Fagstein's shared items in Google Reader

The Tyee wins Edward R. Murrow journalism award

2009-07-02T02:25:00Z

The independent B.C. web magazine The Tyee has received one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. According to a report from Canadian Press, the magazine has earned the Edward R. Murrow Award for best non-broadcast affiliated news website.The award is handed out by the Radio-Television News Directors Association and is named after the legendary American broadcast journalist. [In all, 51

How to make a pastor curse your paper

2009-07-03T12:00:43Z

I can’t vouch for when this appeared in the Argus Observer, but it appears to be a legit scan of a correction:

Thanks, David and Criggo.com!

Before Place des Arts was built...

2009-06-29T22:37:00Z

Flickr then-and-now photographer Guillaume Saint-Jean is very pleased about the new Le Devoir "avant-après" feature he's doing. The first one is on the Institut Nazareth, the main building that was demolished in 1958 to make room for the construction of Place des Arts.

Call-TV: vite sur le «piton»

2009-06-27T15:19:00Z

À la fois infopub et quiz, Call-TV est un des plus étranges ovnis télévisuels de TQS. On en...

La Loi sur l’accès à l’information (rire en canne)

2009-06-29T09:00:17Z

Ma collègue Marie Allard est très patiente. Elle a attendu près de trois ans pour qu’on lui donne, finalement, certaines notes de frais de l’ex-ministre de l’Éducation Jean-Marc Fournier. Trois ans de gossage et de remise et de délais pour des documents très simples, très clairement accessibles en vertu de la Loi sur l’accès à [...]

Keeping News of Kidnapping Off Wikipedia

2009-06-30T02:46:39Z

The New York Times asked Jimmy Wales, a co-founder of Wikipedia, for his help when David Rohde was kidnapped and the news was being posted.

Web freebies up 300% before Moving Day

2009-06-27T15:40:00Z

Twenty-one Craigslist giveaways were posted yesterday; three times the number on the previous Friday. Moving Day madness has begun. Why pay for second-hand stuff at garage sales when the same stuff can be had for free?

TMZ Was Far Ahead in Reporting Death

2009-06-27T07:08:21Z

TMZ, a celebrity news Web site, reported Michael Jackson’s death well ahead of traditional news outlets, which hesitated to follow suit.

Unionized Globe and Mail workers reject latest contract offer

2009-06-28T00:12:05Z

More than 440 editorial, advertising and circulation workers at the Globe and Mail have rejected the newspaper's latest offer.

A visit to Google's Montreal office

2009-06-26T20:37:00Z

The Google lounge. More pictures at the bottom.

Google's office in Montreal turned one year old this week and the company was eager to show it off. They have good reason to be proud. It's a great-looking office. Lots of open spaces. Massage chairs. High-tech toys, free food, and the casual ambiance you'd expect.

There are touches of Google's primary colours everywhere. Excercise balls are scattered throughout. Montreal bellwhethers like the Canadiens, Molson, the Casino and the Big Owe are honoured in the decor.

But the main reason for the visit was to talk to Marc-Antoine Ruel and Fabrice Jaubert, two engineers working on the Chrome web browser. I invited Kathryn Presner to come along and pose her own questions (she won a little contest I held over Twitter).

We touched on several issues. Here are the highlights of our conversation. I'll write an more in-depth newspaper article next week.

I indicate who said what by an acronym:
MA = Marc-Antoine
F = Fabrice
T = Tamara Micner, PR agent for Google Canada

On the Chrome browser

MA: One of the great things about it is that it's open source. We get great feedback from developers.

We're big on speed. Our goal is that you can't slow down the browser. We also want to focus on the content, not the browser. We try to make it as simple and as small as possible.

Aside from speed we're also big on stability. Each open tab is a different process. So if one tab crashes, you can just close it. It doesn't affect the entire browser. It's really for the power users, those people who have lots of open tabs at the same time.

