Facebook users rejoice: You own your data again! For those that missed out a bit of a storm hit this weekend when Consumerist wrote up that Facebook’s secretive new Terms of Use allowed them to do whatever they wanted with your content forever and ever amen, even if you deleted your account. Mark Zuckerberg, the head cheese over at Facebook, responded with a blog noting that the intention wasn’t to steal your information but rather to keep it available to others. His example was if you sent your friend a Facebook mail, then deleted your account, that mail should still exist in your friend’s inbox. Regardless, a little after midnight today Zuckerberg updated the official blog to announce the Terms had been returned to their original pre-storm state, and subsequently invited people to pitch their thoughts on what the next Terms of Use should contain through a new group titled Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. Interweb wins again!
What would have happened if George Bush had been the one to pitch the “Buy American” plan? Something tells me us hosers wouldn’t have been as immediately understanding and forgiving. Just saying is all.
What was it, two years ago when I tried to tell people Justin Pogge wouldn’t be a top goaltender in the NHL? What is it about Leafs fans that everyone under 23 on the Marlies is viewed as a future superstar? I only wish we’d traded Pogge after that one good Juniors performance a few years back, when he might have actually been worth something.
Get your Happy Dance ready, Lotto 649 is $39,000,000. Almost enough to buy the Zonk back from House.
Now Listening
The Autumn Defense – Circles
Today’s Random Links
I only wish there’d been heat-sensitive Hypercolor pants. Hilarity ensues!
Good news, gents! Booze improves your sex skills!
Apparently Northwest Airlines is big on the penis.
Who wants a turdle?

Attention baseball fans – 2009 tickets go on sale this Friday. The Jays home opener will take place April 6th against the Detroit Tigers, and tickets will be available by calling (416) 341-1234, at www.bluejays.com, Rogers Centre Gate 9, or the Jays Shop at Sears Yonge and Dundas. As a related FYI it looks like Paul and I will be heading into Chicago for a Cubs game on May 17th and a White Sox game on May 19th. If anyone here is interested in joining in give me the heads-up, I can pick up extra tickets.
It appears my feelings against trading Kaberle may be expanding to the office of Brian Burke. Although Tomas has provided his list of 10 (apparently exclusively Eastern Conference) teams he’d waive his no-trade for, Burke responded “I like this guy.. bet on him staying” yesterday. The apparent asking price? A top prospect and a 1st round draft pick, something he’s unlikely to garner and is likewise looking towards perhaps keeping the blueliner. One interested sidenote: The Leafs are contractually allowed to trade Kaberle anywhere they wish this summer if (when) the Leafs miss the playoffs.
This article made me laugh today: Vermont store’s blue items make customers see red. Some 64-year-old mail-order country store out of Weston, Vermont called ‘The Vermont Country Store’ has added a line of “six-speed vibrators, instructional sex videos, pleasure gels for older folks who need a little help, and all-natural arousal cream.” The older Orton, who inherited the business from his dad, figures he got 600 letters, most of them critical. Some called the offerings “pornographic.” Others told Orton his father wouldn’t have approved. “You’d think I suggested that we sell nuclear devices to terrorists,” he responded. For their part his kids don’t seem all that supportive of dad’s muse: “It’s hard to read the customer letters,” said Cabot Orton, 39, wincing as he sat in the store Tuesday, talking about the response. His father, Lyman, is the store’s proprietor. “It makes me a little ill, really.”
Now Listening
Jackson Browne – The Very Best of Jackson Browne
Today’s Random Links
Top 10 Twitter tips for beginners. (Justin, House.. this is for you..)
Cats to be tagged to show if they’re mass murderers.
Sionne asked for Engrish, and Sionne gets Engrish.
Kissing banned at railway station.

As noted on Facebook this is not something I’m altogether comfortable saying, nor is it something I plan to make a habit out of saying. It goes against my very being to utter these words but I feel that, even in a case like this, I must provide credit where it is due. So with a heavy, but thankful heart, I say: Thank you, Dalton McGuinty.
