Here is a complete gallery of grassfire photos taken from the Westside. This is looking pretty scary as there wasn't much for emergency services that we could see actively fighting the fire. Stay safe everyone.

Last week I had my very FIRST hard drive failure. The internal drive on my 4-year-old MacBook Pro (2.4 Core 2 Duo if you must know) finally died.  There are a ton of hard drives in my life- about 14 in all. And the one I'd most expect to die kicked it.  Most of my other drives are 3.5" drives that never move, and see few temperature changes. My MacBook Pro drive has been shaken, frozen, heated, rattled, and had a LOT of data written to it. Only a matter of time before it went down. I didn't loose any mission critical data because I'm very careful with redundancy, but I did lose a bit of photo-sorting work. No worries.

I set about replacing it, and decided on an SSD for speed and durability. Even though the bus (SATA I) would limit the speed of the drive significantly, there would still be a very noticeable speed increase, and a bump in reliability. I decided on a 120GB OCZ Agility 3. Dropped it in last night, Dusted the inside of the computer, re-installed Lion Fresh (from a CF card no less!), Enabled TRIM, and started installing Apps. Process Complete!  

The speed gains are mental. Applications open instantly, the whole machine restarts in 10 seconds flat. I'm super happy with the upgrade. Hopefully I can drop an SSD into my Mac Pro as a boot drive soon!

Photos of the process Below- Let me know if you have any questions!

Lion on the Laptop: Achieved.

It was actually an arduous to get the clean install done, but its flying now.

Because I started from scratch there isn't anything crazy going on. . .yet. Only notable incompatibilities thus far are AirDisplay for iPad. 10.7.1 should clear that up I'm told, until then it just means tethered shooting like the everyman- looking at my computer, not my iPad. I also don't know how complex multitouch gestures will translate across my virtual KVM (synergy) but I don't have a trackpad (yet) to test.

Oh: Important note for me: MenuMeters (my favorite app/hack of ALL TIME EVER) just dropped a new version for lion (1.5). so that works.

Still holding off on the Mac Pro until I have some time to really back everything up and spend a couple days sorting out the switch as there will be a LOT involved in moving my delicately balanced push email / push calendar / publicly shared calendar from google to iCloud.

I'll likely start the Mac Pro fresh too. Maybe with a Solid State boot drive if I can find a cheap one.

Bottom line- If you're on snow leopard without a lot of customization or craziness or PPC apps, it should be an entirely painless switch. No reason not to.

Check any of your MUST HAVE apps for compatibility on the chart here:  http://roaringapps.com/

That you started punching a car? #vancouver #riots #robson

Angella Kokott Interviews Jim Hillyer's Campaign manager about the video I uploaded. He claims to have seen me at other rallies and events, (I've never attended any) and that I was "Stunting" because I wanted to transcribe Jim's answers later. The Audio starts 5 seconds in.

Frustrated by my inability to ask Lethbridge Federal Election Conservative candidate Jim Hillyer a question, or receive a response via phone, or email, I spent over an hour searching, and finally tracked Jim down to ask him my questions in person. He declined to speak with me.

I took some time to compile some data on the Federal Election Candidates and how they use and view the Internet, in addition to how their parties view pressing issues related to the Internet. Hopefully, you find it useful. Please share readily. All metrics accuracte as of April 22, when I began culling data. I've made every attempt to be nonpartisan.

 

Jim Hillyer – Conservative

Website - http://www.jimhillyer.com/

Jim’s website is the same cookie-cutter template that many of the Conservative candidates elect to use instead of having one made to suit their needs. This template is, in my opinion, a bit dated, uninventive, and not all that pretty.  The site is barely functional. The “riding” page just has the title “About Lethbridge” and shows the electoral district map. The Local News section only has a few posts, and the photos section contains 4 photos without context.

Twitter - @jimhillyer

117 Followers, Following 136 people, 89 tweets as of Apr. 22.               

It seems like 90% of Jim’s tweets are auto-posted from Facebook. His interaction with local twitter-savvy voters is low and he appears to only use twitter as another means of spreading information.

Blogging

No Blog. Uh-oh. I suppose that the “Local News” section is meant to serve as a blog-like platform, but Jim doesn’t use it with any reasonable frequency. 

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/jimhillyer

154 Likes

There is a good bit of content on Jim’s FB page (it’s almost as useful as the website), but he’s caught quite a lot of heat for deleting a whole bunch of comments from the page when criticized for refusing to appear at local debates/forums.  He also rarely responds to comments on the page, even when directed at him.

Digital Media Use

No Videos, no Podcast, only a couple poorly taken digital photographs.

Pro-Internet?

Jim has not has signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

Personal Stance on UBB

Did not respond before publishing deadline.          

Personal Stance on Net Neutrality

Did not respond before publishing deadline.          

