Re: B.C. moves ahead to outsource medical services IT (Nov. 9)
This arrangement provides no protection of personal information. It hinges on the assumed deterrent effect of the penalties.
Trafficking in personal information is a lucrative undertaking and our information will be stolen and sold for nefarious purposes. And once it is, how long will it take for the legal remedy to percolate through the Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions before any consequences accrue to the perpetrators, if they are even caught?
And even if they are, the proverbial cat will be out of the bag and remedy will achieve nothing. I find it very hard to believe that no Canadian company can provide this service.
Keith A. Ujvary
Gibsons, B.C.
Re: Dial ’em if you got ’em (Nov. 8)
You got it exactly right when you said, “”You can’t stop people from behaving rudely; you can only limit their opportunities to be rude.”” We all know of situations where cell phones should have been switched off or at least switched to silent mode, but were not. Indeed, some of us are probably guilty of the offence.
While cell phone manners, or lack of them, is a very obvious manifestation of rudeness in today’s society, it is just a trend. The real issue is that some people are rude while others are polite; some people are forgetful, others are not. And, indeed, sometimes, the two overlap.
Tolerance is also a positive human virtue and it is always good manners to be tolerant of the failings of others. Conversely, it is rude to be intolerant. Sometimes, the reaction of others to the cell phone going off at the inappropriate time is more disturbing than the cell phone itself.
Jim Roche
Datawire Communication Networks Inc.
Re: Dial ’em if you got ’em (Nov. 8)
I couldn’t agree more!
My brother had the poor taste to accept two cell phone calls accompanied by a musical ring tone during the funeral service for our father. One of his calls chimed in during a trumpet solo of the last post.
Gary Strachan
Re: Bible-thumbers (Nov. 9)
Further to your introductory paragraph about Bible Translators where you expressed ignorance about the current state of affairs, you may wish to check out the following Web sites:
http://www.wycliffe.ca — the Canadian branch of the world wide organization that continues to do Bible translation work
http://www.sil.org — a sister organization which specializes in technology development for language understanding and translation.
They appear to have some S/W technology that might be of interest to you.
Roy Hoffman
Re: Help Wanted and the helpless (Nov. 4)
As an unemployed IT professional, I was offended by the one-sidedness of your editorial in the November 8 issue of the Ottawa Business Journal. In the 10 months of my so-called transition period, I have attended several government-sponsored courses on job search techniques. We have heard all about researching companies, targeting resumes and the wonderful opportunities in health care and Wal-Mart. We even heard that ordinary networking is no longer enough. We have to know decision makers at executive level — how many of us can do that? And Mr. Swinwood’s quoted remarks are exactly of the kind to draw abusive comments (although I would never condone such a response).
What we need in the trade press is an objective look at hiring practices in the new millennium. The Internet, which we have helped build, in now our curse. The resumes get screened out by unknown programs because the recruiter wants five years experience in a particular field, and we have four years, 10 months. Companies are looking for perfect individuals who are experts right away in the most obscure software tools, as if our university education has not prepared us to be fast learners. False positions are posted daily just to draw resumes for numerous agencies of dubious usefulness.
Employers are looking for total commitment from new hires, while offering no commitment themselves, namely just short-term contracts. And in the absence of any national legislation, slave-like labour is expected of current employees, instead of creating new positions (re: recent report on health costs of stressed out workers).
I am now considering employment in retail. Mr. Swinwood should consider, and the OBJ should report, if this is the best use of the huge unemployed, highly educated and experienced talent in Canada.
Srdjan Marjanovic
Ottawa
Editor’s note: Shane Schick’s editorials that appear regularly on this Web site appear occasionally in the Ottawa Business Journal, a sister publication of ITBusiness.ca.
Letters to the editor must include the writer’s name and company name along with an e-mail address or other contact information. All letters become the property of ITBusiness.ca. Editors reserve the right to edit submissions for length and content.
