WORLD'S LARGEST SWIMMING POOL

The kids want a pool. We are thinking about having an in-ground pool constructed in the backyard. The old inflatable is not cutting it anymore. Of course the cost of maitaining it, the risks and the hyper insurance rates leave a little to be desired.

So while looking at pools I discovered this one in San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, Chile. Guinness Book of Records has named the vast pool beside the sea in Chile as the biggest in the world.

Why? It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, has a 115ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water. It took five years to build, cost nearly £1billion and the annual maintenance bill will be £2million.

I was thinking something a little smaller.

EQUALIZATION IS AS SLIPPERY AS PIG WRESTLING

"I believe that success for the country as a whole is best achieved by the individual successes of provinces and territories. And though I am sometimes compared to Hugo Chavez, or assailed by national editorialists as a juvenile showman, my desire is to have the rising tide of the Newfoundland and Labrador economy lift all boats across this country. "

"We don’t begrudge others improving their lot, but don’t pit provinces against one other. Don’t take from one to give to another. Don’t break firm written commitments. Honor them. And if other provinces suffer by virtue of your promises then find another means to make them whole."

"Collectively, we as fellow Canadians make Canada stronger by enabling one another to use our individual strengths to enrich the federation and make all of us stronger than we would otherwise be."

Excerpts from Premier Danny Williams Speech to the Economic Club of Toronto, May 03, 2007

"We're here to be part of a strong federation and we're here to help our weaker sisters in their time of need."

"The big shoulders of Ontario have borne a lot of the weight over many years and, from Newfoundland and Labrador's perspective, we'd like nothing better (than) to lend a helping hand."

Premier Danny Williams reacting to the Toronto-Dominion Bank report predicting Ontario would be eligible for federal equalization payments as early as 2010.

When I first heard Premier Williams' comments on Wednesday, I have to admit that I thought, this is going to be taken like rubbing salt in a wound. Tuesday the Province announced it had a $1.4 Billion surplus while the TD bank was indicating Ontario may have be looking at equalization. Mike Duffy said the Premier sounded "uppity". Genuine or not, as much as it fits with his comments in May of 2007, I can see why the reaction to the comment that we would "help our weaker sisters in their time of need" hit a sour note when you consider that part of that record surplus was the result of federal transfers (rightfully earned or not).

Quebec, Manitoba, and the four Atlantic provinces shared $13.6 billion under the equalization program. Ontario taxpayers contributed $5.6 billion of that. If you were Ontario's premier would you be looking for a new arrangement from Ottawa?

DON'T WRITE ONTARIO OFF AS A HAS-BEEN JUST YET

FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL:

Ontario is on the verge of becoming a have-not province, and recorded a growth rate last year well below the national average. But it's far too soon to dismiss Ontario as a has-been in Canada's economy.

Canada's economic output grew 2.7 per cent last year, in line with past performance. Newfoundland and Labrador led the provinces with a huge 9.1 per cent growth, while New Brunswick and Nova Scotia dragged behind the pack at 1.6 per cent.

Ontario, which produces about 40 per cent of the country's output, expanded by a respectable 2.1 per cent. But traditionally, Ontario has equalled or surpassed national growth rates. And now, economists warn that the province is hovering on the brink of, or already in, a recession.

But as economist Robert Kavcic at BMO Nesbitt Burns points out, "Ontario still provided most of the economic muscle for Canada last year."

He shows that Ontario was responsible for a third of the growth that Canada registered last year, while the hot economy in Newfoundland and Labrador contributed to about 1 per cent of the expansion. Even Alberta, with its booming oil sands and 3.3 per cent growth last year, doesn't come close to carrying the weight of Ontario.

SOURCE: BMO NESBITT BURNS

ONTARIO'S EQUALIZATION NON-DISASTER

Mr. McGuinty is really saying: Give me more transfers, but don’t call them equalization – that’s for have-nots. - MYLES HIGGINS

Myles Higgens at Canada Free Press has an opinion about the scorn upon which Newfoundland and Labrador's recent gains have been met up along:

How is it even possible that the good news story of Newfoundland & Labrador coming off of equalization has somehow turned into a catalyst for concern and near hysteria in some circles?

