It’s Just Across From The Santa Maria
This past Saturday, I headed out to the well known West Edmonton Mall to check out one of the latest stores to open. For those that don’t know, West Edmonton Mall was for the longest time the biggest shopping mall in the world. Thanks to the construction boom in China it’s now relegated to the largest mall in North America, and the fourth largest in the world. That still doesn’t stop it from attracting a large number of tourists every year, as well as a number of unique retailers not seen anywhere else in Edmonton. My destination today is just a retailer.
That’s right, the biggest mall in North America now has an outlet for one of the most hyped brands online. Joining the ranks of Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, we now have our own Apple Store. Apple’s products are decent, but thanks to the barbarian hordes know as the Apple fanboy you’d think Apple was the second coming of Jesus. Yes they are surprisingly absent from the above pic. That’s because I went to weekend after opening weekend. I don’t dig mass hysteria over a single company, don’t like getting up before 10:00 AM on a Saturday unless there’s a damn good reason, and I had another miracle to witness that morning. Even with all that, I was still drawn to the place. I had to check out the gadgets within, which I’ll further showcase after the jump.
Bunch of Rowdy Drunks
Bill C-61 is Canada’s dark answer to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act used to cut a swath of destruction through fair use rights in America. It goes even further to impinge on the freedoms of Canadians then the DMCA could ever hope to pull off with the citizens of the US. The bill is self-contradictory, broad-sweeping, and really just a mess. This wonderful piece of work is the demon hell-spawn of Jim Prentice, who is currently Minister of Industry for the minority Conservative Party. But with all that being said, this post isn’t really about the horrors of Bill C-61. Every Canadian should be very afraid of this bill, and should write their MP to voice their concerns. If you need some info on why it’s a horrible piece of legislation, I suggest heading over to Michael Geist’s blog. He is essentially Canada’s closest thing to an expert on legal issues on the internet, and how they affect regular Canadians. There’s also a couple other blog posts outlining why this Bill doesn’t help Canadian artists. This whole issue is only the back drop for this post.
In this space I simply want to show my friends in America (OK I know only 5 people read this blog, but I can dream big) how lively the Canadian Parliament can be. By way of blogger Graham Williams, I have a video of NDP MP Charlie Angus essentially taking Jim Prentice to school over the issue of Bill C-61. This lively little piece of video shows the type of mud-slinging and sarcasm thrown across the floor on a regular basis. Let’s watch.
That’s way better than anything shown on CPAC in the US. That stuff could put a two year old hopped up on double-chocolate cappuccino ice cream to sleep. Man that’s why I love watching Canadian parliament. It’s like the US House of Representatives with a 2 drink minimum.
Bring Back COMDEX!
It’s taken a week, but I’ve finally recovered from my trip to the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In that week, while laid out on my couch I had an epiphany. I have now attended CES twice, and as a technology journalist I don’t like it. There are three main reasons for my shortly learned dislike of the event. The first and biggest reason is the sheer size of CES. The event is absolutely huge, due to its focus on far too many disconnected areas of the consumer electronics industry. The second reason is related to the first; there’s a huge amount of people at the event. Conventions like this do attract many people, but CES itself attracts people from what are once again very disconnected areas of the consumer electronics industry. Thirdly, there’s the large amount of expense that goes into attending the event. Everyone in Vegas is out to make $1, unless it’s CES week. Then they want to make $3. This doesn’t deter every Tom, Dick, and blogger from attending CES though. From Bob’s Miscellaneous Tech Blog straight up to the ivory towers of the New York Times, CES has no lack of coverage of every aspect of the event. Now I do like Vegas. The chance to visit the family, as well as touch base with my many contacts in person, is a welcome opportunity. But I’m left wondering, can’t we just bring back COMDEX, and have a North American show focused squarely on computing and IT? (Read on …)