Why I Use AI
Let me start with one critical point: I am NOT an Artificial Intelligence evangelist. We clear? Got it? Good. Moving on… I use AI. I am an AI user. I leverage AI in (not quite) my daily activities to address the …
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Technology
198 posts tagged with this topic.
CPAP Fail
I snore. There, I said it. I snore most likely because I used to grind my teeth. And that was because of stress. I had a dental guard to stop the wearing of my teeth (I no longer have canines), but I stopped wearing it …
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Software Patents are Pointless
You’ve heard me rant about software patents before. Today’s stupid thing comes from a news release that Nikon is buying RED, which has been making excellent digital film cameras for years, now. The news …
Why AI is a Long Way from Human
For over a year, now, I’ve been watching the hype-panic that AI was “going to take over my job” die down to “this can barely produce a believable image” only to reemerge as …
The Famous Lethal Weapon Quote
Several times in the Lethal Weapon movie series, Roger Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover) says: “I’m getting too old for this shit.” I’ve joked about that line on several occasions, especially when …
The Trouble with Passion
I have a problem with being passionate: it gets me upset more often than not. I admit, it’s a problem with me, not the organization, not anyone else … even if the problem does exist there, I recognize that …
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AI Will Not Replace Writers
I suspect that in the decades to come, 2023 will be noted as the year that AI started to take over the world, and humanity both embraced and recoiled in horror at the possibilities. It was no longer science fiction that …
Apple Vision Pro is a Disaster
I don’t think it’s too over-the-top to suggest that Apple has jumped the shark. I am actually, genuinely disappointed that they’ve attempted to dive into the same murky waters of VR that sank Meta a few …
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Starship goes BOOM!
The news today was pretty full of SpaceX getting Starship off the ground, finally, after years of hard work. The news seems to be somewhat split, however – while most seem to be pretty up about the whole thing, …
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The Importance of Technical Writing
I started my career as a technical writer. I wrote manuals. I was fairly decent at it, though more than one of my editors would tell you that I was a bit too verbose (yes, I know, shocker). I gave up on technical writing …
Generative AI is at the Jurassic Park Moment
A lot of people are concerned about Generative AI right now. We’re looking at a very wide swatch of “intelligent” tools that are taking people’s jobs away. Or at least that’s what …
The Problem with Infinity
About a year ago, I started listening to podcasts. (I know, I’m late to the game. Moving on…) While there are so, so many to choose from, I’ve found myself very much gravitated towards BBC …
Go Hugo!
A few years back, this website ran on WordPress. I genuinely like WordPress, not just for blogging but also for some general (simple) content needs. What I don’t like about WordPress? The size of the server …
Social media is dead
Just over two weeks ago, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. There is no part of this that makes any sense. How anyone can justify a sum of money greater than the GDP of 56% of all (current) nations to acquire what …
Meta admits failure over the Metaverse
I do truly mean this: I hate it when I’m right. I have to give credit to Zuckerberg for trying, I do. But when you are so utterly blind on a vision without understanding the very audience you’re trying to …
A Visit to Lake Country
A number of weeks ago, Venture’s CEO, Arlene Dickinson, announced that staff could work from anywhere they liked this summer, to take advantage of our new-found COVID freedoms. By and large it wasn’t a big …
Voting with Blockchains - Equity and Representation
Last night, I was helping Choo Choo with her homework. She’s in Grade 6 and learning about the Iroquois Confederacy, which up until Monkey had run through it three years ago, I’d never heard of before. This …
A Decade Without Cable Television
Ten years ago today, I cut the cord. (Not entirely true, I technically cut it a little over a month earlier, but this was the final slice.) At the time it seemed a little more daunting to my family, especially Alex, …
The Metaverse Needs a Pandemic
Let’s be clear on one thing before we begin, here: I’m not advocating for widespread death and suffering. If it were possible to have a pandemic without all the pain we’ve collectively endured for the …
Anyone sick of hearing about the metaverse?
A few months ago, Mark Zuckerberg stood in front of a large audience and declared the presence of the Metaverse, at the same time rebranding his company to “Meta” because it was so darned important. (And …
Aircraft Manufacturers Need Better Accountability
I realize I’m stepping way out of my bounds on this one. I’m neither a telecommunications expert nor an aviation technology expert. That, by definition, makes me more of an “armchair expert”, …
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Does the Sonos Patent Decision Ignore the Original Idea?
