Paranormal 2.0

You've heard of web 2.0, but what about paranormal 2.0?

This new phrase created by ParanormalKnowledge.com refers to:

"...the rejuvenation and evolution revolving around the paranormal. Until now, the paranormal has been understated, thought of as negative, and unrepresented...

We are taking the word paranormal to a whole new level. More categories, articles, interviews, and videos are on the way to help reshape the world’s view of the paranormal community."

If you have any interest in the paranormal, the unexplained, superstitions, history, world issues, and/or debating any of the above, check it out!

Conficker Virus a Hoax?

In case you haven't heard the hundreds of news reports or from one of your techie friends (as I just did this weekend), there’s a computer virus going around that, from what I can gather, is really really bad.

So potentially harmful, in fact, that Microsoft has offered a $250,000 bounty on the heads of the jerks who created it, and who have already infected millions of computers.

The Conficker virus is set to activate on April 1st and, as if this already doesn't feel like Y2K all over again, no one knows what's going to happen.

Here's why this virus is so frightening. (I'll use direct quotes since I’m not too good with explaining computer stuff):

Conficker is the latest example of a type of malware called a botnet, which gives a cybercriminal control over an infected computer. The criminal can steal information stored on the computer or make it do things like send spam emails...

What sets Conficker apart is that it’s more sophisticated than any previous piece of malware. It uses a new form of cryptography, can be controlled by criminals in multiple ways, and updates itself.

...the bad guys haven’t done anything with the computers they control yet, which means they could do, well, anything.

Anything?

"Perhaps in the best case, Conficker may be used as a sustained and profitable platform for massive Internet fraud and theft.

In the worst case, Conficker could be turned into a powerful offensive weapon for performing concerted information warfare attacks that could disrupt not just countries, but the Internet itself. (Globe and Mail)


But now some experts are saying there’s nothing to worry about...as long as you don't click on pop-ups and regularly do anti-virus and Windows updates. But even so, we won't really know until April 1st.

To make me even more paranoid until then, while looking all this up I also came across I site warning that searching “Conficker” could put your computer at a greater risk of getting it. Super...


But whether all this an April Fools’ prank or the real deal, I have to wonder why people create these viruses in the first place. Are they greedy? Lonely? Ingenious? Or some hideous combination of the three?




P.S. Virus-makers I may have insulted just now, please don't ruin my computer!

Psychics "Help" during Recession

It’s tough finding a job in these hard times. How about trying your hand at psychiatry? I don’t mean psychology; I’m talking about predicting the future.

The psychic business is up, and the topic is money.

So it looks like now’s the perfect time to open your own business charging people $10 to tell them the economy is in a slump.

"I don't think really the economy is gonna pick up for another two years," says Sherry Starr, a psychic whose business has gone up 50% since September.

But don’t worry. Starr offers some helpful advice that you can’t get from your friends and family:

"What about a job change? A job change is in your cycle right now."

and

"I see more success for you. More changes.”

Paula Whittle, one of Starr’s customers says the reading will have a positive effect on her economic decisions: "I will probably be more cautious with my spending the rest of the year."

I see...a waste of $10.



(Image: The Love Psychic.)

CBC Cuts: "Hardly a Meltdown"

This is a repost of a Toronto Sun article:


Despite the sorry news that the CBC is cutting 799 jobs...it's still getting $1.1 billion a year. Hardly a melt-down...

Mr. Lacroix defends running U.S. game shows on grounds that they attract viewers and advertising. Now he says the Corp has to sell $125 million in assets to alleviate the shortfall...

Executive salaries have already been frozen, so maybe the 50% cut in bonuses now will be trimmed to 100%. Why are bonuses necessary when execs are already well-paid?

...Acknowledging that she had no inside knowledge about CBC layoffs or cutbacks, Ms. [Carole] Taylor [former chairman of the CBC (2001-05), and a former B.C. finance minister (2005-08)] said she opposed importing U.S. game shows and felt the CBC should 'not be going for ratings but providing a service that cannot be found anywhere else.'

...Lord knows, private broadcasting won't do it."


