There are lots of ways to get in touch with Spark. Here are a few:
Online
- Email: spark@cbc.ca
- Twitter: @SparkCBC
Telephone
- Hotline: 1-877-34-SPARK (1-877-347-7275 toll free in Canada)
- Hotline outside Canada: 1-416-205-7021
Postal mail
CBC Radio: Spark
P.O. Box 500, Stn. “A”
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1E6
Courier
CBC Radio: Spark
205 Wellington St. W.
Room 3G220-M
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 3G7
Re: Metacritic and film reviews
I'm a big film geek, but I never used to pay much attention to movie reviews. After Titantic won a recordbreaking number of Oscars, I decided these people couldn't be trusted. Then, a couple years ago, I watched the movie "Crash" (the Paul Haggis one about racism, not the Cronenburg one about sex and car accidents). Something about that movie rubbed me the wrong way, but was struggling to figure out what I disliked so much. I looked the film up on Wikipedia and found that it received incredibly positive views from almost everyone. One person who gave it a bad review was a guy named Scott Foundas. Wikipedia referenced a grumpy back-and-forth argument between Foundas and Roger Ebert, who loved the movie. In his review, Foundas voiced the exact same concerns I had about the film's portrayal of racism. I read more of his reviews of movies I'd already seen, and I agreed with almost all of them. He's American, so I have to read his reviews online, but they're almost always dead-on as far as I'm concerned. A lot more useful than the averaged ratings. (Rottentomatoes give 82% for Titanic?! Are you kidding me?)
surveillance without a warrant?
What’s the problem?
RCMP killing innocent people then lying about it, Toronto police removing name tags and violating rights at the G8 under the umbrella of the chief of police and provincial government, csis offering up an innocent Canadian man to foreign rendition.
The days of blindly trusting agencies like this because they “know better” have come to an end.
And, as a result, so are the days of the “if you’re not doing anything wrong then what’s the problem” comments.
It’s not cynicism, it’s awareness.
Good design is ageless….
Why aren't those who create hair-care packaging not placing a large, raised S [For Shampoo] and C [For Conditioner ] on their products , to enable those who wear specs to differentiate between the two? In the meantime, a chunk of chewing -gum or scrunched duct -tape works quite well ….
omg Rose you are a genius! I just bought conditioner 2x when i thought it was shampoo, and my hubby and daughter brought me 2 more conditioners. Maybe they could put the tape on in the store?
+1 for your idea
Hi Nora,
I am just listening to the podcast of your latest show, the one about the end of solitude. Listening to it made me think that you are living in the wrong place. I live in Victoria, and out here on the coast things move more slowly. People have more time to be alone. I know a lot of people, including myself, who don't have cellphones, let alone blackberries, and who spend hours of their day walking along the shore thinking their thoughts, or curled up reading a book (yes, Victoria is full of writers too–so maybe that has something to do with it) . Is never being alone partly a result of where we live? I would be interested to know if people in rural areas feel they have more "alone time" than people in cities do.
hi,
I live in Edmonton, married and with a kid. In our house we do not have television, nor wireless phone (I like my cordphone), nor cellphone, nor Iphone. we listen to lots of music, radio CBC and when there is time we watch a movie once a month.
no reason to be alone when no having gadgets. Forgot to mention that we do not own a car and have no desire to buy one. We have been married 10 years and we had a car once, it was for about 6 months only. To much work and maintenance so we got rid of it.
I have a bit of a problem with my on-line identity and facebook that might be relevant to the show…
I got fed up with facebook recently, specifically with people "finding" me and making friend requests. The problem was mainly I didn't want to be contacted by old boyfriends and people I didn't know from high school who I would rather be "out of touch" with. It was uncomfortable and so, rather than delete my account and lose access to things like my sister's on-line wedding album, etc, I changed my name to something very dissimilar from my own name. Problem solved, I thought. People who know me will recognize my photo and those who don't will stay away.
But then the art gallery I work for wanted to have a facebook presence, and this has to be managed through my profile… and now when I invite people to become "Fans" of the gallery's facebook page, people send me back messages saying "who the heck are you?" I'm actually frightened of explaining the situation to them in a facebook message because I have found facebook searches some of the messages for key phrases and I'm worried I'll get caught !!! (One of the terms of use for facebook is that you must use your real name.
I have been thinking about changing my name back… but I'm worried facebook will finally notice I have broken the rules and kick me off. This anxiety feels a little like worrying about being deported from a country you've gone to on a tourist visa, figuring out how to live there and working under the table…
I'm wondering if anyone else has ever done something like this on Facebook or other social networking sites. Who else has been bending the rules, getting caught and trying to figure out how to be social on a social network?
Set up a "person" for your art gallery that any of the employees can access that need to be able to update the gallery's facebook presence. Make that fake person (ie: Gallery Staff) the admin for the Gallery Group or fanpage. always log into the Gallery Staff account to manage the Gallery's facebook presence. Be sure that you won't accidentally use your personal profile by removing privelages from your self. Now you just have to remember to login to the gallery FB account when you get to work, instead of your own.
