Of course, I’m wearing a jacket, but the sun was setting, plus I’m eating gelato at the same time. Give me a break, and nothing screams “hello, summer” better than gelato in English Bay.
Going to DemoCampVancouver 01
Let me just let the text on the site for DemoCampVancouver speak for itself.
What is DemoCamp Vancouver All about?
Unlike other iterations of DemoCamp, the Vancouver event covers all industries. Idea people will be presenting innovations on all things ranging from business to charity, high-technology to high-art. The purpose is to encourage a cross-pollination of industries and individuals in hopes that people engaged in unrelated endeavors might provide an enlightening perspective on the presenters concept. There is strength in diversity!
Yes, that’s right, we’re redefining “Demo”, but at the same time, showing a connection between all the bright people across Canada and beyond who are gathering to share cool ideas.
The Idea is your Demo
Your concept or idea should be developed enough to support a three minute presentation, but it is not necessary to have a working model to “demo” … it’s the idea that’s important! There are three minutes for delivery and three minutes for discussion. The time limit is strict so if you take two and a half minutes to setup your laptop, you only get thirty seconds to present. (the gong hath no mercy).
I always have ideas floating through my head. My biggest problem is putting them on paper so I don’t forget them. After that, it’s a daunting task to go from paper to project. Right now, I have about five post-it notes floating around with lists of things that I’m thinking about or actually applying to various things. Trust me, that’s better than letting it float to the back of my brain.
I’ll wander my way to DemoCampVancouver on May 24th and see what happens. Would be neat to get some audio from people who are thinking about various things, not to mention see some cool people.
Serious tourist traffic congestion
If you are someone who walks along the Seawall in Stanley Park, then you know about the amount of traffic that can happen. Some of this is from the locals out for a stroll, walk, jog, run, skate, or bike ride. The other, painful part is the amount of tourists that are either lost, stopping to take pictures, completely taking up the pathway with no regard for anyone else who might be trying to “share the road”, or just screwing up the flow.
So imagine my surprise when I ran into this a few weeks ago by the Rowing Club.
Oh but it gets better. There’s another one about fifty meters further, and there is no other way to get around it except go through it.
There are hints that this might be temporary, but this would completely stink if it wasn’t. Being that this is the portion of the park that is so close to Coal Harbour and in easy walking distance of cruise shippers that have a day to run around Vancouver, the volume of foot traffic can get aggressively annoying, especially if you are a runner like me. Funnel hundreds of people through a tiny opening like that and… well that just sucks.
Ever try to say “excuse me” to someone and have them look at you in complete blankness? It can happen here a lot in Vancouver because you never know what language someone can or can’t speak.
Follow up thoughts on SuperHappyDevHouse
My post about attending the SuperHappyDevHouse at the Bryght offices in Vancouver was pretty last minute, so I thought I would do my best to give a post-game reaction to the festivities.
In all honesty, I went there with the intent of doing something kinda geeky and fun, but the fun really got put in front of the geeky. While the true hackers and do’ers were on the main floor doing some, what looked like, intense coding, I was manning the grill for hot action with some brats. And the way the sun was shining on the rooftop patio, I quickly made myself at home up there. The keg was up there too, so I was far from alone.
Talked to a lot of really cool folks while I was up there. In no particular order, Jordan Behan, Roland Tanglao, Jason Vanderhill, Boris Mann, Richard Eriksson, Kris Krug, Ianiv, Ivan, John Biehler, and big shout outs to good pals Duane Storey and the Dave Olsen.
I’m unaware if anything monumental came from the event, but there were a chunk of folks who were looking to do something that sounded neat. I don’t think that I was completely out of my element there, but hard coding is a tad out of the realms of the things I know and like to do. I overheard that one of said coders asked Rebecca why she was there once they found out that she was “just a blogger“.
Bottom line, I had a lot of fun. People that I hung around and chatted with were a great group of folks, and we certainly had a good exchange of ideas, concepts, slams, jokes, laughter, and so on. Being that I have a few Drupal projects that I have been working on, these are the right folks to be talking to.
