Consumption meter

I like the looks of this EWGECO meter.
It's still all "ewgeco will be able to..." so it's not like anyone can actually go out and get one, but I'm really looking forward to the day when I can monitor in real time my consumption rates for power and water without having to break into my condo's meter room in the basement.

Ewgeco Utility Meter Gas Electricity Water Meter - EWGECO HOME

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Sun Tower to change

One of Vancouver's most recognizable buildings to get a makeover

CKNW News Talk 980 - CKNWAM

Does this mean thetyee is homeless?

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China, Tibet, and the Olympics

China Cracking Down On Tibet

Via The Onion

Weren't there sanctions when peaceful protesters in Burma were cracked-down upon?

I guess we just don't like Tibetans as much as we do the Burmese. More than likely it all comes down to the shady deal we have with this oppressive regieme, the one I like to call "you give us cheap shit we ignore your crimes agains humanity."

I'm glad the guardian exists and prints real articles. If only we had a strong voice in Canada to help pressure our leadership into growing a pair. That might be the wrong way to put it though, it's pretty balsy to ignore your partners' abuses of human rights.

Good TV goes away

Intelligence, jPod, and MVP cancelled
via insidethecbc.com

Intelligence was/is/might in the future remain a great show.
jPod, well I don't dig Coupland. The best thing about jPod were only's jPod watch posts.
MVP, wait wasn't that the show with Pamela Anderson?

I want to quote a comment from insidethecbc.com's post:

1. LeonT Says:
   March 11th, 2008 at 9:35 am CDT

   Some fine commentary on the blog for this important story, so I’ll keep my comments to the point.

   Under the Stursberg regime, CBC Television has lost a Design department, Costume department, Props department, International Sales department [as of March 31st], and a Communications department. By closing these sections of the production wing, it no longer became a producer and became a buyer. Therefore, there was no personal and artistic commitment behind the creators of CBC programs.

   This created a disposable environment where an unsuccessful program is quickly dropped, due exclusively to ratings, in order to try something else.  In my opinion, until the CBC makes a real commitment to Drama, much like they did with a Drama Department years ago, this is how it’s going to be until they pursue ideas and not ratings.

I'm definitely not an insider so I can't say LeonT is on the money. My only first-hand experience at the CBC comes from interning for 3 weeks with their amazing news crew. What I will say is CBC television swings between "only worth watching for news and current affairs" to "What? A new canadian show that isn't reality TV? Maybe I don't have to gouge my eyes out."

At least CBC radio is top notch. Hey CBC2, Thanks for this:

• Mornings (6-10): Less classical, more light contemporary like Diana Krall and Joni Mitchell. About half of the music will be Canadian. No decision yet on who the host will be.

SWEEEEEEEEEEET!
*gouges ears out, considers whether a fork or a knife is better for the eyes*

Love,
Michael

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Under the weather

It's gray and rainy. Thanks to the timechange I woke up to darkeness. And I feel like dirt, well, a bleary-eyed and exhausted dirt.

The rain and morning-darkness I can't blame on anyone in particular.
The other stuff falls squarely on the shoulders of Michael Ondaatje.

Dear Michael. Ondaatje,
Divisadero ruined my Sunday night in the same way In the Skin of a Lion, Anil's Ghost, and The English Patient ruined Sunday nights in my past. Your books are too good.
"Just a little reading before bed." I tell myself.
Then wham, it's two in the morning and I have to force myself to sleep.

Sincerely,
Michael

Seriously, what's up with Canadian authors? I've discovered (and re-discovered) more great poets, playwrights, and authors this year than I ever thought possible.

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Led Zeppelin

This should help.

	Bustle in your Hedgerow - Travelling Riverside Blues
	Found at skreemr.com

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Hydrangea

I found this sitting right outside the door to our office building.
It's one of those beautiful coincidences that make me smile. In the fall just before the flowers started loosing their colour I was picking them and pressing them in my dictionary. They turned this same gray-brown, but are nice and flat for sticking to something crafty.

I've been holding off on taking a whole flowerhead, but as luck would have it someone (or possibly the wind) placed one just outside the door.

I got in the habit of collecting plants - living or otherwise - in my first year of university. I was studying fine arts under the fantastic direction of Laine Dahlen. The living flowers, leaves, and whatever else I pick up I usually press, the dried stuff like this flowerhead I try to keep intact.

In Laine's classes the majority of our illustration lessons involved the beautiful decay found in plants found drying in their natural environment. He helped me find inspiration in stains on walls and dead plants. I came to love them as much as any painting or drawing and now keep an ever expanding collection in a dry-vase in my home.

Some crumble over time, some become elements in mixed media pieces, others gather dust in their vase and become even more lovely with age. Hydrangeas are one of my favourites because they seem to last forever and their form seems suggestive or supportive to my abstraction and ideation.

