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New Media and the Election

With the election around the corner - I thought I'd try to find some good places to get information - here is what I came up with - I'm sure there are tons more - but it's a start.

Election Information – start with Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Canada

Here you will find annotated links to literally hundreds of sites on the Internet that can help you with your research on Canadian politics and government.
http://polisci.nelson.com/canpol.html

Politics Watch - http://www.politicswatch.com/index2.html

Contact your government - http://www.canada.gc.ca/directories-repertoires/direct-eng.html

Collections Canada: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/caninfo/ep032.htm

Journalism.net http://www.journalismnet.com/canada/politics.htm

Canadian Encyclopedia: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=HomePage&Params=A1

The CBC - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/

Globe and Mail Politics: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics (interactive - follow the leaders map – excellent articles on New Media and Politics.

Want to know about Politics and blogging – you could start here – Canada’s top 25 political blogs – based on Google Page Rank + Alexa Rank and some other rules.
http://rjjago.wordpress.com/canadas-top-25-blogs/

Langley Politics - http://langleypolitics.com/

How’d they vote - http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/ Ever wondered how your member of parliament has been voting? This site makes it easy for you to find out!

http://www.mynameiskate.ca/2008/09/canadian-politi.html - excellent blog entry on which political parties are using what New Media such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc.

http://www.mynameiskate.ca/social-media-canada-politics.html - excellent blog listing of who is using what social media tools.

Check out YouTube’s selection of political videos.

Plug political videos

http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=med&document=index&dir=video&lang=e&textonly=false

Elections Canada has produced video footage showing various aspects of the agency's preparations for a federal election or by-election.

http://www.elections.ca/home.asp?textonly=false

The Voter Information Service provides information on your electoral district and member of Parliament. Select one of the options below to find your electoral district.

http://www.elections.ca/scripts/pss/FindED.aspx?L=e

Canadian Politics – Wiki
http://canadian-politics.com/CPWiki/tiki-index.php

Exciting New Mobile Technologies

The world is getting mapped - for your mobile - and a great Vancouver company called cellmap is helping to lead the charge.

http://www.cellmap.ca/

They map out areas with details of pretty much everything from restaurants, nightclubs, and hotspots to the best views, special event times and bus schedules.
They've mapped out Vancouver's Stanley Park, Granville Island, and even Whistler Village. They basically turn your cell phone into a custom interactive map.
Once somebody downloads a particular CellMap to their phone - it can be used without a signal, and they can use it without worrying about data charges.
They recently won a PopVox Award for best Mobile Application.

Tagga is another neat Vancouver company. Tagga lets anyone create a text message campaign for, basically, anything. You could be on a website and want to send recipe information - using Tagga - you can send it from you website to you mobile with one click. If you're selling a house - you could set it up with a tag and a number - and when people tag the word "house" to 42233 - they'd get all the relevant information. There are lots of things you can use it for. check out tagga.com

Mobile muse is one of the sponsors of Open Mobile at this year's New Forms Festival. The mobile technology leaders come together with artists to show their latest and greatest creations. If you want tosee what's coming down the mobile pipe - this is the place to be - it's Sunday, September 21 at Emily Carr on Granville Island. Check out the new forms festival website - as always - they've got some amazing shows all month. http://2008.newformsfestival.com

If you're interesting in meeting up with other New Media folk - there's a Vancouver group called Third Tuesday of the Month that has great guest speakers and really keeps up with what's happening in social media, the blog world and in the digital landscape.

Creating your own ringtone for the iPhone
- For those who thought they had to purchase their ringtune using iTunes Store, here's another solution
1) Choose a song that you want to use for your ringtone
2) Now using audio editing software such as Quicktime or Audacity, edit the sound clip down to 40 seconds or less (preferably less than 40 sec). Anything more than 40 seconds will be undetected as a ringtone on your iPhone.
3) Once you've got the section of song edited down to 40 sec or less, save it as a mp3 or m4v (ipod) file. For Quicktime users, choose File>Export and pick the Movie to iPod export option.
4) Locate the saved file and rename the extension of the file from .m4v or .mp3 to .m4r and save
5) Now drag and drop the newly renamed file into iTunes to import it into your music library. The file should show up under the ringtone tab in iTunes. If it doesn't, go back and check that the music is less than 40 seconds and that you've renamed the extention to .m4r
6) Connect your iPhone to your iTunes, then drag and drop the ringtone file from your iTunes into the iPhone. At this point all you need to do is go to Settings>Sounds>Ringtone on your iPhone to set the ringtone you just created and do a little dance everytime someone calls you.

