Monday, October 22, 2012

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

I finished another book recently. It was Daemon by Daniel Suarez. It was a good book.

It's near future science fiction. The author takes some current trends such as 3d printers, botnets, sophisticated viruses such as Stuxnet, identity theft, powerful distributed network computers, parasitism in biology, and big multiplayer online games, computer sunglasses, wearable computers, advances them all a bit, and pulls them together into a fast paced story.

In the book a prominent and wealthy game developer Matthew Sobol dies. Sobol leaves behind a sophisticated computer program in his games called Daemon. The Daemon recruits human operators by offering them a fast track to wealth and prestige to work for the Daemon. It's hard to get into the Daemon's darknet and you have to be ruthless and technically adept to be recruited.

Along the way the Daemon is battled by government forces including the NSA and a mysterious Russian named "Jon". The government good guys face an uphill battle as the Daemon stays a step ahead of their efforts to shut it down before it brings in a new Daemon world order.

It was an enjoyable and fast paced read with a strong ending. It's a two part series so now I'll have to read the next title Freedom.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

pink football

Is there anything as lame as watching men play pro football all decked out in bright pink shoes, towels, wristbands, etc. Terrible, there's no place for that on the football field. Give it up.


Speaking of pink ribbon. I asked pink ribbon Canada if any of the run for the cure money is going to controversial Komen USA. Good news, no. All the pink ribbon money raised in Canada stays in Canada and Komen doesn't get any.

From:  @cbcf.org
Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 4:12 PM
Subject: RE: CIBC Run For The Cure
To: @gmail.com

Hi,
Thanks for your question, apologies for the delayed reply - we’re still catching up on our correspondence following the Run this past weekend.

So, to answer your question, no, the Foundation does not pay royalties to use the pink ribbon from Susan G Komen or any other organization. The Foundation has trademarked our version of the pink ribbon that you see in our logo. And no, we do not fund Susan G. Komen’s work in the US, we only fund initiatives here in Canada.

I hope this helps answer your question and please let me know if you have any further questions.


From: sp_farm@cbcf.org [mailto:sp_farm@cbcf.org]
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 9:50 PM
To: Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
Subject: CIBC Run For The Cure

Message : do you have to pay royalties to Komen USA for the use of pink ribbon? if not do you voluntarily fund Komen USA

New Brunswick police state

In New Brunswick it is a crime to shop around for a better price on liquor. This is the law that the elected legislature and their allies the bureaucracy passed against its own citizens
By law, the maximum amount of alcohol that can be legally imported into New Brunswick from another province is one bottle of wine or hard liquor, or 12 pints of beer, which is approximately 24 bottles or cans
Suppose I am fortunate and win say a mid 5 figure prize in the lotto. I decide to host a modest house party to mark my good fortune, my treat. The alcohol shopping list for such an event might look like this.

  • 4 flats of beer
  • 2 quarts of rum
  • quart of whiskey
  • quart of vodka
  • 30 wine coolers
  • 4 bottles of Hochtaler
Around a shopping cart full. Being near the border I decide to take a short trip to Quebec to pick up the liquor there as the price is better. After all it's my money I'm free to shop where I wish within Canada. Incredibly it is a crime in New Brunswick for a private citizen to purchase alcohol for his own private use from other than the government monopoly LC.

This is tyranny. This law is an attack on the peaceful, law abiding New Brunswick freeman. All this does is allow the cops to ignore real crime, avoid confrontation with actual hard criminals, and instead pick on soft middle class targets like "cross border" shoppers within Canada.

Why does the legislature allow it to stand in this form? Who exactly voted this into law? Why doesn't the media and opposition grill the minister every single day about this? What happened to the Constitution and economic union and illegal interprovincial trade barriers.

Friday, October 05, 2012

RIP Raylene Rankin

It was a sad story this week about the passing of Raylene Rankin at age 52. I had a couple of thoughts about the Rankins.

I would be happy to never again hear We Rise Again. Among the worst, possibly the worst song of the last generation. It's too bad because most of the Rankin Family stuff is pretty good.

I remember years back when Jimmy left the band to pursue a solo career. In a way it seemed to make sense. Especially if Jimmy was indeed doing the most toward the group's success. Even if that was true, it turned out that as a family act the Rankins had a nice niche with little competition and lots of success. Even if Jimmy was disproportionately responsible for that success. However out on his own Jimmy was just another singer/songwriter from Cape Breton, one of probably dozens trying to make it in music.

Monday, October 01, 2012

Daddy O's Diner Halifax

I noticed a new place opened recently in my area. Daddy O's Diner. I stopped in for coffee a couple of times and a bagel.

It's a nice place. They have retro 50s-60s style Elvis / Marilyn memorabilia on the wall which is a nice touch. Service is good and friendly. The coffee and bagels were good. It's nice to take a break from the big chains once in a while. I'll plan to go back and check out the lunch and dinner.