You know when news media gone to Dogs.

Miserable Leafs making brown bags fashionable again

Miserable Leafs making brown bags fashionable again TheStar.com - Sports - Miserable Leafs making brown bags fashionable again

January 15, 2008

Yep, it's that bad. The Leafs are 28th in the NHL and have lost 11 of their last 13 games – bad enough for fans to wear bags over their heads in protest. Consider the following models of headwear when attending tonight's game:

The Andrew Raycroft Bag

Has 4.01 holes per game in it

The Compost Bag

Rots along with the season

The Jason Blake "Sniper" Bag

No eyeholes

The Surrender Bag

Comes with white flag taped to it

The Richard Peddie Bag

Put on head, count fingers

The Fergie Bag

Ask permission before donning

The Mats Sundin Bag

Stanley Cup-proof

The Carlo Colaiacovo Bag

Like new, rarely used

The Kyle Wellwood Bag

Slick, but empty

The Body Bag

One size fits all blueliners

The Larry Tanenbaum Bag

Made of money

The MLSE Bag

It reaches into your pocket

The Jiri Tlusty Bag

Comes with web cam

The Paul Maurice Bag

Already packed

Bell traffic shaping sparks ISP outrage

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Bell traffic shaping sparks ISP outrage

The carrier has started slowing peer-to-peer traffic during peak hours to prevent it from dominating the network, but some see this as an attack on net neutrality. Bell says it wants to control music downloads

By: Howard Solomon
Network World Canada (26 Mar 2008)

One of the country’s biggest independent Internet providers is angry that Bell Canada has started managing peer-to-peer traffic on the high-speed backbone that Ontario and Quebec ISPs connect to.

“I’m just completely outraged that they could do this without consulting us,” said Ted Chislett, president of Primus Telecommunications Canada, a Bell wholesale Internet access purchaser that sells DSL voice and data services in both provinces.

Bell says it’s trying to assure peer-to-peer traffic from music, file and movie downloads doesn’t overwhelm the network, which the utility estimates takes up to 80 per cent of traffic. But Chislett worries that he’ll lose business to cable and other providers if Bell’s policy slows network speeds to those customers.

Primus is one of at least three ISPs vowing to fight Bell's new strategy for fighting P2P traffic.

Bell is in the middle of implementing its traffic-shaping procedures, which won’t be finished until next month. That might explain why Primus hasn’t seen any change in its traffic since it learned of the policy a few days ago.

Still, Chislett and several other Bell wholesale customers are pondering going to the CRTC or launching class-action lawsuits against Bell for a number of reasons, including a possible slowing of service to customers and violating their contract with the utility.

However, Bell spokesman Jason Laszlo said that the agreements of ISPs who buy service from Bell clearly state it has the right to manage its network “for the benefit of all.”

Bell has been shaping network traffic on its own Sympatico high speed service for about a year, he said, by “balancing the amount of space P2P (peer to peer) applications take within the bandwidth during peak hours to make sure they don’t take over the entire bandwidth.”

That was quietly extended on March 14 to contract ISPs buying service from Bell.

Laszlo wouldn’t divulge how Bell is seeing into the traffic, or how it’s slowing down what it finds objectionable.

“Increasing congestion is affecting the networks of all carriers across North America, including ours,” he said. “Like other carriers we’re seeking to better balance Internet traffic during peak hours so all of our customers can receive an optimum level of service.”

He acknowledged that ISPs weren’t notified of the new policy, which Chislett said is “unacceptable.”

“It shows how heavy-handed they are,” the Primus executive said. “We’re supposed to be their wholesale partners.”

As for Bell’s assertion that it has the right to manage its network, Chislett replied, “I don’t believe they have the right to impact our customers without telling us,” he said, particularly because Primus paying for access.

Although going to the CRTC is one alternative, Chislett said talking to Bell is his first option. “We’re trying to quickly get in front of Bell and see what can be done.” Among the alternatives Bell has, he said, is to charging different rates for different traffic demands.

Increasing bandwidth demands are frustrating carriers, who see never-ending expenses for bigger pipes, switches and routers to handle the flow. There are some calls for tariffs on forms of data that clog the Web to ease the problem. However, others see this as an attack on net neutrality, a principle that all Internet data should be treated neutrally.

While some users might see the Bell strategy as impacting net neutrality, telecommunications consultant Iain Grant of the SeaBoard Group disagrees.

The principle of carriers managing their networks is clearly understood, he said in an e-mail interview. Bell’s policy this isn't about particular data, it is a function of usage intensity, he wrote. Carriers have the right to regulate intensity just as power utilities have the right to manage electricity during peak hours.

“Networks that have overbuilt their capacity and who therefore have no capacity constraints (and thus no need to worry about network congestion) can market their service as being a premium offering,” he added.

Another Bell wholesale customer upset over Bell’s new policy is Rocky Gaudrault, CEO of Teksavvy Solutions of Chatham, Ont, an ISP with some 21,000 DSL customers.

“It’s a little upsetting to have worked with what was with a great organization and have this come up,” he said in an interview. The company pays for an interface with Bell’s network to aggregate services, plus about $20 per user a month, he said. “Essentially we’ve purchased rights to this portion of this network.”

“They have the right to manage the health of the network,” he added. “They do not have the right to police it.”

Since March 14 some customers have complained their service has slowed at times, he said.

“We are paying for five megabit connection, which inherently means we should get five megabits of service. What’s inside that is irrelevant.”

Gaudrault acknowledged that before March 14 Teksavvy at times didn’t get 5Mpbs through its pipe. However, he believes that’s due to Chatham’s distance from Toronto rather than overuse by P2P downloaders.

