Consumed Consumer . org

Let's start by wishing you a prosperous, joyous and all-around successful happy new year ! We wish we could join other sites in presenting you with an insightful retrospective; alas, we cannot - we only started a couple of months ago, and we have yet to finalize the "look and feel" of our website.

We recently learned that Canada's Competition Bureau (7) took the unusual step of warning the public about several hoaxes perpetrated on the Internet and not only (9). This is a good opportunity for this article, since after getting for the nth time a chain email from a friend, I had already decided it's about time I write this little ditty, in the hope that if I am to receive more junk / chain mail from friends, they will at least be more interesting / innovative.

Just like pop will eat itself, Facebook will one day self-destruct (2). Until then, it's getting an ever increasing mind-share and implicitly expanding media coverage. In the last salvo in this war for our brainspace, we learn that Facebook is taking a Canadian porn site to court over alleged attempts to steal private details of users(1).

We recently learned that the Canadian federal government has failed to produce reports regarding the state of our water supply for more than five years (1).

We all know that you need DivX (or its free cousin, Xvid) to watch most of the movies available in digital format. There are now even DivX DVD player. For a limited time, DivX will give you a free license for the holidays. This will enable you to author movies in this format easily. Head over to their website for more: http://www.divx.com/dff/index.php UPDATE They run such promotions regularly, but for now, this promotion is over. :(

If you're anything like me, and you don't happen to know who The Right Hon. Lester Bowles, P.C., C.C., O.M., O.B.E., B.A., M.A., LL.D. is, you might think "So What?!?". I think he was one of the most important politicians Canada ever had and quite possibly the best.

I just got an email from an acquaintance working for Amnesty.ca .

In response to numerous requests, we are publishing a no non-sense guide to backing up your encrypted or unencrypted DVD with the use of high-quality, ad/spyware-free gratis programs on Windows XP (it might work on Vista as well).

We just learned about a very serious security flaw in the Passport Canada website accepting online applications .

In yet one more sign that the European Commission is more committed to the interests of the individual citizens they represent, EU-commissaris - Meglena Kuneva will engage in a web chat on Wednesday, December 12 . The topic of the discussion will be "product safety", particularly the last high-profile incidents with dangerous toys. Information is a key element for making you, as Europe's citizens, fully aware of your fundamental rights as consumers. But, awareness alone is not enough. You should be able to play your full role as consumers; confident and able to discuss consumer issues. To this end, I plan to set up a web-chat. We at the Commission must be directly connected to your daily lives and we cannot do that without talking with you. Kudos, Ms. Kuneva! :)