Back to School - Learning Online

It's all about back to school today,

E-readers - Kindle, Sony Reader, and more. Students - in the very near future you won't have to lug around heavy textbooks - everything will be in one convenient portable location.
E-readers have also become extremely popular for avid newspaper readers too. Your E-reader can hold every newspaper you could ever want to read, which is a good thing - because traditional newspapers are hurting. In fact, The New York Times reported that 2008 has been the worst Year ever for newspapers ad revenue raising "serious questions about the survival of some papers and the solvency of their parent companies." At least with the E-readers - they may be able to save some of their readership base. People want to be mobile - and, e-newspaper don't use up any trees.

Speaking of books and Back-to-School, I want to share a few websites for the inquisitive mind.

Project Gutenberg - Free eBook collection
http://www.gutenberg.org

- Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Currently the collection is over 25,000 free listed eBooks.
- The founder of Project Gutenberg (Michael Hart) also invented the first eBook back in 1971. Project Gutenberg was created to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks.
- when users go to the website, they can search for eBooks using author name, book title, or subject. Likewise, users can browse the whole eBook collection or take suggestions by looking through the Top 100 Downloaded eBooks list.
- all eBooks come in html and text format, allowing any computer on any operating system the ability to view them.
- the project is simple, straightforward and free! So check it out - they have everything from classical Shakespeare to surgery manuals to books on sex.

MIT's OpenCourseWare - Free online courses
http://ocw.mit.edu

- OpenCourseWare is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. The site is open and available to the whole world and is a permanent, on-going MIT initiative.
- All materials offered through this publication is free and reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT. Sadly, studying through OpenCourseWare will not get you a diploma from MIT.
- one of the greatest aspects to OpenCourseWare - besides getting course materials for free - is its audio/video library. Many class lectures found on the site have accompanying videotaped talks or class sessions.
- course assignments and exams are also available, but who really wants to do that?!
- overall, MIT's OpenCourseWare is one of the most extensive online educational portals the Internet has to offer

Encyclopedia of Life - Free online encyclopedia
http://www.eol.org

- Now I might have already talked about this website in the past, but Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is an ambitious project worth mentioning again. Comprised of scientists, field experts, and volunteers working from museums and research institutions around the world, the goal of EOL is to organize and make available - via the Internet - virtually all known information about life on Earth.
- Here's how EOL works: At its heart lies a series of websites—one for each of the approximately 1.8 million known species—that provides the entry points to a vast array of knowledge. Each entry-point is a species page designed for the general public. Once you're in a species page - let's say peregrine falcon - you'll have a list of facts about the creature including animal family, geographic distribution, evolutionary history, so on so forth. At the bottom of the page you'll also notice several links aimed for expert users.
- Remember, EOL is a huge, ambitious project so the website is still a large work in progress. Every day, more and more data is entered into EOL's database in the quest to share all information about life on Earth.

Lastly I want to talk about TED - which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design.
http://www.ted.com

- This is a fantastic series of video lectures from the World's greatest minds. You'll get a front row seat to watch and listen to some of the most fascinating people on the planet. The speakers come from all walks of life such as Al Gore - talking about the environment, to TV producer JJ Abrams - of the show Lost, to Stephen Hawkins - the world's smartest man alive. This website is definitely worth checking out.

Thanks to the Internet - You don't need to be in school to continue learning.

Great New Applications

cuil.com
spacetime.com
addons.mozilla.org
cooliris.com
etsy.com

Let's talk about the Web - first, let's talk about My Favorite Google Web Browser Apps - addons.mozialla.org

Take some time here and look around there are some amazing applications - all of them free.

Spacetime. com is also worth a look.

There's also another search engine in town. Spelled C-u-i-l - but pronounced "Cool" - is the new search engine from former Google players. It calls itself the world's biggest search engine. Does it have a fighting chance against Google? It's going to be tough, but don't count it out. Remember, Google didn't even exist not too many years ago.

Cuil claims to search more pages on the Web than anyone else—three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft.

Cuil searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance. When they find a page with your keywords, they stay on that page and analyze the rest of its content, its concepts, their inter-relationships and the page’s coherency.

Cuil does offer you helpful choices and suggestions until you find the page you want. Cuil also tries to separate itself from Google by saying that they don't collect data on their users or their searches. With Cuil, your search history is always private. I also like the fact that your searches come up with thumbnail pictures next to them.