Nora Young . thanks to you and all your Crew . i am an Old school ,multi media artist. your show today makes that clear. you see i have just posted my first uTube video. it is an Improvised Animated spontaneous dance. performed live ,one take ! the Music is from a CBC broadcast last Sat evening . it was a Drum concert. this video was shot during the broadcast. NO REHERSAL . i believe you, and the great Folks at CBC will appreciate and enjoy this effort . thank you for your time . and a show worth listening to! >>>>>SPARK<<<<<< hgope this takes you to my video http://www.you tube/Improv Animation Spontaneous swirl peace love and Understanding ? swirl Whats so funny?
Please cover the CyberWar in Iran
Iran filters Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube…
Iran practices Deep Packet Inspection on Internet trraffic
Iran chocks the internet access to a trickle
From the day before election (Thursday) SMS is down and mobile phones don't work
Websites such as CNN, BBC, and almost all protest's websites and news papers are blocked
Iranians fight back:
http://WeAreAllNeda.com/
NedaNet http://www.catb.org/esr/nedanet/
Nora, one of the most important psychological functions of communications with others is its apparent ability to self-validate. I say 'apparent' because actual self-validation may or may not occur, but whether it does or not, people think it does and they like that. Meanings or perceptions are very fragile or dubious until they are validated by communicating them to someone and getting a response. But it is not primarily the message or the content, but merely the communication of it that is important. No one may understand, let alone agree, yet we are real because we have been heard. This is also why mass messaging is so attractive: if there is a response, that is vastly more effective and the more people are contacted, the more likely a response. Finally, of course, it is a two-way process because the responder is no less getting their needs met by responding. Introspection falls into disuse; it has been replaced by a different method of accomplishing the same thing.
Hi,
I loved the piece today, Sat Sept 5, about people, especially tech geeks, hanging on to and upgrading their old technology instead of dumping it for the newest and latest (which segwayed into buying things designed as per their usage lifetime… ie a desk for 100 yrs)… I think one of the people interviewed was from Six Apart. But I can't find this on the Spark site. I think you mentioned a website for and about getting years of use out of old technolgy. Could we have that website please? Thanks so much! GREAT show!
Hi Leanne. The website is http://lastyearsmodel.org/ and you can find Anil and Gina talking more about the site here: http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/05/full-interview-an…
Actually iran Filter Packets… or restrict some social networks.. that can be corrupt thier colture and moral values.. they dnt allow ponographic materials in arab country
I have just had an epiphany! My routine for Sundays has for about 15years years been to go for a run with "Fast Company Running Club" . The post run comprises a Timmies chat with kindred runners, followed by a dash home to be lulled into blissful semi consciousness in a hot tub listening to Stewart MacLean till 1:00. Jonathon Goldstein was my alarm clock to get myself out of the tub, reassure my wife that I had NOT drowned, fed and ready for the afternoon.
Today (Sun 4 Oct 09) post CIBC Run-for-the-Cure, my CBC sojourn was radically changed by pausing to listen more intently to Spark! what on earth was this program going to be about? An hour later and somewhat chilled (I refused to run more hot water into the tub for fear of the noise making me miss something!) I resumed my normal Sunday. Wife was away so no worries there!
Where have I been to miss all the previous editions? When did your program move to this time-slot? Anyway I think it is incredibly well structured and thought provoking. My problem now is how to capture the program at a time when I can give it the attention it richly deserves. I am old fashioned and hate computers but love what they provide in terms of accessibility. I dearly prefer to listen to the programs directly on radio.
Sincerely, Brian King,
Dartmouth Nova Scotia
Have you seen this site http://www.storyofstuff.com/ ?
There is a cool video.
Wow! Lot of interest in the show on your page! I can understand why, after listening to your pathetic and decidedly un-imformative piece on books& the internet today; in fact I turned off the radio before that crap ended! A re-run of all Peter Gzosky's work on CBC would much better for a Sunday afternoon than this drivel! I am thankful, every day, that I am able to listen to a REAL radio station with depth on the internet: the BBC!!!
I wanted to give CJ McAuley's obnoxious comment a thumbs-down, but unfortunately, I am required to create and IntenseDebate account, which asks for password information over a webpage that is not secure (not https).
Hello Nora and everyone,
Nora your podcast is one of my staples, you make me laff, and learn stuff.
I am happy to be on the net because the world's biggest library has told me that Lyme Disease does not exsist in the Chronic Form here in Canada, (CMA) and it does across the St. Lawrence (i live in kingston ont) with the AMA
So how to use technology and humour to get the word out that Lyme is out there,
and Canadians are getting it, and are refused treatment….so more won't get infected and sick?
Anyone help?
http://www.icresources.ca is where my story is at….check it out help Sparklers!
Found your blog on Ask and was so glad i did. That was a great read. I have a tiny question.Is it OK if i send you an email???…
I listen to your programme pretty much every Sunday and I hear the warning to be careful what one leaves on-line. Well, I had a surprise of my life when several days ago I googled my name and it came up on several web sites. I like to comment on articles I read in papers and hear on CBC. All I could think about was that my comments were neither rude, offensive or angry. I never gave any thought how long these comments would remain for everyone to read. Speaking and writing in another language I thought I'll look up comments I made there and they were also there for everyone to read. Scary!
