Due to the fact that most of our writers are under the weather (and that's putting it mildly) there will not be any updates this week, but we will be back for sure next week with new updates.
Thanks,
The Loyalist Blogging Team
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Small Incovenience
Just an update over a small inconvenience this week. Unfortunately, due to extreme workloads, the blog will not be updated in any section this week. Entering reading week though the blog will be updated and continue on as regular.
Please accept our apologies of this inconvenience for all our readers so far, and we look forward to entertaining you next week. Have a happy last week before reading week Loyalist students, and we'll see you in the weeks to come.
The Loyalist Blogger Team.
Please accept our apologies of this inconvenience for all our readers so far, and we look forward to entertaining you next week. Have a happy last week before reading week Loyalist students, and we'll see you in the weeks to come.
The Loyalist Blogger Team.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
There Will Be Things In It: Blog Entry One
First article, what to write? I think I am going to tell everyone a cautionary tale, so I want you all to listen up.
First I would like to start by saying that if you ever get the idea to pull the fire alarm in a building.. Don’t!
It was probably 2:00AM and I was partying at a friend’s residence. All of a sudden the alarm starts blaring and shit gets chaotic. A hoard of drunks spew from the residence, resulting in one broken leg, and we all fill the parking lot. The bullshit part was in the commotion I forgot:
a) more drinks
b) contraband and
c) keys to the car I had in the parking lot
Anyways, after sitting on a curb in the parking lot, freezing, we moved into a different hall. Not much better because I was feeling shitty and there was nowhere to sit.
Suddenly some poor bastard barfs all over his legs and feet. In a flash there was probably a fifteen foot clearance around the guy. My friend, her room mates and I made our move for the empty benches near the outskirts of the circle.
Anyways, long story short, we sit there for hours, make one trip to Mac’s for chocolate milk that tasted like garbage. Suddenly everyone is allowed in, floor by floor. Awesome, except for the fact that they are checking student ID cards now! My friend and I decide it is probably fruitless for me to try to get in (side note: her room mates Italian friends all were able to bullshit there way in... I was going to pretend to be some Australian but he forgot to give us his room number). My friend ran to her room and grabbed my keys and we decided to drive around for a while. When we got back the security had gone away and we got back in around 5AM. Very strung out at that time, I had a beer and started to come around. The Italians were yelling “White Power” at me, I laughed and they thought I found them funny.
Eventually I got to sleep in a very warm room on a very tiny bed, but it beat sleeping in my car. I guess the guy who pulled the alarm got arrested, but that will never make up for all the time I lost due to his ugly crime.
So, in conclusion, if you DO pull the fire alarm you are a real douche-bag.
-Kyle
Friday, October 16, 2009
Status 'Opinionated': Facebook 101
Facebook is one of the most popular networking sites in the world. This site can be used for good and evil. While most of us spend hours reading each other’s profiles and chatting, there are some people who lack the ability or don’t desire to use Facebook.
People often use Facebook to communicate with friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, family, co-workers etc, and we often forget that there are more people who view your profile than you would like to imagine.
Employers are now using Facebook as a tool to scope out potential employees. You might be thinking how can this be? Well, it’s quite simple really. Your manager creates an account; he can look up your profile by searching your email, first and last name.
You also have to realize that anything you are posting online may stay there forever in some form. How does it do that? With the rapid growth in technology, websites such as twitter and Facebook might use an Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine site, caches of Google and Yahoo. Sometimes old versions of websites can be searchable by those who know how. If you don’t know how, I bet the company you work for would. Everything associated with you or the people you are connected to, can be viewed as well as evaluated by other people. Some people whom may have a significant influence over your life and future.
If you are a Facebook user, you need to know Facebook’s “common sense” rules. There is stuff that you don’t publicize, say or do to others. Having a relationship status is a mutual decision. Who ever thought of this brilliant idea is my hero. All of your friends get the notifications of all the changes you post, so remember that the next time you post your relationship status. Looking through your friend’s profile is normal. We all do it. There is a name we all refer to as “Facebook creeper”.
What is not ok is adding someone, and skipping out on the introduction. There is a message box for a reason. There is nothing more suspicious than someone trying to add you as a friend, and not knowing who they are. Ask before you start adding your friends random “ex’s”. Seriously guys, if you weren’t friends with them before they were dating your “buddy”, what makes you their friend now? It’s common courtesy.
It’s okay to remain friends with your ex, or decide to keep them on your Facebook, but you have to prepare yourself for that status change. Posting tons of pictures, videos and comments that have to do with a broken relationship is not wise.
This isn’t the television show “Who wants to be a millionaire”. Do us a favour and phone a friend, don’t ask the audience. There is such a thing as too much information. Not everyone needs to hear how much you hate someone, or read your grievances. This should be sent in “private” messages, or by email or phone. Know the difference between the wall and a message. There are some things that should remain private, and some things that shouldn’t be said at all.
