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Monday, October 14, 2013

What do you do if you are stopped and questioned by the police?

What do you do if you are stopped and questioned by the police?

You have a choice. When you are approached by the police, you can decide whether you will speak with them and/or give them any information, tell them your name, or produce identification. For the most part, you do not have to answer questions asked of you by the police and cannot be arrested for refusing to answer.

If you lie about your name or address, however, you can be charged with obstructing justice or the police.

In Toronto, if you give the police your name and/or produce your identification, it is likely that what you provide to them will be put on what the police call a Form 306, more formally called Community Inquiry Reports. That form will indicate what your name is, where you were when the police spoke to you, the time and date when they spoke to you, what you said you were doing and who you were with and other personal information. All of that information, along with other kinds of police contact (like 911 calls), can go into the Toronto police computer system and remain available to police for many years.

It is also likely that if you tell the police your name, they will run a police computer check on you through the RCMP Central Repository system known as CPIC. CPIC will tell the police officer you are dealing with whether there is a warrant for your arrest and whether you are on bail, or any other information police already have. If you are on bail, CPIC will tell the officer the terms of your bail. If you are violating the terms of your bail, the officer will likely arrest you and charge you for breaching your bail. You will be held for a “show cause” hearing, at which time a decision will be made whether you will be kept in jail pending your trial(s).

In general, the police can ask you any questions they want, but you do not have to talk to them, show them your identification or answer their questions. The main exception to this general rule is that it is probably advisable to identify yourself when you are stopped and questioned by the police as part of an investigative detention, when you are stopped on a bicycle for a traffic offence, when you are stopped while driving a motor vehicle or when you are being investigated for a non-criminal offence such as drinking in a public place.

According to a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in a case called R. v. Mann, the police have no right or power to stop you unless they have reasonable grounds to believe you may have been involved in a criminal offence. If they have such reasonable grounds, they are entitled to briefly stop you for what is called an investigative detention.

If the police approach you and tell you about a specific criminal offence they are looking into and that they believe you are involved in it, in that situation you may decide to co­operate with the police by giving them your name and producing identification. But before you give them any information, ask them why they have stopped you and get specific details of the offence they are investigating.

If you are the driver of a car stopped by the police, under the Highway Traffic Act, you must produce your driver’s licence, car registration and insurance for the vehicle you are driving. But note: passengers do not have to identify themselves or answer any questions asked by the police (unless the police are doing an investigative detention for a criminal offence).

Similarly, police issuing tickets for bylaw offences (e.g. drinking in public, trespassing, Highway Traffic Act offences committed by bicyclists, etc.), can demand identification in order to ensure that they have a correct name and address. Failing to convince the police of your identity in this situation may give them the right to arrest you, even if the offence itself is not a serious one.

Once stopped or detained, the police do not have a general power to search you or to get you to show them what you have in your pockets, or to search your bag or knapsack. We recommend that you politely but firmly decline to be searched. If they have grounds to arrest you, police do have a general power to search you for any items that you might have that could be used to harm the police or provide evidence.
The police in our city have a difficult job to do. We recommend that you deal with them as politely as possible.

Smartphone Users Border on Obsession

Scientists warn that repetitive checking of smartphones for news and emails, and using social networking and other services is becoming an obsessive habit.


Helsinki Institute for Information Technology researchers analyzed the habits of smartphone users in the US and Finland and found that many of the users are engaged in repetitive checking behaviors throughout the waking hours. 

According to the findings, a typical smartphone check lasts less than 30 seconds and involves opening the screen lock and accessing a single application. A considerable proportion of smartphone use consists solely of such checks. 

The checkings do not occur randomly; they are associated with a small set of contexts triggering them, such as reading emails when commuting or checking news while bored. 

Despite the high prevalence of the "checking habit," many of the users did not consider the behavior as an addiction, instead described it in terms of overuse or an annoyance, said the report published in the journal Personal and Ubiquitous Computing

"What concerns us here is that if your habitual response to, say, boredom, is that you pick up the phone to find interesting stimuli, you will be systematically distracted from the more important things happening around you," said Lead author Antti Oulasvirta. 

"Habits are automatically triggered behaviors and compromise the more conscious control that some situations require and studies are already starting to associate smartphone use to dire consequences like driving accidents and poor work-life balance," he warned. 

"Unfortunately, as decades of work in psychology shows, habits are not easy to change," Oulasvirta added about the new high-tech ground for manifestation of the addictive behavior. 

The joys of a Ravine and how they benefit our lives!

The joys of a Ravine and how they benefit our lives!

Ravines are beautiful and part of our watershed and they offer unique benefits to our lives.

1)      Natural Air Conditioning – All that cement and buildings in our inner cities are always hotter than the outlying green spaces.

2)      HEPA Filter – The green forests in our ravines convert Carbon dioxide into clean oxygen while filtering out other pollutants.

3)      Flood Control – Our ravines are the flood control systems of nature. Erosion control, deep rooted trees, and natural water filtration help control flash floods and torrential rains.

4)      Climate Change – Ravines convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and provide a colling effect with shade.
5)      Therapy – Ravines are full of negative ions that reduce stress and tension. The sound of a babbling brook also has a calming effect on ones soul.

6)      Fitness center – Walking, and jogging and cycling through a ravine is a fresher approach to a treadmill or stationary bicycle.


Ravines are a natural part of our city and need to be preserved and included in new sub division projects in suburbia. Many urban planners are taking these considerations into account as they expand , modify and create new cities.


