FEWER RIGIS “
“TRAN THE AMERICANS

you buy, a state-cf-the-art
computer, in order | to “curt

ing ‘nightmares ‘about being
- left-behind as everyone else
“roars along the Information :
“Superhighway? es

Or are you simply being cyber- oe

conned by Silicon Valley hucksters? .

. Consider the’ time-frame of thé:
relentless Internet hype to which
we're now exposed every single. -
day in the media. ‘Thinking back,

‘most average mortals a mere year *
ago had hardly — if ever -— heard -

Of the Internet, let’ alone’ thought of.

True, the occasional article.” ; :
ppeared about the futuristic Info...

Superhighway. But as late as spring
1994 there was no hint that the °°"

“whole of self-respecting humanity
had alréady entered the on-ramp.
Not that the Internet itself was’
invented yesterday, having been’ *
~ originally launched by the" ~" :.'
Pentagon in-1969. And many, com-:
puter buffs have’ been on-line with
“bulletin boards aiid commercial. |
databases like CompuServe for .
“years. S what happened in just the.
: past 12 ‘months to drive private”
“individuals today in slavering
- hordes to splurge up to'$4,000 each |
at Future Shop or Computer City?

“What happened is that Silicon",

Valley suddenly realized its chips’

added up to a mountain of gold. All :
__; Intermet: I'd be.the last to knock its

“ that was needed being to switch

_ Doug Foct

“Comptroller

pebatay (123)

; _ emphasis to a mass marketing cam-

“‘paign aimed at individual con-
sumers. And the perfect marketing
model was the auto industry.’
Hence the slogan “Info:
- Superhighway” itself. Other, analo-
gies with Detroit marketing strate-
» pies abound. Silicon Valley,’ too, is
selling, machines to make us feel
* good about ourselves. The. costlier
and more powerful they ave, the
better. we'll feel. As'the car became
~ the personal status symbol of the’
20th century, the computer. is now

portrayed as the personal dream ee

“vehicle to carry us into the 21st.

: Meanwhile, the obsolescence
" factor promises even bigger profits
‘than cars. Computers can become
‘outdated within months. So be sure
to buy the latest one, or you'll be

left behind on that highway! .: |

Though a 10-year computer
‘owner, I’m NOT yet on the

Chris Johnson
Operations Manager :'
985-2131 (168)

' WELCOME North Van Arts

"ue... Happy 77th birthday Tuesday,

: Timothy Renshaw :

1G wiew pels

ANTANKEROUS Councillor Ernie

Crist is at it again. He’s making things
uncomfortable at North. Vancouver
District hall.

That might be bad for the status quo and
his fellow politicians, but it’s good for district
taxpayers.

Crist has been’ embroiled of late ina fracas
with district Mayor Murray Dykeman over
the release of a‘report on the risks to public
safety from a waterfront chemical piant.

The mayor .was livid over Crist’s prema- 7
ture release of information that the mayor

argued could have raised undue alarm in the

community and was to be released to the pub- .

_ lic in June after council had been briefed by
the chemical} company. :

But Crist maintains the public had a right

to know the potential dangers outlined in the

report. He’ said he feared the report would

value for global business. But
whether it would REALLY make
_ tay day to have everything in
human experience from the dawn
of history until five seconds ago — :
porn, do-it-yourself crime and all
— instantly at my fingertips seems
atad doubtful. = .
_. Surfing friends tell me cruising
in cyberspace can waste hours of
your life without i improving it one .
iota. They are echoed by at least -
one disenchanted computer science :
guru, Clifford Stoll, in his new
book Silicon Snake Oil: Second
Thoughts On The Information
Highway... .
“The Internet,” says the cyber-
space ex-celebrity, “[claims to] pro-
vide us with close, meaningful rela-
‘tionships, with cheap, good infor-
imation and with useful life skills.

story.)

