Author Archives: Robert Basil

Goosebumps

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Robert Basil

This new ad, titled “Missing Work,” was created by Bell Canada for its “Let’s Talk Mental Health” initiative. It captures a moment – a short routine, really – very common among the chronically depressed. It is staggeringly understated and beautiful. … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged clarity, mental hygiene | Leave a comment

Quantifying the Costs of Workplace Conflict

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Robert Basil

Steve McGuire has an excellent, concise piece in Mediate.com showing how the “hidden” costs of workplace conflict can, in fact, be helpfully quantified. Various indirect factors go into calculating the real (hidden) costs of workplace conflict. In addition to wasted … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged conflict | Leave a comment

New $ for Visual Artists?

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Robert Basil

The United States Copyright Office has recommended to the U.S. Congress that it reconsider its copyright laws so that visual artists can benefit from the resale of their work. Visual artists typically do not share in the long-term financial success … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged copyright | Leave a comment

“Undermining Infrastructure at the Core”

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Robert Basil

Our friends at Sophos have issued their Security Threat Report 2014. The entire report is necessary, sometimes grim reading. Here are two “trends to watch”: Attacks on corporate and personal data in the cloud: As businesses increasingly rely on various cloud services for … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged security | Leave a comment

A Generation of Mentors

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Robert Basil

It’s hard for me to re-read KPMG‘s October report “BC Junior Mining at a Crossroads,” commissioned by the BC Securities Commission, without feeling not just loss but what will be lost. The report’s findings echo the lamentations of my friends … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged courtesy, Mentorship, plain English, Vancouver | Leave a comment

Vancouver’s Commonweal

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Robert Basil

In North America it is Canada’s decided, tenacious commonweal that sets it apart. We look after one another more often than not, and less out of zeal than out of habit and good sense. A city’s public library is a testament … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged resources, Vancouver | Leave a comment

You talk just fine?

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Robert Basil

When teaching oral communications to my students, I don’t feel comfortable critiquing those who speak in “uptalk,” that habit of ending sentences with a rising inflection so that declarative sentences sometimes seem to sound like questions. To me that would … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged audience | Leave a comment

“More bad writing” …

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Robert Basil

… presented courtesy of our friend Jonathan Mayhew’s superb blog, Stupid Motivational Tricks: Scholarly Writing and How to Get It Done.” It is a lovely post that ends with this poignant sentence: “There are more objectionable sentences here that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged academic writing | Leave a comment

Changing Norms

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Robert Basil

Reuben Fischer-Baum of Jezebel has made a wonderfully entertaining GIF that presents six decades of the most popular names for girls, “state by state.” He writes: Baby naming generally follows a consistent cycle: A name springs up in some region … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged language | Leave a comment