Such a globe perched atop a delicate stem.

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Facebook Adblock Followup

With the first afternoon and night of testing over with let's get to the results.

Just over 4,000 impressions and 2 clicks - Who was that? You cost me a good 50 cents jerk.

I haven't received any emails reporting ads other than our own. As for myself, I am seeing other ads but that's probably because facebook won't show me my own ad.

Afternoon and night 1 was a success. I'll continue to monitor this over the next few days, but my first impression is that it sort of works.

With the vast majority of ads we see now under our control at a very low cost how can we better use them?

The adspace could be a fantastically intrusive status update, or I could setup some sort of mystery where hints are given out each day in the adspace. My problem now is that if the ad becomes more interesting in any way the click-throughs will rise and I'll see a bill.

hrm.....Any Ideas?

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Facebook adblock?

I'm just thinking out loud here but couldn't I block competitors ads on facebook by creating an ad that people are extremely unlikely to click and bidding high on the cost per click?

The high bid on CPC would mean my ad would be displayed over a competitors because I've priced them out of the market - but if nobody clicks the ad it all happens at no cost to me.

Where I'm going with this is, should my friends and I decide for some reason we don't want to see advertising on facebook we could create a dummy organization for ourselves. Some brave soul then creates an ad we don't intend to click, and bids high to ensure "our" ad is the one we are served.

Someone tell me I'm wrong about this. Actually, I'll just go ahead and try this out.

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Grandma Rules

I'm a sucker for old games. Cribbage, crokinole, chess; All way more fun than any of the latest  first person shooter, and they involve real interaction and smack-talk instead of the terrible "pwn!pwn!" and "gg!" of the after game lobby.

I picked up a bargain cribbage board about a month ago and I've been sucking my friends and family into playing every chance I get. What I've noticed is we've all developed our own standard set of rules. I was calling them "house rules" until last night, when, in the middle of adding an extra point to an already stellar hand for holding a jack of the same suit as the starter card a friend of mine piped up, "Your grandma rules are a little different than my grandma rules."

That's my term for rules in these games now and forever more. Learning grandma rules for games like cribbage and crazy eights is what made them fun. I was always amazed growing-up at the regional (or can that be grandmarial) variations. Wild cards, switching direction-of-play, countdown; The games became rich and varied and I developed great friendships at cafe's and coffee shops on a foundation of simple old games and grandma rules.

While I've discovered that my "one for the jack" is legit I should be calling it a nob. Check it out.

Also, in *ahem* researching this post I came across Cribbage Inc.'s home page, ON GEOCITIES! YES!

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VASS Corporate Cup @ Grouse

I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural VASS corporate cup at Grouse Mountain yesterday.

It was the most fun and inspiring event I've attended in years. Honestly, even better than northern voice.

We three BCIT people (Jason Goodnough, Elena Petkov, and myslef) were teamed with Kent, a skier from West Vancouver.



Kent was truly an inspiration. Following a serious vehicle accident he was told by his neurologist that it was unlikely he would ever walk or speak again, Kent managed to relearn and rehabilitate to the point where he's a sponsored skier and a great guy to talk with.

Patient with Elena who takes some time to come down the hill on a snowboard (2nd day on a tray) he was the best teammate anyone could ask for. I just edged him out for the win in our first race but slayed me on run #2.






It was a beautiful day, and I couldn't have asked for a more inspiring and entertaining group of people to spend it with!



VASS is a completely volunteer-run organization, and put on a wonderful event! I feel honoured to have been part of it, and humbled by the dedication and positive energy the athletes and organizers displayed.

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Something is a

Wbs 70

I'm building something new. Be back later in the week.

New Shirt

Raincity Studios Swag.


I'm an admirer, not just because of the shirt thing. Raincity does great work and contributes heaps of goodness to the community.

Dave's session - F*ck stats, make art was great. Not what I expected at a blog/social/geek conference, but really inspiring.

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Photocamp '08 at Northern Voice

Good old view source.
It's funny how the most basic steps can be overlooked.

Blogging for progressive political change

I'm at Northern Voice 2008 out at UBC attending Kate Milberry & Marc Lee's presentation on using blogs for progressive political change and agitation.

I won't be liveblogging the event or anything, there are better people and places for that kind of thing, but over the next two days I'll be quickposting cool sites/people/ideas on here and bookmarking the bookmarkables on del.icio.us.


Peace.

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SMS Google Calendar

A little while ago I wrote about discovering this mashup of pocketmod and google calendar that rocked my disorganized world. I liked it a lot, but it took me a few days to realize my texted in appointments weren't being input into the calendar.