If you are one of those people who fit in this category, you should take the Facebook quiz: A note saying “I love you soooo much baby” or “ I am soo mad at you, that I think we need to break up” notes, should be posted in :
A) Wall
B) Private message
C) All of the above.
If you answered either A or C, you are wrong and Facebook wants their space back.
The comment field is a field to post a comment about the status you are commenting about. I have no idea why Facebook has one, it’s extremely useless along with “Like’s this”. Who cares if someone like’s what you posted. If you must tell your friends, write about it, or send them a message. Comment fields are not meant for pointless words and sayings.
Lastly, remember who your audience is. Respect the person who you are posting comments, walls, pictures and videos to. We all have our own group of friends. Our Facebook is our own way of interacting with the world around us. If you post things that the person doesn’t want, take it off. Nothing is permanent on Facebook. People get married, divorced and married again without having to sign the papers on here. Mind your friend’s profiles. If you have to ask yourself, “would he/she care?” take it as a *hint* and don’t post it!
Facebook, you've been officially opinionated by,
The Opinionator.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
In With the New: A Flash-y Display
As civilization moves forward, so must everything else. One of the fastest growing industries in modern civilization is technology. Since the dawn of time, humans have been using technology to assist them in completing tasks. It started with tools of wood and stone for hunting. Not too long after, we discovered we could use horses and mules as transportation and labour. A little more recently came the steam engine, the internal combustion engine and then electricity. All of these new technologies have revolutionized the way our world functions and have set major groundwork toward the future. However, without a doubt one of the largest technological advancements of the last century is the creation of the personal computer (PC) and the internet.
The very first general purpose computer was 27 tons, took up 680 feet and consumed 150 KW of power.1 Throughout my life so far, I have seen a vast amount of change in technology and its function. When I was born the MP3 format didn’t exist, let alone players for it to name one example. In the current day and age, the computer can perform the initial mathematical tasks that the original general purpose computer – named the ENIAC (short for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) – was programmed to do, and a plethora of other functions ranging from long distance communication, playing music, doing research, and of course creating art. Art, along with music is one of the most universal forms of communication known to man, so it is no surprise that they would be adapted into the realm of computing.
One of these new age forms of art is graphic design, something I have enjoyed playing with for many years. I consider my experiences with both of them to be somewhat novice, as it is more of a pastime than anything else. With that being said, I have still accumulated a vast amount of skill from tinkering with the hobby, and I see no reason to not share it with you guys. So, let me introduce you to my weapon of choice: Adobe Flash. I originally planned to tell you about Macromedia Flash, but with a quick reference to the internet, it seems Adobe recently acquired the name a couple years ago. However, I still use Macromedia Flash 8 (which I will refer to as Flash from here on out), so if you have a copy of the program, or can get one, this post will probably make a lot more sense to you. It can get expensive though, so if you are going that route, be warned. Also, Flash is capable of both graphic design and animation, but animation requires a lot more time and patience than a single blog post can illustrate, so I’ll work on just graphic design. Let me give you a little bit of background information on the program now.
Flash 8, while newer, the program wasn’t as feature-oriented, so certain features that an advanced user would need weren’t included because it was geared towards new users who were interested in doing basic drawing and animation.2 I used the version before that briefly (Flash MX) and I won’t lie, I didn’t notice much difference, but that might be due to the fact that I still only really do basic drawing and animation to this day. If you have used the Paint program that comes on any windows operating system, you will already be familiar with the most fundamental building blocks in Paint. All of the tools like the brush, fill can, eraser and color palette are part of a basic arsenal of tools, only each one has been decked out with improvements and features for its Flash counterpart. Not to mention all of the new stuff that paint doesn’t have.
If you are a curious sort of person, and aren’t really sure if this is something you want to do, then you can always check out some Flash games at addictinggames.com or newgrounds.com. I’m a huge fan of Newgrounds because some of my favourite Flash content can be found there. A little warning though; Newgrounds has a lot of great Flash content, but it also has a lot of trash too. Anybody can submit to the website, and other people decide through voting what stays and what doesn’t but a lot of garbage manages to get through sometimes. Also, Newgrounds allows the submission of “mature” content, as long as it is appropriate and not rude or offensive. Fortunately, there is a section of the website where all of this is kept, and is not displayed with the regular content. If you are an adventurous type, you may wish to try your hand at creating your own piece of digital art. It is for that reason that I have a little exercise for you.
