Canada

This article describes why I decided to move off Rogers for the internet, what options are currently available in the local Kitchener/Waterloo area, and the details on how to switch from Rogers.

Rogers: Good and Bad

Rogers internet service is quite good from a functionality point of view. Their technical support is also acceptable, though sometimes you need to have more than one call to get an issue resolved.

Yesterday, I took part in a panel at the local Kitchener Waterloo Linux Users Group on Earning a Living with FLOSS

As the CBC is reporting, Mobilicity, a relative newcomer to the mobile market, is decrying the government auctioning off Long Term Evolution (LTE) "spectrum" to the bigger players (Rogers, Bell, and Telus).

This is the continuation of the industry lobbying for more balkanization.

Calgary is the 14 priciest city for downtown parking, and the number 1 in Canada! It has reached $453.38 per month!

Even Toronto with all its high cost of living is at $336.25 per month, and Montreal is $280.62.

Back here in Kitchener/Waterloo, it only costs $116.94.

Via CBC.

The mobile market in North America is badly fragmented, due to
different carriers using different technologies (CDMA vs. GSM), different frequencies for different companies (AWS, 2100), and locking of phones to the carrier.

This fragmentation strengthens the stranglehold of the carrier on the customer, who has a higher barrier switching from one company to the other.

Industry lobbyists still call for more balkanization of the market, by adding more frequencies, against standardization.

As the G8 wraps up in Huntsville Ontario today, the G20 is starting tonight with a dinner by the Canadian Prime Minister.

Protest organizers have started a Get Off The Fence! protest by working people, with a heavy dose of far left terminology. The site runs Drupal, with a link "open source technology" in the footer linking to Drupal.org.

The protests are already turning violent, with at least two police cruisers being torched so far.

There was a 5.5 magnitude earthquake at 13:41 (less than an hour ago).

I was sitting on the sofa, and felt it rock back and forth. Because I had people working in the basement, I thought they were doing something and did not think about it much then.

Only later it was on TV confirming that it was indeed a quake.

An Associated Press article about Belgium, Belgians vote on future, united country in doubt drew some parallels of the Quebec separatist movement and their relationship with Canada.

This is misinformation, fearmongering and industry lobbying at its worst.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) is alleging that carriers need more radio waves, because consumers are using more bandwidth and have more connected devices than ever before.

Toronto issued a heat alert as temperatures are expected to reach 30C today.