Before Internex, I used to frequent the Echo BBS run with a lot of passion by someone named Karen S. I remember meeting various members of the board for Bowling and the odd BBQ. BBS’s were small, local but also close-knit. It was either on Echo or a similar BBS that someone told me about this BBS that connected you to an In-ter-net : ZOOiD BBS (The Zoo of Ids) soon to become Internex Online.

Since I was perusing Plato’s Republic at the time (Oh my that sounds pompous), I chose the handle socrates. Therefore my email account at Internex was none other than socrates@io.org (don’t bother writing to it, it’ll bounce for sure). A while later, I learned that I had my own space for building my own website.

I remember hand coding my first HTML pages with a text editor called joe in a unix shell and being amazed by the fact what I had created could be instantly be accessed by  anybody around the world … My first URL was www.io.org/~socrates/

At the time, the Internet was all about unix, ftp, ircii, usenet, gopher, telnet and eventually accessing the World Wide Web with lynx.

By November 1995, Internex Online was sold to Greenlight Communication but users were able to continue using io.org services. By 1997,  the former services of io.org were taken over by ACC TelEnterprises Ltd. who promptly ruined the service and alienated thousands of users. Today, the io.org domain is owned by Primus Canada. I don’t remember who was my next ISP (was it Interlog?) but I’ll never forget Internex Online!

Twenty years later, it feels like we’ve come a very long way. I now access the internet and the web via mobile devices, it’s an integral part of my daily life and has also provided me employment and enjoyment beyond anything I could have imagined back when I first connected to io.org.

To learn more about Io.org please check out these links

• Internet Online @ Wikipedia
• A short history of Io.org

Is the Web, the Information Big Bang, also going end in a Big Whimper?

I present to you the case of the Huffington Post and its new “Canadian” incarnation.

I live in Canada and I’ve been reading the Huffington Post for 4 or more years now, and while a lot of it is bunk and noise, especially anything relating to health issues, I read it because I wanted to hear from the American Left and American Progressives. Just like I check Matt Drudge to hear from the American Right and Guys in Fedoras.

Why do I like to read about American politics? Well interest of course, but also political commentary. You see, in 2008, one of my political blogs (currently offline) was listed in France’s major news websites: LeMonde.fr. I used many sources including the Huffington Post for analysis from a uniquely American perspective.

Today, the Huffington Post hijacked my request to visit its website and hoisted upon me a “Canadian” version with “customized” content for which I have no interest. Maple Leaf graphic included, in case I hadn’t noticed the .ca domain, the childish cartoons and Canadian content.

We already know that being in Canada means not being able to watch Hulu.com, being banned from Comedy Central and force fed the Comedy Network. Not only is our televised programming culturally jammed with atrocious and horrid Canadian Content⁽¹⁾, our last bastion of information freedom, the web, is slowly closing in on us. Let users decide which version of the Huffington Post they wish to see.

Until then …

Well I see by the clock on the wall
That it’s time to bid you one and all
Good-bye (Good-bye)
So long (So long)
Farewell (Farewell)
Adieu (Adieu)

Be good (Stay well)
Bye bye (Keep warm)
Relax (And eat)
Stay loose (Take care)
Adieu mon vieux
À la prochaine
Good-bye till when we meet again!

Note 1: Canadian Idol, Canadian this, Canadian that … Remember Metropia? Remember PopCultured and the painfully unfunny Elvira Kurt? (My sincere apologies for that last flashback … )

PS: While we’re on the topic of customized content, please watch Eli Pariser’s talk on online “filter bubbles” [TED]

Here are some favourites among classics.

