Christopher Mackay's Blog

Wired magazine is featuring a story about how Nova Scotia has reduced its waste by 50% since 1995 — and is saving money in the process:

“While recycling programs cost more than dumping trash into a big hole, a new study finds that the sparsely populated Canadian province is actually saving money by reducing its waste. When all the costs and benefits of those programs are measured, and depending on what factors are taken into account, the report says that Nova Scotia saves anywhere from $25 million to $125 million every year.”

• Wired.com: Recycling Cost Overstated
• GPI Atlantic, author of the study

This is really impressive.

According to Forbes.com, Apple Computer may be on the verge of settling a long-standing dispute with Apple Corps, the Beatles’ publishing company.

The suggestion that Apple Corps could become a major shareholder is made. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, would it? Steve Jobs has made it pretty clear that he’s a huge Beatles fan, so it’s hard to imagine how the prospect of having Paul McCartney on the Apple board would be unappealing.

The Beatles catalog would make a wonderful addition to iTMS. So would a Canadian iTMS.

Roger Waters, former Pink Floyd singer/songwriter/bassist, has released two new songs at Roger-Waters.com in streaming format. iTunes Music Store (among others) has them in downloadable format if you live in a country approved by the Powers That Be.

I haven’t had a chance to really listen to these new songs yet, but they’re apparently in response to the war in Iraq. That’s not too surprising, considering Waters’ 1992 release, Amused to Death, dealt with similar themes (e.g. “The Bravery of Being Out of Range”).

Tantramar Interactive clients Harold Jarche and Cameron Bales have posted a detailed review of Drupal (an open-source content-management system), based on Tantramar Interactive’s installation of Drupal 4.4.0. The review appears at Rick Bruner’s businessblogconsulting.com.

This is a follow-up to Monday’s post on Microsoft’s MSN Music Help page that was critical of Apple’s decision not to support Microsoft’s Windows Media format; as John Gruber has pointed out, MSN has toned down the rhetoric considerably. This is welcome news.

Harold Jarche has pointed out a bloggers’ get-together tentatively scheduled for mid-September in Moncton.

Check out Steve Mallet’s fooworks page for more info.