canada | Steven Mansour

Atwood backs Bloc on arts defence | Sunday, October 5th, 2008

Gilles Duceppe's defence of arts and culture has gained him a new fan — CanLit Queen Margaret Atwood.

Atwood said she went to hear the Bloc Québécois leader speak at a Bay Street business luncheon Friday because of his strong endorsement for the arts.

"I'm here because Mr. Duceppe understands the contribution that culture makes to our economy," she told CBC News at Toronto's Economic Club.

Asked whether she would vote for the Bloc if she lived in Quebec, Atwood gave a resounding: "Yes, absolutely. What is the alternative?"

Bell Canada throttling other DSL reseller traffic | Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

In case you needed yet another reason why Bell Canada is the absolute worst company in the Canadian telecom space, they've quietly begun throttling traffic on independent, small ISPs who lease their lines.

This means that if you're anything like me - and by Gosh, you oughta be! ;) - your ISP is small, progressive, and independent... and soon to get much, much slower. I use Radioactif / Aei, though there are many other good ones to choose from. However, since the lines are all owned by Big Brother Bell, they all end up leasing their lines from them. So far, this agreement had maintained a precarious balance, allowing small, innovative ISPs to crop up here and there and offer innovative service coupled with low prices, and Bell had managed to maintain control of its own lines.