Yesterday, the US International Trade Commission made the decision that Google infringed (I’m sure some would say “blantantly stole”) some of Sonos’ patents and applied them to their Google Home …
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Dungeons and Dragons
Yes, I know it’s “Dungeons & Dragons”. I chose this spelling intentionally. Deal with it. I think I played D&D once as a kid with the neighbourhood kids. We ended up LARPing it a bit, as the …
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Evolution of my Website
The Wayback Machine and I go … well, way back. It’s got versions of my website dating back 20 years (as of February 2022, anyway) and through more than a few variations on the theme. I bought sowrey.org a …
How to Work Remotely
Welcome to the Global Plague of 2020, courtesy of COVID-19. The world has not seen something like this in a century, even the polio, cholera, and various influenzas that have struck since then haven’t created the …
Dispelling a myth of centralized IT
“Information Technology”, or IT as it’s more commonly known, tends to get a bad rap. It’s a black box to organizations, there to serve arcane purposes that always seem to have a habit of getting in everyone …
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20 Years a Web Developer
Twenty years ago this month — and very possibly this week, though I’m not 100% certain of that — I entered into the very nascent industry of digital marketing. At the time, the project had been little more than a simple …
An open letter to Nest Labs - please don't outsource your support
Dear Nest, Yesterday, you launched your new Protect smoke detector product. Pretty much my entire social feed is filled with people lusting over the device, especially those — like me — who already have enjoyed the …
The Nest - Excellence in Product Design and Customer Service
I’ve turned into my dad. Really. I’ve got to be the hardest person on the planet to buy for. My poor wife pestered me for weeks to expand on my Christmas list (she pre-populated it with: “If you don’t add anything, …
How to be a Technical Writer
It’s surprising how often I’ve been asked this question over the last few months. Once upon a time — some dozen years ago — I was a technical writer. I wrote manuals, technical documentation, and various forms of other …
Marketing Red Herring - QR Codes
I’m in digital marketing. I spend a lot of time dealing with ways of people visit websites to get them to spend money. (That’s the short version. The really short, and moderately soul-suckingly depressing version. The …
Thoughts on Microsoft Surface
Okay, you know my opinions on Microsoft. They’re not exactly private. So yes, I definitely went into yesterday’s announcement with low expectations. Microsoft has really only done one thing really well in the last …
TV is dead. Long live the internet!
I feel like an old man. I can now look at my kids, and say with far too much vigour: “When I was your age…” I refer to, of course, having to get off my ass, walking over to the cathode ray tube-based …
Renovating, a word on LED lighting
For our renovation project, one thing we decided to do was take the leap to using LED-only lighting. This is a trend we started a couple of years ago, just as commercial LED bulbs were really coming available. It’s …
Canada, You're about to lose your freedom
I’ll keep this one short folks, I promise. Do you use the internet (even watching videos on YouTube and Facebook counts)? Do you use an iPod/iPhone/iWhatever? Do you watch downloaded movies? Are you a student (or …
Why SOPA will (and must) fail
Across the internet, the letters S-O-P-A have inspired a particular level of hatred and vitriol. Beyond the internet, the Stop Online Piracy Act has barely registered any significant presence within mainstream media. The …
My upgrade to OS X "Lion"
For those of us who live on Apple-brand devices, there’s rarely an OS release that goes by without a rush of excitement that should normally require followups with a physician. While the majority come in the iOS (read: …
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Why you should use Google Analytics
For anyone out there trying to do any form of semi-serious work on the internet (notably with websites), you often end up asking yourself: is what I’m doing having any effect whatsoever? It’s an important question — …
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An argument for wired city council
As little as a hundred years ago, North Americans lived (generally) in towns and (much smaller) cities, where it was possible to know your elected representatives personally, meet with them, and have a person-to-person …
The fork in the road
Not so long ago, when I managed a team, I used to coach people in their career directions. (How well I coached people is another matter, and I can only leave it to those people to assess my real effectiveness.) I’d help …
The development in my life
If I were to summarise the last ten years of my career prior, specifically from about June 2000 to June 2010, it would look something like this: web developer, specialised web developer, senior web developer, junior …
Switching from Shaw to Telus
For those of you not already following the story, I’ve sworn off Shaw. As much as I am tied — nay, symbiotically attached — to the internet, I would have been quite willing to end the service at home with the continued …
From the frying pan...
Before we returned to Calgary last December, we did a fair amount of investigation into what services we would get at home. In particular consideration were television, internet, and phone service. (In my ideal world, it …
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Get Geeqee
Back at the beginning of the year, I took a different direction in my career. Until December, I’d been a career man — work for one company. Work your butt off, be the cog in the machine, and do the best you could to stay …
Visit Calgary - You're Very Welcome!
When we returned from Costa Rica, our plans had been pretty simple: take off the month of December to get settled, and then head back to work in January. Plans changed shortly after arriving back home, and suddenly I …
Flash - I'm not dead yet!
