Been talking with a variety of people that have dropped SXSW into the conversation, and it reminded me of the one time I went. I saw these guys, Shiner[wiki], twice during my time there. Not the best version of this video in the world, but perhaps it will make you want to find more about this band from Kansas City.
They broke up a few years ago, but The Life and Times picks up where Shiner left off.
I’ve seen this talked about here and there, but it wasn’t until Robert Sanzalone made mention of it in a Twitter post that I’ve actually watched this video.
Spoon recently released their sixth album, “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”, and this video appears to be a collaboration of technology and music in its best form. There is also a lot of Tokyo spread throughout this, and it triggers a lot of happy memories for me. Lead singer Britt Daniel[wiki] makes a brief cameo in a shot going up the escalator, just behind the scientist guy who is carrying the little, bopping robot.
Josh Wolf made a post on CNet titled, “Like television, radio and print, blogs are just a medium“. The whole read is a good summary of the things I tell people when I start talking about blogs and podcasting in relation to what traditional media does in the time of new media.
When radio was first pioneered, print journalists were quick to dismiss it as inferior. This same scenario repeated itself with the advent of television and again with the rise of technologies that allowed solo journalists to produce their own stories single-handedly. As blogs and other community media become more popular and more relevant, the assault on this new medium continues to grow.
Michael Skube’s recent editorial in the Los Angeles Times provides a reasonable critique on the blogosphere but neglects to look at the larger picture. He points out that many blogs are nothing more than commentary and suggests that many of these blogs are “noisy with disputation, manifesto-like postings and an unbecoming hatred of enemies real and imagined.” While I can’t argue with this conclusion, his analysis misses the fact that blogs have broken a number of important stories in recent years and fails to mention the non-news that the establishment media finds itself focusing on with alarming frequency. [cnet]
In the last few years, I’ve had a lot of discussions on this topic. It’s really difficult for some people to grasp onto the notion of there being worthwhile content that can be derived and coexist with what traditional media does, if not enhance it. What pains me more is the dismissal of new media as being not worthwhile. To that, it really becomes a matter of not knocking it until you try it.
Be sure to read the rest of the post. Wolf takes on the old with the new, explaining strengths and weaknesses to both sides of the coin.
The Reverend Don Deeley sent me the link to this cartoon. With all the jersey talk, Trevor Linden getting signed on for another year, and The Crazy Canucks getting geared up for another season, I had to share this. It made me laugh.
Thanks, Don.
It’s not what you think, at least initially, but I find this application incredibly interesting. Plus, it’s another step closer to having mobile WiFi for the rest of us commuting around Vancouver via TransLink.
Novax Industries of New Westminster is in negotiations with TransLink to install what’s called Trans-POD. It would give buses intersection priority.
Novax CEO David Atnikov says it would also alert transit passengers on their laptops or cellphones on where their bus is and how long it will take to arrive. He says it would be like making your time more efficient.
The system could also be used for parking meter reading, gas meter reading, or checking your hydro consumption.
Atnikov says because the transmitter is on the bus, it creates a wireless connected neighbourhood wherever transit is. Edmonton and Toronto already have the Trans-POD system up and running. [news1130]
I’ve written about the need for a city-wide, wireless Internet system in Vancouver, and it’s high time that we stop thinking about catching up with what other, major metropolitan areas are doing on the other side of the Rockies.
I’m already using the MyBus application on Facebook quite a lot. It’s incredible useful to see how soon the next bus is supposed to arrive when heading to work on a rainy day. I can only imagine how useful that would be to get on my cellphone, not needing wireless access on an iPhone to do so.
The Canucks organization knows exactly what they are doing when it comes to everyone’s interest to the new jerseys for the upcoming season. Ever since the RBK design was announced, everyone knew that things were going to change. This is also combined with all the hints that coach Alain Vigneault made about going back to the old threads of the stick-in-rink. Truth be told, it’s a cash cow that makes the team some nice coin when everyone updates their wardrobe.