We expect to release a version ofr the Mac in a few months.

So far more Chrome has more than $10 million users.

Marc-Antoine Ruel and Kathryn Presner

On making Chrome customizable like Firefox

MA: We're working on letting you add extensions. It's one of the main requests people ask for. It should be a feature in the next release. There is already a community of people building extensions. We'll offer a central repository for the extensions (like Firefox does) but they don't have to be listed in a main marketplace. Anyone can make and offer an extension on their website.

We're constantly talking to the folks at Mozilla on buildig new features. But Chrome is a way for us to accelerate the implementation of ideas we have, so we don't have to wait on others.

On Chrome's Incognito mode, often called "porn mode"

MA: It was my idea to let users choose to make Incognito the default mode (learn how here).

F: Incognito mode is useful if you're using two Gmail accounts at once. I doesn't store cookies, so it doesn't confuse the browser.

On the TechCrunch post about Chrome, in which Michael Arrington called it a "Windows killer"

F: We weren't really saying "we hate you" to Microsoft. But we were saying, "Hey everyone, wake up. Let's do something new and different and see if someone can do better."

Fabrice Jaubert and Tamara Micner

On how people react when they say they work at Google

MA: At first people couldn't really believe it. They often seemed shocked.

F: I never got a bad response to it.

On the bad press about Google's invasion of privacy

MA: We're always thinking about users' privacy in everything we do. We make sure personal information isn't sent back to Google. It's a design choice we make to protect users' privacy. For example, using Gmail with HTTPS. And as proof, we're all using Google products. We want privacy, too.

F: And all that media attention keeps us honest.

On not doing enough to calm people's concerns about privacy

T: When you launch early and often, you might overlook some details. But we correct our missteps as quickly as possible.

F: We're putting out more FAQs, online support forums and blog posts explaining the technology.

T: And it's also a matter of time. You have to give people time to get used to new technology.

On giving out SEO tips

F: We can't give anything away. If spammers figure out the nature of signals, it's no longer any good, and we have to change it. It is like an arms race against spammers.

PHOTOS
(Kathryn posted her own on TwitPic)

The main entrance

Getting our visitor badges printed

Little nods to Montreal are everywhere, like this Métro symbol

The games room is arranged in order of technological sophistication: foosball, Pac-Man, Rock Band

In the round box you'll find a shot glass chess set

The Google brand is plastered literally everywhere. Even on the cereal dispensers.

All the conference rooms are named after C++ keywords.

Google colours everywhere.

When I noted the decor in this room, an engineer played the original Super Mario Bros. theme for me.

The founding Google Montreal team. Note the footwear on the gentleman in the first row, second from the right.

An Open Letter to my Bike Thief

2009-06-26T09:15:40Z

To my dear friend Thief:

You know who you are; you stole the rear tire off my bicycle.

I don’t hate you,
I fear for your welfare.

You obviously have been hanging around the wrong crowd. What would possess you to steal from your fellow man? Daddy didn’t give attention? Mommy didn’t care? Deviancy is a learned attribute; I suppose that unlike you, I am blessed to have been raised surrounded by honourable individuals who love me.

I don’t hate you,
I pity you.

You feel you can have your way with the world; whatever pleases you, you shall have. However, you don’t realise that one day your actions will come back and bite you in the crotch. And I am certain, on that day; the gods will be smiling down upon me. What goes around comes around.

I don’t hate you,
I envy you.

We live in a civilisation; hence, one must be civilised. Most of us are shamed into following Canadian mores, due to years of conditioning. Yet somehow, you have the power to buck these expectations put upon us. You truly live outside of society. I, myself, have tried to do the same: I’ve dyed my hair purple. I’ve drunk alcohol whilst underage. I’ve danced on a beach for 3 days straight in Goa. I’ve done some experimenting with members of the same sex. But through it all, I’ve fallen back into the social straightjacket that consists of today’s moral obligations. I wish I could be a vagabond like you, who sticks their middle finger in the eye of the community-at-large.