I’m getting a little tired of this topic. I was tired of it about a day after Steve Jobs first showed the iPad to the world, and the infamous blue LEGO appeared where a Flash plug-in should have been. It wasn’t really so …
Marketing is from Mars, IT is from Venus
I’ve spent over a decade in the Big Leagues of interactive marketing. I started in the low rungs as a web developer, and slowly worked my past the coding to see the bigger pictures: what made marketing work, why certain …
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How a cold led to a new TV
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate being sick? Well, add to that a very sick and very pregnant wife, and a sick toddler (which I suspect led to Alex and I becoming ill), and you’ve got a pretty miserable household. …
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The end of the individual experience
A few years from now, my kids will be old enough to ask me questions that will require a lot of explanation. Like, for example, what the internet was like when I was their age, how I survived without a mobile data …
The failure of the electric car
In our Inconvenient Truth world, popular desire is starting to change the way some companies think. We’re seeing large companies produce “green” products, such as biodegradable detergents, packaging from …
What makes a Senior Developer
Every so often, someone asks me what I need to see in a senior developer. Why people ask me this is a mystery. I mean, besides the fact that I’m a Know-It-All, could it really be that several years of being a manager …
Make April 1 "IE6 Dies" Day
At the moment, IE6 still holds about 20% of the market (according to today’s metrics from NetMarketShare). That’s far too large a share for a 8.5 year old browser, especially one that has been superseded by successive …
Greed kills innovation
I was sitting at my kitchen table, poring over recommendations I’m writing for my client (partially communicative, partially CYA), when I had one of those sudden thoughts: I need tea. While I was drinking my tea — a …
Copyrights are the new Colonialism
The late 16th Century was the dawn of the British Empire. England had triumphed on the seas, and had set its eyes on colonising the New World (before its enemies did). Patents were issued, companies were founded, and …
Alberta communications companies suck
It’s about as official as it gets, now. We leave Costa Rica on 8 December. Which means that on the morning of 9 December, we’re going to be needing a few things. We’re trying to establish as much of that as we can …
A good programmer is lazy, not stupid
I say this, in one form or another, to developers I manage. I’ve said it for years, and I’ll continue to say it until I’m proven horribly, horribly wrong. Which, until I leave this industry, is not likely to happen.My …
True story
As you know, I’m going to be moving back to Calgary in December. The exact timing for that is still being determined, but let’s just go with the broad stroke: we have a lot of stuff that needs to be done as part of …
How to move your website
Okay, so you have a website. But somewhere along the line, you’ve realised you need to change your hosting vendor. It could be any number of a million reasons: Your company got really successful and your old vendor can’t …
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How to host your own website (the simple version)
I’ve been around this internet thing for a long time, and I’ve set up probably far more than my share of websites (both for myself and my clients). After a while, setting up websites becomes largely a by-rote-memory …
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You can't kill IE6
There’s been a massive upswelling of support for eliminating Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the much-maligned former-heavyweight and former-saviour of the world that now lies as one of the worst pieces of web browsing …
I wouldn't have done it that way
I’ve recently run into a common programming problem. While turning a development project over to another development agency, we heard that worst of comments: Why did you build it that way? It seems like a simple …
The "Power" of Word in Outlook
You may have come across a URL for a webpage that is (effectively) building a petition to Microsoft to correct HTML support in Outlook — and if you haven’t, just click on the link. The petition’s purpose is quite simple: …
Sowrey's Law
Your firewall will explode once your (formerly poor) internet connection is stablised. (Tip o’ the hat to Ginger.)
Blog or Die
There’s been a lot of talk lately about people saying you shouldn’t blog anymore. The arguments seem to break into two categories: Don’t blog because you probably have nothing interesting to say and no-one will read it …
The Network Connection
With all the problems we’ve been having down here, you eventually start to become inspired to find an outlet, a way of bringing forth all your frustrations and desires into a singular vision. For some, it is art, for …
Dear Canada, I'm going to break the law
Well, it would appear that short of an Act of God (or, heaven forbid, some actual common sense runs through Parliament), Bill C-61 will forever handcuff Canadians and prevent long-term technological evolution. It’s one …
Steve Jobs blows it. Again.
Sigh. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching Apple come so close to finally tying the knot, only to leave threads dangling. I speak, of course, of yesterday’s Let’s Rock event where the apparently-not-dead (but …
I (heart) Google Chrome
Not 45 minutes ago, Google released their latest contribution to the internet: Chrome. This effectively ended years of speculation that Google was writing a browser, that it would throw its hat into the ring and kick off …
Why the right tools matter
A few years ago, I went off to Japan to visit my friend Chris. I took along my (at the time) fancy digital camera: a Canon Pro 90 IS. Fancy in that it was big mega-pixels (for the time) and had an image stabiliser …
My new 1998-era Nokia TDMA cell phone
Note today’s date: 8 August 2008. That’s (almost) two months since we first came to Costa Rica. Two months ago, we tried to start getting things like cars, bank accounts, work visas (a fairly significant need), and cell …
The phones I ordered finally showed up
Augh. I called it yesterday, when I got my new cell phone. A month ago, we ordered phones over the internet. They were shipped US Postal Service. They entered Costa Rica on 8 July. And then sat in customs. When I got my …
My Canon Rebel XT doesn't work
It’s weird. I’m not sure what it is. When I was in Panama a few weeks ago, I was out happily snapping pictures when, for reasons I simply don’t understand, the auto-focus stopped working. My first thought was …
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One week to go
I’ve been in Costa Rica for over three weeks now. Three weeks away from Alex and Mi Pequeña Niña. Each day has been a challenge being so far away from them. The longest I’d ever been away before was six days. Six short …
Web Analytics Porn
So this morning, I’m scanning through my Twitter feeds on Twhirl, and I came across a rather interesting note by Dave Fleet, which said: @cspenn planning to install it tonight. Waiting for the confirmation email. …
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Costa Rican Interviews, Day 1
A tropical depression in the north of the country has created our weather woes of the last few days, and a heck of a downpour this morning. Following our usual breakfast run, Joaquin arrived to pick the three of us up at …
Funny things in emails
I got into a fairly typical email exchange with Paul, one of our Release Engineers. Since I’m no longer on Rolex, I wanted to be taken off the email lists. This was how it went down: Me: Hey Paul, Now that Torin’s …
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ScribbleLive - Live Blogging Done Right!
Late last month, I had the chance to go to the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. On behalf of my co-workers, I blogged notes from the event to make sure that they had the benefit of getting the information in as much detail …
What have you done with Spock's brain?
