March 2018 – Follow To Know

It’s A Canadian Thing: Why Big Phone Companies Still Dominate Internet Services Amid Cheaper Options | CBC News

March 30, 2018 mdbincbi

There are few things that raise the hackles of Canadian consumers more than the cost of telecom services. But when it comes to rising internet costs at least, Canadians may have only themselves to blame. “There isn’t a lot of price elasticity [because] consumers aren’t leaving,” says Prof. Brynn Winegard, who teaches the neuroscience and psychology of consumer behaviour at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto. “They know they can get those prices from those consumers.” says Winegard. Two of the big telecommunication providers — Bell and Rogers…

FCC Approves SpaceX Plan For Satellite-Provided Internet | Engadget

March 30, 2018March 30, 2018 mdbincbi

The SpaceX plan for a global wireless internet network provided by 4,425 satellites has been approved by the FCC. The $10 billion Starlink proposal calls for the satellites to launch in two phases between 2019 and 2024, then fly between 714 and 823 miles above the Earth providing a 1 Gbps connection. Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve, with the plan following similar requests by OneWeb, Space Norway, and Telesat. The Starlink network will consist of 4,425 satellites around the world. Read full story here: FCC Approves SpaceX Plan For Satellite-Provided Internet…

US Visa Applications May Soon Require Five Years Of Social Media Info – Engadget

March 30, 2018March 30, 2018 mdbincbi

The State Department wants to require all US visa applicants, both immigrant and non, disclose their social media handles to the US government, CNN reports. In documents that the department will file to the Federal Register tomorrow, it proposes that nearly every individual applying for a US visa be required to hand over any social media handles used on certain platforms in the past five years as well as submit any telephone numbers and email addresses used during that same time period. Previously, this information was only requested from visa…

Why Concerns Persist About The Supposed Health Risks Of Smart Meters | CBC News

March 29, 2018 mdbincbi

As Nova Scotia Power works to install $133 million worth of smart meters in the homes and businesses of its 500,000 customers, it’s also going to have to fight unfounded claims that they’re bad for people’s health. The meters will allow the company to automatically measure how much electricity people consume, eliminating the need for meter readers to manually take the measurement. The utility says the meters will also provide consumers better information about their usage and will automatically generate outage notifications, resulting in more efficient power restoration. Despite statements from groups such as Health…

Canadian Customs Facilities In The U.S.? Americans Say It Could Happen Soon – Politics – CBC News

March 26, 2018March 30, 2018 mdbincbi

Canada could soon have its first customs facilities inside the United States, says an American official who cites Florida and Arizona as potential sites for pilot projects in ongoing experiments to modernize the border. This would come decades after American preclearance facilities were first placed at major Canadian airports, where travellers have long cleared customs before flying to the U.S., with the goal of reducing wait times at the back end. Newer innovations involve train travel, with pilot projects to have rail passengers clear U.S. customs in Montreal and B.C.,…

Big Telcos Not Required To Sell Wholesale Network Access To Tower-less Rivals, CRTC Says – Business – CBC News

March 23, 2018 mdbincbi

The CRTC has once again refused to mandate the big telcos sell wholesale access to their wireless networks to fledgling rivals without towers of their own, a decision critics call a blow for competition and for Canadians fed up with big cellphone bills. At the request of Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, the regulator spent months reviewing its ruling from last March that threatened to put Sugar Mobile out of business. On Thursday, the CRTC reaffirmed its decision that the discount Wi-Fi-based provider has no right to resell access to Rogers’s network to keep its…

Paper Documents In Hospitals Not Always Properly Destroyed: Study | CTV News

March 21, 2018 mdbincbi

It was while sitting in a doctors’ lounge and watching a janitor take away a huge recycling bin that Dr. Nancy Baxter stumbled on a major problem with the way hospitals operate. Inside that bin, she saw paperwork containing the personal medical information of hospital patients. It was paperwork that should have been shredded, but instead, the janitor was planning to take it to recycling. The types of bins available in many hospitals, designating where sensitive documents and where recycling should go. She soon discovered it’s a disturbing amount. Dr.…

Heavily Indebted Canadians Need To Watch U.S. Interest Rate Announcement: Don Pittis – Business – CBC News

March 20, 2018 mdbincbi

A rise in U.S. interest rates tomorrow is so confidently expected by nearly everyone that a failure to hike rates would shock world markets. In his first official press conference since taking over for Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is expected to set the direction for interest rate increases this year and into the more distant future. What he says will matter to investors around the world. It will also matter to Canadian borrowers. One reason market watchers are so confident Powell will raise the key U.S. federal funds rate from 1.5 to…

Tesla Model 3 Review | Digital Trends

March 19, 2018 mdbincbi

The most exciting vehicle on the market isn’t a million-dollar supercar, a broad-shouldered truck, or a seven-passenger SUV. No, the car the world can’t wait to drive is an all-electric sedan from a startup automaker called Tesla. By making EVs cool and promising affordable, innovative products, Tesla has forced the hand of automakers lest they yield too much business to the technology upstart. The Model 3 isn’t the only long range EV available for less than $40K (see also the 238-mile range Chevy Bolt EV), but it is directly responsible…