I don’t hate you,
I am confused by your motives.

Surely you have experienced my similar sentiments of despondency - loss, anger, and malaise – when you had your own bike wheel stolen. I assume you have been a victim of property crime; why else would you have stolen from me other than to replace what you, yourself, had lost? If it were merely to use it as a trophy, or to sell it on Craigslist™, then frankly, my friend, you are another kind of evil.

I don’t hate you,
I question your actions.

By stealing my bike tire, you have rendered my sole mode of transportation useless. How am I to get to work and earn a living? How am I to get to the supermarket and buy food to nourrish my body? How am I to get to school and better myself? How am I to get to The Arts Café in Mile End and grab a coffee with friends? On foot? Too far. The bus? Too infrequent. The métro? Too inconvenient.

I don’t hate you,
I thank you.

Even if I installed a new bicycle wheel myself, I am looking at costs of at least $100. And with the time it takes in labour, I don’t think this project would ever be accomplished.

Thief, I thank you because had I not been faced with this transportation dilemma, I would not have thought about going to www.bixi.com, clicking on « Abonnez-vous », and filling out the registration form in order to receive a bixi key 2 days later.

I’m mobile again and I’m loving it.

Rot in hell.

Love,
Émile Thomas.

Image credits:

MONTRÉAL - Émile Thomas
NYC (Bike Thief Letter) - Rod Begbie

Jeff Fillion se lance dans la course à la mairie

2009-06-24T15:11:00Z

Jugeant inacceptable que le maire de Québec se présente aux élections sans rival sérieux,...

Des nouvelles intégrées à Radio-Canada

2009-06-25T11:41:00Z

Radio-Canada créera un Centre intégré d'affectation et d'expertise radio-télé-web dès...

Fallen Princesses.

2009-06-16T17:22:00Z

I love seeing the flip side of the typical fairytale in the Fallen Princesses project from Dina Goldstein and JPG Magazine. Just goes to show, not even princesses are perfect...

"These works place Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the Princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict. The '...happily ever after' is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues."

"The project was inspired by my observation of three-year-old girls, who were developing an interest in Disney's Fairy tales. As a new mother I have been able to get a close up look at the phenomenon of young girls fascinated with Princesses and their desire to dress up like them. The Disney versions almost always have sad beginning, with an overbearing female villain, and the end is predictably a happy one. The Prince usually saves the day and makes the victimized young beauty into a Princess."

Des Têtes à Claques internationales

2009-06-15T14:46:26Z

Après avoir épluché la liste des nominés des prix Gémeaux la semaine dernière, on apprend cette semaine que le Willi Waller et les célèbres personnages créés par Michel Beaudet viennent d’être mis en nominations aux Emmy Awards par le National Academy of Television, Arts & Science, qui récompensera, le 20 juin prochain, les meilleurs programmes télévisuels de jour américains.

L’Académie, qui attribue à l’occasion des prix à certains créateurs hors des États-Unis, ont en effet cette année mis en nomination le site anglais des Têtes à Claques dans la catégorie New Approaches Daytime Entertainment. La compétition s’annonce féroce puisque les personnages aux yeux globuleux et à la dentition proéminente se mesureront à de gros joueurs tels que le New York Times Style Magazine dont nous vous avions déjà parlé des Screen Tests ici ainsi qu’à l’excellent court-métrage I met the Walrus, une retranscription animée d’un bed-in torontois avec John Lennon et Yoko Ono, capté sur le vif par le Canadien Jerry Levitan. On souhaite bonne chance à Johnny Boy, sa bande de marionnettes et sa pelle LCD!

via Pat White

Two Sun Media community weeklies in Alberta suffer cutbacks

2009-06-25T15:59:47Z

"Sun Media's Alberta weeklies continue to experience the wrath of Quebecor cutbacks, the latest being the Pincher Creek Echo and the Crowsnest Pass Promoter."

