Monday, February 7, 2011

Heal, Spike, Not Heel

Last week, I interviewed Marcus Tabachnick, chairman of the Lester B Pearson School Board, about their digital citizenship initiative. The idea is to teach students in all grade levels of the board's sixty schools how to be responsible digital citizens. The same day I taped that interview, my employers sent out an e-mail outlining the television station's social media policy.

Rather than download songs for free, I, as a responsible digital citizen, pay to download songs. This week, $50 iTunes cards are on sale for $40. Chain me down!

Absolutely, people ought to be responsible and accountable for the things they text, post, write, show, download and buy in cyberspace. Although the reality is gradually changing, the internet remains largely un-policed. It has connected the world and, while it offers incredible amounts of useful information and opportunities for learning and understanding, from a financial, personal, social and sexual point of view, it remains a potentially predatory place.

The initiative by Lester B Pearson School Board is timely and innovative.

On the same show as the school board segment, I interviewed a producer of the new video game, "Dead Space 2", rated "mature" for blood and gore, intense violence and strong language. Egad! Perhaps I should consider a self-imposed policy of responsible digital interviewer!?

Sometime between the time I left the house last Tuesday and the time Susan got back from work, Spike developed a nasty limp. Spike is our youngest of two Westies. He's a sweet, playful little dog. Westies are prone to knee problems and our older Westie, Moose, had surgery on both knees. We took Spike to the vet, who suggested a week's worth of rest to see whether things improve. Heal, Spike, heal!

There will be a draw at work today for tickets to tonight's Linkin Park concert. I had no intention of putting my name in, but, after discussing it with Tristan earlier this weekend, I considered it. We're both fans! As I drove him to school this morning, I checked again and he admitted he'd likely be too tired; so scratch that. Such a sensible fellow.

I'm telling you, Susan cannot relax at home, alone! We came back from ball hockey Sunday morning and she had shovelled the entire driveway, done laundry, cleaned the floors, painted the bathroom, built a multi-layered wall unit, re-tiled the kitchen and made lasagna! She's crazy wonderful!

As we negotiated the value of potential Valentine's gifts, she, snarling and slashing, backed me into a corner, forcing me to confess I had bought her a Kindle. She's (sigh) not impressed.

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