Happy Canada Day!

Oldie but goodie. Happy 142nd b-day, Canada!

Twitter = Shouting into the Darkness?

Very cute/funny animation on Twitter.

(Thanks to SweetThingsTO for tweeting it in the first place! Check out her blog on all things sweet and yummy-looking.)

beerbistro Bail Out

Mmm. beerbistro has a tasty menu, so this only helps! I still need to try their steak frites. I swear, I don't really eat that much red meat.

"Governments are bailing out banks and car-makers, but in Toronto's financial district, chef Brian Morin is bailing out customers.

Once a day, staff at Beerbistro on King St. E. hold a lottery for a free lunch, and notify the winners by bringing a plastic pink piggy bank stuffed with sparklers to their table when it's time to pay."

Complete article from the Toronto Star

They have an extensive list of beers, if you're into that. I like their fruity beers.


beerbistro
18 King Street East (at Yonge)
Toronto, Ontario
416-861-9872
Website

Well well well...

This is quite an impressive story about an entrepreneur. Ali Asaria started out with $10k, built an e-retailing health and beauty website called Well.ca with a 2008 launch and has already realized $2M-$5M in revenue.

The features that would draw me to this site are:
- free shipping via Canada Post Expedited (1-3 days) on ALL orders
- free returns
- instant messaging with customer care
- wide spectrum of brands
- ability to read and submit product reviews
- based in Canada
- I also like the feel-good "Give Well" option of donating care packages to their local women's shelter


My favourite online fashion retailer is RevolveClothing.com, which has most of the positive features of Well.ca, except they are based in the US, so no free returns.
The main reasons I return again and again to Revolve are (i) their exceptional customer service (reach by chat, toll-free phone number or email - with a response in as short as 15 minutes) and (ii) their frequent sales and coupon code mailings to their existing customer base. There are always frenzies but they manage to keep their site running quite well through big sales, unlike most other sites I have visited.

I had not heard of Well.ca before reading this article. I browsed through the site and found it pretty easy to navigate. This is often the first barrier that I come across with poorly-designed sites. The inability to find the info I want immediately can be a turn-off. Some sites are just too cluttered. I want to know what the shipping costs are before even bothering to look at products because I want it to be hassle-free. Many US e-retailers gouge international buyers with shipping costs or don't offer viable options (I want USPS instead of UPS/FedEx/other evil courier services!).

It would be nice if they carried more higher-end brands as well. Right now most of the things I might buy I would want to run out and have in my hands immediately. However, with the current economy and the "lipstick effect", their business model is probably a good one to start out on since it reaches a wider audience.

One negative: Their prices are not stellar, considering they are an online retailer. I usually expect to see lower prices than what I have to pay in brick-and-mortar stores since I have to wait between paying to have my purchases in my hand.

All in all, I'm happy to see a successful Canadian business venture but I probably won't buy from Well.ca until they offer better pricing. I still see online shopping as an activity to buy "special" items rather than everyday ones, so I would also suggest higher-end brands as well.

Out of Service & Twitterings

Very cute out-of-service announcement.


I don't know if I'm just more aware, but there seems to be a growing number of media references to Twitter in the past week.

Here's just a sprinkling of some of the stories:

Congressman's twittering raises security concerns (Globe & Mail, February 11, 2009)
Twitter is what you make it (Globe & Mail, February 12, 2009)
Bosh, NBA all a-Twitter over latest blogging fad (Toronto Star, February 17, 2009)
Six ways to make Twitter useful (PCMag.com, February 17, 2009)
Why Tweeters Like Twitter (Toronto Star, February 18, 2009)
Twitpics, retworts, hash tags and twicks (Toronto Star, February 18, 2009)
Financing woes? Not if you're Twitter (MSNBC, February 18, 2009)
Lily Allen and Perez Hilton in Twitter catfight (Telegraph.co.uk, February 18, 2009)

Tweeted: Toronto Budget 2009

Toronto Mayor Miller's recent Tweet of the evening: "Budget tomorrow:build Toronto during a downturn:preserving and enhancing city services, protecting the most vulnerable, without a deficit."

How do you provide and increase services without a deficit?
In general the answers are to (1) cut back on other programs and/or (2) increase taxes.
I guess today's announcements on all of the new programs are in preparation to justify tomorrow's announcement of #2.

I believe that social services are necessary and important, especially in a large city where there is a diverse population to serve. But! I wonder if all of these proposed programs are actually filling a demand.
re. Establishing an employment resource centre at Metro Hall. There are many many many employment and job training agencies in and around the city. Some are well-run and others - not so much. Why pour money into creating a new entity when there are already many local ones with the same mission?
Ideally the agencies that fund these programs can perform regular and comprehensive evaluations to ensure that the best models continue to receive adequate funding, and the ones that are poorly run either shape up or peter out. When tax dollars - whether federal, provincial or municipal - are used, there definitely needs to be accountability to ensure that waste is minimized.