Thursday, October 10, 2013

M2M WaveGuide Events – Opportunities in a Connected World

Thanks to Helene Joncas for this multi-city cross Canada event and Izabella for the awesome location at University of Toronto's Hart House

I will share some of my notes from this educational conference sponsored by Sierra Wireless, Rogers and T-Mobile

Wavefront's mission is to be the center of excellence for wireless in Canada and they are doing a fantastic job

Machine to machine or M2M is the next big opportunity as we migrate to the Internet of things

The amazon kindle really changed how devices started using the cellular networks beyond voice. Loading up on books on a beach through a 3G network was a new idea. The iPhone changed how consumers used apps and data.

There is a huge market for devices communicating with each other that will use 3G/4G networks to access the internet.

Rogers is the leader on M2M as a connected network provider from SIM cards, device management, and manged service offerings. A basic M2M account starts at $16 a month. They manage things like the Best Buy kiosks, Coca Cola Freestyle pop machines and of course parking meters. They are busy with the Retail Connected Store offering couponing and data analytics. Expect the competition to follow their footsteps.

Sierra Wireless as a great Canadian technology company is the leader with #1 market share in M2M technology. Their Airlink gateways, Airlink modules and Air manager software portfolio will satisfy and M2M project requirements. You can find them in the Chrysler cars and Cisco Routers for example. The automotive market is the biggest area right now with telematics a close second.

T-Mobile or  global giant Deutsche Telekom are global leaders with over 10 million connections worldwide.They are also the biggest systems integrator for M2M in the automotive market.

There is a lot happening in M2M today and it will be a platform of innovation activity for the next ten years.

wavefrontac.com for more info






Savvy Business Travel Tips (Eaton Chelsea Hotel)

I have been getting a lot of requests from my business friends on LinkedIn on where is a good place to stay in downtown Toronto for business or pleasure. My recommendation is the Eaton Chelsea. They have a great room selection from your usual hotel room to a family fun suite which includes DVD and XBox and kids jungle gym and a kitchenette, to larger suites and also rooms with a kitchenette (perfect for those long business stays). You don't find this at most of the other hotels. It is a few blocks away from the Eaton center, close to the subway and a 15 min walk to the financial district. This is a way better time than staying at the airport strip hotels that are an expensive cab ride in and out. Of course the free Wi-Fi, adult only fitness center and a adult only heated pool doesn't hurt. For families they have a crazy 130 foot corkscrew water slide and even a Teen Club Room with video games, pool table and arcade. Repeat stays can earn you access top the club lounge so sign up for their loyalty program and enjoy the 6pm checkout time.

1) After you taken care of business, schedule some downtime to experience the destination on the other side of your hotel room door. This can be several hours or it can be a whole day. Clever flight planning can free up some time to explore and learn about the city your staying in. I always will seek out what local museums, farmers market, cultural centers or unique shopping districts are nearby. Winnipeg has a great train museum, Edmonton has a wonderful plane museum, Calgary is a stone throw from Banff and its a great ride up there and back, Vancouver has Granville island and Stanley Park, Montreal has old churches and great museums, Quebec City has the military history museum and a farmers market,  Austin is well keeping it weird with the bat bridge, etc etc.

2) Skip the hotel restaurant and Subway and try something new and local. This is also a chance to explore new tastes and appreciate the local culture. I was in Saskatoon and we had a business lunch at a Mennonite restaurant and while in California we enjoyed California style pizza ( avocado pizza) and fish tacos. This food represents the influences from the local community.

3) Sign up for loyalty programs that earns you points for free stays, access to club lounges and late check out times. Air Canada rewards its members also with lounge access

4) NEXUS cards...get one and enjoy zipping through the security queues and customs on the way back. However, business travel by car across the border requires everyone in the car to have a NEXUS card so be aware of that if going through the Nexus lane

5) Travel Apps. I use Reward Wallet and Tripit are great and I have just started using Expensify. I don't bother with electronic boarding passes as its easier to just use the paper ones and I can also file it after the trip for expenses. When I travel to japan i will use iStone Travel Translator.

6) Patience and a sense of humour will also go a long way because it will be stressful, there will be delays and there will be miserable hospitality and airline staff to try to ruin your day.

Happy Travelling and don not forget to be nice to the airline hostess, they may just give you an extra packet of pretzel sticks

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

BlackBerry Device vs Share Price History

A comparison of device versus share price

957            April 2000           $21.32
7200          October 2003      $8.71
8700          November 2005   $25.33
Pearl          September 2006   $31.15
Curve         May 2007            $51.00
Bold           May 2008            $142.25
Storm         November 2008   $49.15
Torch         August 2010         $56.77
Playbook   April 2011             $51.96
Z10           January 2013          $13.01
Q10           May 2013             $15.89
Q5             May 2013             $15.53


Today $8

Biggest mistake was to not release the Q10 before the Z10. Every crackberry fan really loved the keyboard, BBM and the data compression schemes (OK security as well). When the Q10 came out it was no different than everything else and what people really wanted was the Q10. If the Q10 came out first then many would have switched from their Bold to the new model and the number of returns would have been less for the Z10.

This is for the 40-55 year old demographic, the under 25 set dumped their BlackBerrys 3 years ago and replaced BBM with Twitter and SMS

So now it will be apparent that no one will release a keyboard based smartphone except for Cricket who will make one for seniors with a larger than normal keyboard.

written on my iPhone 4 iOS6
please excuse any mstakes as it does not have a kyboard