Spark

The votes have been tallied, and the secondLOLcat Idol finalist has been eliminated: The second to go is “OH NOEZ!!!11 BILLIE IS TEH STUCK.” by Tommy Vallier.

Now here’s where things get interesting. Ordinarily Tommy’s elimination would leave three entries continuing on in the competition. However, finalist Marc has withdrawn his submission:

I mean, I’m flattered that my little entry ‘I has a drnken pro8lm.’ garnered a top-five entry, and I am looking forward to receiving my recyclable CBC grocery bag prize and all, but I already have won so much CBC merchandise that I can start my very own CBC store. No kidding! To date I have won a Quirks & Quarks book, two DNTO t-shirts, a DNTO toque, a House t-shirt, a pack of CBC golf balls from the Inside Track, and a few knickknacks I can’t remember off the top of my head.

Though we here at Spark believe you can never have enough CBC swag, we respect Marc’s decision. After removing his submission, it’s down to two:

1. “I’M IN UR RADIO JUICE DRINKIN UR INSPIRASHUN” – smd
2. “I kleened ur woter 4 u – now u gives tummy rubs?” – Liz

Your vote has never counted as much as it counts now. To vote for your favourite, leave a comment on this post, and include the number (1-4) of the remaining LOLcat caption you want to win. Make sure to include a valid email address in the comments, because by voting, your name gets entered into a hat for a Spark bag. Don’t worry, your email address will not be published.

Voting for this final round will close at 9am Eastern on June 1. The winner will be announced shortly after.

3937 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/05/lolcat-idol-round-3/LOLcat+Idol%3A+Round+32008-05-31+15%3A00%3A00Dan+Misener

The votes have been tallied, and the first LOLcat Idol finalist has been eliminated. Today, we bid a fond farewell to John’s submission: “Plz buy peel/stick stamps. Old licky ones is noosance for RuffTung.” That leaves just four finalists still in the running:

1. “I’M IN UR RADIO JUICE DRINKIN UR INSPIRASHUN” – smd
2. “I kleened ur woter 4 u – now u gives tummy rubs?” – Liz
3. “OH NOEZ!!!11 BILLIE IS TEH STUCK.” – Tommy Vallier
4. “I HAZ A DRNKEN PRO8LM.” – Marc

The winner will not only get bragging rights, but something nice from the CBC Shop, too.

To vote for your favourite, leave a comment on this post, and include the number (1-4) of the remaining LOLcat caption you want to win. Make sure to include a valid email address in the comments, because by voting, your name gets entered into a hat for a Spark bag. Don’t worry, your email address will not be published.

Voting for this round will close at 9am Eastern on May 31.

39218 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/05/lolcat-idol-round-2/LOLcat+Idol%3A+Round+22008-05-30+15%3A00%3A00Dan+Misener

Due to the cbc.ca outage today, we’ve delayed Round 2 of LOLcat Idol voting by one day. Sorry for any inconvenience. Check back on Friday morning for the results and to vote for Round 2.

3914 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/05/lolcat-idol-round-2-is-delayed/LOLcat+Idol%3A+Round+2+is+delayed2008-05-30+02%3A24%3A56Dan+Misener

On this episode of Spark:

• Harlequin’s Malle Vallik publishes romance 2.0 (full interview)
• Amber Mac explains what the US switch to digital broadcasting in 2009 means for Canadians
  • What You Need to Know About the Analog-to-Digital Television Transition in Canada
  • If you have a green solution for keeping old televisions out of landfills, post it in the comments below
• Nora introduces Elena, star of Spark’s upcoming Grandma Dinner (details)
• From mesh 08, Bill Buxton on webcams, telepresence, and if location matters anymore (full interview)
• Nora mentions our LOLcat Idol competition

This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:

• “Aww scratch” by shagrugge
• “Wadidyusay?” by Zap Mama
• “Mellow” by Darkroom
• “Agustin Barrios: Una Limosna Por Amor De Dios” by tollimees
• “Danger” by slumberlords
• Clip from Magic in the Air (1955)
• Clip from Story of Television
• “airtone/kyawkku/”>kyawkku” and  “airtone/mere-blips/”>mere blips” by airtone
• “Funk_Hustler” by Rhythm Scholar

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

You can download this episode as an MP3, or receive Spark automatically by subscribing to either of our totally free podcast feeds:

• Free weekly podcast (Subscribe in iTunes)
• Free weekly podcast + additional blog-only content (Subscribe in iTunes)

For more information (and instructions) visit cbc.ca/podcasting

39010 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/05/episode-39-may-28-31-2008/Episode+39+-+May+28+%26%23038%3B+31%2C+20082008-05-28+16%3A00%3A01Dan+Misener

A little while ago, Nora asked you to submit your best LOLcat-style caption for a photo of her cat Billie. She promised to pick five winners to receive a stylish Spark re-useable grocery bag. We were amazed by the huge number of responses.