Still, I give them some mad props for doing an official event for fans to attend at GM Place for the unveiling of the new look.
Canucks TO UNVEIL NEW HOME AND AWAY SWEATERS AT GENERAL MOTORS PLACE
The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they will unveil their new home and away sweaters to their fans and media on Wednesday, August 29th at General Motors Place.
Canucks fans are encouraged to join their favourite team for a tailgate party prior to the sweater launch at 12:30 pm. The tailgate party which begins at 11:30 am on the South Plaza will include free hot dogs provided by Grimm’s and Save-On-Foods, Coca-Cola beverages and Canucks prizing courtesy of McDonald’s and The Beat 94.5 FM Street Squad.
Canucks mascot FIN will be taking part in all of the activities and will be available for photos following the Sweater Launch on the South Plaza. [canucks]
All of this makes me start to ask, why would you have such a big event if the change was going to be subtle? There are a lot of rumors about potential designs and simple color changes to the existing logo. Seems a bit much if you are going to give away free tickets for the event, not to mention free hot dogs and soda.
Still, go on ya, Canucks. Instead of a simple media event and press conference, you’re inviting us fans in to partake in the fun. I can dig that. Now just to see what all this hush-hush is about and if it’s worth waiting for.
Something else worth mentioning, at the bottom of the page for the event, something new is about to happen from the Canucks official site. This whole event is going to be streamed live.
Watch the jersey launch live as Canucks.com broadcast straight to you for the first time right from General Motors Place.
We’ll bring you the action right from the bowl and bring you behind the scenes at the post-event media press conference from the Canucks dressing room.
Tune in to Canucks.com on Wednesday, August 29th at 12:30 pm PST to watch the event and catch all the buzz of the new Canucks jersey with some of your favourite Canucks players and staff. [canucks]
If I were you, I’d check it out online because all the tickets are gone for the event. Well, you could always pay $10 for a ticket off Craigslist. They were on there as soon as the word got out about the event being “sold out”.
Prior to seeing the Simpsons and after a mind-blowing afternoon on the job (i.e. playing radio at a car dealership in Port Moody), we linked up with John Biehler for some pre-movie, post-BarCampVancouver festivities.
John is one of the first folks in Canada to snag an iPhone, even though it is not officially available in this country yet. That’s not to say that you can’t use yours here if you are from the states, but no one is offering service here that allows you to activate it, yet alone use it on their network. The only reason I know that U.S. plans have working functions here is because I happened to be in the same room as the lead singer of the band Yellowcard a number of days ago, and he confirmed this to me when I noticed him fiddling with his own iPhone.
Asking him what he thought of it and using it, his repeated response was, “I just love it. Can’t say more than that.”
So having the chance to sit down with John Biehler the other evening, he put the power of grayskull in my hand. I know that sounds corny, if you get the reference at all, but this was a really unique experience that made you realize that you have a very powerful device in your hand.
John has hacked the iPhone enough to get nearly all the features to work, minus the phone, at least while he is in Canada. Memory can’t recall if he activated the phone in the U.S., where he bought it, but the session that he led at BarCampVancouver earlier in the day was all about hacking into the iPhone for those of us north of the border.
After about thirty minutes of seeing what I could do with it, minus the availability of wireless internet at the location we were at (which I can report that said location had a plentiful availability of Hoegaarden in glasses the size of my head), I was uber-impressed. Not only is it cool and/or slick, but it works. All the features make sense, applications work like I expect them to, and you quickly forget that you tapping a flat surface, opposed to the numerous buttons that exist on my Nokia 6682[wiki]. In other words, I adapted to it mind numbingly fast.
Do I have to rush out and get one right this second? No, I think I’ll be alright. I also wouldn’t be opposed to it, more so when it works in all its glory in Canada. John knows of ways to hack you way into doing this for those willing to put the work into it. I’m ok for now, but there was something incredibly cool about checking out pieces of The Matrix[imdb] on his iPhone while sitting in a pub. The resolution was astounding.
