Google I/O 2011 is bringing together thousands of developers to share, learn and create; we want you to be part of of this free developer event!

On Tuesday May 10th, eleven of our North American offices will be opening their doors to share the magic of I/O. Even though you might not be able to make it to San Francisco for the conference, we are bringing together passionate and talented developers in the local community to watch the conference through live streaming at the Google Waterloo Office.

We’ll be featuring live streaming of the keynote speakers and popular breakout sessions, as well as demonstrations & tech talks from local Canadian Googlers.You’ll have the opportunity to connect with fellow developers, enjoy beverages and bites, and enter to win raffle prizes (like a Samsung Galaxy Tab!). Space is limited, so attendance will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Google IO Main Site
Click here for details, locations and to RSVP

Looking forward to seeing you in May,
The Google I/O Extended Team

Questions? Email lexib at Big G

Seats are going fast, so RSVP now if you are interested in this event.

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Aside from being a bright and ambitious student, you should currently be working towards a Computer Science degree at any recognized University in the world (and have completed at least 2 years of your degree). You read that right, this opportunity is not limited to Canadian students. We are looking for the most talented students in the world, so as long as you’re ready to relocate to Toronto for 16 months, and are able to start the internship program in May 2010, we have the means to get you here. The location for this internship will be the Toronto Software Lab, in Markham, Ontario.

In particular, we are looking for students who are highly skilled in the area of web technologies and who are enthusiastic about cloud computing. This is NOT your run-of-the-mill, boring student job. You’ll be working with cutting edge technology on high visibility, fast paced projects that involve web technologies, cloud computing, Xp/Agile methodologies, and other related fields. You’ll be granted ample freedom to express yourself and your programming creativity. Should you be accepted for this well paid (in my opinion) internship program, you will report directly to my manager (a cool, down to earth guy) and I’ll be your mentor.

If you fit the criteria described above, please get in touch (cangiano at ca dot ibm dot com) and tell me a bit about yourself. You don’t need to attach your résumé at this stage, but if you drop me a line, I’ll be able to provide you with info on how to apply through the official IBM channels. We’ll take it from there.

Please note that I do NOT receive any form of compensation for referring you. I’m just hoping to provide a tiny subset of my readership with what could be a really great opportunity.

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1. Heads up regarding the shootout

For more details, I’m attaching an informative email I received from TekSavvy:

Hello,

We need your help — we need you to lend us your voice and state your opinion on a recent CRTC decision that could allow the incumbent phone companies (such as Bell and Telus) to discontinue offering services (Internet and phone) to wholesale providers which in effect would eliminate competition in Canada.

With no competition to help fuel the market; Internet innovation could come to stand still and prices for broadband access could skyrocket out of control. The incumbents would also be free to do with the lines as they please. This would open up future privacy invading Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technologies and direct marketing/advertising based on *you* and *your families* internet activities and habits.

They could also use this same technology to turn the Internet into a pay-per-website service the same way that TV is a pay-per-channel service. Can you imagine a world where you have to pay to use the Google website to search for information? Then, if you find what you are looking for you may be restricted to the content because your ISP doesn’t have a “peering” agreement with said company.

Please help us stop this major potential catastrophe.

All concerned consumers please visit:
http://www.competitivebroadband.com/consumer/

All concerned businesses please visit:
http://www.competitivebroadband.com

Read the information presented and decide for yourself.

Once you’ve decided what you think is right, you can click the “Make a Difference” link, fill out the form with your details and send a pre-written message to Minister of Industry Tony Clement, Prime Minister Harper, the Opposition Leader, and your local MP or choose to write your own.

Together we can make a difference.
Thank you,
TekSavvy Solutions, Inc.

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1. Cell Phone Cost Calculator Killed In Canada. Enough Is Enough!
2. self.move_to(Canada)

Recently Bell got its way again, and UBB (Usage Based Billing) was introduced regardless of what thousands upon thousands of taxpayers had to say about it. Countless complaints were forwarded to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission), and these were promptly disregarded.

On Slashdot today there’s a story entitled Cell Phone Cost Calculator Killed In Canada. Upon further inspection it’s revealed that cell phone carriers have successfully lobbied public officials to stop a taxpayer funded initiative that would publish an online cellphone cost calculator. (“OMG competition! Think of the shareholders!” As someone pointed out on Slashdot).

Stopping this service is a waste of our money, but more importantly, it clearly highlights the fear of transparency and competition that is typical of companies like Bell and Rogers. It shows the power that phone companies have over the government. And it demonstrates how elected officials like Tony Clement (Industry Minister) are far more concerned with the bottom line of public companies than the interest of Canadian citizens and residents alike.

This is outrageous. How can we fight back? For once, I’m a believer in voting with my dollars. I do not currently own a cell phone, and I surf the web on a (factual) 3 Mbps connection from TekSavvy, having switched from Rogers’ 10 Mbps plan more than a year ago.

The two are an impediment, because I need a cell phone and a fast Internet connection. But the lack of competition doesn’t leave you with many alternative options if you want to avoid giving your hard earned money to the types of carriers mentioned above. And in the case of the calculator, my tax money ended up being wasted to protect these companies’ obsolete pricing models.

The (always excellent) Michael Geist makes a worthwhile suggestion:

With public dollars having funded the mothballed project, the government should now consider releasing the calculator’s source code and enable other groups to pick up where the OCA (Office of Consumer Affairs) left off.

Today I registered MyPhoneBill.ca. Should they ever release the source code, I will host it and deploy it at this handy URL. After all, we’ve already paid for the code.

In truth, I don’t see this happening. An open source solution that companies and individuals could build upon would frighten cell phone carriers even more than a closed source project deployed by the government.

If they won’t open source the code of the cell phone cost calculator, as I suspect the case will be, I’ll take a stand. I’ll implement and offer the service myself at MyPhoneBill.ca (site not active yet).

Such a site may very well have a solid business model, and I’m not opposed to that idea. But that’s not the main reason why I’d create such a project. Canadians have the right to learn about what the most advantageous phone plan for their usage pattern is, without having to spend days on end doing research. And companies have no right whatsoever to prevent this from happening. Similar sites exist in almost every other industrialized country and cell phone companies usually collaborate with them.

Enough is enough!

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