Archive for the 'Canada' Category

Green bonds in Canada

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

Emily Paddon, one of my friends and classmates from Oxford, is involved in a scheme to create green bonds in Canada. The initiative, which is part of the Action Canada Fellowship, aims to create a “government-backed financial instrument designed to engage the public by raising capital to accelerate renewable energy production.” The aim is to [...]

Cacophony

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

This morning, Emily, my mother, and I all woke to what sounded like somebody upstairs using a jackhammer on a hardwood floor. The whole house was vibrating, saturated with squealing and rattling noises.
A few minutes of pyjama-clad inquiries led me to the neighbour involved with the noise: “Oh, we’re just cutting some beams in the [...]

Mosaik MasterCard and cash back options

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

This is of very limited relevance to anyone who doesn’t have a Bank of Montreal Mastercard, so I will put it below a cut.

Back from Montreal

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Emily and I passed a most enjoyable weekend in Montreal, with ongoing Just For Laughs Festival events punctuated by tasty food and visits to the fine arts museum, botanical gardens, and ‘Insectarium.’ The last of those is especially worth a look, for those with a bit of a scientific or naturalist bent. The giant beetles [...]

Green shifts and pine beetles

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

The July 5th issue of The Economist has two articles pertaining to Canada and climate change. There is one on the Dion carbon tax and another on the pine beetle infestation in our western forests. Both topics have come up here before, but remain pertinent and worthy of discussion.
The critical ongoing question in the first [...]

Getting VOIP phone numbers

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) is a way of sending and receiving telephone calls over your internet connection. At its best, it means not having to deal with local fixed-line telephone providers at all. It is also cheaper and more versatile than a conventional phone and offers possibilities not normally available, such as having local [...]