Maybe the city's role is not to provide the services, but to ensure that the NPOs running them are up to par.

How can this be done without turning every department into a bureaucratic ball of red tape? That's the $8 Billion Dollar Question.

I want City Hall to be smart about tax dollars. Put money into programs that have a specific demand that is not being met, and have a defined metric system to evaluate if funded programs deserve to continue receiving funding. With an anticipated increase on demand of social services, let's make smart investments in our city.

More info on the 2009 Budget

À Votre Santé

Coca Cola sued over VitaminWater

Coca Cola is being sued over their deceptive claims that their VitaminWater line is healthy.



Defense? Rescue? Energy? Endurance?

How about water, cane sugar and fructose? These are the first three ingredients listed, and if you didn't know, ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance by weight. That means that VitaminWater is mainly composed of water, cane sugar and fructose (another form of sugar).

Newsflash, VitaminWater is not good for you.

Really, all you have to do is look at the nutritional info and price to know that it's a big waste of money.

Sugar-wise, one bottle = 2 bottles of Coke
Price-wise, one bottle = $2.50

The lesson is: if you want to drink water, don't spend $2.50 to drink something that is worse than drinking tap water.
If you do drink tap water, let it run cold for a minute or two first to flush the system, especially if you live in an old Toronto home.

Santé! Cheers! Prost!

A Review: TFSA

In preparation for my resolution #3, here's a primer on Tax-Free Savings Accounts.

e-Filing Medical Records

Going digital to save health care millions of dollars

1. Duh, we have been waiting for this for a long time already. What is the hold up?
2. How will the system maintain patient confidentiality and information security?

Another Reason to Smile

Happiness is contagious.

Well it makes sense to me! When I interact with grumpy people, I find myself more easily irritated. So why not the opposite effect with happy people? This study goes a bit further by saying that you can affect the mood of people who are far away as three degrees of separation from you through the social networks that have propagated in our wired and wireless society.

Hmm, food for thought.

Strangers May Cheer You Up

LOL! Turn it Down

With the huge proliferation of personal listening devices (who doesn't own an ipod? - oops, except me, I have a cute little Sansa clip) and people seeking to block out the noise around them by blasting music into their ears, they are actually setting themselves up for irreparable damage and early hearing loss. Like in their 30s and 40s, which is soooo old, except when you think about it, that's (hopefully) not even half of your lifetime.

How's your hearing? Test it here.

What can you do about it?
- Turn it down. Every 3dB lower lets you listen to music 2x longer before causing the same damage.
- Put some distance between you and the noise.
- Listen less. Give your ears a break every 15 minutes or so.
- Protect your ears with ear plugs. Ringing in the ears because you stood beside a speaker at a concert is not cool. It means you just killed some brain cells.

In the News: Bad Headlines

Layoffs spread into new sectors - The Globe & Mail
Canada prepares to fight for trade rights - Financial Post
Loonie suffers worst day ever - Toronto Star

Bad headlines, bad news.


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To numb it a bit:

FYI

The three best graphics in history - The Economist
Women are more efficient than men - Times Online
Imagine a day without your Google account - Wired
If you like Star Trek, you might like this... - Fast Company

In the News: Prop 8 Propped Up

Along with the presidential election this past week, voters also weighed in on a series of propositions. Californians faced a decision called Proposition 8, which eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry. In May of this year the California Supreme Court recognized same-sex marriage as a fundamental right, and about 18,000 same-sex couples in California had wed since the ruling.

I had fully expected the motion to fail, so I was surprised to see that California's Prop 8 passed. I have always believed California to be one of the most liberal states in the US, but this past week they revoked same-sex marriage. It is not often that Americans vote to take civil liberties away from individuals after they have been granted.
The tally to date is 52.4% for and 47.6% against defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, a difference of about 0.5M votes.

Reuters link

In the News: Yes We Can

I'm not American, but I found this speech very inspirational!

Barack Obama is known to be a very charismatic orator, and demonstrated his skill again last night after winning the seat in the Oval Office:





Expectations are high, but I am curious what he will actually be able to accomplish in terms of the current issues being faced by America. I don't mean to be cynical, but there is only so much that a person can do!


John McCain's concession speech was also very gracious, and we should remember his ability to reach across party lines to work toward the greater good of the country. It needs reminding that McCain is not GWB. I think Americans were fortunate to have a choice between two excellent presidential candidates.

