It’s been a week, so things have built up again. Bill C-30 is starting to wane with the Robocalls Scandal and the return of the omnibus crime bill. Here’s the rest of the news:
Didn’t Take Long
After three months of .xxx domains, ten complaints of cybersquatting have been filed. Among the complainants are banks, jewellery stores, and an online store. All of this could be foreseen, really – it’s not new. Similar happened after .info and .biz came out.
Small ISPs Look for Relief
Smaller Canadian ISPs are looking to overturn a ruling that would allow Bell and Rogers to charge by capacity. Capacity-based tariffs allow the larger ISPs to charge per megabyte and would replace a flat-fee. However, the Canadian Network Operators Consortium says the pricing is excessive.
House of Commons to Probe Anonymous
Calling Anonymous’ missive a threat on the life of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, the Speaker has directed Parliament to investigate. Experts, however, say that finding members of Anonymous would be difficult at best.
RIM Expected to Disappoint According to BMO
BMO Capital Markets is expecting RIM’s revenue and market share to disappoint in the coming quarters. RIM’s Blackberry 10 is expected out in the latter half of the year. However, a lack of clarity on the launch prompted BMO to be disappointed.
Cloud Jobs
Cloud Computing is expected to add 70 000 jobs to the Canadian economy. Many of the jobs are expected to be in non-IT fields, such as administration, marketing, and even plumbing and carpentry. Vancouver and Toronto are expected to pick up about a third of the jobs, but the impact will be felt across the country. Takeaway: get in early on cloud adoption.
PCs Dead Says Microsoft Exec
Ray Ozzie believes the world has moved beyond the personal computer. Ozzie succeeded Bill Gates as Microsoft’s tech visionary and believes that tablets and smartphones will do the bulk of personal data crunching due to their wireless nature.
Ford to Mail Software Updates
To keep their cars’ onboard computer up to date, Ford will be mailing USB sticks with upgrades. Owners of 2011 or 2012 model year vehicles with MyFord Touch infotainment and control systems should expect the updates in the mail. The need to keep vehicular computers up to date could lead to a new avenue of research and design.
Canadians Number One Online
Canadians spent an average of 45.3 hours online in the last quarter of 2011. This beats the US (38.6 hours), the UK (35.4) and South Korea (30.0). The study shows that Canadians spend a good portion of those hours on social media. This goes a long way explaining the resistance to moves by Bell and Rogers to restrict online usage.
Playbooks Outsell iPads
During the last week of February, RIM’s Playbook outsold Apple’s iPad. The combination of price cuts and the release of Playbook OS2.0 with the imminent announcement of the iPad3 may have allowed RIM to surpass Apple.
Watson Goes Into Finance
IBM’s Watson will help Citigroup improve banking. Watson, best known for its impressive win on Jeopardy, will be helping improve the accuracy and speed of decisions and assisting on retirement plans. IBM keeps creeping under the radar, but could have a huge impact here.
Scholastic Enters eBook Field
Scholastic is developing Storia, an app containing 1300 books in the publisher’s library. Series like Clifford, the Big Red Dog will be available in digital format for the first time. Storia is the first major ebook reader for children’s books, a field that has been neglected for the most part.
More C-30 Fallout
A Manitoba judge ruled that Public Safety Minister Vic Toews should be allowed to know who looked at his divorce records. The records, which are available to the public, were tweeted by @Vikileaks30 after Bill C-30 was first introduced. It might be considered an abuse for many many individuals to go to the court house and request a copy of the records.
Defection Via YouTube
The Syrian deputy oil minister announced his defection via YouTube. The video was recorded from an undisclosed location. This may be the first time online social media was used to announce a defection.
— Scott D
Not so much today. Mixed bag, including outsourcing security, apes and apps, a new competitor in the smartphone market, and raspberry pie.
Find the Hole and Win!
Google is offering cash prizes for finding security holes in its Chrome browser. The total amount available to be won is US$1 million. The move lets Google do two things at once – it gets hackers to look hard at Chrome’s security for little cost except for when an exploit is found and gets the browser noticed in the news.
There’s an Ape for That
The Toronto Zoo is looking for an iPad to be donated to an orangutan. Apps for Apes, a program created to get iPads to primates, was created after a similar successful program at the Milwaukee Zoo. Orangutans at teh Milwaukee Zoo have been using the tablet for painting, music, and video chatting over Skype. The other purpose Apps for Apes has in mind for donated iPads is to let Puppe, an orangutan, speak with her daughter Jahe, who is now in Memphis, through a video chat.
New Player in the Smartphone Market
Mozilla is working on an open source smartphone OS. The non-profit, whose other works include Firefox and Thunderbird, is aiming to produce a an operating system that leads to a cheaper smartphone. If the OS allows for customization of apps along with the ability to run existing apps, the closed-world of existing smartphone and tablet OSes will be opened wide.
Raspberry Pi Sells Out
As mentioned in the last News of the North, a $35 computer called Raspberry Pi was ready for launch. It sold out. The Raspberry Pi Foundation had limited the credit card sized computer to one per person. Congrats! The takeaway – if you build it and can grab people’s attention, they will come.
–Scott D