After 59 years of being a so called “have not” province the news this week that Newfoundland & Labrador will no longer need equalization would seem to be a good thing, but in reading the headlines one gets the opposite impression.

Unfortunately, Newfoundland & Labrador’s announcement took place at the same time financial analysts are saying Ontario could soon become an equalization receiving province. As with most things Canadian, when Ontario sneezes everybody listens and all else is quickly forgotten in the rush to find the tissue box.

Read the rest here

OBAMA BUTTONS

HILLARY BUTTONS

MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN

It’s no secret that I’d be thrilled if Jack would decide to run in the next federal election,” Layton said. “Jack Harris has been one of the great voices for Newfoundland and Labrador, both as leader for our party here, but as a member of Parliament with Ed Broadbent in earlier times.”

It must be tough to be Jack Harris. The former long term provincial NDP leader stepped away from the political scene prior to the last provincial election. He led the party for a decade. He served a short stint as MP for St. John's East. No doubt part of him would like to try Ottawa again.

Jack Harris is one of the most principled men I have ever had the privilege of meeting. A few others include Clifford Lincoln and Eugene Forsey. A very unassuming, intelligent advocate of social justice. He would make a great Member of Parliament. He would represent this province well and could well become national leader at some point.

The federal NDP know this. They also know that he could walk away with St. John's East without breaking much more than the sweat he would generate shaking hands going door-to-door. It is amazing how many Progressive Conservative and Liberals I encounter who want to support his run for the federal seat. The opposition would melt like shards of paper in a rainstorm.

He would bolster the NDP in Atlantic Canada like Brian Tobin did for the Federal Liberals in 2000. The NDP have attracted some big names in Quebec as well. A few extra seats could put them in contention to hold the balance of power after the next election. So Jack Harris signing on would be quite a coup for the NDP and perhaps a coup for us.

The NDP have said they would give the 8.5% of Hibernia owned by the feds back to Newfoundland and Labrador. Ensuring that Newfoundland and Labrador put the NDP in a position to leverage this concession out of whomever forms the next government would be a tremendous positive for all of us.

There is at least one big hurdle. Jack Harris. He has given a big chunk of his life to public office and to his party. He left politics and the limelight behind to enjoy the slower pace and his family who have sacrificed so much over the years.

Jack has given a great deal already. I hope he runs but I would not blame him if he did not lace up his skates again. Sometimes we ask too much from too few.

A NEW EQUALIZATION CRUSADE FROM THE CENTER

"Let me put it this way, if my brother wins the lottery, I'll be thrilled for him – after all, he's family – but when we go out for dinner, I'm not picking up his cheque," DALTON MCGUINTY

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is dealing with an economic crisis. His province is spiraling towards recession and he is helpless to prevent it. His province is tied too closely to the American economy not to be sucked under in the vortex that is the collapsing American economy.

McGuinty has now reached into the sleazy play book of his predecessor, Mike Harris and has borrowed some rhetoric to take a shot at Newfoundland and Labrador. We want a free lunch he claims. While Ontario is dining on cat food we are eating Alberta Grade "A" beef.

He has a point, world oil prices and the demand for minerals has certainly greatly enhanced the coffers of our treasury to unimaginable levels. It is not the lottery though, it is a combination of careful, strategic development of non-renewable resources and record demands. I do not hear the workers in Sudbury complaining about the pay cheques they are bringing home through processing nickel from Newfoundland and Labrador. They are benefiting from the same lottery that we are.

After 59 years of trying to catch-up to the rest of Canada, we were well on our way before this latest energy crisis. We have 59 years of robbing Peter to pay Paul to catch up on. Roads to repair, schools and hospitals to build and a $12 Billion debt to tame. Ontario is becoming a have-not province because of economic levers beyond its control.

Ontario wants a fairer deal because equalization is not working for them. They do not understand why they continue to pay billions into the program at this point in time. I guess it is pointless to talk about the contribution of people, money and resources from our province to the Canadian federation.

The real danger here is the impact that not reaching a better political compromise will have on inter-provincial relationships and the long term viability of the Canadian federation. Perhaps it is time to for us to look at better political alliances, this east-west stuff has never done us much good anyways!

PS: McGuinty's comments can be found here. Former PC Premier Mike Harris said "That's like somebody on welfare saying, `Well, I won the $1 million lottery and I have a $100,000 job, but I still want my welfare,". The current premiers comments are in quotations.

