Ontario Linux Fest 2008 is this coming Saturday, October 25th.

A lot more tracks than last year, which I have yet to blog! Here is the detailed schedule.

Drupal has three spots:

Here are some thoughts on the 2008 federal elections in Canada:

Finally, the largest Canadian CDMA mobile phone providers are realizing that GSM is the world standard and that they have to provide it in order to compete with Rogers, the sole provider of GSM in the country.

Can this be due to the iPhone effect? As well as Google's Android?

Via CBC.

A new scam is becoming more prevalent. It centers on hijacking innocent people's email, and sending fake messages asking for money transfer.

A Wellington P.E.I. woman is the latest such victim, following 98 other people in Canada, according to the RCMP.

Someone cracked her email account, and sent an email on her behalf alleging that she is in England, lost her wallet, and can't pay the hotel bill. The email asks the recipients to send money.

Overall, the 98 caused people to lose close to $3 million.

So, for those who follow code commits, you may have seen this already. For others, here are some fresh commits from Dries ...

First, we have this:

Patch #310212 by justinrandell, catch, et all: killed  in _user hook, as well as two small kittens.

It should have said "killed $op in _user hook". Poor kittens ...

Then we have this:

Patch #310212 by justinrandell: killed  in _node hook, as well as twelve sable tooth tigers.

This is another form of internet fraud. A job that promises full time or part time agent of a company. 

This job could be a front for money laundring of proceeds from other scams, or could be cheque fraud.

Dear Sir/Ma

Would you like to work for our organisation full time/Part time and get paid weekly?

we are glad to offer you a job position at our charity organisation ,Adams Childrenswear Ltd our website is, www.adams.co.uk .

Halifax officials ordered a 78 year old woman to paint her home, or face a fine.

Someone complained that Jacqueline Porter's house is "unsightly". The bylaws officers told her that the municipality will paint the house, send her the bill as well as a $250 fine. She was left in tears after repeated visits from the bylaws officers. Porter said that given her limited finances, painting the house will force her to not heat her house in the winter!

Last month at the Waterloo Region Drupal Users Group, we had a talk on using CCK, Views and Panels for building sites without (almost) anyprogramming.

If you live west of Toronto somewhere, then mark your calendar: October 3rd, 19:00 to 21:00 at Queen Street Commons.

Over the years, I have written a lot about internet scams and pseudoscience. This happens mainly because of the frustration I experience seeing gullible people being taken advantage of by criminals who work across international borders to avoid the long arm of the law.

An article about a Manitoba man who died after being attacked by a swarm made it to the CBC today.

The image attached to the article was not that of a wasp though, but rather, a hoverfly. These are dipteras, meaning "two wings", as all other true flies. Also the bulging eyes and very short antennae are very characteristic of all flies.