Somehow I just didn't notice that 3 appointments I'd texted in didn't actually show up. I still made the meetings, no worries there, but now I'm wondering how to solve this problem:


:(

Corb Lund in Vancouver

Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans put on a great show at the Commodore Ballroom last night.
Hayes Carll opened up the show and was great too!
Musicians like these restore my faith in country.

Media Insiders Blogging

Earlier today I posted a link to Chez's blog and his story about being fired for blogging. I want to follow that up with a little tie-in to media blogging/ers north of the border.

Someone inside the CBC blogs under the name Ouimet. A recent posting on their blog The Tea Makers involving the president & CEO of the CBC has raised the issue of anonymity or pseudonymity and blogging from the inside.

The fantastic radio program Search Engine had both Ouimet and Hubert Lacroix on to discuss the post and anonymity online.

Ouimet was/is aware that there is danger in the public airing of grievances and sees anonymity or the other identity as a protective measure and uses that protection to deal with sensitive issues.

I wish Chez the best because he didn't deserve to be tossed because of his blog. One of the many aspects to great journalism is the ability to check that stuff at the door, something at which I do not excel.

I'm not entirely surprised that CNN would fire someone for blogging, but I am disappointed. It's stuff like this that keeps people like Ouimet behind the magical curtain, and a sign that we have a ways to go before traditional media opens up in the way we (at least I) wish they would.

I'd also like to shout out to one of my all-time favourite insider blogger's blogs, Todd Maffin's Inside the CBC.

Bloggin about blogging is not something I aim to do often, so I apologize for getting all meta on you, but what with Northern Voice coming up in one more sleep, a few Sesame Streets, and a Mr. Dressup away... well it happens.

Requiem for a TV News Career

An excellent article:
Say What You Will (Requiem for a TV News Career)
And a new blog to subscribe to:

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BLACKED OUT

Technical punkrock with some metal thrown in to make sure it doesn't get all high-minded and suck.

It's dope.

MySpace.com - BLACKED OUT - Banff, CA - Punk / Rock / Metal - www.myspace.com/banffblackedout

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Caryn Drexl Photography

I love finding photographers that I can recognize by their work. It's harder than you'd think, and usually when I do find one they are already so well established that their prints are priced right out of my reach. But not today!

The other day I wandered past a colleague's office and she had some amazing photos up on her laptop. They turned out to be the work of Caryn Drexl.

Her work has a spooky element and is technically solid. What really impressed me was regardless of subject matter her works seems to fit together somehow. She's developing a style or a visual language, and that's one of the hardest things to do as a photographer. Almost anyone can learn the nuts and bolts of exposure and depth of field, but one of the things that elevates these copies of life to artwork is the photographer's ability to communicate with a distinct visual language.

Anyway, head on over and have a look. Great prints for under fifty blades - you can't go wrong.

Photography @ caryndrexl.com

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Make Nardwuar the host of the 2009 Juno Awards

This is the best idea I've heard all week.

Young Lions of Pop Blog: Make Nardwuar the host of the 2009 Juno Awards

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Beb(r)o(ken)

I find Bebo to be a bit of an odd concoction. It feels a lot like myspace and it loads slower than molasses in January, yet it's wildly popular. At least I've read it's wildly popular, from what I've seen in my brief week or so as a member it's kind of abandoned.

Trying to e-pimp my profile has been an exercise in futility. Most of the stuff I would want to do I can do better elsewhere. I'm really at a loss as to why the heck someone would choose bebo as their platform of choice.

I'm going to hang in there and keep playing around with the site. I hope this screen shot is more than just a pr'd 404.

Recalls, Advisories, and a great local blog

Miss604 writes and produces all kinds of stuff about Vancouver. She's got an intersting blog, a some podcasts that are definitely worth a subscribe-to-this-rss-feed.

In her latest linkfest she pointed out the CBC Recalls and Advisories page, which is an interesting read and worthy of a sub as well.

There's also recalls.gov, Transport Canada's Vehicle Recall Database, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's index of food recalls.

I was going to post about Marketplace's email recall service but their website is terribly out of date.

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Free Recyclable Personal Organizer

I'm not always the most organized person. I make lists and set goals like the rest of us, but sometimes those lists get lost, just like my keys are right now. I know they're around here somewhere but for the life of me I can't figure it out.

Being the computer dork that I am I've owned a palm and a Sony PDA, but the batteries die, the little pen-thing disappears, and, really, tetris is better on the Gameboy anyway.

Sure, sure, day timers exist but they're bulky and suck to carry around. I've seen people who use them effectively, but I've never actually been that person. Who wants to bother with some ring-binder pile of crap anyway when you can never find one with the right blend of calendar/notespace/addresses.

