FOOT IN MOUTH

Twitter is good. You can connect with people from around the globe. Journalists, comedians, and your common, day-to-day, boring individuals (such as myself) can post comments about anything and everything. It's a phenomenal tool to interact with a large audience. Unfortunately, it can lead to foot-in-mouth syndrome.

Glen Murray in less controversial times. (Photo from cbc.ca)

Cue former Winnipeg mayor, Glen Murray. Murray made (defamatory) comments warning readers that Rob Ford, Toronto's new mayor, is a bigot. On the eve of Toronto's mayoral election, Murray tweeted "If u vote Ford u r voting for bigotry." (Somebody should have told Murray that he has 140 characters available, it wouldn't have killed him to spell out 'you' and 'are'...)

To make matters worse, he retweeted a comment that read: "Ford, [Tim] Hudak [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper [are] the trifecta of Republican-style, right-wing ignorance and bigotry."

 

Rob Ford (Photo from nationalpost.ca)

Although Glen Murray's recent defamatory comments truly are egregious and show poor judgment coming from an accomplished politician, it illustrates a fatal flaw in social media: people can write things without thinking about the possible repercussions. Had Murray taken the time to consider how his message may have been received, I would like to think he wouldn't have posted the tweets at all.

I truly look forward to more outrageous comments from our elected leaders as they learn to use social media effectively, and may they all be as controversial as this example.

IT'S NOT PIRACY - IT'S PUBLICITY

I am guilty as charged. I watched bootlegged concert footage. It's a great video, and you should watch it too.

It's footage of a recent Phoenix concert at Madison Square Garden, in which Daft Punk made a guest appearance. The concert generated a ridiculous amount of coverage online.

It really got me thinking about how different things are in the music industry today. A few short years ago, it didn't have a clue how to harness the power of online content. Frankly, it took the music industry what seems like an eternity to understand that digital media, whether pirated or otherwise, wouldn't bring forth its demise. If anything, the plethora of video sites (not to mention fans' blogs) have improved the industry's advertising capabilities.

Case in point, the concert footage. Daft Punk hasn't released material since 2007, and is set to release the highly anticipated soundtrack for Tron Legacy in December.

Publicity-wise, playing a surprise set was an incredibly savvy business move. As noted, it generated a ton of press. In a day in age where virtually everyone has a smartphone, it was only a matter of time before videos of the concert started to emerge online.

At the time I publish this post, some youtube videos of the concert - and there are several - have been viewed just under 100,000 times in the first two days since it was posted.

Online video content, in this case unauthorized concert footage, is doing Daft Punk and its record label a favour. It's providing them with free advertising. What's more, video content of a surprise concert appearance is undoubtedly going to generate more attention from fans than a simple article in a magazine ever would.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

The movie The Social Network provided an interesting look into the founding of Facebook, a revolutionary website that changed the way we interact with each other. Apart from being an interesting exposé, it cast Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a negative light.

Scene from The Social Network

Facebook has redefined societal interactions, and has made its mark on global society. The movie The Social Network has defined Zuckerberg as an aloof individual. Although the film certainly makes a point to show that Zuckerberg is an incredibly intelligent individual, it also portrayed him as a narcissistic individual.

Granted, I have absolutely no way of knowing without a shadow of doubt that Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal is an accurate representation of the internet mogul or not, the overall depiction makes Zuckerberg look bad. Granted the character comes across as an intelligent individual, but that fact is overshadowed by his self-absorption.

Picture of co-founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg's reaction to the movie was mixed. There's an interesting analysis of his reaction on The PR Post written by Tiffany Gallicano. On her blog, Gallicano mentions that Zuckerberg played the movie off as fun, and characterized it as fiction. He gave the appearance that the movie was of no concern to him whatsoever. 

Zuckerberg did however stumble when he announced a donation of $100 million dollars to the Newark school system on Oprah the day the movie was released. Gallicano refers to the tactic as a little league strategy "when a company looks bad and decides to sponsor the little league team in hopes that this gesture will make up for things." This effort seems disingenuous, and very calculated.



