Twitter, just ask him about this week.  He might not be a fan much longer. According to their blog, on Tuesday Twitter announced that Rogers customers in Canada can get their Twitter ‘updates’ through […]

Some ideas are so outrageously offensive that they should never see the light of day. For example, the ‘game’ that appeared on the Apple iTunes App Store earlier this week from a company called Sikalosoft. The objective of the game?  Shake a crying baby to death. In response to complaints, Apple removed the application from […]

Peter Dennis has two problems.  The first, according to a Canadian Press article by Colin Perknel, is gambling: “According to the unproven statement of claim, Dennis, of Markham, Ont., blew about $350,000 between August 2000 and May 2004 on various slot machines. His health declined, he became depressed and anxious. After an 11-week, $59,000 binge, […]