• 1930 - 1940
  • La Grande Illusion (1937) - Greatest movie, epic about WW 1, European change, the end of aristocracy and French POW. Movie was pillaged by Hollywood and hated by Adolf Hitler. By Renoir with Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim, Pierre Fresnay
  • Pépé le moko (1937) - An allegory of France-Algeria relations as seen through the personal relations of Gabin and an Algerian woman
  • Hotel du Nord (1938) - Classic about life around Paris.
  • La bête humaine (1938) - Gabin a train engineer with mental health issues as understood in the 30s.
  • Quai des brumes (1938) - A deserter tries to start a new life,
• 1950 - 1960
  • Bob le Flambeur (1956) - Bob the gambler - A brilliant thriller that was “remade” in Hollywood
  • Les 400 coups (1959) - Tales of adolescence, solitude and misunderstanding
• 1960 - 1970
  • Le cave se rebiffe (1961) - Great thriller about printing fake money and what can go wrong …
  • L’armée des ombres (1969) - About the French resistance, with Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret. Dark. Very dark.
• 1970 - 1990
  • Le Chat (1971) - Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret. Excellent movie about a very old couple that descend into pure hatred…
  • La veuve Couderc (1971) - Alain Delon and Simone Signoret. An escapee and life in a very small hamlet, divided by family squabbles.
  • Adieu Poulet (1975) - Lino Ventura as a renegade cop, 70s
  • Tchao Pantin (1983) - Coluche, a famous French comedian in a dramatic and extremely depressing role. A great snapshot of the gritty Paris of the 80s.
• I would also suggest some movies by Louis de Funès but the humour is dated and doesn’t cross cultural barriers very well. Some of his slapstick can be enjoyed on Youtube: Potato recipe in German - offensive but typical of post-war comedy - Jaguar skit - Losing his mind over lost money

• First off, a great blog entry on the type of Facebook Users you may encounter online.
• Yes, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are Unionized Workers.
• I love Bach, I love Carillon so why not enjoy the two?
• I also enjoy Yann-Fañch Kemener, the voice of Breton song, France’s only surviving Celtic language. Hope you do too, I enjoy it as much as Sean Nós song.
  
• I have always distrusted slick presentations. Is Ken Robinson just another Sophist?
• I miss the old Blackadder series. Also miss Minder, Rumpole, the Prisoner …
• If you remember this, did you believe it?
• Carl, a true inspiration.
• How to open a locked suitcase with a ballpoint pen and never leave a trace.
• Keith Olbermann’s new blog has launched : FOK News Channel

The following was removed from our car :

• (a) macbook pro i7 2.66 500 sn W80191YHAGW
• (b) Bookbook casing for computer, leather
• (c) black backpack with New Mexico and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon pins
• (d) grey backpack with cables and other electronics
• (e) Canon Power Shot camera, zoom and memory chips
• (f) File folder with important not-for-profit information
• (g) Cobra walkie-talkies
• (h) keys with postal address in Toronto - Front of key chain is “MC” for Monte Carlo
• (i) various business cards
• (j) a Coleman cooler bag
• (k) G-Drive 500 MB
• (h) Old Realistic walkie-talkies
• (i) Small ICOM scanner
• (j) receipts from hotels, restaurants in NB, NS, PE & QC

If you can help return the above items to its rightful owner, you will be able to claim a REWARD of $ 1000 dollars. Serial Number was reported to Mark-Up.com.

• Photos : exploration urbaine du métro de Paris - An exploration of Paris’ Subway System by Urban Explorers.
• A quote from Mark Twain: Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.
• I learned of a vestigial trait known as Darwin’s Tubercle
• I would like to remind you that you musn’t panic! Betelgeuse Won’t Explode in 2012.
• A little critical reading about what Mcdonald’s chicken nuggets really contain
• I really enjoyed CBC’s Science-Biased Piece on Homeopathy
• I read an article about The Gentlemen of Bacongo
• I enjoyed this quote from Erich von Stroheim:  “If you live in France and you have written one good book, or painted one good picture, or directed one outstanding film, 50 years ago, and nothing ever since, you are still recognized as an artist and honoured accordingly. In Hollywood … “
• Do you have some time for a TED presentation? Why people buy Apple products.
• I deleted my gawker account (for commenting) - following their major security breach
• I am now glad I didn’t pursue a doctorate in cell biology, or any other field for that matter
• My new favourite YouTube accounts are zthemusic [Charlie Brooker] and JamesBurkeWeb [Connections]