Despite doing some damage to Zuckerberg's image, overall I don't think The Social Network will have a negative impact on Facebook. I doubt that any of the +500 million users on Facebook deleted their profiles in disgust over Zuckerberg's conduct. Furthermore, although the donation to the Newark school system seemed disingenuous, most people will focus on the number rather than the reason behind the donation. In the end, the movie The Social Network will have little to no impact on the popularity of the website.

Here's a shameless plug for The Social Network. Enjoy the trailer.

POLITICAL SOUP

How can I, in good conscience, enjoy a bowl of soup now?

A protest is brewing over Campbell's soup. 

Well, not so much the soup, rather Campbell's decision to have Canadian halal soup products certified by the Islamic Society of North America. US government prosecutors allege that the company had ties to Hamas in a 2007 conspiracy case.  

I look forward to the day where members of all societies can sit and enjoy a warm cup of soup without creating an international incident.

           

CAN BAGGERS BE CHOOSERS?

Green isn’t just a buzzword anymore; increasingly, it’s becoming a way of life. We are constantly urged to buy products that have as little an environmental impact as possible. 

A plethora of eco-friendly products line the shelves of department stores across the city offering us alternatives to conventional products. We can now add garbage bags to the list of green products hitting the market.

The trend towards using greener forms of garbage bags is apparent in some Canadian cities. Cities like Brampton and Mississauga participate in a weekly curbside organic waste program which requires citizens to use biodegradable bags.

As biodegradable bags are gaining popularity, our Buyer Beware team, Chadd, Sharon, Brea, Michelle, and me, decided that now was as good a time as ever to test out whether or not biodegradable garbage bags were as sturdy as regular garbage bags.

Michelle and Brea organized a focus group. We wanted to find out what Winnipeg consumers considered when purchasing garbage bags, and what they thought of biodegradable bags.

What was interesting was that none of the focus group members were aware that biodegradable garbage bags even existed. As interesting our discovery was, I learned first-hand that it wasn’t that surprising. Most department stores don’t have them on their shelves.

There are very few large biodegradable garbage bags for yard waste sold at retail stores in Winnipeg. I spent three hours scouring 13 different stores before finally stumbling upon biodegradable garbage bags.

It was by far the most frustrating part of the whole project. Frankly, there’s nothing more nerve-wracking than not being able to find the major component of your tests. It’s an adventure I’m glad I don’t have to repeat any time soon.

But I digress.

We conducted tests on five products:

RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste

24” x 30” (61 x 76.2cm) – $4.99 per package of 10 bags

Great Value Ty-Up Flaps Regular Outdoor Bags

26” x 32.5” (66 x 82.5cm) – $4.47 per package of 40 bags

GLAD ForceFlex Stretchable Strength Easy-Tie Bags

30” x 33” (76.2 x 83.8cm) – $4.88 per package of 15 bags

Husky Garbage Bags

26” x 36” (60 x 91.4cm) – $9.99 per package of 100 bags

RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags

26” x 32.5” (66 x 82.5cm) – $4.99 per package of 40 bags

The biodegradable product we used was the RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste.

All the other products are conventional garbage bags; however the RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags is a product made from 65 per cent recycled plastic, 20 per cent of which is post-consumer content.

Our first test determined how much weight each bag could handle before ripping. The RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste ranked in last, breaking at 40 lbs.

 RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste

Our second test determined which bag had the most visible signs of rips and tears after having twigs and branches inserted within them. Once again, the RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste had the poorest showing.

GLAD ForceFlex Stretchable Strength Easy-Tie Bags

The last test was a seepage test. We filled each bag with two litres of water and threw the bags roughly 10 feet onto a concrete pavement. We found out that RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste don’t mind taking a beating on the pavement.

