At Home: Wi-Fi comes to Saskatchewan buses
Planes, trains, and automobiles are popular ways to get around, but the Saskatchewan Transportation Company is hoping to lure more young riders to its buses with free Wi-Fi.
The STC already has on-board wireless Internet on some routes and, as the CBC reports, ?plans to add Wi-Fi to more routes later this year.?
Ads for the new service are on MSN, YouTube, and other media sites. STC president Shawn Grice told reporters that free Wi-Fi is ?currently running on the Saskatoon-Regina corridor and we’re looking to expand in 2010.?
One of the likely routes to launch the service next is the Regina-Moose Jaw corridor.
The move is intended to boost riders (and revenue) for the STC, which has seen both numbers declining in recent years. The company currently relies on government funding, receiving $7.8 million as an operating subsidy in 2009. This year, that number will rise to $9 million, in part to ?cover rising fuel and salary costs.?
And while YouTube ads for free Wi-Fi may be aimed at the youth market, STC has plans to market to seniors as well. Jim Reiter, the minister responsible for STC, noted that although it may take some time for the company’s new measures to show results, the service is worth subsidizing until that happens.
In Foreign News: 3D TV comes with health warnings
As if mediocre sitcoms and all those reality shows weren’t bad enough, the latest television craze may be even worse for you: 3D TV. It’s supposed to be the next big thing in television, following hot on the success of films like Avatar, but experts warn the technology could bring real health risks.
As the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports, manufacturers are warning viewers that 3D TV may lead to ?dizziness, convulsions and disorientation.? The problem comes in the way 3D television creates images, ?by flashing up to 60 frames a second onto the screen.? Battery-powered glasses then convert those images into three dimensions.
Alan Brichta, an Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle who studies brain chemistry and balance, told reporters that ?What we have to appreciate is that we’re really tricking the brain into conjuring up these 3D images and so when you start tricking the brain, unforeseen things happen or at least things . . . that we don’t like happening.?
The new sets hit the market recently, and one manufacturer’s website warns that ?watching 3D TVs has the potential to create dizziness, muscle twitches, confusion and convulsions.? It might also pay viewers to be cautious with their wallets before rushing out to buy a 3D TV. Much like the 3D craze that swept the nation in the 1950s, it could just turn out to be the next passing fad.
