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Showing posts from June, 2010

Big Brother Has Gone Viral

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When I was at Drupalcon in April, the keynote was echoed by a crowd of twitterers and live bloggers. They were all grabbing the elephant just as it was being simucast to the web. People wanted bragging rights in their 3000 circles that they emparted some cool info and did so first. World shaping events are watched by all and used to the commentated by three networks in America plus the newspapers. Then came CNN. The quantity of voices in professional media grew. But they were slow. A story had to be assigned by an editor; or a story had to be approved before it saw the light of day. Internet publishing started in the 1980s. The Informati fringe could log in, post to newsgroups. There were a lot of steps, a small audience and the whole experience was not for the faint of heart. The Web made it easier, but you needed to know HTML and how to FTP your opinions and do it from the safety of your dial-up and your desktop. The advent of blogging then Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) mad

Trojan Juniors

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I have no idea if these are smaller or easier to put on or just bubble gum flavored. In an era where kids have denim patterned diapers, why not market everything for the prepubescent adults of our world.

Ther Great American Novel

I have finally published my own Great American Novel. psst-- do you want a sample of the novel? Check it out here.

Cumberland Quake News

Toronto to Nova Scotia and South to Cleveland were just hit with a 5.5 quake that was centered 49 km (31 miles) north of Cumberland, Ontario, Canada. The quake seemed to last for about 30 seconds in Ottawa and rattled downtown buildings, homes in west-end Ottawa and government offices across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, Que. Reports at that cell service is overloaded as people tweet about this and call for information. Word that the G20 lake has sprung a leak and is draining cannot be confirmed at this time. Police and CSIS are working to locate and detain the Earth's Core for questioning.

Late Night Experiments

If you're driving in the Victoria or Saanich areas from 9PM to 3AM, there is a good chance you're going to become a test subject. UBC, in cooperation with local police, are diverting motorists then administering breathalyzers, written questionnaires and blood samples. While participation is theoretically voluntary, there is no word as to the reaction one would expect should they opt to not participate in this UBC study administered by police officers. As police officers can issue road-side suspensions for refusing a breathalyzer, motorists may be off the road if they elect to not contribute to the UBC body of data for such a study. There is no word as to how this programme is being funded-- whether local police resources are being diverted to gather this data; or if UBC or ICBC is underwriting this use of our region's police forces. UBC, ICBC and the Saanich Police have not commented on this programme or their practices.

Now What?

Last week I quit my job. Now what? The last job for a while have been really wearing me down. I was really tired of the the dynamics in play. Sometimes I put on the Shakespeare hat (hey, he was balding: he totally would have had a hat on). With the hat on I once spouted to myself, "where superstition is fact and ignorance is currency," of the last place. If I couldn't explain to a non-technical person a wholly technical concept, then the concept had no merit. Try pulling that the next time you get in a car: "I don't know how the spark plugs make internal combustion work, so I don't endorse the car." I couldn't see any way to correct the dynamics or get my head around the way to survive the dynamics. There came a day that I pulled the plug. I quit. That left me with the question of "Now what?" What had been going on for a long time was the fear of being financially destitute for quitting my job and ending up emotionally destitute for keeping