Phone and cable companies have unleashed a deep-pocketed public relations campaign designed to confuse Canadians about new Internet usage fees.

At the same time, broadcasters and cable companies are meeting in Ottawa to hash out a plan to deal with online services that are "competing for customers".

We can't let them turn back the clock. We need a well-coordinated response to prevent these corporations from interfering in the upcoming CRTC hearing.

"Late last week Intel CEO Paul Otellini was named to President Barack Obama's jobs council.  This week he went to work announcing that he would be creating a bunch of jobs.

"The dust has at least temporarily settled on Canada's controversial decision to let its biggest ISPs charge smaller, competitive ISPs on a metered, or Usage-Based Billing (UBB) schedule, a decision later suspended by The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.

"Booth Babes – officially described by Wikipedia as tradeshow models – are disappearing from tradeshows all around the world, including Buildex Vancouver. They’ve mostly gone the way of the hula-hoop, slide-rule, five-cent candy bar, photo film and shark-fin cars. “It’s really a non-issue,” said Buildex Vancouver show director Paul Maryschak, who last year in Vancouver recalls maybe one booth that elicited a few comments. It’s simply a thing of the past, he said."

"A tragic story hit the news today about a teenage boy who killed his mother after she took away his PlayStation. Last November, the day after Thanksgiving, Rashida Anderson and her son 16-year-old son Kendall had a 90-minute argument. Rashida took away his PlayStation as punishment. After his mother went to bed, Kendall paced for three hours in the South Philadelphia home before he decided to attack his mother in her sleep. He hit her with a claw hammer 20 times.

"We all know that Steve Jobs is sick. What's not known is how sick he is, and that's worrying investors of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) this morning, as well as everyone else. Jobs did have pancreatic cancer a few years ago, but he had a transplant and was able to come back to work. Last time, he gave some kind of time frame for returning to work. This time, he did not. Supposedly the National Enquirer is set to run pictures of Jobs with him looking frail and gaunt.

"If you disagree with buying chocolates, flowers or diamonds to give as Valentine's Day gifts, you'll be delighted to hear that Apeture Science has produced serious scientific research supporting your beliefs. Apparently, the perfect gift is pre-ordering a copy of Portal 2 ahead of its April 20 release. Coincidentally, pre-orders for Valve's first-person puzzler began today, with various bonuses offered by different retailers..."

"Looking to penetrate deep into realms where scientists seldom explore, NASA biophysicist Tore Straume [profile] (Ames Research Center), radiation expert and particle physicist Steve Blattnig (Langley Research Center), and Cary Zeitlin [profile] (Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory), explored the lo

"They say there's a lid for every pot. And when a geek has found his lid, there comes a time when he wants to take a soldering iron to it and make sure it's not going anywhere. But a true geek can't just hide a ring in the dessert and get down on one knee. Oh, no. He must pop the question with creativity and flair, to make it as memorable as possible for his geek princess in the only ways a geek knows how. And these days, that means he might just have to do a bit of coding. Read on for some of the geekiest marriage proposals ever..."

Happy Valentines everyone :)