This just in from the grand people at Access Copyright. "That's 3 million books that have not been sold These people are so happy that they can get money from Canadian schools for photocopied pages.


Toronto - July 26, 2010 - Canadian creators and educational publishers have won a six-year legal battle to receive reasonable compensation for the reproduction of copyright-protected teaching materials used in the classroom, according to a decision by the Federal Court of Appeal.

In 2009, the Copyright Board of Canada certified a tariff to compensate creators and publishers for the photocopying of their works in K - 12 Schools. "That's 3 million books that have not been sold Ministers of Education of all the provinces and territories with the exception of Quebec, along with close to a hundred individual school boards, had asked the Federal Court to review the decision.

However the Federal Court found that the Copyright Board's decision was reasonable in light of the evidence before it... read more

Inception is proof that an idea doesn’t need to be new to be original. The Wachowski Brothers movie lent from Dark City, Terminator and other movies to weave a figurative matrix that does two things at the same time: it gives you a visual feast and a lot of philosophy to chew on."Whoa." Total Recall - The Schwarzenegger blockbuster Total Recall used “is this for real” as a massive plot device The expertly crafted work from Christopher Nolan comes after decades of movies of a similar topic. The Wachowski Brothers movie lent from Dark City, Terminator and other movies to weave a figurative matrix that does two things at the same time: it gives you a visual feast and a lot of philosophy to chew on."Whoa." Total Recall - The Schwarzenegger blockbuster Total Recall used “is this for real” as a massive plot device Think of all of the big budget movies that have come out with the premise that all of reality is in our imagination.

The Manchurian Candidate - The pop-culture idea that the brain was an erector set came out of the Korean War... read more

Inception, like The Matrix and Waking Life, challenges the viewer's concept of reality. Of the three, The Matrix is still the benchmark for mass appeal but Inception should be a close second.The definition of inception is "the beginning of something, a commencement or origin" and for the purposes of this film, it is the seed of an idea that can be planted deep in a person's subconscious through a shared dream state All three films do so by wrapping the philosophy inside a grenade of visual effects. Of the three, The Matrix is still the benchmark for mass appeal but Inception should be a close second.The definition of inception is "the beginning of something, a commencement or origin" and for the purposes of this film, it is the seed of an idea that can be planted deep in a person's subconscious through a shared dream state The risk taken by these films is that viewers may not "get it" -- that they will walk away more frustrated than amazed... read more

With all of the wind overnight and a prediction of a warm afternoon, I was curious what the weather was going to do this afternoon. ... FINALLY, I found a source of frequently update satellite images for my region.... read more

Victoria's mayor, Dean Fortin, is continuing to spearhead a massively expensive sewage treatment system. While there are harmful chemicals and agents being released into the waters, there is lots and lots of biological material The plan is to treat the sewage generated by the 250,000+ people from the region. While there are harmful chemicals and agents being released into the waters, there is lots and lots of biological material All of the sewage that was formerly pumped out from several outlets will be routed to one facility in Esquimalt... read more

Bad News: I didn't win, place or show in the Monday Summer Fiction Contest.
Good News: I decided to publish my story anyways.

"Please-- you must stop!" she cried with a hoarseness and desperation etched into her soul. Her dress was in tatters Those big cow eyes were puffy with tears and month without sleep. Her dress was in tatters "Please, just let me go!"
I looked down at her... read more

I want to get people to go straight to the product. Likely, you want to filter for other types of results (DVDs, books, CDs, etc.) But, the inputter can be unwilling to search out the links neccessary to hook products on the website to products on Amazon. Likely, you want to filter for other types of results (DVDs, books, CDs, etc.)
Using Drupal 6 and the Amazon API module along with the kludge below, you can search out products, limit them by the product type and then provide that link to your readers to generate affiliate revenue... read more

AddtoAny is a cool widget. For me, though, the mambo of the Page Title, CCK and AddToAny gave my install indigestion For Drupal 6, there is the AddToAny project (http://drupal.org/project/addtoany). For me, though, the mambo of the Page Title, CCK and AddToAny gave my install indigestion It's good... read more

