Shocking . . .

Here's an interesting little TorStar piece: Duncan has a national dream. Interesting on two fronts, I think:

1. If the electrical grid hasn't been addressed to create failsafes that would prevent a general crash of the system such as happened to Ontario, et al a couple summers ago, then it may be just a matter of time before all of Canada is cold and in the dark -- including Alberta (Oh, the irony is palpable).

2. What about the value of the grid for Internet connectivity. There has been activity, and suddenly the backbone is completely linked coast-to-coast-to-coast.

spam tastes good?

There's an interesting piece in the Globe & Mail today about email advertising. The gist of the story is: it hasn't gone away because of privacy and other squacking [sp?]; it's changed. How's it changed? We'll the better email marketers are evolved/ing to provide relevant information to people, not just volume to advertisers. How deft: quality over quantity. Which is not to say they aren't providing quantity. Anyway, the story is here: E-mail ad firms winning war against spam. The snip from the middle of the article:

And they [email marketers] point out that in Canada, consumers seem more willing than ever to receive relevant commercial e-mail that promotes products and services.

The key word is relevant. [emphasis mine]

"Consumers are getting smarter about what's spam and what's not, and are more willing to develop relationships with companies through e-mail," says Chris Ferneyhough, vice-president of marketing research firm Ipsos-Reid Canada.

Ipsos-Reid reports that roughly eight in 10 Canadian Internet users have registered to receive e-mail from commercial websites. And those who are registering are doing so at an average of nine sites, up from about eight in 2004.

Can't argue with the conclusion; the logic . . .

David Dodge, governor of the Bank of Canada, weighed in to explain Canadian productivity stagnation by saying, among other things, that companies and the public sector are too slow to adopt new technologies and business practices. (Full TorStar story here: Canada a technology laggard, Dodge says.)

Invest in skills to raise productivity. Adopt new technologies and business practices to raise productivity. Revelation, for sure. The bigger questions that go unanswered -- by anyone, not just Dodge -- might include:

1. Why, if this causal string leads back to investment in education and skills and to adoption of new technologies/business practices, isn't it being done?

2. Who should blink first: government or business. Au courant thought would suggest that government should not. After all, free market good; government intervention bad.

3. Who will be most affected by these choices, and where is their voice?

4. Why are we Canadians talking about this so much but ultimately doing so little? Well, OK, that's self-evident -- at least at the most facile level.

D'Oh! Sometimes the sound bite makes no sense

The folks at Microsoft can't be stupid. So when I read a quote from somebody that makes such little sense as does the one below, I have to wonder. It's about MS joining the digital identity world -- again. (Story from PCPro news is here: Microsoft turns to new Windows identity management system.) And here's the quote:

'It's going to put control of digital IDs into the hands of an end-user,' Michael Stephenson, a director of Microsoft's Windows Server division, told Reuters. 'The end-user will be in full control.'

What? Isn't that pretty much like saying, "We're going to put the driver's license making machinery into the hands of the public."? There's gotta be more. On the other hand, MS hasn't exactly been on the world's wave-length in the digital identity world.

Ballard: now that's long term strategy

I've been a fan of Ballard Power Systems for a few years now. Viable alternative fuel sources have to be found. Still, when you read a story like this one in the Globe & Mail (Viable car fuel cell by 2010, Ballard says) it's hard not to shake your head. Check out this snip:

Auto industry analysts are not expecting fuel cell powered vehicles to become a major competitor to the 100-year-old internal combustion engine before late in the next decade. The major focus among auto makers is on producing hybrid cars.

How many people are working for businesses that have a "the market won't happen for a decade but let's keep going" faith?

More on this silly issue of "trust"

In the absence of hard differences and distinctions (the "objective" type) many will find consolation in the softer ("subjective") kind. Today through a broad swathe of business -- at least that part I have an eye on -- there is focus and hand-wringing about "trust." As in: "consumers trust us;" "they don't trust Microsoft [for example];" or "a position of trust is a core competitive advantage."

I've done a little reading about the subject and formed an opinion that would suggest trust is neither as broad nor as solid, and thus not as important in commerce as one might like to think. I've written about it and won't belabour the issue here.