Exercise:
Before we begin, take note of the Zoom Tool on the left side panel. Its hotkeys are ‘M’ and ‘Z’. You can choose to increase or decrease the zoom at any time by selecting the appropriate option on the ‘Options’ heading on the same panel. This tool is endlessly helpful especially when working with fine details. You can also change the magnification by selecting the preferred option from the drop-down box in the top right hand corner of the timeline (The top of the screen above the canvas).
Start off by finding a picture of your friends or somebody you like and save it somewhere. I’m going to use a picture of Till Lindemann, the front man from German metal band Rammstein as seen in picture 1 below. Once saved, boot the program up and create a new file. Go to’ File > Import > Import to Library.’ You should now see your picture in a box titled Library on the right hand side. If not you can use the shortcut F11 to bring it up. Now go to ‘Insert > New Symbol.’ Name it whatever you like, but make sure Movie Clip is selected, hit OK. You will notice your Library has two items in it now. One is your original picture, and the other is the new symbol you just created. Left click and drag your picture out of the library and on to the screen. Make sure it is selected and go to ‘Modify > Bitmap > Trace Bitmap’ at the top of the screen. Feel free to experiment with these settings sometime, but for now, make sure the Color Threshold is 50, the Min. Area is 8 pixels, and the rest set to normal. You will notice a lot of the colors are blended and the shading is a lot more defined as in Picture 2. Now, under the tools panel on the left hand side, make sure the Selection Tool is in use – you can use ‘V’ to select is as well. Click each part of the picture that is not part of your person and hit delete.
You should end up with something looking like Picture 3. Now select the Lasso Tool or hit ‘L’. Draw a circle around the head to select it - but make sure you get just the head – and drag it to the side with the Selection Tool. The reason I do this is because I like to draw the head right from scratch. I recommend trying it this way the first time, because this exercise will teach you a few new things if you do, but again, you are free to adapt this in whichever way works best for you. With the Pencil Tool (‘Y’) outline some of the key lines on your picture. The pencil is a lot different than the Paintbrush Tool, so when you use it, you have to make sure all of your lines touch. At the bottom under the Properties Tab (CTRL + F3) select the Stroke Color for the pencil and select a color that doesn’t occur naturally in your picture. I’m a big fan of lime green because it is so uncommon. In retrospect, the image I used had a LOT of detail in the shirt, so I don’t expect you to have that much outlining on your own picture, but it’s a good example of how important the lines are from losing your details, and you will see why soon. You can see what I did by referencing Picture 4.
Now for the fun part! Select the Paint Bucket Tool or press ‘K’. When I do this, I like to use naturally occurring colors, but go ahead and experiment too. Use the Paint Bucket Tool to color in section of your person. To match a color to something on the screen already, select the Fill Color option in the properties tab again, but instead of selecting something in the palate that comes up, highlight any color in flash and click and it will select that color. In the next picture, Picture 5 you can see my finished product for this step. Take note how the lines are gone. In most spots I deleted them, but I re-coloured them black on the hands to define the fingers, and extended them down the arm.
We’re almost done. The next step is to draw the head. Select the Paintbrush Tool or press ‘B’. Make sure that the color is black and the smallest brush size is selected. You can check this in the first drop down box under ‘Options’ on the left side panel. With the brush tool selected, click the Zoom Tool and draw a box just big enough to fit your person’s head. The canvas should now show just the head of the person you wish to draw. This next part is an incredibly useful tool for drawing and animation alike. In the top right of the Timeline, there should be a window with just “Layer One” double click this and rename it ‘body’. Below that now there is a small button called ‘Insert Layer’. It looks like a page with a turning corner and a plus sign on it. One you have found it, click it, and you should now have two items on the above window: ‘Layer 2’ and below that ‘body’. The order of the layers is extremely important. Whichever layer is on top is the one that will be displayed on the canvas on top. Rename Layer 2 ‘head’. Now, you should still have the brush selected, so carefully draw the outline of the head without the hair. Then draw the hair outline over top of that, and erase the part of the head that shouldn’t be showing in the hair. Add the facial features and then color it! You can see my product in Picture 6. You can now delete that original head. We run into an issue now however, or at least a potential one. The new head and the body are on different layers. Sometimes this won’t matter, but for touch ups we will probably need to put them together. Drag your head to the desired position and click on the ‘head’ layer. Note how everything on that later has been selected. Use the cut tool by either going to Edit > Cut or by pressing CTRL+X and click on the ‘body’ layer. Most of you are probably familiar with the Paste tool (Edit > Paste or CTRL+V) but we are going to use a different tool. Select Edit > Paste in Place (CTRL+Shift+V). This will drop the cut section directly where it was deleted from.
Your picture should be about finished. Now you should just need to do some minor touch ups around the neck and it should be good. If you want to change the background, deselect whatever is highlighted and in the properties tab change the background to whatever color you like. Or you can make your own by using layers, as shown in Picture 7.