Here are the five winners (in order of submission date):

1. "I’M IN UR RADIO JUICE DRINKIN UR INSPIRASHUN" – smd
2. "I kleened ur woter 4 u – now u gives tummy rubs?" – Liz
3. "Plz buy peel/stick stamps. Old licky ones is noosance for RuffTung." – John
4. "OH NOEZ!!!11 BILLIE IS TEH STUCK." – Tommy Vallier
5. "I HAZ A DRNKEN PRO8LM." – Marc

There was so much interest in this LOLcat contest that we though we’d continue the fun. So we’re declaring these five winners finalists in Spark’s LOLcat Idol competition.

Starting Thursday, May 29, we’ll start eliminating LOLcat captions one by one, until a single LOLcat caption remains. The winner will not only get bragging rights, but something nice from the CBC Shop, too.

Voting for the first round is now open, and will close at 9am Eastern on May 29. Shortly after that, the four remaining captions will advance to the next round, and voting will begin again.

Voting is easy: just comment on this post, and include the number (1-5) of the LOLcat caption you want to win. Make sure to include a valid email address in the comments, because by voting, your name gets entered into a hat for a Spark bag. Don’t worry, your email address will not be published.

38933 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/05/lolcat-idol/LOLcat+Idol2008-05-28+15%3A00%3A00Dan+Misener

Update: The dinner is sold out! Thanks to all who have signed up and regrets if you’ve missed out this time.

Update 2: Updated menu. See below.

Doesn’t that dish look delicious? It’s one of Elena DiCesare’s original home-tested recipes.

Elena is a fantastic cook. She was born in Albania but she was raised in Greece. Elena now lives near Toronto with her husband of 58 years, Otto. Together they have 4 children and 7 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren, and they’re proud as punch.

Elena is going to be the centre of attention at our Dinner with Grandma event on Monday, June 9th in Toronto and you’re invited.

Dinner with Grandma is an idea that came to us from technology and culture thinker Laurent Haug. Laurent realized that there are many grandmothers out there who are wonderful cooks, but do not always have family close by to cook for. Also, there are lots of younger people who live far away from their grandmas, but who love a good homecooked meal. His idea is to invite a grandma to cook a meal, find a restaurant to host the event, and put out a public invite for anyone to attend. Everyone eats and the grandma gets all the public praise she deserves for her culinary skills. Laurent has been organizing these dinners in Geneva and now, we’re bringing his concept to Canada.

So, we put out the call on the blog for a grandma, and that’s how we found Elena. (Thanks Gillian for your nomination!) Here’s Elena in action:

We searched for a host restaurant and we found the fine folks at Toronto’s Cowbell Restaurant. We choose Cowbell because it’s a great space and because Chef Mark Cutrara is keen to work with Elena. He also encourages community events at the restaurant. Mark and his staff will help Elena prepare the menu and the big meal.

Now, all we need are some hungry mouths, and this is where you come in.

If you would like to attend our Grandma dinner, call Cowbell to reserve your spot. 416-849-1095. Seating is very limited, so call as soon as you can. SOLD OUT.

Your name will be added to the guest list, and you will be asked to give your credit card number to reserve your spots. The cost of the dinner is $40 each, excluding beverages, tax and tip. This covers the cost of the ingredients, the restaurant staff, and any outstanding amount will go to charity. By giving your credit card number, you are confirming your attendance for the dinner. Cards will be charged after the dinner has been served.

Here is what Elena has proposed for the menu. She and her family picked some of their favorite dishes.

Appetizers:

• Spanakopita
• Dolmas
• Greek salad

Entrees:

• Elena’s famous Farfalle alla Pizza (pasta with cheese and vegetables. Her family loves it!)
• Linguine Rapini
• Chicken Provencal (Tender chicken breasts in fresh tomato, garlic, basil sauce)

Dessert:

• Baklava

If you love Laurent’s idea as much as we did, we’ve posted some how-to notes so you can organize a dinner in your own town. There is also an interview with Laurent where he shares his advice.

Bon appetit!

3882 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/05/grandma-dinner-is-served-june-9-2008/%28Grandma%29+Dinner+is+Served%21+June+9%2C+20082008-05-27+17%3A44%3A21Elizabeth+Bowie

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Recently, I had the chance to interview Jonathan Zittrain. Jonathan is one of the founders of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, and he also holds the chair in Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford.

He’s just written a book called The Future of the Internet, And How to Stop It. Basically, he argues that in the history of computing, we’ve wavered between proprietary approaches which control how the technology is used, and more open-ended, approaches. Jonathan thinks we’re at a watershed moment right now, as the ‘anything goes’ nature of the internet is endangered by our increasing use of “tethered appliances,” all the smart phones and gaming consoles and so on, that are designed to be used in a particular way. Users can’t tinker with them the way they can, say, add the software they choose to a PC.

We reached Jonathan via Skype. Have a listen and let us know what you think of his argument. You can also download an mp3 of this interview.

3873 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/05/full-interview-jonathan-zittrain/Full+Interview%3A+Jonathan+Zittrain2008-05-26+23%3A35%3A28Nora+Young