SuperHappyDevHouse – Vancouver Edition
Not sure what trouble I’ve signed up for, but this sounds like a good time. Compared to some of the folks that will be attending this, they will completely put me to shame with their talents and geeky ninja stylings. It doesn’t help that I’m posting this completely last minute, but something is better than nothing.
If you want to attend, sign up on Upcoming.org or get yourself on the SocialText Wiki.
I’ve been working on a few projects involving Drupal, and these are the folks to be talking to about it. Hopefully the whole night won’t be laced with geeky work talk, but worse things could happen. You could feed a bunch of geeks alcohol. God help us with what could happen next.
Building over the SkyTrain
We take the SkyTrain quite a bit to visit Rebecca’s family in Surrey, and it’s no secret that I have a fascination with it. Not so much that the obsession of wearing overalls and an engineer’s hat overtakes me, but I am a consistent gawker as the world passes by. That and trains are pretty cool.
When we passed through New Westminster a little over a week ago, I noticed that the development going up near the New Westminster Station had a portion of the building hanging out, above the track. At first we thought, they’re building a balcony over the SkyTrain? Since that hardly made sense, we only could come up with the conclusion that they are building around the track, making this building straddle the elevated track. Note the following picture.
This isn’t anything new in the wide world of mass transit, but I think this is going to be a first for the SkyTrain. When we went passed it again this recent weekend, Rebecca was sure to grab the website address for this fortress, Azure at Plaza88.
I can’t grasp all the details of how this will affect the New Westminster SkyTrain Station or the line itself, but it looks like there will be a series of buildings being constructed there with the SkyTrain “underneath”. From their site:
With the SkyTrain underneath, you are constantly connected to the best of the Lower Mainland. No more traffic hassles or parking stress. Downtown Vancouver in 26 minutes; Metrotown in 12.
No, I’m not being sponsored to post this, nor to I endorse the development. Still, I wonder how many people are aware that this is happening. How much of the line is going to be covered? About a year ago, this area was a mess of land preperation and pile driving. It’s only a matter of time until these suckers are shooting up into the sky. How very Tokyo of the SkyTrain.
Andeles restaurant on Davie Street, Vancouver
Something new to try with my blogging adventures is to review places to eat. More so, the places that Rebecca and I find ourselves exploring. We recently discovered that we’ve been getting into a little bit of a rut, so we’re trying to branch out with new places from time to time.
Andeles on Davie Street in the west end of Vancouver was a pit stop on a long day we had about a week ago. We were searching and searching for someplace to eat, and after plenty of wandering, we stumbled into Andeles.
Recently, someone said there is no good Mexican food in Canada, and it’s something I have attested to but hold hope that somewhere… somehow… I will find it. Gladly, I can say that Andeles has some really good food, not to mention that they throw in some Spanish cuisine as well. And trust me, there is a difference.
We both ended up getting the special for that evening, which consisted of two pork enchiladas in a verdes sauce, one (so messy you could only eat it with a fork because it was busting at the seams) beef taco, rice, beans, and a salad. $11.95, and this sucker was enough food to be twice that price. Not to mention, it was tasty.
The only thing that caught the both of us was, and you know we had to try them, the margaritas. It’s one of those rare things that I have become a snob about, and the carbonation in their recipe caught me off guard. I had never tried such a thing, and it very well could have been Fresca that was added in with the drink.
Don’t get me wrong, they did the trick, but I find it curious to have such good food with “odd” margarita concoctions. Won’t stop me from coming back, but the help wanted sign in the window almost persuaded me to apply so I could help fix this, at least in my mind, error. Although, it could be a west coast thing, maybe even a Spanish influence of some sort. Not knocking it, just saying that it caught me by surprise.
Fear not. We’ll be repeat customers.
The Crazy Canucks #35 – GetConnected interview
As I mentioned previously, The Crazy Canucks were invited to the GetConnected radio show over the past weekend to talk about podcasting on their program. Overall, it was a fairly successful event, but there are always things that could have been differently in hindsight.
We had no idea what to expect from the moment we agreed to be there, so we were just as surprised that the interview was over at the time that it ended. Would have been a lot better to get some perspective from Rebecca on the topic, not to mention to talk about non-tech related aspects to the benefits of podcasting. Such is the time constricted venue that is radio. This recording gives you a more behind the scenes look.