Now the important part: What’s the point in drawing a picture if you don’t know how to share it? Well alright, you could argue practice and good old passion. Select File > Export > Export Image. I always leave the dimensions the same, but I move the quality up to 100%. Other than that, there’s nothing else, and you have just made your first Flash picture!
I am quite interested in viewing your pictures, so email them to me at discarded@live.ca. In a couple of weeks, once we start building our fan base a little more, I will post the best couple at the end of a post (with the artist’s permission of course).
Sending out the old and in with the new,
This is your New Age Art and Graphic Design Specialist
-DisCarded
Reference Pictures:
References
1 "(ENIAC - A Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems - Computers with names starting with E through H". US Department of Commerce. December 1955. http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL-e-h.html. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
2 “Learn Macromedia Flash by video tutorials - www.freelearn.110mb.com”. Free Learn. 2002. http://www.freelearn.110mb.com/baseArtecles/flash.html.
The very first general purpose computer was 27 tons, took up 680 feet and consumed 150 KW of power.1 Throughout my life so far, I have seen a vast amount of change in technology and its function. When I was born the MP3 format didn’t exist, let alone players for it to name one example. In the current day and age, the computer can perform the initial mathematical tasks that the original general purpose computer – named the ENIAC (short for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) – was programmed to do, and a plethora of other functions ranging from long distance communication, playing music, doing research, and of course creating art. Art, along with music is one of the most universal forms of communication known to man, so it is no surprise that they would be adapted into the realm of computing.
One of these new age forms of art is graphic design, something I have enjoyed playing with for many years. I consider my experiences with both of them to be somewhat novice, as it is more of a pastime than anything else. With that being said, I have still accumulated a vast amount of skill from tinkering with the hobby, and I see no reason to not share it with you guys. So, let me introduce you to my weapon of choice: Adobe Flash. I originally planned to tell you about Macromedia Flash, but with a quick reference to the internet, it seems Adobe recently acquired the name a couple years ago. However, I still use Macromedia Flash 8 (which I will refer to as Flash from here on out), so if you have a copy of the program, or can get one, this post will probably make a lot more sense to you. It can get expensive though, so if you are going that route, be warned. Also, Flash is capable of both graphic design and animation, but animation requires a lot more time and patience than a single blog post can illustrate, so I’ll work on just graphic design. Let me give you a little bit of background information on the program now.
Flash 8, while newer, the program wasn’t as feature-oriented, so certain features that an advanced user would need weren’t included because it was geared towards new users who were interested in doing basic drawing and animation.2 I used the version before that briefly (Flash MX) and I won’t lie, I didn’t notice much difference, but that might be due to the fact that I still only really do basic drawing and animation to this day. If you have used the Paint program that comes on any windows operating system, you will already be familiar with the most fundamental building blocks in Paint. All of the tools like the brush, fill can, eraser and color palette are part of a basic arsenal of tools, only each one has been decked out with improvements and features for its Flash counterpart. Not to mention all of the new stuff that paint doesn’t have.
If you are a curious sort of person, and aren’t really sure if this is something you want to do, then you can always check out some Flash games at addictinggames.com or newgrounds.com. I’m a huge fan of Newgrounds because some of my favourite Flash content can be found there. A little warning though; Newgrounds has a lot of great Flash content, but it also has a lot of trash too. Anybody can submit to the website, and other people decide through voting what stays and what doesn’t but a lot of garbage manages to get through sometimes. Also, Newgrounds allows the submission of “mature” content, as long as it is appropriate and not rude or offensive. Fortunately, there is a section of the website where all of this is kept, and is not displayed with the regular content. If you are an adventurous type, you may wish to try your hand at creating your own piece of digital art. It is for that reason that I have a little exercise for you.
Exercise:
Before we begin, take note of the Zoom Tool on the left side panel. Its hotkeys are ‘M’ and ‘Z’. You can choose to increase or decrease the zoom at any time by selecting the appropriate option on the ‘Options’ heading on the same panel. This tool is endlessly helpful especially when working with fine details. You can also change the magnification by selecting the preferred option from the drop-down box in the top right hand corner of the timeline (The top of the screen above the canvas).
Start off by finding a picture of your friends or somebody you like and save it somewhere. I’m going to use a picture of Till Lindemann, the front man from German metal band Rammstein as seen in picture 1 below. Once saved, boot the program up and create a new file. Go to’ File > Import > Import to Library.’ You should now see your picture in a box titled Library on the right hand side. If not you can use the shortcut F11 to bring it up. Now go to ‘Insert > New Symbol.’ Name it whatever you like, but make sure Movie Clip is selected, hit OK. You will notice your Library has two items in it now. One is your original picture, and the other is the new symbol you just created. Left click and drag your picture out of the library and on to the screen. Make sure it is selected and go to ‘Modify > Bitmap > Trace Bitmap’ at the top of the screen. Feel free to experiment with these settings sometime, but for now, make sure the Color Threshold is 50, the Min. Area is 8 pixels, and the rest set to normal. You will notice a lot of the colors are blended and the shading is a lot more defined as in Picture 2. Now, under the tools panel on the left hand side, make sure the Selection Tool is in use – you can use ‘V’ to select is as well. Click each part of the picture that is not part of your person and hit delete.