I should really devote a full post to this but what the heck: Starbucks, in the face of challenges never seen in their history, are poised to launch yet another new product in instant soluble coffee. I’m an interesting case in that I’m a Starbucks fan, so much so I get off the subway four stops early every day to get a cup before venturing into the office. I’m also a very big fan of branding and understanding who you are as a company, and more importantly, who people think you are. 10 years ago, when Starbucks began the steady climb that made them a quality coffee brand in North America, Starbucks sold coffee, European beverages, and sweet snacks to go along with them. In the decade since, and notably in the past two years, we have seen launches such as sandwiches, toasted breakfast sandwiches, and smoothies. Recently the mild brew was replaced in all stores with a very “accessible” (read: Tim Horton’s like) Pike Place Roast at the same price point as before. Coupled with automated espresso machines it’s been a slow decade of decay in what was once a reputation of quality, regardless if it was to your personal taste or not. But what happens when your product comes at a relatively significant premium in price but a slowly reduced perception of quality? Moreso, what happens when that premium quality brand you once worked so hard to establish is tarnished through the release of an instant version of your coffee? Make no mistake the issue is not at all if the product tastes as great as the drip version, it’s the stigma of instant coffee. Quite simply, fans of great coffee do not drink instant because instant coffee is, by and large, sub-par. I had confidence when Howard Schultz was first announced to be returning to Starbucks; that confidence is gone. This brand is so depleted I don’t so things getting better for them for some time, if at all, and it will take a truly inspirational and intelligent marketing mind to pull it back out again.
This coming weekend following our short week I will be attending PodCamp Toronto, a podcast and social media based unconference on the Ryerson campus. With a few new, and more legitimate, podcast projects in mind I plan to attend on the Saturday for a full day of learning and participation. In fact, I’ve decided to attend the conferences noted below. I’m not particularly hooked on the idea of the Inside PR taping and I’m considering a lunch a Volo if anyone else is interested?
10:30 Building Relationships with Word of Mouth and PR Practitioners While Maintaining Credibility with Your Audience
Hosts: Anita Clarke, David Jones, Eden Spodek, Matthew Stradiotto
Moderator: Keith McArthur
11:15 Live from PodCamp…it’s Inside PR
Hosts: Terry Fallis, David Jones, Martin Waxman
1:15 First Church of Facebook: An Exploration of Faith and Social Media
Hosts: Colin Carmichael, Sean McGaughey, Heather Angus-Lee
2:00 Social Media for Nonprofits: Challenges, Opportunities and Successes
Hosts: Elena Yunusov, Jane Zhang
2:45 Community Sites on a Budget
Host: John Sheridan
3:30 Monetizing Blogs and Communities: Ethics and Strategies
Hosts: CT Moore, Nicky Senyard
4:15 Audacity 101/201
Hosts: Sean McGaughey, Bob Goyetche
5:00 A Social Media State of the Union Discussion
Host: Collin Douma
Today’s Random Links
Dude gets a tattoo of Darth Vader killing George Lucas?
Unreasonable guitar playing from a 12-year-old.
The Muppets sing Danny Boy (Thanks, Craig!)
Shopping cart hero.

Believe it or not tonight is a charity networking event themed around Twitter titled Twestival. This little beast will take place worldwide, locally at CiRCA over at John and Richmond, and give me a chance to meet some of the great people I’ve chatted with via Twitter over the past months. Considering those others around here on Twitter lasted about as long there as they did on their blogs I won’t wait up for any of ya.
So my Sunday story. I was at the wife’s family farm for birthday gatherings but found myself a little bored by Sunday afternoon and desiring a little adventure. I hadn’t been up to visit my friends at Neustadt Springs Brewery in almost two years and it seemed a good time for the trip. Sadly, when I arrived I discovered they’d taken to closing on Sundays and thought I’d wasted a trip. Fortunately for me they saw me walk up to the door (I didn’t realize they live there as well) and opened it up to let me in!
