It’s that time again fellas: Movember is upon us. And you know what that means. Moustaches for everyone – even if your main squeeze, girlfriend, wife, sister or daughter says you look like a 70s porn star. Why? Because Movember is prostate cancer awareness month, and by adorning your upper lip with some serious fur you are making your fellow men as well as their women aware of the fact that although less talked about, prostate cancer is actually more common than breast cancer!

Dabbler has been on hiatus for some time. Both Angela and myself have taken on some major projects that make it impossible to stay on top of this site as well. But since Movember is such a good cause we felt the least we could do was repost the video to get everyone in the mood for some mo-growin’.

For more information and to sign up go to Movember.com, then send your friends or loved ones who think you’ve gone insane here or to YouTube to watch the video. And while you’re at it you can read the original article after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you are a stuent yourself or know someone who is, listen up and listen good. Right now under the title The Ultimate Steal, Microsoft is offering Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 for a rediculous $64 Canadian for all acredited students! That means a discount of about 91% off the regular price. The offer is also available in the USA and other countries and gives students an all important leg up when it comes to learning and using the ubiquitous office software package.

The Office Ultimate kit contains not only the staples such as Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint but also a series of tools that will greatly enhance learning and collaboration in the form of Groove, InfoPath and OneNote.

The name of this promotion couldn’t be more accurate; this truely is The Ultimate Steal. Makes me wish I was a student again just so I could get my hands on it. But be quick: Who knows how long this is going to last…

The rumors of our demise are slightly exaggerated!

You may have noticed the number of postings on Dabbler.ca has trickled down to almost zero over the last two months. We’ve gotten many queries about why that is and some even think Dabbler is now defunct. Things could not be farther from the truth. But in response to our virtual absence I think a short explanation is in order:

We’ve Been Working!

Over the last two months both Angela and myself have taken on huge projects through the Dabbler mothership Pink & Yellow Media. These projects have been extremely time consuming and have forced us to move this site down on the priority list leading to a sharp decrease in postings. Although Dabbler has become quite successful we still are not at a point where we can drop everything and focus entirely on the blog. Like Angela says:

We got to eat!

So what have we been working on you ask? I’m not going to tell you just yet but here’s a hint: You’ll most likely catch Angela’s work on American network television some time in the fall and Morten’s project will be in book stores world wide in mid October this year. Stay tuned for further updates.

YouTube Loves Dabbler Loves YouTube

In conjunction with the one year anniversary of Dabbler.ca our YouTube viewership hit the 2,000,000 mark (yes, that’s two million!) and we are now racking up about 200,000 new views per month. We were fortunate enough to be invited as one of the first Canadian publishers to be enrolled in the YouTube Partner Program and it has definitely paid off in both viewership and $$$. As a result of the sudden popularity of Dabbler videos on YouTube we are now planning to ramp up our video production.

To watch our videos and interact with other Dabbler fans on YouTube, visit the Dabbler.ca Channel.

Now that our time consuming outside projects are wrapping up we will be getting back to business and posting tons of new and exciting content for you to digest. Stay tuned!

They must, because I just got a non-taxable cheque for $100 in the mail. Sorry to burst your bubble but you weren’t the only one to get this “Climate Action Dividend.” Every individual (adult or child) with a BC residency on December 31, 2007 is eligible for this monetary incentive (except those incarcerated of course). And what exactly is the government’s message? Well, as the name of this initiative implies, it is “to help British Columbians make lifestyle changes to reduce their use of fossil fuels.” The total value of these benefits is $440 million, paid out of the 2007/08 surplus.

Now hold up. Before you start jumping for joy and running to the mall for that new pair of shoes that you’ve been salivating over, remember that starting next week, the province’s Revenue Neutral Carbon Tax will kick in and you’ll find a dramatic increase in your use of expletives whenever you make a stop at the pumps. The math is complicated but just to give you an idea, according to “North America’s first comprehensive carbon tax,” you’ll be paying 2.41 cents more per litre of gasoline this year, a premium that will increase each year for the next four years. Eventually, you’ll be paying 7.24 cents more per litre by 2012. For diesel and home heating oil, it works out to 2.76 cents more per litre, rising to 8.27 cents more per litre over the same period.