Scientists ≠ Morals?

(link)
Well, it looks like those rumblings of government interference in stem cell research have materialized in the form of this conservative-biased body, the AHRC agency.

Will we soon be teaching Creationism as a viable alternative to Evolution in elementary schools? Should the government be able to make moral decisions for academic and medical research? (Should it?? Where do we draw the line?) Stem cell research is going to happen, whether they like it or not, and Canada currently has an extensive body of collaborating scientists who are world-reknown for their work.

I definitely believe that regulations and restrictions need to be applied to stem cell research -- no human-something else chimeras, or factories for manufacturing embryos to obtain the stem cells, etc. but I hope this body does not suppress the progression of scientific knowledge.

Back in the 1970s when plasmid DNA and new molecular biology technologies were first being combined to genetically modify lower organisms, the entire scientific body briefly underwent a self-imposed moratorium on the use of bacteria in genetic research until they could hammer out rules that everyone would agree to follow to ensure the safety of the public and prevent malicious misuse. At the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules in 1975, an outline was created by the scientists, and the guidelines were adopted and expanded by the NIH. These guidelines were then adopted by many countries and continue to be adapted to reflect the current issues of the day.

So back to the issue of stem cell research in Canada. Some people commenting on the article seem to think that scientists have no moral boundaries (although most are calling out for separation of religion and government, and for Steve-O to say sayonara). We already have a comprehensive bill (C-13), which is considered conservative in comparison to many other countries. What is going to happen to the future of stem cell research in Canada? We will have to wait and see....

BUT perhaps the presence of outspoken critics against abortion and stem cell research, and the lack of a stem cell expert on this advisory board is indicative of what kind of voice they will provide.... *ominous music*

Blogs Blogs Blogs

Today I want to introduce WaiterRant. I don't know, the guy just tells interesting stories about his experiences working in a bistro. Funny stories, updated at least weekly, maybe.

For your fix in frivolity, check out PinkIsTheNewBlog.com.

Apparently web logs are the latest thing. But they aren't really anything new. Who had an Asian Avenue account? Everyone I knew had one in the late 90s, and some people were very diligent in updating their pages. Aside from the lyrics of hip hop or RnB songs, guest book signings and doctored pictures (sometimes very obviously), daily ramblings also went up. Some vented, others created a different persona from their reality. People became proficient in HTML.

This need to leave a mark spawned other communities like LiveJournal and Xanga and Blogspot. People want to be remembered and to be connected. ICQ, MSN Messenger, Friendster, I think there was something called SixDegrees (as in: everyone is related through six degrees of separation).

It's kind of weird when you think about what people do with their lives. Priorities seem so different but when you get right down to it, everyone wants the same thing. To make their mark and not to be forgotten. Some people want to attain wealth and status. Others want to make differences in the lives of individuals. Some want to become known for something that they have done, discovered, made. But as far as I can tell, everyone wants the same things out of life.

Prevention versus therapy

This evening I attended a debate held by the Cardiovascular Sciences collaborative program. The question was: "Be it resolved that in our increasingly stressed healthcare system, greater emphasis should be placed on the prevention of ischemic heart disease rather than on the development of novel therapeutic strategies."

The protagonist was Dr. Cameron Mustard, a Professor at the University of Toronto, involved in epidemiology. The antagonist was Dr. David Alter, a cardiologist and scientist affiliated with Sunnybrook and Women's College Hospital, and the University of Toronto. The chair was Dr. Thomas Parker, the current Chair of Cardiology at the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital.

It was pretty interesting, because Dr. Mustard's points focused on population health and the strange stabilization of cardiovascular disease (CVD). He stated that back in the day (I forget what decade), CVD was considered a disease of the affluent. Today a complete reversal can be found, with CVD afflicting mainly those below the poverty line. Although obesity and smoking are strong predictors of CVD, they do not explain the current situation. The prevalence of smoking Canadians has actually dropped from 35% to 20% today. He stated a lot of facts and figures, but basically presented his position that preventative measures currently account for the majority of increased longevity of patients with CVD.

On the other hand, Dr. Alter presented some interesting points. The role of the healthcare system is not to educate the masses to eat right and exercise, but to treat the patients who come in. By this time, it's too late for prevention, but the patient still must be treated. Something like 60% of healthcare funding is allocated for the last six months of a person's life. This is the unfortunate reality of healthcare. I was much more convinced by his arguments, although I agree that prevention is important. This is good because it means that my research is still meaningful! (Hopefully.)

The speakers were excellent, and CBC Radio One was there for a taping, so perhaps it will be on the radio in the near future!