A GLIMPSE INSIDE ZION WHERE SEXUAL ABUSE IS BOUNTYFUL

The girls are taken across the border quietly at night and never return, Ms. Jensen said, adding, “The handsome ones go to the leaders.” - GLOBE AND MAIL

The child-molesting Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has gone to great lengths to hide their sick secrets from public view. Hiding behind the veil of freedom of religion and right to assembly they have been able to live in isolation, free from persecution for generations.

Authorities in Texas finally broke through the impenetrable secrecy when they raided the FLDS Yearning For Zion ranch last month. A 17-year-old girl at the ranch from Bountiful British Columbia could expose a part of the church's life that governments on both sides of the border have long ignored.

She may have been part of an organized scheme that saw FLDS communities expand the blood pool by trading young women to each other's communities. Yes, the FLDS in Canada may have been trafficking in young women across the border for sexual purposes while lawmakers in this country refused to act.

The story in today's Globe and Mail is sickening. I have been following the Bountiful issue for more than two years. Focus on what is happening there is sharpening and public outrage is growing. Despite feigning concern, officials in British Columbia have refused to act. They have refused to protect women and young children from sexual abuse. It is time make the FLDS accountable to Canadian laws.

To the FLDS members whose IP's have been registering on my site, sue me!

ANOTHER CURTAIN OBSCURES PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY

Those Harper Conservatives continue to batten down all the hatches and block the free flow of information from the Federal Government. Yesterday, in a move worthy of a totalitarian regime, they killed the Coordination of Access to Information Requests System which was created in 1989 as a tool to keep track of requests and co-ordinate the government's response between agencies to freedom of information requests.

Journalists, experts and the public utilized the registry to track information. The documents were not available online, only the wording of the original access to information request, date, department, file number and general information about whether the requester was media, business, academic or other. Users would then make a written request for a copy of the already released documents by citing the file number.

Public Works, which operates the database, spent $166,000 improving it in 2001. Federal officials in 2003 had been working on a publicly accessible online version.

They keep proving how destructive a force they can be to Canadian democracy. With each passing week institutions and transparency initiatives are being dismantled or discredited.

I wonder what they are hiding this time, to go to such extremes to eliminate/obstruct access to information that is used to hold them accountable.

A TEASE OF SPRING

A sign of spring. While I was inside adjudicating the sun finally shone on the foggy east end of St. John's. There are some tinges of green on my front lawn and some flowers have sprouted.

Of course now the fog has enveloped the White Hills and is slowly swooping down to blanket the east end but I can still see the pale outline of sun burning through the fog in the west.

EASTERN HISTOR!CA FAIR

The Avalon Regional Historica Fair is over. I was an adjudicator last evening and the quality of the the exhibits was fantastic. I was awed by the use of multi-media and the knowledge and enthusiasm of the participants.

We just finished handing out the awards and working through the communications. More than 150 students from 49 schools will have participated in this year’s fair at MacDonald Drive Junior School in St. John’s.

It is a celebration of life and times with a focus on the role of women and their contribution to our culture, heritage, and way of life. This year’s provincial theme was Home is Where the Hearth Is.

Historica Fairs are a celebration of Canadian heritage in the form of student history projects. Students from grades four to nine research unique topics and present the research in imaginative ways.

For more information, visit http://www.heritage.k12.nf.ca.

My undergraduate degree was a double major in political science and history, so I am a bit of a history nerd. Great job, kids.

ABBOTT THINKS EASTERN HEALTH JUMPED THE GUN

"This was and still is, in my mind, a significant operational issue that is left and should be left in the health authority's hands to address, resolve and communicate." - John Abbott

The former Deputy Minister of Health has told the Cameron inquiry that Eastern Health ought to have dealt with its lab issues without engaging the provincial Health Department so soon. He said the decision to notify government and the minister created confusion and blurred the lines.

I am confused. Is he saying it was better that Eastern be allowed to cover their incompetence? Or that bringing the issue to the political realm created more problems and was harder to sort out? There was the potential for a huge crisis for those impacted, for the Eastern Health Authority, for the Provincial Government and for the senior bureaucrats who thought the best course of action was letting them handle it on their own. If this was who was whispering in John Ottenheimer's ear, one can understand why the minister was persuaded, against his own gut feelings, to wait on making the matter public.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

I found this button in my collection of political paraphernalia which I had banished to a box in the corner of a closet.