So yes, the $100 does seem to be sugar-coating this terrible news, but keep in mind that it’s a “Revenue-Neutral” Carbon Tax, which means that by law, all revenue raised by the carbon tax must be returned to individuals and businesses through reductions to other taxes. So, if you’re a cup half-full kind of person, all of it can be viewed as an incentive to make better choices for the environment and as a consequence, for yourself and your family. So kudos to the government I say. I’m going to be buying light bulbs with my $100. Seriously folks, do use it for what it’s intended. Energy Star qualified bulbs use about 75% less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. If you wanna join me, here’s a link to a great article that’ll come in handy on your next shopping trip.

I was in absolute shock after reading this article. I’m talking jaw dropping speechlessness.

After seeing a strange increase in students requesting pregnancy tests at a local school’s health clinic, administrators started to dig a little to see what was going on. Upon investigation, it was discovered that a group of approximately 17 girls had entered into some kind of ‘pregnancy pact’ to have their babies together this year.

So many questions come to my mind I can’t even begin to spit them out. There were two parts of this article that really piqued my interest – you know, other than the sheer obvious ridiculousness of a pregnancy pact in the first place. Read the rest of this entry »

One time when my sister and nephew were visiting me back in Ottawa, we decided to go to the local fair. I had promised my sister that I would take him on all the rides I could stomach because she just wasn’t a ride person. This all ended at the Polar Express.

Carnies are some of the weirdest breed on earth. Our trip on the Polar Express just vindicated that incredibly stereotypical notion. The man operating / repairing / probably assembling this ride looked entirely unqualified as he hopped on the Polar Express while it was moving with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and mimed that he was riding a tubular wave. Ponytail flying in the wind, ash sprinkling over the small children like a fresh layer of snow.

It was then that I decided I would likely not go on another ride. Articles like this one just perpetuate my fears. When I read this today, all I could think about was that day, that moment, when I cursed myself for putting my young nephew on this veritable death trap. Sure, statistically it’ll probably never happen, but do I really want to take that risk?

Rarity or every day occurrence, doesn’t really matter to me. Something that can be set up and torn down in a day just makes me nervous. Add to that the people I see doing the work and you can expect to see me on the sidelines at Playland eating mini donuts.

On the outskirts of Silicon Valley lies LS9, a company that may just have found the solution for the world’s present oil crisis. The term ‘renewable petroleum” may sound like an oxymoron but to Greg Pal, Senior Director of LS9 Biofuels Company, it’s tangible reality. The dark substance in the jar above is remarkably, diesel fuel produced by genetically modified bugs. That’s right folks, someone has found a way to reproduce crude oil (which can be refined into other products like petroleum or jet fuel). Quite unbelievably, LS9′s bugs are single-cell organisms, invisible to the naked eye and start out as industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli, the DNA of which are modified so that when the bugs feed on agricultural waste like wheat straw or woodchips, the microscopic wonders excrete a substance that is almost pump-ready.

According to a Times Online article that I read, the company claims that this “Oil 2.0″ will not only be renewable but also carbon negative – meaning that the carbon it emits will be less than that sucked from the atmosphere by the raw materials from which it is made. But then it points out that LS9 has only been able to produce one barrel a week in a lab that takes up 40 sq ft of floor space. This means that with America’s weekly oil consumption of 143 million barrels, you would need a facility that covers about 205 square miles, an area roughly the size of Chicago.

33-year-old Pal claims however, that construction of a commercial-scale facility will be well underway by 2011, with the resulting oil production costing a mere $50 a barrel! Considering that existing oil deposits take what? 10 lifetimes to form? and are the biggest pain to dig for, extract, and transport, this is one lofty promise. But if this is all true and possible, I think ABC has found its next Bachelor.