They noted to me that even though they’re closed they’ll open for their good customers who “need their beer” (heh) and, in the future, I would just have to call to say I was on the way. I picked up 24 cans mixed between the Big Dog Porter, 10w30, Scottish Ale, and Grey County Lager and chatted up the past couple years and the fact that I had now taken up to a day job working with some of their macro competition. At that point Andy referenced some special one-off beers he’d produced recently including a variant of the Grey County Lager that had been fermenting for 180 days. From there it was the holy grail; a mug of this unfiltered, aged Grey County Lager straight from the fermenter. And while I’m not the world’s biggest light lager fan I was incredibly amused and thankful for the opportunity. They went on to tour me through the changes to the brewery including the new canning operation and cold storage, although we skipped the amazing caverns tour I’d done a couple years back and is a must tour for all beer fans.
Are you a loser who has to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Nothing says I love you like the gift of home-baked Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes.
Today’s Random Links
Get your face on a wall in KP’s home town – the Molson Mural Project.
The city where apostrophes arent welcome.
National Post Twitter meltdown! (Thanks, Rob!)

While I’m going to post a new blog entry I have decided to continue being a jerk by doing it in THIS space, not the space House requested. This would be a good time for a “ha House!” from KP.
Last Wednesday offered a reunion years in the making for me, I likened it to my Beatles reunion. After over a decade apart Gary Louris and Mark Olson of The Jayhawks reunited for an album and a tour that dropped them at the Mod Club for a two guys and two guitars acoustic show. The Mod Club floor was seated, which is rare for that establishment, and my biggest complaint was the 20 minutes in the ice cold before doors opened. The show itself was great with the two plowing through almost every track on their latest CD, Ready for the Flood, and from two of their CDs as The Jayhawks: Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass. The almost two hour delay before they took the stage was only eased through the addition to my life of a Blackberry, courtesy of the new job. Chatting via MSN and reading/posting to Twitter helped kill the time and reminded me, again, of why I love technology as much as I do.
Now, the story you actually want to hear. Thursday, the 35th anniversary of my birth, was a regular work day that found me in Molson HQ near the crossing of the 401 and 427 in north Toronto. Following some meetings my colleague and I were told we should stay in the cafeteria because Brian Burke was coming by to speak to the gang. We made our way there and didn’t wait long for Burke to show up, and his interview session to the employees of Molson would be conducted by Joe Bowen. Bowen made his way through fielding uncensored questions from the audience, and nothing seemed inappropriate. I noticed @molsonmoffat was “tweeting” away and was catching up on his updates via the Blackberry as he offered a play-by-play of some of Burke’s candid comments:
reality is cameras only there because it’s the Leafs – players may suck 12:45 PM
Leaf players get “blue and white disease” think they’re great cause cameras show up 12:43 PM
Burke “leadership is the most highly compensated trait in the history of the world” 12:39 PM
“luke schenn is a stud…wish i drafted him” 12:33 PM
patrick roy responsible for goal scoring drought in modern nhl – glamourized position 12:33 PM
today’s leafs are flawed…”we got s*#tkicked last night” 12:28 PM
brad may brought in to wake some guys up…living with luke schenn 12:24 PM
trades are extinct in today’s nhl with cap era 12:23 PM
telling us his draft day plans – he’s been so shrewd ppl afraid to deal with him 12:23 PM
likes his teams “Irish tough” – instigate vs. react 12:22 PM
having lunch with Leaf GM Bryan Burke. really candid 12:21 PM
My only addition was this Tweet discussing a story Burke told about drafting Trevor Linden. Burke liked to meet his potential draftees to get an idea of their personality and character before drafting, but before their scheduled meeting got a call from Linden saying he’d be unable to make it. When asked why Linden responded that his Dad had said he had to call and cancel because there were farm chores to be done. Burke asked what needed to be done and Linden regaled him with a story about castrating bulls. Burke again threw a question Linden’s way, this time asking him what his job would be. Linden’s response was he was the guy holding the bull down while the others “chopped it’s nuts off”. Needless to say that was enough character for Burke who promptly drafted him 2nd overall.
Now Playing
Son Volt – Wide Swing Tremolo
Today’s Random Links
Headset Hotties.. seems like a fetish at least one of you might be into.
The top 10 moments caught on Google Maps street view. Vikings FTW!
The 2009 Podcamp Toronto schedule has been announced.
Guns’n’Roses and Stevie Wonder Mash-up.