Skyway Recommended March 18th to 24th

Each Monday we’ll pass on links to articles we thought were well worth reading from the previous week, for those who live where we do (British Columbia, Canada), work like we do (high speed business internet), and think about things we do (internet trends, internet privacy, internet censorship, cutting-edge technology, etc.). If you don’t want to wait ’til Monday, we usually tweet and link to these as we come across them…

Fast Company Design | Has Open-Source Ideology Blinded Us To Danger?

Generally speaking, we applaud things that are open and look askance at things that are closed. In the tech world, open source software has done a lot to cement this thinking. What could be nobler than releasing one’s work freely to the world? And not only that, but encouraging others to tweak and transform and build upon it, too? That’s merely one example. Openness has long been considered one of Android’s great advantages over Apple’s mobile platform, and as 3-D printers become more accessible, we look forward to a future where they open up a new type of manufacturing to the masses. Read More…

CBC.ca | Stores ditch cash registers for new technology

Ka-ching! The cash register may be on its final sale. Stores across the country are ditching the old-fashioned, clunky machines and having salespeople — and even shoppers themselves — ring up sales on smartphones and tablet computers. Read More…

Financial Post | Alberta man may be first to sell house for bitcoin virtual currency

Like countless young men across North America, Taylor More likes sports and hanging out with friends. And if his latest project pans out he’ll be unique — the first person to sell a house for bitcoins. He’s already drawn world-wide attention after placing an online ad for his property in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, a small community in the southwestern corner of the province. The story’s been picked up by the BBC in Britain, ABC in the U.S. as well as numerous Canadian news outlets. Read More…

The Guardian | Blackberry Boss attacks “outdated” iPhone

The head of BlackBerry has attacked Apple‘s iPhone as “outdated” as he launched the company’s new full touchscreen phone in the US. Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry’s chief executive, made the comment on Thursday before the long-delayed launch there of the Z10, the first phone running the new BB10 software which had been expected as much as a year ago. Read More…

Atlantic Wire | YouTube Is Now the Size of Facebook

YouTube made a big announcement last week — ten digits big to be exact. The video-sharing startup that spent its early days operating out of an apartment above a pizzeria now boasts one billion users. That’s billion with a “b”, and yes, that is very cool. One billion users is also a lot of users. The only site that can really compete with that kind of volume is Facebook. To be specific, YouTube announced on its official blog that “now has more than a billion unique users every single month.” It’s unclear how “active” these users are, to use an industry term, but boy are they numerous. Read More…