I just want to point out that there are Canadian-made shows on the CBC that I and other people actually do like to watch (besides Hockey Night in Canada, obviously):

• This Hour Has 22 Minutes
• The Red Green Show
• The Rick Mercer Report
• The Hour
• Marketplace

As for what to do with the other 20 or so hours of the day, here are my thoughts:

If the CBC doesn’t have the money or advertising to draw in a huge audience, that pretty much affirms its position as a public broadcaster. And what’s wrong with that?

The CBC doesn’t have the constraints of the privately-owned networks (pleasing advertisers mostly), so it can really be a place for fun and experimentation.

There are a ton of things the CBC could do, and perhaps, should have done, as a public broadcaster. Here's one: How about giving time slots to the public?

Got a garage band you want to showcase? Written a screenplay you would like to see come to life? Want to practice reporting skills by doing your own story on a Canadian person/event/issue?

It could be like YouTube for TV; public broadcasting for...public broadcasting.

This might actually get people to tune in more, if they, as the Canadian public, can make contributions to what’s considered “Canadian content.”

And Wheel of Fortune sucks anyway. What were they thinking?


Share your thoughts!

Poll Results: Bigfoot is a No-Show

Of all the 11 people who took my poll, no one believes in Bigfoot!

Let’s explore some possible reasons why...

The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization cites thousands of reports of possible sightings or “vocalizations” of Sasquatch, Bigfoot, or in simpler terms, a “large, hairy, humanlike creature.”

Hmm, that sounds like it could be my friend’s dad, some guy I once saw at the bus stop, or a Star Wars character.

Maybe it’s not so much that people don’t believe in Bigfoot, but that it’s not that crazy of an idea. Big deal? There’s so many species of animal out there that the elusive Bigfoot could just be another one, or something in the early stages of human evolution – which would be pretty cool.

Plus, anyone can just put on a Chewbacca costume and walk around in the woods.

Then again, some say there’s a connection between Bigfoot and UFOs, which, according to the poll, are even more believable than God.

Hilarious Twitter Video

Having not jumped on the Twitter train (try saying that 5 times fast!), I sometimes feel like I'm missing out on something really important and special.

Then I find a video like this...

The End of Mass Media? Again?

Let me begin with a little excerpt from The Simpsons since it always seems to apply so well to real life:

BROADCASTER: On our panel is a porn star, a physics professor, a robotics engineer, a make-up artist, and...a print journalist?

NELSON: Ha ha! You’re medium is dying!


I don’t know if I listed the non-print journalist professions correctly, but what matters here is the idea that print is dying. And not just print; the CBC’s documentary The End, suggests even TV and radio might also be meeting their untimely demise – or timely; whatever way you look at it.

The truth is I would rather hold a book in my hands than read off a screen; then again, I don’t see the point of a computer without the internet. And I don’t listen to the radio. (When I worked in an office 2 summers ago, the same radio station was always on, and they played the same 10 songs 3 times a day every day. I’m not even exaggerating.)

What I think The End is getting at isn’t necessarily that radio, TV, and print are dying, but changing. The documentary called it an “evolution of choice.”

We don’t have to wait for our favourite shows or songs to come on, a decision made primarily by broadcasters and advertisers.

On that note, one of the most interesting things from the documentary is the idea of “conversation vs. consumption.”

Thanks to video on demand and TiVo, we can just fast-forward through commercials; with the internet, we can search for what we want, and make contributions to the content ourselves in however way we choose, which is usually honestly and without restraint.

I also want to mention something that was said aboutWikipedia - the idea that it’s “killing encyclopedias.” That, I’d have to disagree with because like radio, TV, and print, the same information will just move to another format.

Other complaints are that Wikipedia isn’t always accurate because anyone can add to it; that too I disagree with.

Wikipedia is a shared space. If someone makes something up and posts it, it'll get caught because everyone has access to it, making it more reliable in some ways.

Wikipedia’s contributors don’t have advertisers to please or government riding their butts to keep certain things out, like mainstream information-disseminating networks. It’s also free and easily-updated, whereas as the expensive traditional leather-bound versions are a little more difficult to add to.

Plus, finding what you want on Wikipedia is fast and can be done from anywhere with a cell phone – which apparently 815 million people bought last year. (As an added bonus, Wikipedia doesn't weigh a hundred pounds.)

The end of radio, TV, and print? Not likely. We’re more likely looking at the end of long attention spans. Hey, a bird!