Proponents of various causes on the CBC Wish List project on Facebook are making a last push (surge?) to the finish line, and at least one group of Wishers have built an application to help increase the numbers.

People supporting liberal causes have developed this viral Facebook application which encourages people to vote for like-minded wishes and to add the app to their profile. Similarly, there is a group now called “Last minute push” which says “Let’s pull together progressives across Canada and make sure the anti-choicers don’t win.”

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	Specials	Posted at 3:40 pm (29 Jun 2007)

The three judges in the Seven Wonders of the CBC contest have been given their charges and are locked in a jury room now deciding the winners. I’ll break into coverage on this blog when we have a verdict.

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	Asides, Fun Stuff	Posted at 2:40 pm (29 Jun 2007)

UPDATE: In the interests of disclosure, and in accordance with this blog’s editorial policy, please note that on July 18, 2007, the CBC asked me to update this post with some corrections, clarification, and additional information. The CBC’s comments are italicized.

I finally got my hands on the elusive iPhone… er, DaletPlus today. Did a full day of training in Vancouver and here’s what I think.

In Short

Wow. This is miles ahead of the prehistoric Dalet still in use in most of the country. I mean, you can import and export MP3 files. That in itself nearly made me weep. It’s still Dalet, so it still has a few quirky Daletesque weird things, but in short you are going to love the difference.

[Read more →]

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	Workstations and Desktops	Posted at 2:11 pm (29 Jun 2007)

Wow, who knew DaletPlus would have this kind of functionality?! (See last line.)

(This is a parody.)

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	Fun Stuff	Posted at 1:26 am (29 Jun 2007)

Payback’s a bitch. After posting the Dalet satire poster yesterday, guess where I find myself today? Here I am in a dark room in CBC Vancouver undergoing DaletPlus training. Heheheh.

So far, I am super-impressed! Full review coming later.

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		Posted at 12:45 pm (28 Jun 2007)

You like? A printable version is here.

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	Fun Stuff	Posted at 7:18 am (27 Jun 2007)

From StatsCan: “Canada’s [export of culture goods] fell 12.7% to $2.1 billion, the third consecutive decline.”

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	Asides	Posted at 6:48 am (27 Jun 2007)

Gee, the new front page of canoe.ca sure seems awfully familiar to another site I go to occasionally…

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	CBC.ca web site	Posted at 5:51 pm (26 Jun 2007)

Is it just me, or does CBC Television seem to be buying a lot of ideas for our TV shows from other broadcasters and producers (see No Opportunity Wasted, Dragons’ Den, Test the Nation, and very nearly The One)?

Even CBC Radios’ recent This I Believe began life as a National Public Radio column.

Add one more to the list.

Who Do You Think You Are? is a BBC television documentary series, made by Wall to Wall that started in 2004. In each episode, a celebrity goes on a journey, in order to try and trace their family tree.

The Canadians to be profiled on the CBC show will be Don Cherry, Margot Kidder, Mary Walsh, Scott Thompson, Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, Steven Page, Avi Lewis, Sonja Smits, Measha Brueggergosman, Randy Bachman, Shaun Majumder, Chantal Kreviazuk. The series will launch October 11.

What do you think? Are we borrowing/buying a little too much from the ideas of other broadcasters? Or is this a fiscally responsible way of bringing new programs to air?

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	CBC Television	Posted at 7:02 am (26 Jun 2007)

The CRTC has approved a change of ownership at The Canadian Documentary Channel, passing control of the channel to CBC, which now holds an 82% stake and takes over for Corus Entertainment.According to Playback magazine,

“The feds okayed the deal, valued at $1 million, on Friday, following a review in which critics expressed concern that the consolidation would give the Ceeb a monopoly on the market, leading to less variety and fewer opportunities for docmakers. CBC already does heavy trade in docs through its main network and CBC Newsworld.

“But regulators accepted the Ceeb’s assurances that CDC will operate with due independence from its execs on Front Street, and that, although a new license will be issued, that the channel will continue to abide by its current commitment to spend at least 50% of its acquisition budget on third-party projects. The channel will also continue to focus on long-form docs.

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	Documentary Channel	Posted at 6:53 am (26 Jun 2007)

Long-time CBC Radio personality Bill Richardson will return to the airwaves to host CBC Radio 2’s flagship classical performance show, currently in development, as well as the soon to be redesigned Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.

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	Asides, CBC Radio 2, Personalities	Posted at 1:15 pm (25 Jun 2007)

I’ll be slow on moderating comments and responding to emails this weekend, as I’m attending the Podcasters Across Borders conference in Kingston ON and giving an abbreviated version of my day-long workshop called From Idea to Air: A Field Guide to Producing Radio that Doesn’t Suck. If you can’t make it in person, join me from 10 p.m. to midnight ET at Todbits.TV for live video coverage from the conference.

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	About This Blog, Asides	Posted at 8:51 am (22 Jun 2007)

Earlier today, the number of people supporting the pro-choice position on abortion on CBC’s Facebook experiment edged out those supporting the pro-life.

Having been on the receiving end of emails from both groups asking for my online vote, one thing is clear — this experiment is a success at least from the point of view of capturing people’s attention.

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		Posted at 3:49 pm (21 Jun 2007)

The Tyee, B.C.’s left-leaning online newspaper, has published a column critical of CBC’s Facebook experiment. A snippet:

For the CBC’s part, they defend the contest with just this on the contest’s ongoing blog. “Just so you know — here at the CBC, we’ve received some complaints about the fact that we’ve continued to let this project continue, because “the wish list has been highjacked by anti-abortion lobby groups.” Our response? There’s no such thing as ‘highjacking’ with this project. Who ever can best organize their wish, and get the most people to support it… will come out on top. I guess the whole point is to BE good at lobbying for your wish.”

So “The Great Canadian Wish List” is in fact “Canada’s Next Top Lobbyist”? Okay, fine. So if I put “I wish for a return to slavery” up, and I get 3,000 bigots to join Facebook (or 1,000 bigots with three accounts each, for that matter), then that should be Canada’s greatest wish?

Give me a break. Popular doesn’t always mean right — which is why we elect politicians to debate issues and don’t just hold popular votes every week. And for that matter, popular on Facebook doesn’t even really mean popular.

I dunno. I mean, come on, how are we supposed to learn about new technologies and social networks if we don’t experiment? The Facebook project might have its problems (I personally am more upset there isn’t an equivelent Canadian platform we could have used, than the actual results) but at least we’re poking around and learning.

And that’s a far cry from the previous spirit of “Uh, we don’t understand it, so let’s not do anything about it and keep on keepin’ on like we always have.”

Points for effort, at least?

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	Media Coverage	Posted at 2:57 pm (21 Jun 2007)