Product Testing

Product Name	Tensile Strength*	Tearing Test*	Seepage Test*	Overall Score Total**
RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste	1	1	4	6
Great Value Ty-Up Flaps Regular Outdoor Bags	4	4	1	9
GLAD ForceFlex Stretchable Strength Easy-Tie Bags	3	5	2	10
Husky Garbage Bags	3	2	4	9
RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags	5	4	5	14

*(Ranking: 5=Best; 4=Good; 3=Decent; 2=Bad; 1=Worst)

**(Scored out of a maximum total of 15)

The overall score was determined by adding the scores of all three tests. The maximum score possible is 15. The product with the highest overall score total is the product that is most recommended. Conversely, the product with the lowest overall score is the product that performed the worst.

At the conclusion of our tests, we discovered that the biodegradable product RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste was at the bottom of the table.  It can therefore be said that it is not as sturdy as conventional garbage bags.

If the environment is your major concern, the best product was the RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags. It performed the best overall, and because it’s made from recycled materials it is the most eco-friendly of conventional garbage bags.


Last but not least, we decided to celebrate the end of our tests by participating in an unconventional potato sack bag race.

EYE WIDE SHUT

No, Stanley Kubrick hasn't come back from the dead to produce a prequel to Eyes Wide Shut.

I stumbled on this absolutely ridiculous news story about a woman who superglued her eye shut.


A woman from Arizona who had cataract surgery a year ago was reaching for what she believed to be her eye drop medication. Suffice to say, what she grabbed wasn't her eye drops. She grabbed a bottle of superglue instead.


Her excuse, you ask? She said the bottles for the eye drops and the super glue are nearly identical.


Granted, the bottles can look similar. But my question is a simple one: what are those two bottles doing next to each other? Last time I checked, my superglue is nowhere near my medicine cabinet. These bottles shouldn't be anywhere near each other.


Whatever happened to common sense...

RRC MAYORAL FORUM

On October 6th, 2010, Winnipeg mayoral candidates Sam Katz and Judy Wasylycia-Leis duked it out at Red River College at a mayoral forum.


Wasylycia-Leis spoke at length about her vision of safer streets, which involve community hubs. The concept has been elaborated and spoken about ad nauseam. I first wrote about the topic in a previous blog post on September 9th. I thought her proposed initiatives were redundant then, and that view has not changed.

Photo from CTV

What has changed is the fact that I'm absolutely sick and tired of hearing about her community hubs.


Katz did what he does best: said next to nothing new. I wrote a blog post on September 19th indicating that it was in Katz' best interest to keep quiet on controversial issues. This view has also not changed.

Photo from CTV

It's Katz' election to lose. All he needs to do is deflect questions, promote past initiatives, and take a few jabs at Wasylycia-Leis from time to time.


Although the forum was heated at times, there was nothing meaningful or new that was elaborated upon. At the end of the day, it was interesting to watch, but lacked any substance.

SOCCER & POLITICS

Apparently Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz isn't the only politician getting involved in soccer game altercations.

President Evo Morales, Bolivia's leader, kneed an opposing player in the groin in a soccer game against a team of political rivals.

Photo from the Telegraph

I'm willing to assume Mayor Katz' kick was an accident. In President Morales' case, not so much... I'll let you be the judge though. And if anybody cares, the match in which Morales was playing ended in a 4-4 draw. (Morales is wearing the green jersey, number 10)

NAVY BOMBING GUAM?

What did Guam do to deserve a barrage of US navy bombs?

Photo from www.guammap.org

Well, nothing.
The island's population of invasive brown tree snakes on the other hand...


In an article on FOXNews.com which was originally reported by Stars and Stripes, the navy is launching an attack on brown tree snakes. How are they launching their attack on the pesky vermin you ask? By dropping dead mice packed with acetaminophen from helicopters.


I wonder what PETA will have to say about this. In any case, they probably won't have kind words.

Photo from Fox News