Enter the PocketMod. I found out about this via hackcollege and it's super handy when paired with the paperless wonder that is Google calendar. I've only been using it for about 2 weeks now but I've noticed the difference in my work and home life already.

I don't subscribe to any concrete organizational strategy, but I do subscribe to unlimited text messages. So I've registered my mobile with Google, I text important stuff into my calendar from wherever I am, and I make notes and copy deadlines and addresses into my pocketmod.

It is an ever-so-dope solution.

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Jill Barber via B(oot)log

Jill Barber writes and plays beautiful music. I don't have the words today to really do her justice, but thanks to the fantastic B(oot)log there is a live performance available for your skiving pleasure.

Jill Barber, The Grad Club, Kingston, 30 March 2007

26 tracks of win. I especially like the Moon River cover because I've been learning to fast-fast-slow and slow-slow-fast-fast to that song for the last few weeks and it's nice to hear a heartfelt version without any midi. 

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Northern Voice & Basco5

Basco5 makes some great art.

Northern Voice 2008

I'm pretty excited to be going to Northern Voice this year. I was really happy to find out that event sponsor Mt. Lehman Credit Union hired Basco5 to do posters for the event. I'm a fan of his work, credit unions, and blogging, so it all fits together nicely.

His designs are fun, and I recommend you spend a few minutes putting off work to check out a couple of videos with Basco5 over at joystick. Check down the left side for the set of 3 videos.

He did a dope as hell set of poles for joystick.

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My Hero!

via Insidethecbc.com

Inside the CBC

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Loudmouth

	Ramones - Loudmouth (live '79)
	Found at skreemr.com

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A+++ Great Post, Would Read Again

BBC NEWS -- EBay to ban negative seller views

We've been unloading our unwanted or unworn, um, wares, on Ebay. Last I checked I had an underwhelming 7+ feedback rating. It's not that I'm a bad ebayer, I just don't ebay often.

Do I suffer from feedback envy or angst? No, but it doesn't surprise me that Ebay is looking to remove sellers' ability to leave negative feedback on buyers. Feedback on Ebay has been gamed by way too many people for way too long. People have held back payment or delivery until positive feedback is left, cheated by running multiple accounts, even bought and sold feedback itself.

I for one am glad to see it go, as I never really trusted it in the first place. It was a poor foundation upon which to build business relationships.

Not that I'm the authority on foundations or anything, but my main man Harry is:

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Blockbusters?

I'm down with Iron Man, but can it actually be considered a "Summer Blockbuster" before it hits the screen?

Earlier this evening we brought you the Iron Man Super Bowl TV Spot. Now, thanks to our friends at /Film, we have 13 brand new photos from Jon Favreau’s upcoming Summer blockbuster for your viewing pleasure.

New Iron Man Photos Hit the Web! - Film School Rejects

I mean, sure if it makes a ton of money (over 100 million US on release) then it's a blockbuster. Right now though it's really just Jon Favreau's Iron Man.

Also, Summer starts on the solstice doesn't it?

Sorry filmschoolrejects.com I've had a long day. Thanks for the photos though, I sincerely hope Iron Man is more fantastic (4) than the last marvel movie I watched. It was a bowl of fantastic (4) suck.  

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stopping junkmail

So I heard a nice lady advertising, or maybe it was just an interview, a red dot campaign to reduce junkmail. I checked out the red dot website and found out about canada post's Consumers Choice Program. It's pretty much impossible to find out how to sign up, but by searching through canada post's documents aimed at advertisers I found this:

1.5 Consumers’ Choice
Customers can target more effectively by respecting the wishes of consumers who indicate, through a self-produced notice on their mailbox or mail receptacle, that they do not wish to receive unaddressed material. The only exemptions are materials from Elections Canada and Provincial Chief Electoral Officers, House of Commons mailings, municipal electoral mailings and community newspapers. Therefore, the item is received by consumers who want to receive it. Visit our Householder Data, which is available online atwww.canadapost.ca/uasupportdocuments for the breakdown of delivery points with and without these notices.

Canada Post - Unaddressed Admail™

So now I've got to figure out what a self-produced notice is, and how to get our friendly neighborhood condo manager and friendly neighborhood neighbors to not tear off my "no junk mail" stickies.

I've printed the red dot letter to Canada post and I'll send that in, I just find it really surprising that Canada Post doesn't make this stuff a little easier to find out about. The only information as far as I can find is mentions like the quote above, buried in business customer guides.

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Dissident’s Arrest Hints at Olympic Crackdown - New York Times

The article I've linked to here touches on some important points - especially for those of us in Canada's westernmost province. In Vancouver we have strong ties to China, and as the next Olympic host country what happens in Beijing this year creates a legacy to which we are tied.

Dissident’s Arrest Hints at Olympic Crackdown - New York Times

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