Google Street View comes to Vancouver Questions of pedestrian privacy raised r ~ Address is approximate Kristina Mameli news editor is name is Peg Man, and he is now your Hes tour guide of 13 Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler. The small orange icon guides you through Google’s latest project: Google Street View. The company released its long anticipated Street View feature Wednesday after months of anticipation. The feature offers high resolution 360° views of each aspect of the city, and is available through Google Maps and Google Earth. The street-level images were captured earlier this year using cars outfitted with special cameras that drove the streets taking panoramic shots. As the cameras emerged, so did controversy regarding issues of pedestrian privacy. Google Canada’s managing director Jonathan Lister assured parliament that all facial features of passerby’s would be blurred by Google software. But unfortunately, that technology has proven to be flawed. Faces, license plates and windows were all supposed to be blurred in the archived photos, but the software has missed a few. To remedy the problem, Google has included an icon in the lower corner of the screen which reads “report a problem.” The company has promised to act quickly once a problem is reported. The digital tourism offers limitless advertising potential as well as a prime opportunity for potential travellers to get digitally acquainted with destinations without ever leaving the comfort of their own homes. Grab and drop Peg Man wherever you like, then zoom in on the street or building you desire. Type in travel directions, then click on the camera icon to view street view imagery every step of your journey. Google Street View is now available across Canada in cities such as Calgary, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Montreal and Quebec. It has been available in the U.S. since 2007, and is now available in 14 other countries including the U.K., Japan and Australia. we News Shorts By Tanya Colledge and Kristina Mameli Bell and Telus to begin selling iPhone Over a year after the device was launched in Canada, Bell Canada and Telus Corp. have announced that they will begin selling Apple’s iPhone. After completing a multi-million dollar total overhaul of its wireless network to accommodate High-Speed Packet Access technology (HSPA)—the only network standard on which the iPhone operates— Bell Canada will initiate the move next month to eliminate the monopoly that Rogers Communications Inc. has held over the device. The companies have not released any details on pricing for the iPhone, nor has Telus said when the HSPA technology will be up and running in its network. Good Samaritan returns wallet with $32,000 cheque When a doctor working at Surrey Memorial Hospital lost his wallet while commuting to work by SkyTrain last Friday, he was sure he would never see it again. Later that afternoon, however, a man turned in a wallet to SkyTrain officials containing $250 dollars cash, ID, credit cards and a cheque for $32,000. The transit police attendant on duty was able to return the wallet to the doctor at the hospital within an hour—all its contents intact. No one was able to get the name of the good Samaritan, but he is proof that random acts of kindness and honesty still exist in our communities. B.C. doctors treat swine flu by phone As HINI continues to threaten the health of British Columbians, the province and the BC Medical Association have agreed that doctors will be paid to diagnose the disease over the phone. They will be compensated $14.74 payment for a telephone consultation, and $31.15 for office visits. Doctors have been able to claim for swine flu phone advice since October 1, but payment for office visits won’t start until provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall has determined if the number of swine flu cases outweighs the cases of seasonal flu. Hotmail passwords leaked Thousands of Hotmail passwords were posted for one day at pastebin.com, a site commonly used by web developers to share code. The addresses were quickly removed; most were European addresses beginning with the letters A and B. The addresses are believed to have been obtained by a phishing scam in which fake websites convince people to submit personal details. Hotmail recommends that all users change their passwords — Just in case. Vancouver extends restaurants hours of liquor service By Kristina Mameli, News Editor ‘ T ancouver residents now have one hour longer to enjoy an alcoholic beverage after a long day’s work. City Council has approved a bylaw that will allow restaurant owners to apply to be able to serve alcohol to their patrons one hour later. The unanimous vote came late Thursday, a move that was long overdue according to Vancouver’s Mayor Gregor Robertson. The new bylaw, which will be permanent following a review by council in a year’s time, will extend licensed establishment’s hours of service from midnight to 1 a.m. weekdays and from | a.m. to 2 a.m. weekends. According to Councillor Heather Deal, the new bylaw is not at all Olympic related, despite speculation. Nightclub owners expressed concern at the meeting that the extended hours of restaurants may cut into their market; yet another reason for the bylaw’s impending review. Deal said that the establishments will have to show that 50 per cent of their sales within an eight-hour period were indeed food. Robertson said that the extension was due to overwhelming demand from neighbourhoods to keep the taps running, preventing patrons from being forced to move downtown and that this is the next logical step for a major city such as Vancouver. Hours restaurants and bars are allowed to serve alcohol varies greatly across the Lower Mainland. The current liquor laws have been in place since 2003, requiring restaurants to stop serving by midnight weekdays. In Burnaby and Richmond however, restaurants were allowed to serve until 2 a.m. on weekends. By-election called for New Westminster-Coquitlam Voter fatigue and the HST seem to be the main issues By Kristina Mameli, News Editor riding will once again return to the ballot box in November. November 9 will be the riding’s fourth federal election in just over five years. The by-election is one of four recently called by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The main candidates in the race are three-term Coquitlam city councillor Fin Donnelly for the NDP, former Port Moody city councillor Diana Dilworth for the Conservatives, environmental engineer Ken Beck Lee for the Liberals and Rebecca Helps for the Greens. The big issues this time around seem to revolve around the controversial Harmonized Sales Tax, which is set to come into effect July 2010, as well as boosting voter turnout, especially the youth vote. The New Westminster-Coquitlam riding was formerly held by NDP MP Dawn Black who resigned in April in order to run in May’s provincial election. Black is now the provincial MLA for New Westminster. Other by-elections will be held in Cumberland-Colchester- Musquodoboit Valley in Nova Scotia and Hochelaga and Montmagny- L’Islet-Kamouraska-Riviere-du-Loup in Quebec. Look for profiles of local candidates in The Other Press in the coming weeks. U eerie fatigued voters in the New Westminster-Coquitlam RTE