Original article from Times Online.

You know that expression “you get what you pay for”? Well, I think that there’s one exception to that old adage. As consumers the world over will attest, the leading international furniture retailer not only offers quality and efficiency, but also innovation and style in addition to affordability. Yes, I love IKEA (properly pronounced “eeh-kea”). But who doesn’t? Their annual catalogue alone receives arguably the widest readership of any publication, including the Bible! Well, now you can add socially & environmentally responsible to their list of merits.

Whether it is flat-packing products to reduce packaging and transportation emissions, working with Global Charitable partners like UNICEF, Save the Children, WWF, using socially & environmentally responsible materials in its products or having a store format that draws on a larger trade area (instead of more stores), the company has practiced responsible retailing for decades.

I first took notice of the initiatives this company was taking when I spotted these parking stalls during one of my trips to the store last year. I’ve never seen any other store offer preferential parking to customers that drove hybrid cars and I was ecstatic to have found a spot right by the main entrance for my Prius (anyone who’s taken a trip to IKEA on a weekend knows what a bonus this is!). I think any company that goes the extra mile to uphold worthy values deserves a right proper mention and other retailers should really take note because in this new age of conscious consumerism, they can’t afford not to step up their game.

There’s more so read on! Read the rest of this entry »

Travelling around the world, you’ll find that people generally have a good perception of our country. As Canadians, we pride ourselves in calling home a part of the world that’s not only breathtakingly beautiful, diverse (and tolerantly so), and economically strong, but also peaceful. But how true is the latter? Would it surprise you to know that according to the Global Peace Index, countries such as Japan and Ireland outrank us? Which nation ranked #1? You’ll find that the top three countries are clustered in a very small part of the world (Clue: Mad Morten won’t stop bragging about it). And the United States of America? Well, let’s just say they barely made it into the top 100 most peaceful countries. Click on for the full details! Read the rest of this entry »

At least once a year, every household in the small neighbourhood of Skoklefall just outside of Oslo, Norway assembles with their mowers, garbage bags, clippers and weed wackers to clean up all the public areas in the community. Playgrounds are maintained to ensure longevity, hedges in small parks or picnic areas are trimmed, lawns mowed, flower beds renewed with fresh blossoms, garbage cleared – all to beautify the neighbourhood and make it a nicer place to live in and share. Everyone does it willingly and voluntarily and they all have fun catching up with neighbours. This admirable practice is what they call a Dugnad (literally meaning “voluntary (community) work”) and is held whenever there’s a need to better a certain aspect of a community as a whole. Should a school start looking a bit drab, a Dugnad could be called where all the parents convene to roll out a new fresh coat of paint. It saves buckets of money and engenders feelings of citizenship and pride. There are even nation-wide Dugnads! My question is, why don’t we see this across the pond in Canada?! If everyone contributed in their own small way, we’d all be better off as a whole. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp but tougher than nails to implement.

Take our most basic need for instance. In a country as rich as ours, how can it be that over 720,000 Canadians need to use a food bank to make ends meet in any given month? Even with a job, some of these people struggle to feed their families. Something has to be done to eliminate the need for the nearly 300,000 children that went hungry last month. We have over 33 million people in this country. That means that even if only 3% of us donate a can of food a month, there would be no need for a National Hunger Awareness Day. So on Thursday June 5th, get into the spirit of Dugnad and do something to help eliminate hunger in Canada. We are all connected to each other so everything we do has a potentially monumental ripple effect on everyone and everything else, especially when our actions are focused on improving more than just ourselves and our lives. Just your signature in a National Hunger Awareness Day petition to urge Federal Government to take action can do the trick. But while you do that, also box up a few non-perishable food items and haul it down to your local food bank, cause even though we can persuade the House of Commons to develop a national anti-poverty strategy, you can rest assured that they’ll be takin’ their sweet time doin’ it! Please read on to learn more about National Hunger Awareness Day and what you can do to affect change. Read the rest of this entry »