One of the hard parts about leaving any group is passing your legacy off to someone else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a short-term thing (e.g. vacation) or a long-term thing (e.g. leaving the company). It still has to …
Web 2.0 Expo - Casual Privacy
Last session of the conference. And yes, another Schill recommendation. But this one I wanted to go to as well. We always have this problem — how to let people know something is private without the fear of …
Web 2.0 Expo - Capacity Planning for Web Operations
Schill suggested I go to this one as well. Again, mostly because Schill knows the guy, but given how this is perennial problem for us as well, it couldn’t hurt to see how Flickr handles the problem. Presenter: John …
Web 2.0 Expo - Even Faster Web Sites
Hanging out with Schill today, and he’s giving me some really great suggestions on what to see. Although the CM team did suggest something different, he’s saying we should see this one. Naturally, Schill knows the guy, …
Web 2.0 Expo - Bling Bling, Marketing and Monetizing through Social Applications
The name partly disinterested me, but I wanted to attend this one because of the needs for social marketing that we haven’t really nailed down yet. Presenter: Ro Choy, rockyou! RockYou! has successfully deployed several …
Web 2.0 Expo - Widgets Growing Up
Not much to report here. It’s a panel, and not a particularly interesting one, sadly. On the bright side, this room has great connectivity!
Web 2.0 Expo - Ontologies for the Internet
Definitely not my strong point. But I wanted to go to this given all the working in tagging as of late. Presenter: Duane Nickull folksonomies became powerful quickly because people got tired of waiting for the so-called …
Web 2.0 Expo - Friday Keynote
Maybe it’s just me, but running keynotes every single day of a conference seems really silly, and waters down the value of the concept of a keynote. But I digress. Either way, this morning features Tim O’Reilly (again), …
Web 2.0 Expo - Creating a Coherent Social Strategy for Buiness
Oy. I can’t seem to get a decent connection to anything anymore. Too many people with wireless connections. They’ve got big-ass routers, but it ain’t helping. Gonna stay offline for reliability. Presenters: Charlene Li …
Web 2.0 Expo - The Dark Side of Ajax
Room is huge and darn near packed. I get the feeling this is gonna be a good one. I think I’m going to have to type quickly for this one. Presenter: Jacob West (Fortify Software) Jacob runs the security research group …
Web 2.0 Expo - Website Psychology
Debated between this one and learnings from Twitter. Felt that maybe this one might be more … insightful. Gotta learn to stop listening to my gut instinct. Presenter: Gavin Bell Gavin’s background is cognitive …
Web 2.0 Expo - Adding "Where" to Mobile and Web Applications
Last session before lunch. Freaking hungry (no boiled eggs at breakie this morning). Might take off a bit early to get a jump on lunch and battery charging. Presenter: Ryan Sarver Context is about location — what’s …
Web 2.0 Expo - Designing for a Web of Data
Only session of the morning. We break for lunch, then more sessions this afternoon. Sorry for all the delays in getting these posted. It seems that while the wireless strength to connect is pretty good (there are hubs …
Web 2.0 Expo - Wednesday morning keynotes
Unlike other conferences I’ve been to, they seem to have a lot of keynotes. Strikes me as a little odd. The only real person who do a “true” keynote would be O’Reilly, since he coined this term in the first …
South Park pub crawl
Well, wasn’t much of a “crawl”, at least for me. Met up with Jim at the Expo hall, about 20 minutes before they closed the floor. (What’s with closing the Expo hall at 4, anyway?) Skipped the keynote. Went to …
I'm on Twitter
Sigh. I gave in. Communicating at this conference seems to require it.
Blogging woes will delay postings
Just in case you’re following the threads from Web 2.0 Expo, they’re gonna be a little delayed today, folks. First of all, I had my Firefox suddenly kak out and took all my notes from the first session with it. Furious …
Web 2.0 Expo - Community Building - Good, Bad, and Ugly
And the fun continues. Another morning at the conference, and another day of hard-core typing. I’m also up on Twitter now (le sigh), so you can get some notes as I go along. Presenters: Dawn Foster (Jive Software), …
Some observations on the Web 2.0 Expo
Being here solo, you can’t help but notice things that go on around you. (Hey, you gotta keep yourself interested/occupied somehow, right?) First off, it’s pretty easy to see who is actually working in the Web 2.0 world …
Web 2.0 Expo - Building Next Generation Web 2.0 Applications
In the afternoon session today, I’m going to learn what it’ll take to build the next generation of apps. I’m curious to see what they’ve got to say. Presenter: Dion Hinchcliffe Room is about 90% full, compared to …
Web 2.0 Expo - Cross-Cultural User-Experience Design
Notes from the Web 2.0 Expo. This is on the Cross-Cultural presentation. Presenter: Aaron Marcus (Aaron Marcus and Associates) Waiting for presentation, have heard several languages besides English (in a hands-up poll, …
At the Web 2.0 Expo
Despite the sobering realisation that I’d forgot to actually register for this conference before coming (this is what happens when you try to do do much before going on a 2.5 week vacation, only to return for one day …
WordPress 2.5 + K2 RC4 = Bad News
Le sigh. I had this problem [[WordPress 2.2.1 broke my site!|when I updated my WordPress to 2.2.1]]: WordPress and K2 stopped talking. Sort of like a bad relationship. Given, the two products are made by entirely …
Anyone going to Web 2.0 Expo?
Yep, one of my “favourite” buzzwords, Web 2.0, now has a conference thanks to O’Reilly — the same folks who came up with the buzzword in the first place. This is the Expo, not the Summit, which although …
Why I pick on Microsoft
You’ve probably noticed a few posts about Microsoft on this site. Most of them are rants. And, indeed, there are those who’ve noticed me picking on Microsoft on Experience Matters as well. (Certainly, Neil‘s noticed it …
How much of the internet is a waste of time?