You should end up with something looking like Picture 3. Now select the Lasso Tool or hit ‘L’. Draw a circle around the head to select it - but make sure you get just the head – and drag it to the side with the Selection Tool. The reason I do this is because I like to draw the head right from scratch. I recommend trying it this way the first time, because this exercise will teach you a few new things if you do, but again, you are free to adapt this in whichever way works best for you. With the Pencil Tool (‘Y’) outline some of the key lines on your picture. The pencil is a lot different than the Paintbrush Tool, so when you use it, you have to make sure all of your lines touch. At the bottom under the Properties Tab (CTRL + F3) select the Stroke Color for the pencil and select a color that doesn’t occur naturally in your picture. I’m a big fan of lime green because it is so uncommon. In retrospect, the image I used had a LOT of detail in the shirt, so I don’t expect you to have that much outlining on your own picture, but it’s a good example of how important the lines are from losing your details, and you will see why soon. You can see what I did by referencing Picture 4.
Now for the fun part! Select the Paint Bucket Tool or press ‘K’. When I do this, I like to use naturally occurring colors, but go ahead and experiment too. Use the Paint Bucket Tool to color in section of your person. To match a color to something on the screen already, select the Fill Color option in the properties tab again, but instead of selecting something in the palate that comes up, highlight any color in flash and click and it will select that color. In the next picture, Picture 5 you can see my finished product for this step. Take note how the lines are gone. In most spots I deleted them, but I re-coloured them black on the hands to define the fingers, and extended them down the arm.
We’re almost done. The next step is to draw the head. Select the Paintbrush Tool or press ‘B’. Make sure that the color is black and the smallest brush size is selected. You can check this in the first drop down box under ‘Options’ on the left side panel. With the brush tool selected, click the Zoom Tool and draw a box just big enough to fit your person’s head. The canvas should now show just the head of the person you wish to draw. This next part is an incredibly useful tool for drawing and animation alike. In the top right of the Timeline, there should be a window with just “Layer One” double click this and rename it ‘body’. Below that now there is a small button called ‘Insert Layer’. It looks like a page with a turning corner and a plus sign on it. One you have found it, click it, and you should now have two items on the above window: ‘Layer 2’ and below that ‘body’. The order of the layers is extremely important. Whichever layer is on top is the one that will be displayed on the canvas on top. Rename Layer 2 ‘head’. Now, you should still have the brush selected, so carefully draw the outline of the head without the hair. Then draw the hair outline over top of that, and erase the part of the head that shouldn’t be showing in the hair. Add the facial features and then color it! You can see my product in Picture 6. You can now delete that original head. We run into an issue now however, or at least a potential one. The new head and the body are on different layers. Sometimes this won’t matter, but for touch ups we will probably need to put them together. Drag your head to the desired position and click on the ‘head’ layer. Note how everything on that later has been selected. Use the cut tool by either going to Edit > Cut or by pressing CTRL+X and click on the ‘body’ layer. Most of you are probably familiar with the Paste tool (Edit > Paste or CTRL+V) but we are going to use a different tool. Select Edit > Paste in Place (CTRL+Shift+V). This will drop the cut section directly where it was deleted from.
Your picture should be about finished. Now you should just need to do some minor touch ups around the neck and it should be good. If you want to change the background, deselect whatever is highlighted and in the properties tab change the background to whatever color you like. Or you can make your own by using layers, as shown in Picture 7.
Now the important part: What’s the point in drawing a picture if you don’t know how to share it? Well alright, you could argue practice and good old passion. Select File > Export > Export Image. I always leave the dimensions the same, but I move the quality up to 100%. Other than that, there’s nothing else, and you have just made your first Flash picture!
I am quite interested in viewing your pictures, so email them to me at discarded@live.ca. In a couple of weeks, once we start building our fan base a little more, I will post the best couple at the end of a post (with the artist’s permission of course).
Sending out the old and in with the new,
This is your New Age Art and Graphic Design Specialist
-DisCarded
Reference Pictures:
References
1 "(ENIAC - A Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems - Computers with names starting with E through H". US Department of Commerce. December 1955. http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL-e-h.html. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
2 “Learn Macromedia Flash by video tutorials - www.freelearn.110mb.com”. Free Learn. 2002. http://www.freelearn.110mb.com/baseArtecles/flash.html.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thoughts From the Bathroom Stall: A 'Black' Day For CanWest
CanWest Global Communications Corporation, a media giant that runs outlets like Global, The National Post, Financial Post Business and a slurry of other channels, radio stations, papers and magazines, filed for bankruptcy on Oct.08, 2009.