As I suggested last week, I have made the decision to move my blog to a hosted WordPress version to replace this blog. In the meantime, here's the new Flotsam & Jetsam. I'm not moving over the content, just the operations. In the meantime, here's the new Flotsam & Jetsam. I'll be reorganizing all the blog pointers and feed tweeters and all that so, fear not, if you don't come to this page directly to read Flotsam, you'll still get a reminder... read more

Dear Google,

Your Kool-Aid is tasting bitter these days. So when I, for example, pick up a nasty troll, I can simply ignore the comments If you don't want to be seen as EVIL, please bring your Blogger service up to standard.

After trying WordPress, I now understand why people questioned my staying on Blogger. So when I, for example, pick up a nasty troll, I can simply ignore the comments One very big difference is in the ability to moderate comments and users... read more

OK, everyone. ... I apologize but "Anonymous" is back and filling my comments area with obscenities. ... Please don't feed the troll.... read more

While I listened to the presenters at WordCamp on Saturday, part of my brain was whirring away, plotting out my new blog. While the inspiration was one book the goal I settled on was,"This blog aims to glean some history — not only about gardening but also about gardens themselves — from books and other writings from the past 400 years, give or take."With that in writing, I could then start thinking about where the blog might go in the future which may be why my brain would not shut down on Saturday night, long after I walked away from my laptop.Sunday, I asked Hubby how to do the WordPress install on one of my domains (I chose my personal one, for the hell of it) Yes, it was to be a "niche blog" -- it combines three of my interests:

gardening+books+history

Originally my thought was to basically transcribe and annotate the text of the "Profitable Instructions..." book but I knew that was too focused. While the inspiration was one book the goal I settled on was,"This blog aims to glean some history — not only about gardening but also about gardens themselves — from books and other writings from the past 400 years, give or take."With that in writing, I could then start thinking about where the blog might go in the future which may be why my brain would not shut down on Saturday night, long after I walked away from my laptop.Sunday, I asked Hubby how to do the WordPress install on one of my domains (I chose my personal one, for the hell of it) As soon as the words "garden history" escaped my lips, I knew this was the spark I'd been seeking.

I wrote the About page first -- I started drafting it in a Google Doc on Saturday evening -- so that I could really get an idea of how the site might evolve... read more

I had no idea what to expect going in but I have to say that WordCamp Victoria was well-organized, well-run, and informative. The basis of his talk was to pick something that you care about, that you know something about (and are prepared to learn more about), and then build it and promote the hell out of it It was broader than I was expecting; the content of the sessions went beyond Wordpress itself to cover topics such as picking what to write, keeping the user in mind when you write for the web, and dealing with comments -- good, bad, and ugly.
The session I most enjoyed was the first session I attended: "Knowing & Knurturing Your Kniche Blog: Starting & Running A Successful Niche Blog in WordPress," presented by Mike Vardy. The basis of his talk was to pick something that you care about, that you know something about (and are prepared to learn more about), and then build it and promote the hell out of it Refreshingly, his presentation did not rely on tech -- he used the blackboard... read more

Yeah, I know. Do you remember that Kitchen Garden book from 1603 that opened with a poem? I plan to use Wordpress to make a blog of the book Drupal, Blogger, and now... Do you remember that Kitchen Garden book from 1603 that opened with a poem? I plan to use Wordpress to make a blog of the book Wordpress? Hubby and I signed up before we left for Drupalcon because..... read more

The Cramped Chef seemed like an appropriate name for a cooking show when we started it in the cramped little kitchen at the townhouse. It is also the big reason we want to do a reno on that corner of the house. Impossibly, it seems, the kitchen in our current house while more open, actually seems to have less room to cook* so The Cramped Chef continues to be an appropriate name for the series.