So the other day, one of my coworkers starts laughing about how there’s this video out there, two somewhat-scantily clad women with tinfoil-wrapped boxes on their heads, doing a choreographed “dance” to Daft …
To Mac or not to Mac?
So recently, I went on a little experiment. I’m an Apple fan-boy, I admit it. I love Apple stuff. I want a Mac. I want to be one of those cool people. I have a Dell. It’s very business-oriented. It’s not fancy. It has no …
Wireless photography rocks!
I’ll keep this one quick (mostly ‘cuz I gotta run home ASAP), but I finally got my shipment from B&H Photo today, which included my new Lumix FX-30 (yes, I intentionally chose an older model) and an Eye-Fi card. The …
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How to get good portability
Yesterday, I drooled over the MacBook Air. At least until I found out that it has an integrated battery. Then I sulked in a corner. I still have the fundamental problem: How do I get good portability? The answer still …
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Hello, unlimited wireless data in Canada!
Until today — 12:42 MT, to be exact — I had a particularly negative view of the Canadian mobile market. Generally, I expected the Big 3 telcos to basically keep screwing over us little folk, and continue to treat Canada …
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2008 Predictions - History Repeating
This was originally posted at http://experiencematters.criticalmass.com/. The site is no longer active. The word is about, there’s something evolving Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving They say the next big …
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RIP Netscape
Back when I started with Critical Mass in 2000, the browser wars were still hotly contested but it was already clear that Netscape was losing. Standards were slowly (finally) creeping into the mix, and Netscape was on …
Been around the block a few times
It kind of came to me this morning, as I sat on the #2 heading down 17th Avenue. I’ve been on the internet for over 15 years. Rapidly approaching half my life online. I’m that old fart you see sitting in the corner, …
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Is Microsoft's Popfly an easy out?
This was originally posted at http://experiencematters.criticalmass.com. The site is no longer active. Microsoft was a little late to the internet game, that much isn’t new. In 1993, Bill Gates said “we’re not …
I hate Microsoft Word
[Warning: Objectionable language within.] I can’t really think of much more frustrating than to find out that two days — 16 hours of hard thinking — has suddenly vanished before your eyes. Not because someone stole your …
Will Microsoft ever admit that Vista was a bad idea?
It takes a big person to admit that they’ve made a mistake. Companies, regardless of how large they become, were reticent until recent years to come clean with their blunders. Microsoft ain’t one of them. They still …
Could Google do evil?
My coworker Martin sent around a link to an article that paints Google as being a great big source of evil, tantamount to being the core of a near-police state. To say that it’s a little alarmist is putting it mildly. I …
Apple doesn't hate Canada ... Rogers, Bell, and Telus do
Those of us who’ve paid not only close attention to the rollout of the much-anticipated Apple iPhone but also to the Canadian mobile market don’t find this surprising. But we’re in the minority. A significantly larger …
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The iPhone is obsolete
This was originally posted at http://experiencematters.criticalmass.com/2007/09/13/the-iphone-is-obsolete/. The site is no longer active. Unless you’ve been living in the middle of Mongolia for the last six months, you …
I'm on crack
Well, it’s happened. I am now officially on crack. Crackberry, that is… Yes, I’ve bought a Blackberry. A model 8830 to be specific. Alex is calling it my delayed father’s day present. I can live with that. No, …
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iPhones take a long time to charge
Something else I’ve noticed about the iPhone — it takes a long time to charge. Or at least, the one I have in my possessive trust certainly does. For the record, I’m comparing this to my cell phone, an LG 6070. Perhaps …
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A Tale of Spam
I could classify this as “rants”, but I’m not actually feeling the urge to rant. In fact, I’m more feeling the urge to laugh heartily at spam. Namely its ineffectiveness. Yes, I’m sure that there are people …
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I have an iPhone ... sort of
Friday was a slow day at Critical Mass, being the “day after” the Town Hall. These sorts of Fridays are often plagued with low productivity, lots of bleary eyes and headaches, lots of greasy food, and more …
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iPhone Torture
Neil just showed me his iPhone. He’s from Chicago, so it’s fully functional. (We’ll have some in the office shortly, but no voice service.) It’s soooooooooo nice. The videos you see on Apple.com don’t lie — that’s what …
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Caught in the Google Dance
There are times when your very existence is effectively controlled by someone else. And when that someone else pays you no attention, you start to feel very neglected. Such is my case with Google. But for the record, I’m …
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The new K2 ain't much better...
To add to my existing woes, I thought I might be “smart” and update to the new K2 to try and fix some of the issues that the new WordPress brought down upon me. At least the annoying bug with the WordPress …
WordPress 2.2.1 broke my site!