Party Stance on UBB/Neutraility

There is NO MENTION of UBB or Neutrality in the Conservative 2011 Platform. But:

From Tony Clement , Minister of Industry – “Prime Minister Harper and I have been clear that we cannot support imposing a UBB business model on wholesale Internet service providers.”  One of the big problems with this is that there has been almost NO action from the conservative government while every major ISP in Canada gouges its customers with a UBB model.  If this was REALLY the case and their view, I would have hoped that Doing something would have been giving CRTC a new mandate, killing UBB dead, not asking for a reevaluation or reassessment. Remember: the Harper government appointed each member of the CRTC.

Party Leader Pro-Internet via OpenMedia.Ca?

Stephen Harper has (concerningly) not signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

 

Mark Sandilands – NDP

Website- http://www.marksandilands.ca

Mark has created a beautiful, clean, modern campaign site with links to all the relevant information voters need. This is in addition to his NDP-supplied webspace at marksandilands.ndp.ca.

Twitter @marksandilands

183 Followers, Following 82 people, 157 tweets as of Apr. 22.          

Mark's tweeting is consistent, he engages with followers when @’ed, and he shows a good understanding of hashtags, retweeting, and the platform. Although his feed is a little too link and politics heavy for me, it’s still well maintained.

Blogging- http://markcampaignnotes.blogspot.com/

Mark has been blogging since 2008, and does it well, albeit with the frequency and platform leaving a bit to be desired.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Sandilands/191082300914893

130 Likes.

Although Mark really needs to secure a vanity URL for his FB page, it’s still full of good content. There’s a good mix of interaction with users, various status updates, videos, and photos. Extra Plus: no censorship.

Digital Media Use

In short: Mark is the leading candidate on this front. He is starting to use Flickr to share photos, and has produced a series of short web-video-ads to promote his campaign.

Pro-Internet?

Mark has not signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

Personal Stance on UBB

“Usage-based Internet billing won’t just affect the so-called “bandwidth hogs” but also unfairly hit Canadian consumers in the pocket book.

I agree with our critic, Charlie Angus, who said, “We’ve seen this all before with cell phones. Allowing the Internet Service Providers to ding you every time you download is a rip-off. Canada is already falling behind other countries in terms of choice, accessibility and pricing for the Internet.”

The larger Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are also broadcasters and content providers. According to Angus usage-based billing could be used to limit competition from online viewing sources like Netflix. It could also snuff out competition from smaller third-party ISPs.” – Via Email, April 23

Personal Stance on Net Neutrality

“Net throttling is an impediment to a healthy economy based on small businesses particularly.” - Via Email, April 23

Party Stance on UBB/ Net Neutrality.

The NDP is coming correct on Neutrality and UBB.

Directly from the 2011 Platform:

“We will apply the proceeds from the advanced wireless spectrum auction to ensure all Canadians, no matter where they live, will have quality high-speed broadband internet access;

• We will expect the major internet carriers to contribute financially to this goal;

• We will rescind the 2006 Conservative industry-oriented directive to the CRTC and direct the regulator to stand up for the public interest, not just the major telecommunications companies;

• We will enshrine “net neutrality” in law, end price gouging and “net throttling,” with clear rules for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), enforced by the CRTC;

• We will prohibit all forms of usage-based billing (UBB) by Internet Service Providers (ISPs);

• We will introduce a bill on copyright reform to ensure that Canada complies with its international treaty obligations, while balancing consumers’ and creators’ rights.”

Party Leader Pro-Internet via OpenMedia.Ca?

Jack Layton has signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

 

Michael Cormican – Liberal

Website - http://www.michaelcormican.com/

Michael’s website isn’t really a website at all. It’s a blog powered by Blogger. There is a stretched, distorted, pixilated banner at the top, but it’s functional enough. There’s content stretching back to 2005 (!) and links to relevant content. Links to a platform are not readily available.

Twitter - @mcormican

320 Followers, Following 831 people, 410 tweets as of Apr. 22.        

Michael rocks Twitter.  Perfect mix of content, tons of follower interaction, and awesome tweet-frequency. Other than the 185px wide thumbnail of his headshot horrifyingly tiled across the page, he’s doing well.

Blogging

Can’t really fault him here. His whole site is a blog filled with great content.

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Cormican-for-Lethbridge/28631296714

95 Likes as of April 22.

Michael posts content regularly, but doesn’t have a ton of user interaction just due to low traffic to the page. His About section simply reads “Who is Michael?” which is awfully ominous if not written off as a mistake, and there is a low amount of content on the Info page compared to the other candidates.

Digital Media use

Michael has a single, short 15-second web-ad on YouTube, It’s well done and professionally produced, albeit a bit rushed. Otherwise, there is no podcast, no Flickr (and no pro photos either).  Nice Bonus- Michael is well versed with LinkedIn – 67 connections.

Pro-Internet?

