Kobo hell

My wife Heather got her Kobo in February and as I wrote in a previous blog I took it over before she even had a chance to use it. She was still in the middle of a traditional book so while she flipped pages I dove into the Kobo and clicked pages. It was wonderful.



 Heather eventually finished her book, placed it on the bookshelf to collect dust, and started sharing her Kobo with me and our daughter Rebekah. We're a reading family so for the short time we've had the Kobo it's been well used. But the other night when I looked at the Kobo something wasn't right. Down the left hand side of the screen there appeared a dark stripe. It distorted everything rendering the page unreadable.

Frustrated, I turned off the device, left it for a few minutes but the line didn't disappear. Ahh!

When Heather saw what had happened to her Kobo she was less than impressed. For those of you who know Heather when I say 'less than impressed' I really mean, 'she freaked out'.

"I've only read one book on the #@%! thing, it can't be broken," she said.

Then she called the Kobo people and the customer service rep told her to flip the device over and reset it by sticking a pin in the little pinhole. Nothing happened, the line would not disappear. Obviously Heather wasn't the first Kobo owner whose called about this problem because the customer service rep was not surprised when we couldn't reboot the device. She told us she would send out a courier envelope so we could send the Kobo back to them where they will attempt to fix it and if that's not possible, mail us a new one. It should take two to three weeks. Heather was asked what colour her Kobo in case a new one has to be shipped out to us. That kind of tells me the device will probably be easier to replace than repair.

I do enjoy the Kobo but this unexpected problem has left me unimpressed. Ours is only a month and two weeks old and it's already broken under normal working conditions. Yes, ebooks are cheaper to buy but if the readers break this easily I wonder about the technology. Are Kindles and other ereaders experiencing similar problems? I'd be interested in hearing from you if you've had a similar problem. In the meantime I'm going to go back in time to start reading a traditional new book I got for my birthday. I know I can count on it to not break before I finish the story!

Uncertain times for Jack Layton's NDP

John Henry dropped almost a whole person in weight while successfully campaigning against incumbent mayor John Gray last fall in the municipal election. He covered a lot of ground over the two to three month campaign period and the hard work paid off with a mayoral victory.

Election campaigns take a lot out of the candidates and their volunteers be it at the municipal, provincial or federal level of politics. In order to be election ready it's best to be healthy because any campaign typically plays out like a marathon.

That's why there's reason to worry for the federal NDP. With an election a very real possibility in the next few weeks the party's leader, Jack Layton, is scheduled for hip surgery to repair a fracture. You may recall Layton is also undergoing treatments for prostate cancer.

Jack Layton

I've watched Layton in action before. As a former municipal politician in the City of Toronto it always amazed me at the amount of energy the guy had. He was the most easily accessible councillor for any reporter and he was everywhere in his riding. If there was a community event happening he could be found there. It was hard keeping up with the guy.

When he jumped to federal politics and became the leader of the NDP he took his enthusiasm and energy to another level and it paid off. Under Layton's leadership the party has made significant gains in the number of federal seats the party's won for the NDP. It could be argued Layton's been one of the best leaders the party's had since Ed Broadbent led the party.

But cancer and hip surgery has a tendency to slow a person down no matter what their energy levels. If the NDP, Liberals and Bloc defeat Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget later this month and the Conservative minority falls, will Layton be ready to hit the ground running to fight an election? I'm doubtful.

Layton's people are saying he's going to be back in the House of Commons for the budget on March 22. They're making his hip surgery out to be a minor operation. But when you're going to be forced to campaign across the country the question in my mind is this, will his hip hold out?

I wish him well in his recovery but know if an election does happen it will be the toughest one he's ever fought.

Don't rush Sid the Kid back

Many Pittsburgh Penguins fans and even more media types keep speculating about the return of Sidney Crosby, the team’s captain and most popular Canadian hockey player.

Crosby received a brutal check to the head at the Winter Classic game played in January. A week later he was hit again in the head by Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman. He was pulled from the Penguin’s lineup and it was announced he had suffered a minor concussion.

‘Minor concussion’ is a term that’s loosely used in hockey circles but anyone in the medical community could tell you a concussion is anything but minor. When your brain gets bounced around and bruised it’s serious. When it happens to possibly one of the best players in the game it’s a big deal.

A few years ago my wife suffered a concussion after she slipped on the stairs and hit her head falling. The pain and suffering she went through for a good year seriously impacted her life and those around her. Her doctor told her that she had to go symptom free for as long as she had symptoms in order to be considered healed. It took her almost two years before she felt like her old self.

There have been far too many hockey players return to the game while exhibiting symptoms. Last year Boston’s Marc Savard returned to play in post season play after spending a large part of the regular season recovering from a concussion. This year his symptoms returned and just this week he announced his season’s over after he knocked his noodle once again. Should he have returned as early as he did? In my opinion, no.

I think the NHL should implement a rule governing concussions. If a player suffers a head injury he’s out for a minimum of six months. A second concussion would put him out for a season. It may sound a little drastic but for anyone who has ever suffered a head injury I don’t think they’d think of it as such a bad idea.

Eric Lindros was one of the premier players in the NHL before he suffered his first, second, third, fourth, fifth, (shall I go on?) concussions. His brother Brett got his head knocked around too and retired from the game early. Could you imagine how much more success these two players could have achieved if they’d just recuperated longer after their injuries?

At 23 years of age Sidney Crosby is too young a player and far too great a talent to have his career shortened by head injuries. If rushed back he would risk another concussion and the next one could be his last one. Everyone is different so just because Lindros was able to endure countless concussions and still managed to play off and on doesn’t mean Crosby will be the same. He may be one of the best conditioned athletes in the game but no amount of conditioning could help him when he was checked in the head. Game shape doesn’t necessarily equate to head shape.

If I don’t see Crosby back on the ice this season it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Granted it could shorten the Penguin’s season but at least fans will get to see their beloved captain return healthy again next season.

Crosby’s as competitive an athlete as they come so being out has got to be tough for him. But I’d rather see him enjoy a long, successful career than to bow out early because it was the ‘manly’ thing to do and come back early. He should stay out for as long as it takes and not rush back to the game. His health should come before hockey.