Nurtz. This doesn’t happen often, and until now hasn’t happened at all. But the most recent upgrade of WordPress has officially broken my site. My biggest problem is that I’m using the K2 package, which doesn’t work …
Yoshirolla Kilomantra mayhem
Okay, I know, I’m probably doing something I said I wouldn’t be doing. But I have to admit, this is already pretty cool. When I put out my first post a couple of days ago, I shot to the top of a list of one for …
Yoshirolla Kilomantra
We’re running a contest here at Critical Mass, to see who can rank the highest for our chosen keywords: Yoshirolla kilomantra. Since I’m a judge, I’m not going to compete heavily. I’m just going to set a bar that I …
Now I really want a Mac
Damn you, Apple! You’re making me want to upgrade my system, and that’s just incompatible with my bank account! Especially when I still want to get a Rolex. I just finished scooting through the new Apple.com design …
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How interactive marketing fails because of technical architecture
Interactive marketing is a branch of advertising that aims to involve people directly in marketing materials, providing an avenue for engagement that’s just not possible with print, radio, or television advertisements. …
eBay buys StumbleUpon
I know I’m posting a lot of these acquisition notices lately, but it’s not for want of traffic. This is for honest curiousity. Actually, it leans much more towards the “WTF” end of the pendulum swing. …
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Google sucks up Panoramio
Google has bought Panoramio. I have to admit that this doesn’t come as a huge surprise — this is something that Google really needed in their world. For those of you unfamiliar with Panoramio, I strongly recommend you …
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Google in 20 years
A little morning humour for you all. This had me chuckling heartily for a couple of minutes. Google in 20 years. (Warning: Some objectionable language, but when you’ve lost your keys, I’m sure you’ve said the same …
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DRM's new name - Digital Consumer Enablement
To paraphrase Shakespeare: Would a pile of crap by any other name smell just as bad? Apparently, the head of HBO doesn’t think so. He wants to rename DRM so people think of it in a nicer light. There’s only problem with …
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Breakpoints patented?
I’m really beginning to hate to have to revisit US Patent Law. Especially for something this stupid. Seiko Epson has applied and won a patent for, of all things, breakpoints. Yes, breakpoints. For those of you who have …
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Keebler posted this on his site, and I think I shall do the same in support against the DCMA. (You know how much I just love the DCMA, RIAA, and MPAA’s attempts to completely control all media and tell everyone that they …
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Up a notch in ranking
I freely admit that I don’t have a lot of truly useful information in this site. While I do get a considerable number of hits for how to throw a surprise party, steam locomotive 2816, movie piracy (and Calgary movie …
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Refreshing legalese
I hate legalese. It’s far too complicated for the average person, and frankly, I think far too complicated even for the people who are supposed to be completely on top of it. Figures that a technology firm would race to …
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Take the Web Design Survey!
A List Apart, one of my fav industry mags (even if it is only on the web) has put together a pretty neat little survey, to try and figure out what our goofy little industry looks like. And to hopefully garner a bit more …
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Using captcha instead of usernames and passwords
So in all the mayhem that is/was the first three months of the year, we apparently completely missed news about the Web 2.0 Expo. Well, either that or we completely dismissed it based on the name alone. Either way, it …
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Is Blinkx Remote the end of TV?
The big networks are panicking about their content appearing on YouTube and Google Video. Lawsuits abound. But the content keeps coming. The effect of all this content is interesting — users are actually dropping their …
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Beware of XHTML
This one is the current industry buzz. Basically, a slam against XHTML and a suggestion to return to HTML 4.01 in lieu of using XHTML 1.0 (or 1.1). You know I can’t let this go without a comment … or three. 😉 …
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Askimet - The best WordPress plugin ever!
How much do I have to give praise to Askimet? This little plugin has allowed me to go back to using WordPress without the fear of my database being choked up with a million spam comments. Back when I was using WordPress …
Take Steve Ballmer ... Please!
So trolling through my daily RSS feeds, I came across not one, but two news articles that further make me wonder how the hell Steve Ballmer got to be the head of Microsoft, and why no-one has bothered to take this guy …
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Number Portability in Canada
It’s only taken, like, forever for Canada to finally bring this little piece of heaven to its consumers: the ability to take one’s assigned phone number from one carrier to another. Mind you, it’s really only for …
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Imagini VisualDNA
[Ed. note: The links in this article no longer work, as Imagini apparently no longer exists, despite being a neat idea. I’m leaving the article, however, as record, even with the broken links.] One of my …
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What is that irritating whine?
