June 11, 2005

This and that.

Just a miscellaneous collection of interesting news bits and interesting material from fellow bloggers:

• Ottawa may or may not play host to a Live8 concert on July 2. Early speculation centred on Parliament Hill both literally (as a venue, using the infrastructure from the Canada Day festivities) and figuratively (with politicians debating support for the event). But federal officials nixed the Parliament Hill idea today for reasons of security and a feeling that taxpayer money would better be spent directly on relief efforts. (A friend of mine also noted that it would have been somewhat odd for the federal government to fund an event calling on it to step up to the plate, so to speak. The other concerts are mostly privately funded, although public venues are being used and some fees are being waived.). Discussions about a Live8 concert somewhere in Canada continue.

• Over at funstuff.ca, my friend Nathan writes about the unbelievable market springing up around popular online role-playing games. Apparently there are World of Warcraft "gold farmers" who bring in more than US$20,000 per month. These "farmers" play the game endlessly, scoring tonnes of goodies that they sell on eBay and other fora. Players looking to get ahead without a slog are eager to buy. Check out Nathan's entry on this for some interesting -- and mind-boggling -- links.

• Following up on some earlier entries (here, here, and here), the City of Ottawa is apparently set to partially re-expand its plastics recycling program. While I'm certainly not upset to hear that there's a further environmental benefit to rising oil prices, I'm still not sure the city is thinking about recycling as well as it could be. As I've noted before, good recycling behaviour can't simply be turned on and off, and the city has created confusion and frustration with its recycling program changes and unkept promises (the most recent wonder was recycling #1s and #2s only if they're bottle-shaped -- why, I do not know). Still, the article seems to suggest that the market has "reached a turning point" and will be sustainable even if oil prices drop again, and also that the City remains on the lookout for ways to bring the program fully back to where it was. So good news, all in all.

• Silver lining? Not exactly, but after French and Dutch voters dealt successive blows to the EU constitution effort, it must have seemed like a breath of fresh air when "we'll just stay out here, actually, thanks" Switzerland voted, in one of the country's typical (and numerous) referenda, to join the European Union's passport-free Schengen zone.

• Just when I was beginning to get desperate for a sign -- any sign -- that Nina Grewal was actually a real person and not some sort of Polkaroo figure, the Globe and Mail goes and publishes this article all about her. The choice quote from the article, winning for its demonstration of a complete lack of perspective: "Even Hillary stood behind Bill Clinton when things turned." (from "Manjit Dhillon, a Conservative organizer with the Fraser Valley's Indo-Canadian community and an executive in Conservative MP Randy White's Abbotsford riding"). The story also seems to suggest that Gurmant Grewal may be an offer-taping veteran -- sweet.