Another ISP considering is options is Acanac Inc., a Mississauga, Ont.-based company with some 16,000 DSL and 4,000 VoIP customers in Ontario and Quebec.

“We are extremely upset that they (Bell) are shaping the traffic that we should be able to control,” said Sandro Henriques, a director of the company.

Acanac has been talking with Gaudrault about possible action, he said, but is waiting until a meeting with Bell over the issue.

“We’re going to try to do whatever we can to put a stop to this,” he said. “If we allow Bell to continue to make these adjustments it’s going to lead to something else.” Some customers, including those wanting to do a lot of P2P downloading, are paying for promised speeds, he said, but Bell is restricting the speed of some traffic.

When it was suggested that Bell is trying to ensure his customers get the fast access they’re paying for, Henriques replied that “Bell should have no right to interfere with the network of our clients.”

Instead, he said, “they should upgrade their hardware.”

Acanac is a division of Canaca.com Inc, a Web hosting company.

Copyright © 2007
ITworldcanada.com

I hate corrup Canadians.

I don't know why Canadian have such a superiority complex. Whether its topic of peaceful country/ people or corruption or democracy. The support for Tamil Tigers here in Canada or Sikh Terrorists. Take peace loving Canadian where the National sports is Hockey. Yes Hockey where you are allowed to beat the craps out of somebody. The "Clean Hit" can send you to Hospital or end Careers.

Same about corruption. We are not corrupt. Look at their First Prime Minister and corruption scandal.

Look at Ex-PM Brian Mulroney. His wife had a habit of big spending even when Brian can't afford. So net result it this.

Ex-Mulroney chief of staff to tell MPs about cash TheStar.com - Canada - Ex-Mulroney chief of staff to tell MPs about cash

January 25, 2008

THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – A fresh allegation that large amounts of cash arrived at 24 Sussex Dr. while Brian Mulroney was prime minister is setting the stage for a stormy return of the Commons ethics committee next week.

MPs on the committee are looking into the relationship between the former Tory prime minister and German-Canadian arms lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber, who paid Mulroney three cash instalments shortly after he left office totalling at least $225,000.

The money — Schreiber says it was $300,000 — was apparently related to lobbying work for a light-armoured vehicle maker, possibly for a Canadian manufacturing plant known as the Bear Head project.

But Norman Spector, a former chief of staff to Mulroney in the early 1990s, says he’ll be bringing documented evidence to Parliament Hill of other cash transactions.

“The MPs will be interested no doubt in my good knowledge of the Bear Head project when I was chief of staff to Mr. Mulroney,” Spector wrote in French this week in Le Devoir newspaper, while confirming he’s to appear as a witness.

“I equally hope to help the committee understand the motivations and the behaviour of my old boss by discussing other cases,” Spector continued.

“Finally, documents in hand, I believe myself quite capable of helping them identify the source of large quantities of money carried to 24 Sussex while Mr. Mulroney was prime minister of Canada.”

Spector did not respond to interview requests today but the allegations are not entirely new.

Investigative journalist Stevie Cameron’s 1994 book “On The Take” cited a chef at 24 Sussex saying he transferred thousands of dollars in cash between the Prime Minister’s Office and Mila Mulroney, the prime minister’s wife.

Francois Martin also told Cameron he saw Mulroney removing cash from a large safe in the basement of the official residence.

Cameron also reported that the Tory party’s PC Canada Fund was tapped to pay some of Mulroney’s personal expenses.

A spokesman for Mulroney said today that the allegations are old news and that Spector has an axe to grind.

“Who knows what’s got up Norman’s shorts,” said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified. “But nobody is very worried about his claims — heard it all before.”

The former prime minister is concerned, however, about efforts by the committee to examine his personal income tax returns.

A letter from Mulroney’s lawyer to committee chairman Paul Szabo this week accused the Liberal MP of “a clear attempt to violate one of the most sacrosanct protections of any Canadian’s privacy.”

An individual’s tax returns can be disclosed without their consent only under very strictly circumscribed and specific conditions laid out in the Income Tax Act. Any attempt by the committee to force Mulroney’s hand would likely result in a protracted legal battle.

And that’s where the rubber could hit the road between alleged cash transfers to the former prime minister’s official residence and the committee’s investigation.

“There’s always the suspicion out there that this $300,000 — or the $225,000 — was just the tip of the iceberg,” Liberal MP Robert Thibault said Friday.

“Maybe this will indicate there was some other cash flowing there.”

Conservative MP Russ Hiebert, who also sits on the committee, countered that the investigation has a written mandate and can’t become a “witch hunt.”

“If Mr. Spector’s comments fall within that mandate, then of course we can address it,” said Hiebert. “But I don’t think we should allow this committee to turn into a fishing expedition where any and all accusations ... can be used to slander individuals or tie up the committee for a period of time that isn’t justified.”

The question of Mulroney’s “culture of cash” — as Thibault put it — will certainly be part of the committee agenda.

Martin, the former chef, will join Spector among about a dozen witnesses the committee plans to call in coming weeks. MPs will hold a private meeting Tuesday to set the agenda, with the next round of witnesses set to start testifying on Thursday.

Given that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said a public inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair will only begin after the committee hearings end, MPs must decide how many leads they want to pursue.

Opposition MPs all agreed today that coming from a former chief of staff, Spector’s allegations must be heard.

“So it’s not very new,” noted Bloc Quebecois MP Carole Lavallee in an interview.

“But what’s new is that it’s coming from a credible person who was in the Mulroney entourage. This is new.”

Added Lavallee: “Something tells me that we are going to hear interesting things.”