A word to the RIAA: SHUT UP! Who the hell do these people think they are? Why are they telling me what I can do with the material that I’ve legally paid for? Why should I do anything more than punch the first RIAA rep I …
Pictures return to Sowrey.Org
It’s been a long time since a photograph has been seen here. It’s not for a lack of wanting. As of right now, I’ve got 3,606 pictures in my library, covering a huge range of subjects and topics. (988 of those are for …
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iTunes experience is better than Windows Media
I have two iPods. One I purchased (a Nano) and one I received as a gift. The music on my iPods comes from a rather large (700+) CD collection and iTunes. I do not download (anymore). I find that the experience using …
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RedDot Product Roadmap at Summit 2007
Darren G. and Michael T. doing the presentation. Core values: leadership (excellent choice of word) in ease-of-use. Web-centric technology. Long-standing customer satisfaction. Differentiators: seamless management of …
Gala Banquet at Summit 2007
After the last batch of sessions this afternoon, we broke up for about two hours to wait for the gala event. Apparently, this is the big event of the Summit conference. Bad things tend to happen. (Jim, think of any given …
Content Object Modelling at Summit 2007
Seth Miller of Miller Systems. A highly recommended presentation. Young guy. Definitely a tinkerer gone pro. Miller Systems is a UX-centric web dev firm. Been around 12 years. RedDot partner since 2002. Several …
Solve the Challenges of Social Computing with RedDot at Summit 2007
Just spent an hour talking with the presenter (Darren Guarnaccia) about RedDot software and partnership avenues. Anyhoo, on with the good stuff… “This stuff is a little bit forward thinking.” It’s …
Complementing and Enhancing Search Engine Optmization (SEO) Using RedDot CMS at Summit 2007
Presented by Shannon Ryan of Non-Linear Creations. We know a lot about SEO, so we’re gonna be picky. A couple of slides on Non-Linear’s business models. But emphasis on Digital Marketing with emphasis on Email Marketing …
Case Study - Optimizing Content Management at the National Aquarium of Baltimore at Summit 2007
All content managed through RedDot, no external components. 10% of entire revenue stream done through RedDot (including onlike ticket sales). http://www.aqua.org/ Went through a similar development process to what we …
Broadband Video News Powered by RedDot at Summit 2007
Talked to these guys last night. Heavy duty RedDot users. Don’t use the built-in publishing system — wrote an entire export using RQL. Publishes are down to 1 minute, and they’ve got at least 100 times the content (and …
Another Day at Summit 2007
There was a “commonwealth” dinner last night. Originally meant to be just we Canucks (there’s quite a few of us), the Australian contingent was invited to come along as well. Apparently, Australia is becoming …
RedDot CMS and Live Server Upgrade to Streamline Info Architecture at Summit 2007
Mostly regarding the work done for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Purple Monkey (agency doing presentation) seems to run similar to the way CM works with respect to helping clients figure out what they need. Wanted …
RedDot Best Practices in Template Creation at Summit 2007
Nathan Carver presenting. Talked with this guy many times before. Admits that this is a tough topic as experience with templates is varied. Prefers div to tables (no surprise there). Dangers of nested containers: more …
Leveraging RedDot CMS to create UNICEF websites around the world at Summit 2007
A little late in starting. Presenter reminds me of Rosemary, for some reason. Organizational structure (IT team separate from content entry) similar to how we want to work. RedDot responsible for publishing the sites. …
RedDot Keynote at Summit 2007
Okay, hard for me to avoid it now. We use RedDot. There, I’ve said it. Now let’s move on. Met Detlef Kamps (RedDot President) last night. Nice guy. German, and speaks English very well. Looking forward to my breakfast …
Keynote at Summit 2007
I have no idea who the guy is on the stage. He came out after a Harold Faltermeyer-esque opening movie (complete with Windows system click sound at the end) and started talking. No introduction whatsoever. John …
Live from Huntington Beach
So as you’ve already read, I’m currently in Huntington Beach. Why? In an acronym: CMS. Recently, as some of you know, we launched the Rolex.com website. It was done using a CMS system. I’m here for two reasons: to see …
Disbelieving DRM and copy protection
I don’t believe in copy protection, like I don’t believe in the Easter Bunny or Jimmy Hoffa. It’s a myth that people cling to like a squirrel to a curtain, which is to say they have to because they are unable to see any …
I want an iPhone
I think I’m in love with Apple. For years, I’ve wanted a good cell phone. And that’s hard to come across in North America unless you go to Blackberry (in my world). I fell in love with keitais when I was in Japan in 2004 …
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With a few bugs, it would seem...
Grr. So much for local dev and test, and upload to live server. It’s not behaving, which is frustrating me immensely. So bear with me while I make K2 work properly.
All new for 2007!
It’s taken me a few months, but I’m finally back up and running with something a lot better: a new blog format (and technology) and a new host. Okay, so first the blog… It’s taken me months — literally — to move …
VIA Wi-Fi = No-Fi
So I’m taking VIA from London to Oakville, saving Alex from another four hours of driving on Ontario’s highways. I’m sitting here with my trusty laptop trying to do some work, using the “Wi-Fi” service …
I still got it...
For the last week or so, my computer hasn’t been cooperating completely. Internet Explorer would suddenly cause the hard drive to chew away as it tried to start a JavaScript method of some kind. Then it wouldn’t run at …
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Microsoft Vista is a failure
It seems a lot of people (especially those at Microsoft) are constantly extolling all the virtues of the next Microsoft operating system to-be, Windows Vista. Am I really the only person who sees it as a dinosaur? …
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Shrinking the world through video conferencing
I’ve used video conferencing before. It was a novelty. Nothing fancy. There, but didn’t think much of it. Until today. Critical Mass recently got a Polycom video conferencing unit in the Calgary office. (There are …
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People need to learn why CSS is good
Sigh. Just when I thought this topic was in the past, to be revisited in the same manner as when historians look at how the Black Plague ravaged Europe. But no, it’s back. I’ve had to don my somewhat dusty Web Practice …
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My Expectations of a Technology Team
I’m a tough person. I don’t settle for mediocrity in my own work, or in the work of those who work with me. There are the minimum height bars, and then there are the ones I set. Knee-capping height, some even high enough …
Happy Birthday, IBM PC!
I’ve been using PC-based computers for 25 years. A quarter-century. And things have come such a long distance since I first sat in front of that IBM in Mom’s office. This has all come to light as a result of an article I …
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Layered Interfaces - Getting Technical
The previous article introduced the idea of creating layers when building a website. It’s not a new concept — similar ideas have existed in computer science for decades. Even in terms of web development, the ideas are …
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Layered Interfaces - Setting the Stage
Websites are a hugely powerful information medium — they can entertain, endorse, educate, even drive a sale. But only if they engage. These are basic elements for anyone in the interactive marketing. Without them, …
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Google at the CCAT Dinner
Google is the power in the internet right now. Issues with censorship aside (and their suddenly lacklustre results in the stock market — the revaluation is long overdue), Google still remains the top search engine and …
Reform the US Patent Office!