The company had managed to rack up a debt of over 4.2 billion. Finally the collapse happened when it was not able to pay the interest amounts on its bonds, and asset sales were not enough to pay the enormous debt any longer. 1
So most people may be asking, what does this mean for me and watching House? Well absolutely nothing (but you should check your priorities). CanWest fortunately managed to file itself under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and as such will continue to operate under the federal bankruptcy protection law. 2 That means, Global will still run as usual, as will subsidiary networks like Food, or HGTV; for now at least.
The possibility that CanWest may eventually have to liquidate its assets is a strong one, and workers are beginning to get antsy about their positions under the wide spread wings of the crumbling empire. After all, the company had already cut 560 jobs nationwide just last year, in order to avoid this dire fate. 3 What would stop it from cutting another large percentage of the fat in order to keep up with the bills.
Despite the fact that the future looks grim for this corporation, some feel that this might be a good thing for the media. CanWest owned a large percentage of not only Canadian Media, but they were large share holders in countries like Australia, having a strong hold (50% to be exact) on Australia's Ten Network. Although, due to the bankruptcy file, CanWest's bankers forced the company to sell its share for $680 million.
The general feeling is that if CanWest does end up having to liquidate its assets, like the Food Network, or the National Post, it will be the end of any one media corporation controlling large percentages of Canadian media and networks.
Conrad Black, original CEO of CanWest who was arrested for fraud, stated in an e-mail recently that he felt CanWest was too aggressive, acquiring stocks that "didn't yield operating income" 1
It is entirely possible that CanWest was becoming a little to egotistical in its own success, and the purchases of shares in these companies that were still unsure, became their immediate downfall.
Despite the fact that the new CEO Leonard Asper, feels optimistic about his company's future, he should still consider the possibility of liquidating his assets while their payoff is still high.
Already companies like Rogers Media Inc, Astral Media, and Corus Entertainment, are circling CanWest like sharks to the smell of blood. President and chief executive of Rogers Media, Tony Viner, has stated that he would be very interested in buying some of CanWest's channels like Slice, History Channel and HGTV. 4
Whatever the company decides, it had better make the decision quick. Recession woes are not looking any greater at the moment, and it may not be long before the public decides to cut the fat on their television bills by beginning to cancel these specialty channels that CanWest offers on satellite and digital cable services.
Bringing you the sludge from the mop bucket and the writing on the stall wall,
The Janitor
References
1 (Friday, October 9th, 2009). The Sydney Morning Herald. CanWest's woes are nothing to do with me, says Black.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.smh.com.au/business/canwests-woes-are-nothing-to-do-with-me-says-black-20091008-goym.html
2 (Wednesday, October 7th, 2009) The Toronto Star. CanWest empire crumbles.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.thestar.com/business/companies/canwest/article
/706530--canwest-empire-crumbles
3 (Wednesday, November 12th, 2008). CBC News. Slowing economy forces reductions at entertainment channels,
community papers.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/11/12/canwest-cuts.html
4 (Friday, February 20th, 2009). The Toronto Star. Buyers eyeing CanWest: Analysts.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/590631
The company had managed to rack up a debt of over 4.2 billion. Finally the collapse happened when it was not able to pay the interest amounts on its bonds, and asset sales were not enough to pay the enormous debt any longer. 1
So most people may be asking, what does this mean for me and watching House? Well absolutely nothing (but you should check your priorities). CanWest fortunately managed to file itself under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and as such will continue to operate under the federal bankruptcy protection law. 2 That means, Global will still run as usual, as will subsidiary networks like Food, or HGTV; for now at least.
The possibility that CanWest may eventually have to liquidate its assets is a strong one, and workers are beginning to get antsy about their positions under the wide spread wings of the crumbling empire. After all, the company had already cut 560 jobs nationwide just last year, in order to avoid this dire fate. 3 What would stop it from cutting another large percentage of the fat in order to keep up with the bills.
Despite the fact that the future looks grim for this corporation, some feel that this might be a good thing for the media. CanWest owned a large percentage of not only Canadian Media, but they were large share holders in countries like Australia, having a strong hold (50% to be exact) on Australia's Ten Network. Although, due to the bankruptcy file, CanWest's bankers forced the company to sell its share for $680 million.
The general feeling is that if CanWest does end up having to liquidate its assets, like the Food Network, or the National Post, it will be the end of any one media corporation controlling large percentages of Canadian media and networks.
