Christopher Mackay's Blog

I’ve read Wake, the first of Sawyer’s WWW (Wake, Watch, Wonder) trilogy, and am nearly finished Watch. They are, as always with Sawyer, excellent.

In the WWW trilogy Sawyer’s exploring the meaning and consequences of several varieties of consciousness — human, primate and artificial. Throw in BlackBerrys, EyePods [not a typo], a LiveJournaling blind-from-birth teenage math-wiz protagonist transplanted from Texas to Kitchener-Waterloo and artistically-inclined webcam-chatting primates, and you’re getting the idea.

It’s a little weird seeing a trailer for a novel that isn’t also the trailer for a movie, but Sawyer’s work is such a natural fit for the screen, that it only makes sense:

Plus it makes it look like the web’s made of electic jellyfish, so how cool is that?

Visit Sawyer’s website: sfwriter.com.

“Wheel of Fortune is now on CBC Television”

They say it like it’s a good thing.

Update (Sept 17, 2008, 7:30 am): Richard Levangie, of AnythingButConservative.com, has alerted me to the fact that the original CBC.ca story [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/16/williams-elections-cnd.html] had an incorrect URL. Premier Danny Williams’ site is at AnythingButConservative.ca, not AnythingButConservative.com.

Vote Anything BUT Conservative — an interesting new site from Progressive Conservative Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams.

Stephen Harper’s actions raise important questions of trust. Of integrity. Of character.

There are other reasons, besides Harper’s credibility, to vote Anything But Conservative, such as their backwards, socially-conservative stance on no-brainer issues like gay marriage, their treatment of MPs like Bill Casey who vote their conscience, or their draconian copyright bill, C-61, but Williams has a clear message.

These Conservatives are certainly not “Progressive” Conservatives. Their agenda is regressive.

And now the Conservatives are seeking a mandate and a majority government to continue to implement an agenda that is not fully revealed.

The real question is whether “anything” will end up splitting the vote on the left, leaving room for Harper to come up with a majority.

Joggins Awarded UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site Status | Joggins, Nova Scotia, Canada:

The World Heritage Committee, at its annual meeting in Quebec City, has announced that Joggins will be inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites”

Congratulations to everyone on the team at the Joggins Fossil Institute and CREDA. Well done!

Hey, it’s Canada Day — and look, USA Today has an article on the war in Afghanistan “U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan near those in Iraq“.

What mention does USA Today make of Canada’s 6-years-and-counting commitment to the war in Afghanistan (which numbers 85 killed as of June 3, 2008, including 6 due to American “friendly fire”, and many more injured)?

Well, they mention American casualties, British casualties and, oh, there we are: “International casualties”.

Happy Canada Day to all Canadians, wherever they find themselves today.