More on copyright, Canadian edition

Using small amounts of text as a part of a commentary is a long-standing exception to U.S. copyright law. The particulars of each instance are always subject to court review. The copyright holder doesn't surrender rights by allowing these excerpts.
A few years ago, the Associated Press created a real problem for itself when it contracted with a company to charge $12.50 for using five words of text. The company eventually sued AP for bungling the contract.
Now it's Canada's turn, National Post, specifically. Michael Geist noted that merely selecting text to use a quote for another piece triggers a new content licensing scheme.
For example, let's look at a story about the priciest house on Prince Edward Island. It's a nice place on the north shore for $12M CAD.

If select a paragraph of text that I'd like to include in my review, I am presented with this pop-up .

Following through the options, I learn two things. It's going to cost me up to $100 to quote 100 words and 50¢ for each additional word.

Next, I find that I cannot comply. When I selected the text, the pop-up prevented me from copying the words that I need to paste into this box to calculate how much I must finally pay.

Oh, the company that National Post is using to stand on guard for thee, iCopyright, is the same company that the AP used and was sued by. 

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One of an occasional series.
A bunch of years ago, I worked for a software company. It was hard work for long hours. At one point, senior management made the pronouncement that the development team needed to focus more on a particular aspect of the product. The QA manager and I agreed that we'd be Focused More-ons.

More on health care, Canadian edition

Why, oh, why won't they think of the children? I mean, "Well what doctor has been schooled about the rate of microwave infections?" (CBC News - Toronto - Ont. parents suspect Wi-Fi making kids sick.)
It seems that one Canadian university has already suspended its use of wireless Internet connections because of alleged health risks.

The purpose of this policy is to limit wireless connectivity based on the “precautionary principle” as there are numerous scientific studies that demonstrate a basis for concern that continuous or frequent long-term exposure to the non-ionizing radiation of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) could have adverse health effects.
via WiFi and Cellular Antennae Policy | Lakehead University

Now, parents at various Ontario schools want the schools to remove the wireless hookups and replaced them with wired connections. "These kids are getting sick at school but not at home," said one parent.
Let's see. Kid at home says, "I don't want to go to school. It's, um, making me sick. It must be a microwave infection." Hmm.
In the meantime, be sure to add aluminum or aluminium foil, to your back-to-school shopping list.

photo via On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study