Conrad Black, original CEO of CanWest who was arrested for fraud, stated in an e-mail recently that he felt CanWest was too aggressive, acquiring stocks that "didn't yield operating income" 1
It is entirely possible that CanWest was becoming a little to egotistical in its own success, and the purchases of shares in these companies that were still unsure, became their immediate downfall.
Despite the fact that the new CEO Leonard Asper, feels optimistic about his company's future, he should still consider the possibility of liquidating his assets while their payoff is still high.
Already companies like Rogers Media Inc, Astral Media, and Corus Entertainment, are circling CanWest like sharks to the smell of blood. President and chief executive of Rogers Media, Tony Viner, has stated that he would be very interested in buying some of CanWest's channels like Slice, History Channel and HGTV. 4
Whatever the company decides, it had better make the decision quick. Recession woes are not looking any greater at the moment, and it may not be long before the public decides to cut the fat on their television bills by beginning to cancel these specialty channels that CanWest offers on satellite and digital cable services.
Bringing you the sludge from the mop bucket and the writing on the stall wall,
The Janitor
References
1 (Friday, October 9th, 2009). The Sydney Morning Herald. CanWest's woes are nothing to do with me, says Black.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.smh.com.au/business/canwests-woes-are-nothing-to-do-with-me-says-black-20091008-goym.html
2 (Wednesday, October 7th, 2009) The Toronto Star. CanWest empire crumbles.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.thestar.com/business/companies/canwest/article
/706530--canwest-empire-crumbles
3 (Wednesday, November 12th, 2008). CBC News. Slowing economy forces reductions at entertainment channels,
community papers.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/11/12/canwest-cuts.html
4 (Friday, February 20th, 2009). The Toronto Star. Buyers eyeing CanWest: Analysts.
Retrieved Tuesday, October 13th, 2009, from http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/590631
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Horney Report: Rwanda
April 6th, 1994. I do not recall much of what happened on that day. Personally, I was probably running around the school yard and worrying about fractions. There was no way I could have known that on the other side of the world, events were being set in motion that would be felt to this very day.
The next two months would see massive amounts of blood shed in the African nation of Rwanda. The number of deaths ranged anywhere from 500,000 to more than a million. It can still boggle my mind.
As I already stated, we are still feeling the effects of what is indisputably a genocide. On October 6th, Indelphonse Nizeyimana was arrested by Ugandan and Interpol officials. Nizeyimana is being charged in connection with the genocide, including the death of Queen Rosalie Gicanda. In a quote from Interpol's executive director of police services, Jean-Michel Louboutin, determination is the name of the game;
"It shows that even if fugitives go on the run for years, the international law enforcement community will keep on searching for them until they are located and arrested, no matter how long it takes," 1
Nizeyimana is just the most recent in a list of fugitives who are being apprehended by law enforcement officials. Gregoire Ndahimana was captured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August. As of September 22nd, he had been successfully transferred to Anusha, Tanzania. Anusha is the site of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and it is here that Ndahimana will be tried for his connection to the genocide. 2
Canada's first convicted war criminal was detained and charged for his involvement in the Rwandan Genocide. Desiré Munyaneza has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. 3 This is remarkable in its violation of Article 6 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Article 6 states;
“Persons charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.” 4
This means that the trial is supposed to take place in the country where the crime occurred (in this case, Rwanda) or by an international tribunal whose mandate is to prosecute those accused of the crime. However, as the Crime of Genocide is taken to be a part of international law, any nation who has ratified the UN convention is well within their rights to try and convict anyone breaking that law. This may be turn out to be a preferable option.
It has recently been proposed that a regional court be established amongst Eastern African nations to specifically preside over cases involving human rights abuses. As the Anusha-based ICTR's mandate is set to expire in 2012, there is worry that many detainees and fugitives yet to be captured will ever have to face justice. In an article on the East African website, it is stated that the ICTR has only tried 40 cases so far. 5 With some suspects still on the run, and a backlog of cases still to fall before the ICTR this is a legitimate concern. Perhaps of more concern is this startling statistic; Rwanda itself has tried over 300,000 cases. 6
One must ask the question as to the legitimacy of those tried and convicted within Rwanda. There must certainly be pressure on to see many perpetrators answer for their crimes. Are these just kangaroo courts established to give the mere illusion of justice being served? When you are going through 300,000 cases relating to the Genocide, surely a fair and accurate trial can not be conducted. If the tribunal whose single purpose is to try war criminals can only go through 40 cases in the intervening years, what is so different in Rwanda itself?
Perhaps the answer lies in the creation of a regional court. Another part of the answer is to follow the path that Canada has taken. Allow third-party nations to prosecute war criminals who were arrested within their borders. When such a thing as a genocide occurs, it is in the best interest of humanity to see that justice is served in the best manner as possible.