Speaking of a great collection of campaign buttons. If your ever down in Quidi Vidi drop into the Inn of Old. Its a quaint old bar which is lined with campaign buttons from many general elections and mayoral races.

Clinton May Be Hopeful, but Obama Rolls On

After weeks in which her candidacy was seen by many party leaders as a long shot at best, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers argued strenuously on Thursday that the answer was most assuredly yes, that the outlook was turning in her favor in a way that gave her a real chance.

Read the rest at the New York Times.

CONTROL..I THINK WE HAVE A PROBLEM

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll shows that the two remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination are in a tie amongst Democratic voters. Is it because of Wright or have Democrats just woken up to the fact that Clinton offers the best chance to put a Democrat back into the White House.

Obama's inability to win big states is showing that he cannot win. He cannot improve on Gore and Dukakis but Hillary can. The real question now is do the superdelegates haul in their horns and realize the error of their ways or go out of their way to ensure Hillary does not get the nomination, thus ensuring the Bush Republicans retain the presidency.

UNDERFUNDED AND STRESSED

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada says no hospital is immune to the deficiencies that have contributed to problems with medical testing in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Ontario.

The college's chief executive, Dr. Andrew Padmos, told Canadian Press that:

"To some degree, every institution - whether it's an academic health centre with 20 or 30 pathologists on staff or a smaller regional hospital with a handful of pathology resources - every one of them is experiencing shortages, work-life pressures due to increasing workloads, increasing complexity and reduced availability of the technologies that would help them get the work done."

A few examples of identified problems across the country:

• 24,000 pathology tests are being reviewed and a judicial inquiry has been called after an audit said there were incomplete or misdiagnosed results in the work of pathologist Dr. Rajgopal Menon.

• Diagnostic imaging tests of about 4,500 patients are also being reviewed in Prince Edward Island after questions were raised about the work of a single pathologist.

• A public inquiry is currently underway in this province to determine how nearly 400 patients received inaccurate results on their breast-cancer tests between 1997 and 2005.

• A hospital in Owen Sound, Ont., has found errors in the work of one of its three pathologists - mistakes a review says may have resulted in missed cancer diagnoses or altered the care patients received.

ON THE MARK

That the government did so anyway was commonly described as surprising. But nothing this government does should surprise anyone any longer. There is no promise it will not break, no agreement it will not violate, no belief it will not discard. There is simply no way to predict with any certainty what it will do from one moment to the next. It is literally capable of anything. - Andrew Coyne, April 16th, 2008

Andrew Coyne may dislike labels, and he loathes politics. He is considered a writer on the right. He is the national editor for Maclean's and has been a columnist for the National Post and the Financial Post. He is also a member of The National's weekly political panel.

In October, Coyne wrote an article entitled "Right is the new centre" in which he said:

Moreover, on a number of other fronts -- taxes, the spending power, the economic union -- it is objectively radical, proposing large changes in the way we are governed. It is, in almost every respect, a recognizably conservative document.

Last week he said in a column entitled " The space where the Tory principles used to be":

at last the stark reality that there is no plan — that whatever the Conservative party might once have stood for, it does no longer; that having slipped any principled moorings, it is simply and totally adrift — became too obvious to ignore. With the Tories’ latest backflip, from defenders of open markets to fervent economic nationalists, that process is complete.

The column is punchy and tough. Tougher I would argue than anything that Danny Williams has said over the past year or so in his on-going battle with the Harper Conservatives. He certainly flays the Conservatives.

For those who like to flay Williams, he certainly does not seem to be out of step in his assessment of Stephen, after all.

THERE IS GOLD IN THEM THERE BOGS

In the early 1990's a number of companies looked at the potential of peat in the Bay. St. George area for horticultural, building and energy uses. I remember attending at least one conference in Corner Brook where the potential of peat was discussed.