This is an out of the ordinary episode of the podcast. We completely step away from all things hockey to have the GetConnected radio show interview a couple of our crew from TCC on April 28th, 2007. For the most part, this episode is pretty geeky and laced with a lot of tech related topics. GetConnected wanted to talk to us about podcasting in general, how to get started, and what to think about when you have a podcast.
We’ll be back with our regularly filled episodes in the very near future. Hopefully you enjoy this behind the scenes look at what goes into creating a podcast like The Crazy Canucks.
24:38 minutes
The Crazy Canucks
On the radio to talk about podcasting with GetConnected
GetConnected contacted The Crazy Canucks about appearing on their radio show this weekend. Well, actually, it’s tomorrow, so you’re getting a completely last minute update about this. Doesn’t help that I’m putting this out late on a Friday night, but something is better than nothing.
I can’t be all to sure as to what they want to talk about or cover, but we’re slated to be on the air around 1:30PM PST. It’s CKNW, AM980 in Vancouver, that runs this program, and they do stream online. Tune into their stream if you can, but I’m taking some recording gear along, of course. We’re hoping to get a copy of the audio to at least archive, if not podcast. That is if the powers that be agree to that being alright. Would hate to get sued, but things like that haven hardly stopped me in the past. At the same time, they podcast the program as well.
Look for myself, Rebecca, and Dave to be on the air tomorrow. About what and for how long, I couldn’t really tell you. It will really help being that the Canucks pulled out a 2-1 win tonight in double overtime. Whew! Truly the “Cardiac Canucks” that we saw earlier this season. Here’s to three more! 🙂
The anti-poverty fight in Vancouver
Let’s be honest. Vancouver, B.C. is one of the best and worst places in the world. The cost of living is among the highest, and Canada’s richest neighborhoods are here. Isn’t that strange how that works? Then it comes as no surprise that the poorest communities are also found here. Mention the Downtown Eastside[wiki] to nearly any Canadian and they’ll have a fairly good idea of what you’re talking about.
It’s an enigma that Rebecca and I haggle over from time to time, trying to understand how things get this way as well as how you could attempt to solve the problem. Often our concerns come to the 2010 games and what that will do to the area. Swept under the rug or dealt with to ensure a better future? We’re hoping for the latter.
There are groups taking the fight to the forefront, staging protests and bringing the subject out to the public. And for all of that, I am really in support of it. There is a certain point where any group that takes action has a line that once crossed, I have a hard time supporting them anymore.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – After a violent clash with police on Wednesday night, the Anti-Poverty Committee took to the streets again on Thursday to protest in front of Canada Place, where Mayor Sam Sullivan was speaking to Vancouver business leaders. The shouted slogans were a mixed bag, encompassing homelessness, stolen native land, the Olympics, and the need to do away with the NPA, the ruling civic party in Vancouver.
Anita Chupp Kennedy is not an Anti-Poverty Committee member, and she did not attempt to force her way through any police lines, but she did walk proudly behind one of their banners. She said the APC did not represent her, but she feels poverty is a big issue that needs to be dealt with. She said, “I’m just here to help poor people and homeless and the hungry and the hardworking poor.” [news1130]
Over the past few months, there has been a sense of escalation in terms of the demonstrations, protests, and the methods in which anti-poverty groups have been putting out their message. That means it’s working, being that more and more people are taking notice, but I also think that there is a fine line that once crossed, the hope for successful resolution to this problem will be severely hampered.
In a number of incidents, there are reports of various items (i.e. rocks, bottles of urine, or paint filled balloons) that have been found in the possession of protesters. I have not heard of these materials being used, nor can I confirm that these reports are valid. However, having any demonstration escalate into the use of violence damages the credibility of any message, especially if anyone gets hurt. At that point, you’re left screaming upon deaf ears.
I know that I don’t have all the knowledge or know how to give the whole answer to this huge problem, but what is happening is sadly not causing the intended change that is so desperately wanted and needed. This article on NowPublic shows that I’m not the only one considering the perplexity of what’s going on here.