On October 10, Ontarians will be voting for a new government, and also for a new voting procedure: if enough people say ‘yes’, we will shift to a Mixed Member Proportional system. The details are on the web, but basically this gives everyone two votes: one for a (geographic) riding member, the other for a party list. Seats will be split 90/39, and only parties pulling 3% or more for the list vote will get seats, which will shut out most of the nuts and extremists. It’s a good system; it’s certainly a big improvement over what we have now.
The devil, though, is in the details. In order for it to pass, at least 60% of all referendum ballots must say ‘yes’, and 50% of the voters in at least 64 electoral districts have to give it the thumbs-up. Given how little campaigning there has been, I’m betting that most voters won’t bother to check either option, so it will fail by default. That would be a shame: adding some proportionality to our current system would go a long way toward breaking the self-serving cycle of “gotta be in office to get elected”.
So please, get out and vote, and vote “yes”.
Announcements
Leila’s post has the details: best five entries win an iPod Shuffle.
Announcements
Just look at the evidence:
And then of course there’s CoScripter, which I found through his blog, and now have to internalize. Ars increasingly longa, vita ever more brevis…
Uncategorized
O’Reilly has now sold the rights for both Russian and Korean translations of Beautiful Code. W00t!
Later: Chinese and Japanese translation are in the works as well, to be released in late 2007 and February 2008 respectively. Given how frequently AI criticizes China for human rights abuses, I’ll be very interested to watch how the book does there…
Beautiful Code
“Ferocious Beauty” is a multimedia dance piece which explores genetic research and its impact on society. (Yes, I know, it sounds a little odd, but friends who have seen it have said it’s great.) The announcement is below; see these two posters for more details.
The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) has some very exciting outreach initiatives on tap for the end of this month that I want to let you know about. These activities centre on the Canadian Premiere of a wonderfully innovative multi-media dance production called *Ferocious Beauty: Genome*, from the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, presented by OGI from *27-29 September 2007* at 8 pm at the Premiere Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre.**
Inspired by the mapping of the human genome, this multi-media dance piece is the result of a rare and unique collaboration between artists and scientists, which explores genetic research and its impact on society. The Chicago Sun-Times called it *”beautiful, richly imaginative, hugely ambitious… captivating, surprisingly funny, intensely moving, thought provoking…should not be missed by anyone fascinated by the intersection of science and art, or by the morally challenging issues now in play in the field of genetics.”*
But wait…there’s more! The creator of Ferocious Beauty: Genome, Liz Lerman, and a dancer from her company will be among the panelists for a *free public forum* we are co-hosting with MaRS, here in the MaRS main auditorium, from 6-8 pm on *Monday, September 24th*, entitled “A Meeting of Minds: Art, Science & Popular Culture.” The other panelists are Peter Outerbridge, lead actor in the Canadian TV science drama series, *ReGenesis*; Christina Jennings, creator and executive producer of *ReGenesis*; and Jeff Nisker, clinician, bioethicist and playwright of *Sarah’s Daughters and Orchids*. You can register for this free event by emailing rsvp@OntarioGenomics.ca.
Announcements
Prof. Randy Pausch, of Carnegie-Mellon University, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He’s going to give a talk (probably his last) on Tuesday, Sept 18, at 4:30 pm, titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”. It will be webcast (details to follow). Blurb is below; hope you’ll be able to tune in.
Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
Tuesday, Sept. 18th, 4:30pm
McConomy Auditorium
Randy Pausch
Professor of Computer Science, HCII, and Design
Co-Founder, Entertainment Technology Center
Almost all of us have childhood dreams: for example, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people don’t achieve theirs, and I think that’s a shame. I had several specific childhood dreams, and I’ve actually achieved most of them. More importantly, I have found ways, in particular the creation (with Don Marinelli), of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center (etc.cmu.edu), of helping many young people actually *achieve* their childhood dreams. This talk will discuss how I achieved my childhood dreams (being in zero gravity, designing theme park rides for Disney, and a few others), and will contain realistic advice on how *you* can live your life so that you can make your childhood dreams come true, too.
See http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/temp/RandySept18TalkPoster.pdf
Announcements
Thanks to generous sponsorship from TUCOWS, the Toronto Geek Girls dinner series has spots for up to 25 female students (graduate or undergraduate) to attend the next dinner and talk on September 19. Space is limited, so sign up now!
Equity
Over at O’Reilly, people are gloating about ISO’s decision not to ratify Microsoft’s OOXML document “standard”. At the same time, Jon Udell is saying much more interesting things about what smart document formats could do for the sciences. To quote him quoting Clifford Lynch, “Scientific literature that is computed upon, not merely read by humans.”
Software Carpentry
Tatiana Apandi at O’Reilly has organized a series of “Women in Tech” articles, the first of which is now up on the web. The blurb says:
The timely new series reveals the challenges, rewards, and, sometimes, frustrations of being a woman in an industry still dominated by men. “Each day, we’ll present a different woman’s story that I believe will open readers’ eyes to her unique perspective,” explains Apandi. “We have contributions from conference organizers, authors, programmers, developers, and more–women who have pioneered prosperous careers in technology.”
Contributors will include:
RSS is available at http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/feed/78?format=rss2 — it promises to be a very interesting read.
Equity
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