Elections, terror, furor and just plain ignorance

there are only a few weeks left in the federal elections. I'm not sure where the excitement should stem from, but change is probably the largest factor that we should be looking forward to.

I recall in 2005, when Stephen Harper came to power, there was a weak sense of optimism that a strong government can make some positive changes. Over time, my attitude became progressively negative towards policies that continue military actions internationally,continued cuts to education and healthcare and surely enough a policy of fear and crime where we can justify investments into prisons and increase police force. Regarding last, the, there is undoubtedly a role for police in any society, however the tone, whether it be in health or in crime, prevention is always key. With improved opportunities, better education a stronger sense of community the incentives to do criminal activity are greatly reduced.

Another hot topic of the selections were corporate tax cuts. Considering that corporate taxes do not invite foreign corporate investment, the lack of a skilled workforce, political stability, and a motivated workforce, much greater factors in the development of an economy. Places where peak on any trumps over environmental concerns are not places where industry can be assured long-term prosperity.

One of the key challenges in discussing the elections, or any other topic, is the possibility of having conversations as opposed to a monologue like in this case here.sometimes I wonder if politics are less about the main goal of determining what is best for society as opposed to short-term gains and claims of celebrity of a political campaign. In a more positive light,I believe politicians make that balance of public figures who have the real responsibility of researching and representing ideas and policies which would benefit the whole society as opposed to a few who already are in power.

the right, and the stereotype.

What does the Leaders' debate mean to everyday Canadians?

The issues at hand, whether they be healthcare, the economy spending, the principles of democracy, federalism, or crime, are some of the few elements that really define how the leaders performed in the debate. Personally, and according to the commentaries of different analysts, how leaders express themselves, their enthusiasm, how reserved or excited, their use of language, and how they interacted with the camera or one another, illustrates that there are number of other factors that demonstrate that the leaders' debate is not so much about the issues. A few weeks earlier I heard a brief report on how people from distinct cultures and countries can choose quite accurately the will winters of election simply based on their photograph. That does indicate that there are some characteristics that we are |programmed| to accept or support.

The Conservatives and the Destruction of Canada

Everyone expects the a change in government to redress the inadequacies of the previous regime. The sluggish economy and arrogant attitude that dominates the Canadian mindset has unfortunately fed the rise of a dogmatic party to power.

I never was someone who would be considered "proud" of what Canada should represent, but there are some values that I feel should represent who I collectively belong to. Fairness, equal access and a sense of collectivity are just a few. Unfortunately, the move to more privatized services, more spending on defence and incarceration do little to improve the conditions of everyday Canadians. Private insurance and health care costs more for everyone, defence will create some jobs, but building weapons as opposed to infrastructure is simply ridiculous.

Next step to noiseless equipment...

I have not yet put my ear to a compact flash card in operation nor a SSD, but I can hear when the LCD of my cell phone turns off. The high pitch noise is also a problem the LCD of an older DELL when its brightness is not at maximum.

Maybe there is no such thing as a dead silent machine. I sure would like to find one!

Comfort and distractions

I no longer seem to remember things as well as I had in the past. It may sound normal, but my life is not so complicated that I cannot manage and sort out whatever information is thrown at me. Searching for information, and making the effort so sort it out is a very general approach of learning, but I have the sentiment that some of my learning is more dread that liking!

As listening to somebody who is enthusiastic about something is far better than someone who is complaining...

Alone, ranting and raving of older technology

I have mentioned it before, but I am convinced that many technological innovations are far from being displaced.

I fail to find a utility to the tablets. Maybe I should try the interface, but a keyboard, one that I do not have to look at because the tips of my fingers know where the keys are, is maybe best. Perhaps they will show that gaming, browsing etc are best on the tablet, but a resolution of 1024 x 768 is really too little. I was initially satisfied with screens whose resolution was widescreen, but only 768 height makes it difficult to set two pages side by side while still being legible.

New standards should be for higher resolutions, making text and images crisper. Once you get used to HD, it is difficult to go back to something less. AM radio is out, but it will not die for a long time, as it travels so much further than FM... I should play with my short wave radio more often!

Submit in Word DOC format

Although Microsoft Word is the defacto standard in many offices, it is changing. OpenOffice Writers, and a number of other editors, can do what Word does. There is no reason to request that a document be submitted in Word, unless, it requires editing.

I am determined that institutions should require that documents be submitted in a format which does not require the purchase of a specific software when a number of alternatives are free. But if you really want to have a Word document, here is how to do it:

Using PDF FIll http://www.pdfill.com/ print the document into a multipage TIFF. This will make individual pages as raster images.

Convert the TIF to PDF ( I could not find a converter to DOC !!!)
Convert the PDF to DOC

Voilà you have a DOC which will certainly retain the page format. It will prevent users from copying and pasting, but pages can be deleted or inserted.