Finding time and energy to make posts has been tough in the past few weeks because of the day job, and all of that has led up to this weekend. The Fair at the PNE has kicked off in full force, and I’ve been on the forefront of getting things in place for the few weeks that it runs. To be quite honest, it’s not unlike the county fair that I grew up with every year, just down the street from my parent’s house.
There are a lot of agriculture related things here combined with the huge amounts of food vendors and people trying to sell the products that you don’t really need but find yourself unable to live without. Truthfully, it’s more like a glorified carnival on steroids, and the only thing that makes me say that are the rides that make you contemplate the ratio of bolts to nuts. They could probably use my leatherman on the hour, every hour for some added insurance.
In all honesty, I appreciate the fair to the extent of what it means to summer. They basically run hand in hand, and it’s not a stretch to say that it wouldn’t be summer without one. That being said, it doesn’t mean that I love every minute of it.
It’s like the line from Clerks[imdb]:
Dante Hicks: You hate people!
Randal Graves: But I love gatherings. Isn’t it ironic?
It’s tough to appreciate fighting the foot traffic, getting bumped, pushed, or waiting in lines. Only having one place to be isn’t as bad, but depending on that location, the non-stop noise can get to you. Sometimes you get lucky, and so far, so good. With even more hope, these next few weeks go by pretty quick because the $7 I had to throw down for my lunch time burrito didn’t impress me. Makes me really lose my appetite for my yearly corn dog.
I posted this photo of the F-117 Nighthawk[wiki] that I took a picture of at the Abbotsford Airshow a week or so ago, and it prompted some questions about the description that I made about it. The plane is soon to be retired from service, blowing onto the scene in the first Gulf War. So many people simply refer to it as “the stealth fighter”, but the time has apparently come to replace it with something better.
Now, I’m not the most prolific, all-knowing individual about military aircraft, or much about things that fly in general, but what I do know is that the plane will be replaced by the F-22 Raptor[wiki], another jet fighter with stealth capability. Compared to the Nighthawk, this new aircraft follows the general principle of being bigger, faster, and stronger, among other things.
Even though I’ve been on the job like mad these past few weeks, it’s taken me to some pretty neat locations. Still, it’s tough to really enjoy events like this when you still have a job to do.
You can see more of my photos from the airshow on Flickr.
As if there aren’t enough things going on in Vancouver that relate back to technology, social media, or something to do with Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social networking tool you use, here comes another one.
Third Tuesday in Vancouver is an event that focuses on bringing people together to share ideas and concepts about various things relating to the online world. In fact, let me allow the Facebook group to explain it better.
THIRD TUESDAY is a monthly meetup for communications and marketing folks interested in learning/sharing more about the practical applications of social media in business.
Third Tuesday has real world chapters and meetups in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax.
Third Tuesday meetups typically include a guest speaker who talks with the group about different social media technologies and trends ranging from blogging, podcasting, social networks to influencer marketing and online WOM techniques — and how these things apply to communication, marketing, community building and society. We really try to encourage group discussion and learning, and we do this by keeping our meetups very casual and open, but focused too so that our members walk away with new insights and actionable ideas for their businesses.
Third Tuesday is also an opportunity to simply network with industry peers, to share knowledge, experiences and perhaps a few laughs and drinks too. So, if you’re interested in some thought provoking discussion about new media marketing and communications, please join us for Third Tuesday.
Even though I was (depressingly) unable to attend BarCampVancouver due to my work schedule, this will be a neat opportunity to not only experience this realm of meetups, but I’ll also get to see some of those folks from BarCampVancouver as well. I’m also curious to hear about what tools or methods people are using for the realm of business, especially when it comes to thinking outside of the box to do unique, successful things. Should be good.