Bogs near Stephenville and St. George's were ditched and harvested. At least one or two companies exported some peat. One company looked at supplying markets in Egypt. Another company looked at developing peat for energy. There was a lot of investment in preparing a co-generation proposal to burn peat to produce energy to offset high power costs at the Abitibi-Price Mill in Stephenville. Unfortunately, the proposal failed to make the capital project list at the company's boardroom in Montreal. I guess in retrospect, the writing was already on the wall for the Stephenville operation.

Peat has great potential. Biomass does have a significant advantage over coal: it’s considered CO2-neutral, a major issue in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Burning coal releases carbon dioxide (CO2) stored millions of years ago, so in effect is new CO2 in the ecosystem. The CO2 released by burning wood was stored by the trees within the past 40 to 80 years.

Peat Resources Ltd is a Toronto-based company that was formed in the 1980's to develop, produce, and market peat fuel for use in electrical-generating stations and other facilities. They are active in both Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Company's mission is to establish the viability of peat as an alternative fuel for existing power stations, and for export of the technology to other countries

The company holds exploration licences on over 130,000 hectares of peat lands in several areas of Newfoundland. Initial resource evaluation of peat lands in the Stephenville-St. George’s area has defined over 40 million m3 of fuel-grade peat.

Peat Resources has extracted peat from its bog located near Stephenville and has prepared a small sample of fuel peat pellets at a facility in Stephenville. The peat was shipped to Ontario for combustion trials. In the spring of 2008, the company plans to construct a plant at bog side, and prepare a larger trial sample of fuel peat pellets.

The company just announced the results of its peatland resource evaluation in the Freshwater Bay region of north central Newfoundland. Surveys conducted for the Company by AMEC Americas Limited in October - December 2007 have identified about 32 million cubic metres of fuel-grade peat in 5 separate peat bog areas covering 4,050 hectares. Fuel-grade peat formed approximately 95% of the deposits.

Considering the world need for energy and the vast availability of peat in Newfoundland and Labrador it is good news to see that our province continues to develop its rich and diverse energy potential.

There are of course environmental issues to be considered and that will be the focus of another post.

HARSH WORDS

"That the government did so anyway was commonly described as surprising. But nothing this government does should surprise anyone any longer. There is no promise it will not break, no agreement it will not violate, no belief it will not discard. There is simply no way to predict with any certainty what it will do from one moment to the next. It is literally capable of anything."

Who said this last week about Stephen Harper and his Conservatives?

a. Premier Danny Williams
b. Premier Dalton McGuinty
c. Premier Ed Stelmach
d. None of the above

LEGO TO BUILD MMOG

I may have mentioned a few times that Lego is king in the Whittle household. My guys love it. In addition to the numerous engineering marvels that occur on a daily basis they love to play Lego- based computer games. Lego Star Wars is a huge hit here and thanks to commercialization and some secret instinct they are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Lego versions of the Indiana Jones movies.

Yesterday the manufacturer of Lego announced that it plans to create a virtual Lego universe in the form of a massively multiplayer online game.

"We want to make the connection between digital play and physical play," said Mark William Hansen who is in charge of Lego Universe. "The physical experience is our core, the digital experience will never replace the physical experience, but it's a nice add-on."

Lego Universe will blend real-world style environments with characters and buildings made of digital plastic pieces. A forest would have less bricks in the background, while a city would lend itself to being made nearly entirely with bricks.

Each player's avatar, or online persona, will be a customizable digital version of Lego minifigures, the tiny characters included with most Lego kits that also feature in existing Lego video games such as Lego Star Wars.

Gee, sounds like it is going to cost money. I guess dad will have to forgo his monthly World of Warcraft fees in favor of Lego world.

HOW SEVERE IS THE PROBLEM

I wonder how many hospitals across Canada have just buried mistakes made by pathologists in the past? How many health authorities acted like Eastern Health in the initial stages of a startling discovery and aimed to limit the exposure based on advice from insurance and public relations experts?

In this post-botched breast cancer testing era at Eastern Health, a new spirit of disclosure seems to have enveloped those that manage health facilities in the country. In this province a review of a radiologist's work in the Burin Peninsula was made public. We have learned of issues related to testing in New Brunswick and now revelations of similar issues in Ontario.

Test results for about 40,000 patients from the Grey Bruce Health Services in Owen Sound have been thrown into doubt because of mistakes made by a hospital pathologist.