_. Within each one of those promises
“is a grain‘of truth, but on balance

they are simply false.”’:
Thanks, Cliff. Tomorrow | think
Vil drop by a few car dealers ;

instead! Dear Editor: :

'-.Council’s new exec. director Derek ©

Simons, former head of |: *:-
Vancouver's Basic Inquiry arts cen-

May 23, to City Mayor Jack °°:
: Loucks ... And ‘55th anniversary »
congrats that day to North.Van's *)’
Charlie and Gertie. Todd.
| :

: 25th streets.
WRIGHT OR WRONG: Four lit:
tle words never heard often enough:
“You may be right!” ‘

Linda Stewart.
Sales & Marketing Director
. 980-0514 (319) |:

Managing Ecitor
. 985-2431 (11 6)

. “This last v week has been like a:
- Monty Python sketch with people ©
phoning up for an argument.”
.- . North Vancouver District Coun.
” Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, on ‘public
debate over the proposed develop-
ment of the Cove and Mountain for-
‘est areas. (From a ‘May 19 News

“T’m sure Lord Baden-Powell -
. would roll over.in his grave if he .
knew that part of his trail was

going to be reduced to a stroll in

our newest neighborhood.”..

' Deep Cove resident Joan Inwood,
: to North Vancouver District Council,
er : ‘opposing development of the dis-
trict’s Mountain and Cove forest
areas. Fi rom a May 19 News story. )

Mayor Mark Sager and the West
;Vancouver Council: are ‘to be’ com- -

, mended for deciding to hold a pub-:

"Jie: hearing: on the proposed sewer -

“line expansion. \ a

This was to be expected with 400
people petitioning for.a hearing to

“clear the air on the supposed need to
tear. up the seawalk from 19th’ to

, The present 30-inch sewer line is

_ Rot under the seawalk” but on’ the
north side of the railroad track, with
‘plenty of room for another pipe, if

\ Peter Kvarnstrom |
Display Manager .
980-0541 (103)

have been lost in the labyrinths of. council
committee and released io” the puMvie’ in,

sugar-coated form or not relessxed at all.

Score one for Mr. Crist.

His release of the information laid out the
full, unedited: scenario.of public risk.: And ;
nobody has run screaming into the streets yet.

Now district council has voted to censure ~
Crist for his claims in the North Shore News. -
that the district is being fiscally. mismanaged |
because the proceeds of district land sales are:
being used to pay for road patching and other.
maintenance projects. The targets of his criti-
cism want Crist chastised for generating dis-
cussion of important municipal issues, °°. -:

If Crist is wrong then his errors should he
documented; if he is right then he should be
applauded for doing his job. Either way he:

" has a duty. to raise issues of ¢ cern. .

‘ Council has no right to deny hi him that

_ We have found dust balls the

_ Size of tennis balls inside the cen-
tral processing unit and every-‘:.-”
thing from paper clips to bran
muffins in the keyboards??.:

Mike Waugh, technical s supervi-

sor for Hygenicomp, a company that

~ specializes in cleaning electronic :.
work environments, on the’ interest-
ing items found while cleaning com
puters, (From a May I: 14 News busi ;
ness Story. )

“We? re not planning o on putting
2 castle on a hill here — we're.
talking about putting into a build
ing that’s tired.”.: 4

North Vancouver City Coun,
Barbara Sharp, voting for a $2.4 mil-*

. lion city hall upgrade. (From a May

! 7 News story. de. :

necessary, beside i it: .

The possibility exists of ir inc
“ing. the throughput in’ the: present
pipe ‘with | a‘’small . pump ‘station:
Either. of ‘these. proposals ; should °

“cost much less: than‘ the $3 ‘million
in.the Greater Vancouver: Regional
- District (GVRD) proposal.

’ From: recent” actions” by ?.th
oa RD level of authority, it seems to
"be too’ distant ‘and uncaring for the
° local :and* modest “needs of West:
Vancouver and the North Shore
Derrick Humphries :

West Vancouver re

“Valerie Stephenson.
| Classified Manager wens
986-6222 (202)

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under. Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of. the
Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday,*
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