The bottom line is you have to be a bit of a moron to get your e-mail account broken into unless the CIA is after you or something. EVERYBODY should know not to give out their password for ANY reason. This is NOT savvy scamming this is YOU being a donut!
…and who are these iiiiiidiots who are surprised that their comments are easy to find?! Do you know ZERO about computers and the internet?! I always knew and can find comments I made 15 years ago in seconds. They should just teach this in High school, but unless someone cracking your passwords like it's a U-boat cipher they scams are just as easy to spot and you're being a silly for falling for any of it.
my .02 is that privacy is a thing of the past. and, if you're using wi-fi, that goes double. we don't really know who's listening to and watching us at this moment (probably more than one company or agency). i believe, as i've heard, that a person is captured an average of 2,000 times on video every time they leave the house for any type of business or errand. no, you don't have to leave the house, even "do no evil" Google is peering into your bedroom window. oh, gawd, imagine the govt's top secret toys.
If you don't want people finding you online then make your name hidden from the public. A lot of times people will find you on facebook from other friends who see you listed on their page.
I remember a Spark episode where Nora talked about a device that zapped you when your posture was not good. Anybody know the name of the product or other details?
It was the iPosture, mentioned on Spark 62.
Hi Nora love your show, even though I am not even close to being a techie. I'll share an embarrassing story…At my shop, we a few years ago set up a computer that doubled as a cash but was also hooked up to the web. Well somehow while surfing I closed all my tabs and did not know how to get 'home'. I called my boss/Dad and he said to click on the N, so I 'clicked' on the letter N on my key board…I said nothing is happening. He asked if my mouse was working, I said yes, even though I was not using it to click on the N, He had to drive 15 mins from home to move my mouse and click on the icon N for netscape. Pretty sad eh? Ok my question if it can be answered easily. How do I get photos from Picassa onto my face book page?? Hope you or someone can help me. Cheers Lulu
U can't do that directly – just save them to your hard drive and then from there upload to facebook as you would normally do. Hope this helps
Thanks Anita but how do I do that?? I am so hopeless….
You may have some luck with the Picasa Uploader on Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/picasauploader/
@dan
thanks for the share! i manage lots of photos so this is a great help!
Nora, one of the most important psychological functions of communications with others is its apparent ability to self-validate. I say 'apparent' because actual self-validation may or may not occur, but whether it does or not, people think it does and they like that. Meanings or perceptions are very fragile or dubious until they are validated by communicating them to someone and getting a response. But it is not primarily the message or the content, but merely the communication of it that is important. No one may understand, let alone agree, yet we are real because we have been heard. This is also why mass messaging is so attractive: if there is a response, that is vastly more effective and the more people are contacted, the more likely a response. Finally, of course, it is a two-way process because the responder is no less getting their needs met by responding. Introspection falls into disuse; it has been replaced by a different method of accomplishing the same thing.
Nora – someone to check out for sure Keiichi Matsuda http://www.keiichimatsuda.com/index.php And take a look at his thinking on Augmented Space http://www.keiichimatsuda.com/thesis.php
William Moore
I agree with alexx,
messaging is so much fun!
Dear Nora:
With respect to Bells justification to raise rates.
Every since Bell and the rest of the ( BEEP)ng ( BEEP)oles lost control of their metered X.25 networks the ( BEEP)ng (BEEP)ds have been trying to get it back.
Now with the purchase of the CRTC they can do what ever their want.
Their justification that the average user uses such and such is pure fiction based on the dial speed days.
In short anything Bell is stating has very little truth in it..
It is totally profit driven with the least amount of service for the highest amount of charges the market will bear.
The Spark community may be interested in what Recorded Future calls "the predictive power of the web".
https://www.recordedfuture.com/
These fellows use open source content from web pages and social media sites to develop predictions for Defence and Intelligence analysis.
Oh yeah. And they're getting in bed with Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel. That last one is part of the IARPA the intelligence version of DARPA.
Sorry to bother,
Is there a place on the blog
about the tech questions
for the greater Spark Community,
and Nora's computer club.
I can't seem to remember which
archive it was mentioned.
I'm gathering info and hardware
on a question for the volunteers.
Thank you in advance.
I'd recharge state-of-the-art hearing aids – the next best thing to having hearing restored . Love your programme.
Glancing at the Shafia's case Twitter, I can't help but noticed that some Internet searches (he was looking for vacation properties in QC and ON near "water") was used as evidence. Information as such will undeniably be more popular in both civil and criminal courts nowadays. I believe that it would be very interesting to look more into the fact that what we usually considered innocuous on-line tracks may end up being used in the justice system, and may be very well be taken out of context.
http://twitter.com/#!/DaltonCBC/status/1448587953…
Where have I been to miss all the previous editions? When did your program move to this time-slot? Anyway I think it is incredibly well structured and thought provoking. My problem now is how to capture the program at a time when I can give it the attention it richly deserves. I am old fashioned and hate computers but love what they provide in terms of accessibility. I dearly prefer to listen to the programs directly on radio. http://www.reparatiicalculatoarebucuresti.ro/