Quebecor : Oui chef, bien chef!

2009-06-25T21:55:31Z

On le savait déjà, Quebecor n'hésite pas à utiliser la force de son réseau (Journal de Montréal, canoë, 24 heures, TVA, LCN, Canal Argent…) pour se...

Island hopping Montreal-styles

2009-06-25T16:48:05Z

A ferry whisks 12 bicycles and their riders across the St-Lawrence river to the Boucherville Islands provincial park.

On your typical STM map of Montreal, the Boucherville Islands are just peeking out from under the legend, and so for many years they remained under my radar. Turns out the are actually the site of a provincial park, just minutes away from Montreal. Here’s one sweet way to escape the city that doesn’t involve getting stuck in bridge traffic…

The best part about a trip to the Boucherville Islands is how bike-friendly it is. Its beyond bike-friendly, the park is designed for cyclists. For $7 you and your bicycle can get a round-trip ferry to the Ile Ste-Marguerite, from which you can access the rest of the archipelago. This overhead includes the entrance fee to the provincial park and was the only cash I dished out all day.

The Navark Ferry departs from park Belvedere Bellerive in the Mercier neighbourhood, a 5-minute bike ride from Honoré-Beagrand metro. It is also possible to access the islands by car. In fact, the first thing you see when you get off the ferry is a 6-lane trench highway, the mouth of the Louis Hypolite Lafontaine tunnel.

Clearly the archipelago is not 100% nature park - The westernmost island, Ile Charron, is also the site of a hotel, the south shore’s water purification plant, and a recent controversy over 4000 new condo units. Quebec is meeting the private owner this month to make an offer for the land, which was sold for $6 million in 2007.

See the fullsized map of the Boucherville Islands in PDF format.

But heading East, you can escape the city completely. On a St-Jean-Baptiste Wednesday, Ile Ste-Marguerite was a bit of a gongshow, but another bike-friendly ferry will take you across the channel to Ile de la Commune and Ile Grosbois, where cyclists reign. The diversity of bicycle kid-seats, trailers and hookups was astounding.

A spin around all 3 park islands would be about 15 kms on gravel trails, but its easy to pick a route adapted to any level of endurance.

The islands are also home to a diversity of migratory birds and wetland creatures who inhabit a unique eco-system that is flooded each spring when the St-Lawrence is at its highest. Representing the islands’ many cultural incarnations, Ile de la Commune maintains a small farm, and Ile Grosbois is the site of an archaeological dig and a fairly realistic replica of an Iroquois longhouse (”just like in our textbook!” exclaimed one 10-year-old visitor).

On the Fête Nationale, the little waterways between islands were rippling with activity. Dozens of canoers, kayakers and row-boating fishermen were out, and the party was going strong on larger motorized yachts. We were privy to some drunken deck dance shows from the midlife-crisis crowd.

But at least the wildlife didn’t seem put off by all the activity - notice the beaver swimming alongside the fishing boat in the photo above.

Some canoers were taking a dip in the chilly river waters, and after a day of biking around in 30-degree weather, we were happy to join in. The channel had a gentle current that suggested bringing an inner tube would be an excellent move in the future.

The Port of Montreal provided an iconic, if unbeautiful backdrop. Some folks may find the city skyline ruins their sense of escape, but to me the playful, naturey Boucherville Islands felt extra magical for existing so close to home.

Un nouveau directeur de l'information

2009-06-20T07:00:00Z

Le Devoir est heureux d'annoncer la nomination de monsieur Roland-Yves Carignan au poste de directeur de l'information. Il entrera en fonction au début du mois d'août. Suite

Newscaster, Once Mocked, Now Casts Mock News

2009-06-22T07:06:48Z

Nearly eight years after leaving CNN, Bobbie Battista has resurfaced as an anchor for Onion News Network, the online video arm of The Onion, the satirical newspaper.