Dr. Barry Sawka's main task was diagnosing diseases from patient samples, mainly looking at biopsies to determine cancer. As soon as the errors were discovered, hospital officials asked Sawka to stop practicing, but no one immediately informed the public about the errors.

Officials said they wanted to wait until a hospital in London, Ont., finished an independent review of Sawka's most recent diagnoses. The results of that review came on April 30 and confirmed that Sawka made clinically significant errors in 35 cases in the months before he stopped practising.

I cannot help but wonder about quality control and back-up tests to ensure that original diagnoses are correct. I wonder what else is lurking in the closet or under the hospital gurney.

CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE

Sexual Health Minister Ross Wiseman and Finance Minister Tom Marshall will be using the backdrop of the College of the North Atlantic's Children's Centre as the delivery room for the details of the Parental Support Benefit this morning.

Government will be giving parents $1200 for the first year of a new child's life. I commented on this policy when it was originally conceived back in December.

It is going to be interesting to watch population statistics over the next few years to see if this plan bears fruit. As a father of three the incentive is hardly enough to make a responsible decision to go forward with a new baby but the $100 bucks a month will help. The province's investment in education, extended dentistry benefits and tuition freezes work in concert to make raising a family easier.

Now how about a baby college fund. For every baby born the government could put $1000 into a trust fund for university. That would provide huge long term benefits.

VISIT NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

I was rolling through my Thursday bookmarks and logged into Harpers Magazine and right there on the front page of one of my favourite sites was an ad and video promoting Newfoundland and Labrador.

I'd gone to the page in the hope of finding an article that I started to read at Chapters tonight by Kevin Phillips: "Numbers racket: Why the economy is worse than we know". It is there as a PDF if you're interesting in reading it.

NO QUIET EXIT

AFTER he became notorious as the man who urged God to damn America, Jeremiah Wright claims he wrestled with two impulses. The first was to heed the proverb: “It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” The second was to “come across the room” and fight back. Mr Wright's decision to come across the room with his mouth wide open is proving a disaster for all concerned

Check out the Economist for the rest of this article.

THE GREAT DEBATE CONTINUES

"In the name of demonstrating her superior "electability," she and her surrogates have invoked the racist and sexist playbook of the right"

The Nation has a not-too-flattering article about the Clinton's campaign. Betsy Reed says Clinton has played the race card and drove a wedge into the feminist movement.

In the course of Hillary Clinton's historic run for the White House--in which she became the first woman ever to prevail in a state-level presidential primary contest--she has been likened to Lorena Bobbitt (by Tucker Carlson); a "hellish housewife" (Leon Wieseltier); and described as "witchy," a "she-devil," "anti-male" and "a stripteaser" (Chris Matthews). Her loud and hearty laugh has been labeled "the cackle," her voice compared to "fingernails on a blackboard" and her posture said to look "like everyone's first wife standing outside a probate court." As one Fox News commentator put it, "When Hillary Clinton speaks, men hear, Take out the garbage." Rush Limbaugh, who has no qualms about subjecting audiences to the spectacle of his own bloated physique, asked his listeners, "Will this country want to actually watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?" Perhaps most damaging of all to her electoral prospects, very early on Clinton was deemed "unlikable." Although other factors also account for that dislike, much of the venom she elicits ("Iron my shirt," "How do we beat the bitch?") is clearly gender-specific.

Read more:

THE HOLY GRAIL OF STORAGE

While they may not have quite developed the holodeck from Star Trek, the holographic data storage unit is about to make its debut. It will allow writing data to disc as light patterns in three dimensions can store hundreds of gigabytes of data onto a disc the size of a standard DVD/CD.

Robin Harris over at ZDNet's Storage Bits blog explains how this technology works and one of its most interesting features.

InPhase Technologies is set to release its first holographic-based storage device this month. it touts a disc capacity of 300 GB with up to 50 years of archive life.

However, as per usual, there's a price to pay for early adoption, and this one's a doozy: $18,000 for the Tapestry drive and $180 for the 300 GB discs. Suffice it to say, my wife can breathe a sigh of relief to know that this won't be coming home with me any time soon. But it's definitely an exciting step into the future (if you're one, like me, who gets excited over data storage).

No, I fear no income tax refund equates to no toys for me this spring.