Check out cooliris.com (Great Photo App)

Another great site I'd like to mention is ETSY E-T-S-Y - it's basically, like a giant Ebay for artists who make their own stuff - and you can even search by region - so if you want to find some artists in your own area - you can. There are some beautiful and unique items for anyone's budget. I was looking at Vancouver Artists Tanis Alexis - she makes eco-prints of her artwork.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_3&listing_id=8542467 -- This one is Called 'What Place is This' What makes this print eco-friendly? They're Printed in Canada, there's no waste print technology, no chemical inks and all images printed on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified papers. What makes this eco-friendly print even more green is that the original piece of art was created on a salvaged/reclaimed piece of maple.

Etsy.com has great stuff for everyone - everything from hand-made gloves to furniture to artwork.

Thank you to Sarah for the email about backing up your files. So - backing up your files for PC and Mac – Do you need an External Hard Drive? Well, external hard drives are so cheap - you'd be crazy not to back up all your files. It's crazy - you can get a Terabyte for under 300 - that is an incredible amount of space.

Again, thanks for your feedback.

Keep clicking and stay connected.

Internet Security

Today, I’d like to talk to you about online security.

Online deception, identity theft, dialer rip-off or contaminated websites are real problems. According to a report released by Kingsoft, in the first half of 2008, the company intercepted 1.24 million new computer viruses and trojans.

This number increase by 338% compared with the total number in 2007 and it is more than the total virus number of the recent five years. Still, it’s estimated that at least 10 percent of Internet users do not use any virus protection. Identity theft continues to be a major problem and there are some easy steps you can take to protect yourself.

First, let’s talk about establishing a firewall to protect your data –
You can purchase a really great piece of hardware from a local company called Alphashield.com - that plugs right into your computer and acts like a shield.

Second, you can install free firewall software programs – a couple of my favorites are avast antivirus - http://www.avast.com/

And Avira - http://free-av.com/

Tips to Protect Yourself From Online Identity Theft

1. Beware of email requesting personal information. Don't reply to or click on a link in an unsolicited email that asks for your credit card, banking account information, passwords or PINs, social security number, or other types of confidential information, even if it looks like the email comes from a financial institution. When in doubt, log onto the main Web site of your credit card, bank or brokerage firm at the normal Web address you use or call your firm using a telephone number that you know or one from a previous account statement to inquire about whether the request for information is legitimate.

2. If you think a Web site is not legitimate, leave it immediately. Legitimate firms typically offer customers a number of ways to contact them.

3. Keep your personal and financial information secure online. Here are a few simple steps that you can take to make your information more secure when you go online.

* Keep your computer system up to date with the latest security patches.

* Use anti-virus and spyware detection software and be sure to update this software regularly, as new viruses and Trojan Horse programs appear frequently.

* Use personal firewall software. Firewall software should thwart intruders from getting access to your PC over a network.

* Never download software or files from an unknown source.

* Change your passwords on a regular basis. Never send your password to anyone in an email. Try not to write down your password, but if you must, put it in a safe place.

* Avoid emailing personal or financial information.

* Read your firm's policies on online security. Review other tips and security instructions that may be offered to better protect your access.

* Before submitting personal or financial information through a Web site, look for the locked padlock image on your browser's status bar or look for "https://" [note the "s"] at the beginning of the Internet address. While a padlock image and "https://" does not mean that the Web site is authentic or secure, the absence of either the padlock or the https:// does mean that the site is not secure.

* Log off of any secure legitimate Web site after completing a transaction.

* Be careful when using Internet kiosks or other people's computers. Since you don't know what security precautions have been taken, you may be putting your confidential information at risk.

4. Order a copy of your credit report. It is a good idea to check your credit report every year. To guard against identity theft, look for accounts you did not open and any unexplained transactions. You can obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus, but you may have to pay for them.

Equifax (www.equifax.com ) and (www.transunion.com) are two examples.

5. Review your monthly bills. This is your last line of defense. If you are victimized, the sooner you catch it, the better. Regularly review your online account information for unauthorized trades, cash withdrawals, or any other unrecognized activity; do the same as soon as you receive each monthly or quarterly statement.

If you have moved, make sure to update your postal address with all of the firms where you have accounts. If you receive your statements by email and change your Internet service provider or otherwise change your preferred email address, make sure to update your email address with all of the firms where you have accounts. Immediately report any suspicious activity to your brokerage firm.

6. Act quickly if you believe you've been scammed. If you believe that you're a victim of one of these scams, you need to act quickly. For example, you may only have 60 days to report a loss or theft of funds through an electronic funds transfer to limit your liability.

Always contact the authorities.