A Bit of My Life » 2008

Jack Layton Responds on Copyright Reform - with some actual commitment!

I am very pleased to report that my party (yes, I am biased) leader responded to my letter on copyright reform today. Here is the text:

Thank you for writing me with your concerns over the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

Recent reports confirming that the government is in secret meetings to negotiate the terms of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is yet another example of the way this government is allowing U.S. corporate interests to lead Canada around by the nose. These secret ACTA talks in Geneva are likely to result in treating children who trade songs for their iPods like members of international counterfeiting rings; institutionalize the mandatory snooping of personal Internet use; legislate the seizure of personal computers at the border to search for copyrighted materials; and make it easier to use heavy-handed lawsuits against individuals as a tool to prevent file-sharing.

The following link is video from my NDP colleague Charlie Angus raising this issue during Question Period in the House of Commons: http://www.charlieangus.net/houseitem.php?id=97.

You may also be interested to know that we have called on Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility to put an end to their 15 cent charge for all incoming text messages. If you are against this text-message cash-grab, I encourage you to sign our petition at: http://www.ndp.ca/page/6577, join the Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42606695760, and tell your friends!

Again, I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue. All the best.

Sincerely,
Jack Layton, MP (Toronto-Danforth)
Leader, Canada’s New Democrats

Even if this is a form letter, it is unlike the non-commited response I got from the liberals, or the form letter response I got from Jim Prentice. This e-mail shows the knock-down action that occurred in the house with Charlie Angus, and I would think promises further action on the issue. Go NDP - make us proud!

For all of you wondering what to do about copyright reform over the summer, I suggest signing up for a free account at Blogger or any other blogsite and start blogging on the issue. Write to your MP and all of the political parties, although I think we have to accept at this point that the Conservatives aren’t going to change the law much and will just send form letters back to you as per the Harper politbureau. Post their responses, and let’s keep Canada the land of the free.

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Posted: July 10th, 2008 under Canada Copyright Reform.
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7 Ways to Be Frugal

Due to the rapid slowing of the economy, many consumers are choosing to pay down debts instead of incurring new ones. Here are a few ways to be frugal.

1. Facebook

There are so many free games and applications on Facebook that you would be hard pressed to not waste oodles of free time on it. Just watch that it doesn’t become a time suck from which there is no escape; I’ve fallen into this trap myself.

2. House Parties

Instead of going out to bars and restaurants, arrange in your circle of friends to have house parties at each other’s apartments or houses. No one person should be stuck hosting all of the time, so be sure to rotate regularly. Hosts should provide non-gourmet snacks like popcorn or hot dogs rather than cheese and crackers.

3. Make Your Own Stuff

Make a list of items that you regularly spend money on (shampoo, laundry detergent, etc.) that you could make yourself. Hand soap can be made simply with glycerin and a few essential oils. Check around online and see what recipes you can come up with. Trim your grocery bill by about 20.00 a month and maybe even sell some to your friends and local stores when you find recipes you like.

4. Go Local For Your Food

Make one of your outings a trip to some local farms to find a regular source for milk, eggs, veggies, and other necessities. It may cost the same as the grocery store, but the taste is far superior, no fossil fuels are used in the transportation of the food, and the farmer gets to keep more margin if you buy from them at retail prices. Everyone wins.

5. Start a small business

Need some extra cash to pay off those bills? Look around for a small business idea that you can do. Do you like knitting? Consider selling scarves and gloves with a Christmas theme at Christmas craft shows in your area. You may find that your bills get paid off faster while you work on your developing hobby!

6. Thrift Stores – Get Over It

If you are a regular size (i.e. not plus or petite) don’t hesitate to shop at thrift stores. You will regularly find fashions from name brand designers like Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, and other popular brands. Try to avoid the places that mark up the designer stuff – there are plenty out there that don’t.

If you don’t want to go quite as low brow as a thrift shop, try a consignment store; these are shops that take name brand used fashions and sell them for a significant discount, and they tend to be more tastefully arranged and presented than a thrift shop. If you have a few higher end fashions kicking around that you don’t wear anymore, consider consigning them to your local store for some extra cash.

7. Gold – Sell It

If you have any gold jewelry that you aren’t wearing anymore, or can’t wear for sentimental reasons (i.e. old wedding ring, gift from an ex) consider selling it now. Prices for gold aren’t going down, but they seem to be rather high right now and you should cash in on that fact while the getting is good. Hold on to investments like gold bars though – it isn’t wise to get rid of your nest egg in these economic times, no matter how tempting it may be to do so.

Many jewelry stores offer low cost appraisals. For the best price, get an appraisal and either sell your jewelry online in a local classified for a fixed price, or put it up for sale on Ebay with a fixed lowest price that it will sell for. Selling to jewelry stores and pawn shops will generally not net you the highest profits.

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Posted: July 9th, 2008 under Anarchy.
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Hello, My Name is Angela and I’m Addicted To Facebook.

This has been a slow, creeping addiction. I start off all of my addictions this way. When I smoked, it was just a couple of cigarettes when I was drinking, then it slowly bled over into my daily life. When I played Shadowbane to the exclusion of all other social interaction, I just started playing a few hours a week and by the time I was done I was commanding an army over over 100 people online, every night.

Now it’s Facebook. Oh yeah, I started off slow. I just checked my messages, looked for old friends, and had the pleasure of reconnecting with a few. Then I started on the games. That is where the trouble started.

There’s this little outfit named Backstage Technologies out of Vancouver that makes little free gambling games that follow the addict’s pattern of risk/reward rather nicely. I have all of them on my Facebook profile. I play Slots everyday to get more credits for Scratch and Win, and play Pull Tabs every chance I get.

Then some scintillating asshole released a game called “Might of Many”. Remember MUDS, text-based games on the BBS’s that were basically a D&D game online? Remember how fun those were? Yeah, some genius decided to stick a MUD on Facebook. Goodbye world, hello guild-building.

Might of Many has also destroyed the pristine quality of my friends list. It has diluted it with mouth-breathing strangers from all over the world (like me) who are completely addicted to it. By the way, if you are a MoM player, my game name is Ilia (that is I as in Ivan, L as in lovely - ia). Add me dude.

I have resorted to an 8 hour a day lockout on Facebook. If I even find myself going to the address bar, I check myself and go to one of my daily news sites for a break instead. I don’t know if I’ll be able to maintain… sweating… but I’ll try!

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Archive for July, 2008

Jack Layton Responds on Copyright Reform - with some actual commitment!

7 Ways to Be Frugal

Hello, My Name is Angela and I’m Addicted To Facebook.