For what it's worth, here's another little bit of data to consider on the subject of "who do they trust?" from the Globe and Mail (On-line era leaves media out of loop: PR expert). The important snip:

The 2005 Edelman [a PR firm] Trust Barometer found that Canadians are more likely to trust average people like themselves, rather than a CEO or spokesperson, when making up their minds about a company.

The Trust Barometer surveyed 1,500 'opinion leaders,' including 150 Canadians. The survey found Canadian respondents are most likely to trust academics (61 per cent) followed by doctors or health-care specialists (56 per cent) and a "person like yourself" (55 per cent).

By comparison, entertainers and athletes are trusted by just 7 per cent of respondents, company PR reps by 10 per cent and CEOs by 22 per cent.

Casts an interesting view on the how and why of promotion and marketing. . . .

Down to "only" 49% -- VICTORY!

This article made its rounds late last week. Here the Globe & Mail, makes its take on a Ried report that indicates spam is decreasing in Canadian mailboxes: Less spam feeds Canadians' appetite for e-mail. The first snip:

New privacy laws and the use of spam filters by individuals and Internet providers helped lower the amount of unsolicited e-mail to 49 per cent of all electronic mail, down from 68 per cent in 2003, according to Ipsos-Reid's quarterly survey of Canadian Internet trends.

Frankly, I've got to be from Missouri on this one. Nobody really knows how much spam there is or isn't.

More interesting to me is the following snip:

Two-thirds of survey respondents said e-mail is now their most preferred method of communication, up sharply from 58 per cent a year earlier. And 56 per cent said e-mail has made them more efficient at the office, up slightly from 54 per cent. . . . In addition, with less spam to wade through, Canadians are becoming more receptive to permission-based e-mail marketing. Last year, 79 per cent signed up to receive e-mails from one or more websites, up from 77 per cent in 2003. [emphasis mine]

That says a lot about the "good enough" effect of the systems that are available as we need them and get used to them.

Viri - leading or lagging

Everybody loves what communication technology and the great network can do -- for productivity, interactivity, connection, etc., etc. Everybody is equally scared and distressed by the unintended consequence: viruses and other malicious applications that defeat those values sought by the technology. The other day I saw a pair of articles in Google News that made me think. The first was a news release that Microsoft had made a new foray toward institutional IM, plugging the new product into the Office suite more directly and significantly. Probably a strong indicator that IM in the office is a fact of life. The second article set the alarm bells off with a research study that found IM-directed viruses, etc. growing at 50% per month (that's right: per month).

So the question is, without elaborate explanation of (a) how I got there or (b) why it might be relevant or valuable: are viruses a lagging or leading indicator of a communication/network technology's relevance and secure spot in the world?

RBC employees getting PINned down

Here's an interesting story, not because RBC employees are going to become a little less "efficient," but because the reason for the bank revoking PIN-message transmission rights over Blackberries. G&M story is here: RBC's BlackBerry-addicted feel withdrawal pangs. Admittedly, I know very little about the messaging -- being an ardent Blackberry refuse-nik -- but intend to find out. More interesting to me, however, is that there is a privacy and regulatory issue here. That could cascade into other electronic messaging. The snip:

On Wednesday, the bank revoked PIN rights for any employees at its brokerage arm who deal directly with clients. Most of those affected work in sales, research and trading, said RBC spokeswoman Beja Rodeck, adding that the new policy was driven by regulatory requirements for overseeing electronic communications.

The bank also plans to hire a consulting firm to explore ways of tracking and archiving PIN correspondence for those who are still allowed to use the technology, said one source familiar with the matter.

Now that's a directory: Super-Yellow

Yellow Pages Group FINALLY buys SuperPages according to this TorStar item: Yellow Pages Group buys Telus SuperPages. Here are some quotes from the story:

"This will give us a single brand coast to coast, it will expand YPG's geographic footprint, reaching 93 per cent of total population in this country — and clearly will give us a collection of the most comprehensive and complete print and online directories." [says Marc Tellier]

That's pretty good coverage. And, it's both electronic and traditional paper.

"This will allow us to offer (advertisers) the possibility of multiple-market buys, to put together a national platform of value-added local search content and clearly to further strengthen the YPG value equation," Tellier said.

One should read: "electronic" implicitly in that statement.

So, how's that for all the information that's fit to print . . . or post . . . or call up on your wireless device - no matter where you are or when?