Michael has not has signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

Personal Stance on UBB

“The CRTC’s decision to support Usage-based Billing billing is unfortunate. It represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how commerce on the internet is transacted. This action is good news of the internet providers, but bad news for those trying to do business online as consumers will think twice about downloading a product if they worry it will cut too much into their data plan.” Via Blog Post Response – April 23

Personal Stance on Net Neutrality

“…I’m a BIG supporter of Net Neutrality. The power of the internet is that EVERYONE has a chance to participate, to find their niche, and build a business. The economy already favours large businesses, an attack on Net Neutrality is an attack on start-ups which offer the most innovative products and services found online. If we want to foster innovation and initiative, especially among our young people, the internet needs to stay neutral.

The Internet is today’s principal conduit for the free flow of ideas. To ensure it facilitates the uninhibited exchange that innovation requires, Canada’s Internet environment must remain open.

Internet traffic management must remain neutral, and maintain the open sharing of legitimate technologies, ideas and applications.  A fair, effective wholesale regime is also essential to allow smaller Internet service providers to lease broadband infrastructure at fair prices.” Via Blog Post Response – April 23

Party Stance on UBB/ Net Neutrality

From the Liberal Party Platform:    “The Internet is today’s principal conduit for the free flow of ideas. To ensure it fosters the uninhibited exchange that innovation requires, Canada’s Internet environment must remain open. Internet traffic management must remain neutral, and maintain the open sharing of legitimate technologies, ideas and applications. A fair, effective wholesale regime is also essential to allow smaller Internet service providers to lease broadband infrastructure at fair prices.”  Although not worded nearly320 as strongly as the NDP stance, it’s a step in the right direction.

Party Leader Pro-Internet via OpenMedia.Ca?

Michael Ignatieff HAS signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

 

Cailin Bartlett – Green

Website - http://greenparty.ca/campaign/48019  

Cookie Cutter from the GPC site. It’s fine, for a non-custom site.

Twitter- @GreenLethbridge

29 Followers, Following 4, 14 Tweets as of April 22.

It would be my guess this account was created just for the election. Cailin hasn’t sent a single @reply or made any effort to engage the community via twitter. This feels like an “obligation” account to me.

Blogging

No Blog. :(

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Party-Lethbridge/211167368894309?sk=wall

14 Likes as of April 22

There’s almost no content on the site. Just two wall posts with links to the GPC site and her Twitter. At least the info is filled out, somewhat.

Digital Media use

Cailin has one point-and-shoot picture as a profile for her GPC site, that’s it. No video, no nothing.

Pro-Internet?

Cailin has not has signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

Personal Stance on UBB

Did not respond before publishing deadline.          

Personal Stance on Net Neutrality

Did not respond before publishing deadline.          

Party Stance on UBB/ Net Neutrality

“The Green Party of Canada is committed to the original design principle of the internet  - network neutrality: the idea that a maximally useful public information network treats all content, sites, and platforms equally, thus allowing the network to carry every form of information and support every kind of application.

Green Party MPs will:

Pass legislation granting the Internet in Canada the status of Common Carrier – prohibiting Internet Service Providers from discriminating due to content while freeing them from liability for content transmitted through their systems.

Support Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network (CANARIE )

Increase infrastructure spending to accommodate increased bandwidth use and to improve access to rural and remote Canadians (see Section 1.14 Infrastructure and Communities)

Review of economic model of how ISPs bill their customers.

Improve support for small ISPs to improve competition and diversity choice of for consumers.

Ensure network neutrality by supporting the principles of fair use, consumer information privacy, communications market competition, and rationalization of the statutory damages provision.”

Party Leader Pro-Internet via OpenMedia.Ca?

Elizabeth May has signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

 

Geoffrey Capp – Christian Heritage

Website - http://www.chpelection.ca/ab_lethbridge.html

Geoffrey’s website is a cookie-cutter page from the CHP, and appears to be horribly outdated as evidenced by the design, typography, and code.

Twitter

Nope.

Blogging - http://canaacap.livejournal.com/

Personal Blog. Has almost nothing to do with his campaign.

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/geoffrey.capp2

Personal page, not for his campaign. Anti-Obama and Anti-Homosexual group affiliations.

Digital Media use

None.

Pro-Internet?

Geoffrey has not signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates

Personal Stance on UBB

“The CHP believes that free enterprise should not normally require intervention by government.  Investors with an interest in capital projects have a legitimate right to derive financial benefit from the money they have put into projects such as communications networks.  We believe the market should determine the price of services vended to others.  As such, usage-based billing is justified if some users are preventing equitable use by others due to the volume being transmitted.” – Via Email, April 22

Personal Stance on Net Neutrality

“As providers of connectivity often also provide content, net neutrality is an important principle.  It is analogous to the arms-length relationship that a telephone company's Carrier Services Department has with the rest of the company, so that it serves competitors' interconnect needs without bias.” - Via Email, April 22

Party Stance on UBB/ Net Neutrality.

No Idea. I couldn’t find any evidence of any CHP candidate caring about the internet, let alone the issues that face it.

Party Leader Pro-Internet via OpenMedia.Ca?

Jim Hnatiuk has not signed up as a pro-Internet candidate on the OpenMedia.ca website here: http://openmedia.ca/candidates