The definition of “patent”, courtesy of the US Patent and Trademark Office: A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. …
The day after the CMMYs
Critical Mass works hard. We know that from all the various nervous ticks we’ve developed over the years from working too hard. So you can imagine that when we play, we make up for the difference. There are two annual …
Why no-one should care that Google censored itself in China
Today, 14 February 2006, is being touted as the day people are to “break-up” with Google (also here). They’re to sever their relationship, their ties, their love for what is still the most dominant search …
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The Canadian government has gone shady
Y’know, I used to believe that all the really shady governmental meddling always happened south of the border. Little did I know that our own government has been setting the stage to run things that we’d been taking for …
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The internyet
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: The internyet.] Okay, just a general bitch about Russia. Where the hell are all the internet cafes?? Our guides are out of date — we accept that. But do we have to …
Give web developers respect
I cannot praise Jeremy Zawodny enough for having posted a very concise POV on respect for web developers. It’s not like we’re a collection of haphazard Rodney Dangerfields — we’re just largely ignored. Web development …
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Google saves the day again
As if it’s not enough that Google Desktop regularly saves my heiny by finding long-lost files (I mean, really, why is it that Microsoft created two My Documents directories in XP, and then seems to randomly choose …
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Blogs as a content management system
I’ve been blogging for a number of years now, going at it hand-to-hand combat style until about a month ago, when I took the bold leap to using WordPress. The decision to switch was made for two reasons. First, I was …
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Writing HTML like it's 1993 with Molly
Speaking of bugging, I ran into Molly again as I left Dave Bowman‘s presentation for lunch. (I swear Molly, I wasn’t waiting in ambush for you!) I had meant to ask her this question before Dave’s presentation, but we …
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Microsoft needs to stick to standards
When someone decides to stay away from a defined direction, ignoring both precendence and the collective good, they are considered to have gone rogue. Microsoft, bastion of monopolistic behaviour in the software world, …
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Enough with AJAX already
I read a lot of blogs. It’s about the best way I have of keeping up with the trends in the industry. But there’s one trend out there that’s really beginning to bother me. A lot. Ajax. It’s an acronym/abbreviation for …
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Writing HTML like it's 1993
My friend Scott now works for the #2 search engine. He definitely earned the privilege to be called for the job. Recently, he had the luxury of having Eric Meyer and Molly Holzschlag visit to give a little talk on CSS2. …
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JavaScript Web Standards
I’ve been getting this question from my colleagues lately, and I think it’s a valid one to ask. The fact that it’s being asked shows that people are thinking about best practices and how to best meet the needs. However, …
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New cell phone for Hallowe'en
Another busy weekend at hand. Where oh where to start? I guess first off, I’ve finally had to give up my old Nokia brick cell phone. My faithful and antique companion has served me well since arriving in Calgary so many …
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Search Engine Strategies Conference 2004 San Jose, Last day
Search Engine Strategies 2004, San Jose, California, Day 4 I should have woken with another hangover. Especially since I had slept only about three hours. It was the last of the seminar, and I didn’t want to miss …
Search Engine Strategies Conference 2004 San Jose, Yahoo! Party
Search Engine Strategies 2004, San Jose, California, Day 3 I wasn’t hungover. Since I had only two beers at the Google party (and they ran out!), I wasn’t really reeling from any overdoses. I skipped the swim in favour …
Search Engine Strategies Conference 2004 San Jose, Google Dance
Search Engine Strategies 2004, San Jose, California, Day 2 The alarm started at 6:30. I hit snooze several times before I finally had the realization that I needed to get out of bed. Almost instantly, I knew that I was …
Search Engine Strategies Conference 2004 San Jose, Overture and LookSmart
Search Engine Strategies 2004, San Jose, California, Day 1 After an exceptionally sound sleep, I awoke to get my day started. I had planned to start all my days with a workout (I’ve been slacking for the last little …
Search Engine Strategies Conference 2004 San Jose, Calgary to San Jose
The trip to San Jose wasn’t the most enjoyable I’ve had, but it was far from a bad experience. Craig and I breezed through security. It goes to figure that it you arrive with plenty of time at the airport, there won’t be …
Toshiba e330 PDA
I have officially become mobile. Today, I picked up the keyboard for my PDA, and am able to create my log entries wherever I am on the planet. And have an electrical socket to recharge the batteries. (Minor detail.) Wait …
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Chinese New Year 4700, Space Shuttle Columbia Explosion
The year 4700 on the Chinese calendar got off to a very sombre start. Today is Chinese New Year’s day. Today, I had many things I wanted to do. Most of them were summarily forgotten when, barely a few minutes out of bed, …
My new home computer
A few weeks ago, I came to the conclusion that I could no longer stall. I had put it off for years, and it wasn’t really helping me. In fact, my apathy about the entire situation was appalling. To move ahead in such a …
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Why I Don't Want to be a Technical Writer Anymore
It’s been a busy beginning to the year. I think it’s just a sign of things to come. You’ve probably been wondering where I’ve been — didn’t I send all those logs during Christmas? Where are all the ones from January? …