Author: tony

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The Paulson Trillion-Dollar Bonanza: What’s Not to Like, Part II

Yesterday I wrote at some length about how the US economy has gotten to the point where Paulson and Bernanke decided it would be worth spending 5 hours promising Congress gloom & doom unless they got a record-busting bailout measure passed. So, why not like this (theoretically) $700B plan to “save the markets”? There are a number of reasons, which I shall put forward here. For reference, here is the draft proposal for the bailout so you can follow along.

Continue reading “The Paulson Trillion-Dollar Bonanza: What’s Not to Like, Part II”

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Livestation

I’ve had broadband internet access for over 10 years now, about as long as it’s been available, and many times I’ve seen claims of “TV over the internet” trumpeted but prove disappointing when put to a real-world test. That being said, Livestation delivers. If you’ve always wanted to see Al-Jazeera English, BBC World and news stations from France, Germany, the United States and around the world on your PC, give it a try. Why not, it’s free…

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The Paulson Trillion-Dollar Bonanza: What’s Not to Like, Part I — How We Got There

In case you’ve been asleep in a cave with your hands over your eyes and cotton in your ears for the past few weeks, the American economy has been in a world of hurt recently. US Treasury Henry Paulson has put forward a far-reaching plan to deal with this crisis. As it turns out there are indeed a lot of things not to like about it, but in order to see what’s wrong with it we need to take a look at how the American economy got itself into this mess in the first place. This will tell us what’s wrong with the economy and whether the bailout plan will address that.

Continue reading “The Paulson Trillion-Dollar Bonanza: What’s Not to Like, Part I — How We Got There”

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BMW 1-Series

This article has moved to this location: http://ambitiousbutrubbish.com/2008/09/bmw-1-series/. Update your bookmarks…

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It may not be the best before-bed viewing for everyone, though.

END: DAY is a BBC dramatization of 5 “doomsday scenarios” by which earth could be destroyed or severely impacted. Like a macabre “Groundhog Day”, if you will.

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The perfect gin & tonic

Take the following:

  • 1/3 Hendrick’s gin.
  • 2/3 tonic water.
  • 1 slice of cucumber.
  • Ice.

Mix & serve. It doesn’t get much better than this.

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iPhoneless

I’m usually the one in my family and circle of friends with the latest & greatest electronic gadgets, so every once in a while a friend of mine will ask me not if, but when did I get Apple’s latest phone and how I find it. Inevitably I have to disappoint them because I don’t in fact have an iPhone, nor do I intend on getting one, and the reason for that is not the phone (which seems very slick and fun) but the network provider for it in Canada, Rogers Wireless (and its Fido subsidiary).

Continue reading “iPhoneless”

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Tony Clement: a national disgrace

Our national health minister, Tony Clement, has decided to make waves again by openly questioning the ethics of MDs who approve of safe injection sites for heroin addicts. This is the latest and most offensive chapter in Clement’s overriding obsession with the safe injection site known as Insite, located in Vancouver. Indeed earlier this month he took it upon himself to embarrass the country in front of the world at the AIDS 2008 Conference by (again) attacking safe injection sites as a form of harm reduction. Continue reading “Tony Clement: a national disgrace”

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Extending the Recording Capabilities of your Videotron Illico DVR

Videotron Illico PVRs are neat, but they’re somewhat limited. Even the recently-released HD PVR will run out of disk space pretty quickly. If you like recording high-def shows, you will fill that disk in a rather meager 30 hours. This is not an issue on a day-to-day basis, but go on vacation for two to three weeks and you may well get to that limit. Even worse, the PVR I have is a first-generation HD PVR, which can only take 16 hours of HD programming. Sometimes you just need more. Continue reading “Extending the Recording Capabilities of your Videotron Illico DVR”

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Punk4Punks

For those of you looking for the best punk station on the internet, look no further! This station has a good mix of old and new.