Postal Update : Back To Work Legislation Tabled
Back to work legislation has just been tabled in Parliament. Additional details can be found at the following :
Sega Pass Hacked
An undisclosed amount of Sega Pass users have had their personal information stolen, along with encrypted password information.
Email addresses and birthdates were compromised and Sega Pass appears to be offline. The incident happened last Thursday but no details in regards to the network’s Canadian users have been published.
Postal Strike Information
It appears that the Conservative government is planning of tabling back to work legislation to end the postal strike that started today.
Canada Post had decided to lock out their employees and now mail service to and from the urban centers has stopped.
Mail is no longer being accepted, collected or distributed in most Canadian cities except for select government issued cheques. But some smaller communities may still recieve mail because their postal services are handled by the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association, thought it should be noted that they will not accept mail from customers.
Canada Post‘s e-Post site is still up and running so you can get your bills from that service or online directly from the businesses you deal with.
BTW, some retailers do offer alternative shipping methods to their Canadian customers.
The following Canadian retailers offer an option to ship to their local stores :
The following Canadian retailers offer courier shipping :
chapters.indigo.ca
(Greater Toronto Area)
Sony Style Canada(Major Cities/By Appointment)
Tigerdirect.ca – FREE SHIPPING* on selected PC Deals at TigerDirect!
Amazon.ca
It should be noted that Amazon.com
They use DHS Global Mail for Standard and Expedited Shipping, and UPS or DHL for Priority Shipping. BUT shipments valued above $20 Canadian may incur importation fees, which in this case would be administed by the courier, in addition to the standard duties and taxes.
International shipments valued at less than $20 are not subject to duties, taxes or importation fees because of the Low Value Shipment (LVS) process at the Canadian Border Services Agency, with some restrictions.
Additional information in regards to the possible alternatives will be added to this blog entry a.s.a.p. You can also keep track of the strike using these two links :
Canada Post Reduces Deliveries
In response to the lack of mail traffic, Canada Post has decided to reduce deliveries in urban centers to three per week. Mail will be delivered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
More Clouds In Forecast
Another online music retailer has decided to create a Cloud service.
American subscription service eMusic are hoping to launch their own Cloud service in the fall or winter.
This company had just recently secured the rights to EMI‘s older catalog, enabling members access to EMI recordings that are over 12 months old.
Hewlett-Packard Cloud Service
It appears that HP might unviel a new cloud service for their new Touchpad, according to Billboard, who confirmed the labels were in negotiations with this company.
The new Touchpad will be released on July 1st in the United States and July 15th in Canada. It will be available for pre-order from HP Canada on June 19.