We filmed the most recent episode back in March but Hubby's computer was tasked by the challenge of editing the HD footage created by my FlipHD so the process was completed in small chunks over many weeks with a lot of breaks in between! The best part of this creation was finding that Moby has a bunch of music available just for the purpose of non-profit independent video productions so Hubby signed up and found an appropriate piece for the background. It is also the big reason we want to do a reno on that corner of the house. The worst part of this is seeing how clearly we need to get proper studio lighting -- or even something close.

The Spring Rolls (aka Egg Rolls) episode is now available for your edutainment (embedded below) and you can find the recipe on Hubby's blog along with other recipes and Cramped Chef videos.

Egg Rolls from Mike DeWolfe on Vimeo.

*Our current kitchen is so cramped that I don't seem to have a photo of it... read more

My Monday morning started before my alarm rang; I was dreaming about being late for work. I found the frying pan, slapped in some butter, put in the bread (hole cut, ready for the egg), reached for the egg aaaaand...SPLAT!I cursed Not wanting to actually be late, I got up instead of hitting snooze. I found the frying pan, slapped in some butter, put in the bread (hole cut, ready for the egg), reached for the egg aaaaand...SPLAT!I cursed I did my morning thing, getting the coffee going, feeding the cats, throwing on something suitable to wear to work, turning on the morning news and getting breakfast started... read more

I love ABC books and at one time wanted to build a collection. Feast your eyes on these:Badass Alphabet -- inspired by comic books, it features gems like "H is for Hagar the Horrible Hacking Hello Kitty in Half"Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks -- not only do these rock (F is for Freeze Ray and P is for Peasants with Pitchforks!!) but the blocks themselves are little laser-cut works of art.Palaeobet by Bird and Moon (Rosemary Mosco) wants you to "know your prehistory" (X is for xenacanthus) -- I really want the poster.Digital Alphabet -- no big surprises here but at only two years old, it may already need updates I stopped because I realized I would need a very big library in which to hold them. Feast your eyes on these:Badass Alphabet -- inspired by comic books, it features gems like "H is for Hagar the Horrible Hacking Hello Kitty in Half"Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks -- not only do these rock (F is for Freeze Ray and P is for Peasants with Pitchforks!!) but the blocks themselves are little laser-cut works of art.Palaeobet by Bird and Moon (Rosemary Mosco) wants you to "know your prehistory" (X is for xenacanthus) -- I really want the poster.Digital Alphabet -- no big surprises here but at only two years old, it may already need updates However, I still love finding interesting alphabets... read more

Two quick notes:
1. My Coffee Haiku Minibook was featured at The Fifth Street Palace in an ongoing blog series $5 and Under. With my Frugal Victoria hat on, I was interviewed for the Globe and Mail last week -- the story, Extreme Frugality: Can you outcheap 'em all? ran in today's Life section. My Coffee Haiku Minibook was featured at The Fifth Street Palace in an ongoing blog series $5 and Under. Despite a couple of minor misquotes, I'm pretty happy with it (as in, for the most part, I don't seem to sound like a crazy person).
2... read more

Freedom of the Press is a favourite theme in television drama and feature films -- most often, citing the American Bill of Rights rather than the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms but we frequently take it for granted in North America. He was not amused and charged us with actually cutting the section out of every copy that had been run off on the Gestetner by our teacher the evening before The only time most of us think about Freedom of the Press is when it is being squashed (think of how often China, Iran, or North Korea shows up in the headlines for crushing free speech or imprisoning journalists). He was not amused and charged us with actually cutting the section out of every copy that had been run off on the Gestetner by our teacher the evening before
I don't know whether it was my upbringing or 25 years of working in libraries or just wanting to be assured of some protection for what I might write but for whatever reason, it's usually not far from my mind... read more

Skip back a bit first, to Earth Day (April 22). Another few miles and we caught up to the culprit We were on the road. Another few miles and we caught up to the culprit We left Grant's Pass Oregon in the morning and when we checked out, the desk offered us some bottled water for the road... read more