This is the Watchdog, watching the news for you!
References
1 (Tuesday, October 6th, 2009). CBC News. Rwandan genocide suspect caught in Uganda. Retrieved Monday, October 12th, 2009, from http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/10/06/rwanda-genocide-intelligence-chief-arrested-uganda.html.
2 Alan Boswell. (September 22nd, 2009). Voice of America News. In Tribunal Receives Rwandan Genocide Suspect from DRC. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-22-voa27.cfm.
3 Les Perreaux. (September 16th, 2009). Rwandan war criminal faces life sentence in Canada. In Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rwandan-war-criminal-faces-life-sentence-in-canada/article1289326/.
4 (August 16th, 1994). Human Rights Web. In Convention on Genocide. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html.
5 Fred Oluoch. (October 12th, 2009). Bid to let EA Court of Justice try genocide and human rights suspects. In East African. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/670854/-/item/0/-/hnoklcz/-/index.html.
6 Ibid
The next two months would see massive amounts of blood shed in the African nation of Rwanda. The number of deaths ranged anywhere from 500,000 to more than a million. It can still boggle my mind.
As I already stated, we are still feeling the effects of what is indisputably a genocide. On October 6th, Indelphonse Nizeyimana was arrested by Ugandan and Interpol officials. Nizeyimana is being charged in connection with the genocide, including the death of Queen Rosalie Gicanda. In a quote from Interpol's executive director of police services, Jean-Michel Louboutin, determination is the name of the game;
"It shows that even if fugitives go on the run for years, the international law enforcement community will keep on searching for them until they are located and arrested, no matter how long it takes," 1
Nizeyimana is just the most recent in a list of fugitives who are being apprehended by law enforcement officials. Gregoire Ndahimana was captured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August. As of September 22nd, he had been successfully transferred to Anusha, Tanzania. Anusha is the site of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and it is here that Ndahimana will be tried for his connection to the genocide. 2
Canada's first convicted war criminal was detained and charged for his involvement in the Rwandan Genocide. Desiré Munyaneza has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. 3 This is remarkable in its violation of Article 6 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Article 6 states;
“Persons charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.” 4
This means that the trial is supposed to take place in the country where the crime occurred (in this case, Rwanda) or by an international tribunal whose mandate is to prosecute those accused of the crime. However, as the Crime of Genocide is taken to be a part of international law, any nation who has ratified the UN convention is well within their rights to try and convict anyone breaking that law. This may be turn out to be a preferable option.
It has recently been proposed that a regional court be established amongst Eastern African nations to specifically preside over cases involving human rights abuses. As the Anusha-based ICTR's mandate is set to expire in 2012, there is worry that many detainees and fugitives yet to be captured will ever have to face justice. In an article on the East African website, it is stated that the ICTR has only tried 40 cases so far. 5 With some suspects still on the run, and a backlog of cases still to fall before the ICTR this is a legitimate concern. Perhaps of more concern is this startling statistic; Rwanda itself has tried over 300,000 cases. 6
One must ask the question as to the legitimacy of those tried and convicted within Rwanda. There must certainly be pressure on to see many perpetrators answer for their crimes. Are these just kangaroo courts established to give the mere illusion of justice being served? When you are going through 300,000 cases relating to the Genocide, surely a fair and accurate trial can not be conducted. If the tribunal whose single purpose is to try war criminals can only go through 40 cases in the intervening years, what is so different in Rwanda itself?
Perhaps the answer lies in the creation of a regional court. Another part of the answer is to follow the path that Canada has taken. Allow third-party nations to prosecute war criminals who were arrested within their borders. When such a thing as a genocide occurs, it is in the best interest of humanity to see that justice is served in the best manner as possible.
This is the Watchdog, watching the news for you!
References
1 (Tuesday, October 6th, 2009). CBC News. Rwandan genocide suspect caught in Uganda. Retrieved Monday, October 12th, 2009, from http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/10/06/rwanda-genocide-intelligence-chief-arrested-uganda.html.
2 Alan Boswell. (September 22nd, 2009). Voice of America News. In Tribunal Receives Rwandan Genocide Suspect from DRC. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-22-voa27.cfm.
3 Les Perreaux. (September 16th, 2009). Rwandan war criminal faces life sentence in Canada. In Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rwandan-war-criminal-faces-life-sentence-in-canada/article1289326/.
4 (August 16th, 1994). Human Rights Web. In Convention on Genocide. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html.
5 Fred Oluoch. (October 12th, 2009). Bid to let EA Court of Justice try genocide and human rights suspects. In East African. Retrieved October 12th, 2009, from http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/670854/-/item/0/-/hnoklcz/-/index.html.
6 Ibid
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)