Great article. Click through for details – Mashable
How does the Apple tablet fit into this vision?
mock up of possible Apple tablet
Very well.
A NEW device that integrates with your home computer and iPod.
… The Apple Tablet looks to be the next stage of this evolution. Rumor has it that not only is the device going to have 3G access, but Apple envisions it is a shared piece of hardware among the family. …
Anti-smoking laws in France and Germany have met fierce opposition.
But those crazy Finns are pushing very strict legislation:
Finland’s government aims to phase out smoking completely within the next 30 years.
“This new law proposal says, according to paragraph one, that we will get rid of smoking once and for all in Finland,” said Ilkka Oksala, the Finnish state secretary of health.
Under the proposed legislation:
By the spring, smokers in Finland will only be able to buy tobacco by asking for cigarettes from under the counter.
Tobacco vending machines are also being phased out over the next three years.
It will be illegal to smoke in a car carrying passengers under the age of 18
UPDATE: It looks like the claims in this post are false. See details in the COMMENTS.
Here’s the response we got back from Canada Post:
Over the holidays, a customer contacted us by email to ask us why private sector partners would be allowed to charge more for the same service provided by corporate offices. The reply they received contained misinformation and we would like our customers to know the facts – rates are the same at all Canada Post establishments both corporate and private sector partner locations.
It is very important to us that your customer experience is the same no matter where you choose to shop.
In fact, the agreement that Canada Post has with its private sector partners specifies that the maximum postal rates that they can charge are the Canada Post published rates. If a postal outlet charges prices that are over the Canada Post published rates, they are in violation of their contract. You should also know that the equipment used by private sector postal outlets is programmed with Canada Post’s published rates. Therefore, the rates should be the same no matter where you choose to get postal services.
We are very disappointed to hear of this experience and we are investigating the matter. If you have any questions or concerns about our rates, contact us at http://canadapost.ca/contactus
AND another response by email:
It is very important to us that the customer experience is the same no matter where our customers choose to shop.
With respect to the rates, all of our 6,000 automated post offices, corporate or dealer use the same Retail point-of-sale system software and corporate rating engine. Therefore they all charge the same rate for the same identical service.
Dealers cannot charge a higher rate for a postal service, as the system will not permit it and contractually they would be in default.
We will further investigate the matter that you brought to our attention.
Do those rates seem sensible to you? Who comes up with these pricing formulas?
More recently, a blogger mailed two identical packages via Canada Post, one week apart.
From a Canada Post postal outlet, cost was $11.74. Next week … a clerk at a Canada Post office said the $11.74 on the second package was not enough. He’d have to buy $6 more in postage.
WHAT!?
That story came in by email from George. It’s posted in the comments.
Veronika Strofski, Customer Service Canada Post, explains:
Only Canada Post Depots and Corporate Post Offices are obligated to follow the price of stamps and postal products that are legislated by Canada Post. Any commercial and private establishment (e.g. convenience store or pharmacy) may charge extra fees as a convenience to their customers. It is at their discretion to apply additional service fees to products that they sell. We suggest visiting a Corporate Post Office in order to avoid paying additional service charges ….
Why haven’t I ever heard about these extra charges?
Seems those extra charges do not exist.
I’ll forward these complaints to Canada Post’s current Ombudsman: Ms. Nicole Goodfellow.
As at most bogus organizations, there’s no email contact. Only phone. Or mail. She really doesn’t want to hear from Canadians.
… On another page I found the address: ombud@ombudsman.postescanadapost.ca
I’ve still not heard back from the Ombudswoman. Who’s the Ombudsman for Ombudsmen?
Bottom line: In Canada, avoid snail mail. Do as much as possible online. Or by FAX.
… I still feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of the Internet’s inexhaustible supply of “wonderful things.” You know, you sometimes hear people talking about how crap everything on the net … and I wonder, “Are these people looking at a different Internet than the one that I get?”
The Kaiser Family Foundation has the results in from its latest media usage study, and it was enough to shock the authors. …
the latest study, … upwards of seven and a half hours per day. Plus, for the first time, time spent watching TV actually dropped in favor of other forms of media, including listening to music, using a computer, playing video games, reading print publications and watching movies.
Moreover, because so many of the kids are multitasking by consuming multiple forms of media at the same time, they actually end up consuming closer to 11 hours’ worth of media content within that seven and half-hour span. Nor does do those hours include the time kids are spending talking on their cell phones (half an hour) or sending text messages (an hour and a half). …
Rick McCharles 