Category
Welcome to the beta of the new saila.com. Send in your bugs.
Attic
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Bloomsday
“Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.…”
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Sobig.F; Listamatic; Coupland interviewed, Gatenby resigns; Darwinian Poetry; BBC revolution
After returning from a week away, I find my Yahoo email has been (and is being) hammered by Sobig.F (given how the address is used, I think a Canadian journalist might have been patient zero for this outbreak). Although my anti-virus software and Mozilla prevented any damage, it has meant a delay in responding to genuine emails, so apologies if you haven’t yet received a reply.
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McLuhan’s birthday
Today would be Marshall McLuhan’s 91st birthday.
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The roll of On the Road
On the way to a friend’s wedding Saturday, my own best man began talking about how Jack Kerouac’s On the Road was written on one, big, long scroll of paper.
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Top 100 English-Canadian Books
This list of the top 100 English-Canadian books were chosen by the University of Toronto Bookstore Review in April 1999.
Latest Postings on Books
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Going to New York City
The amazing photographer Natalie Schönfeld is having her New York City debut on Thursday (if you're in the city, please drop by), so a bunch of us our going down there to as part of her international (Canadian, U.S., Venezuelan) contingent of supporters.
Latest Postings on Travel
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Smells like Seattle
Almost exactly five months ago , I started my first major foray into the world of self-employment and began working with a series of exceptional clients to develop web applications and advise about online strategy. The quality, and quantity, of work surprised me, and I savoured every moment of it.
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Changing things up
Just a quick post to let you know about some changes that have happened and will be happening.
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Gummo’s down
To make up for some overtime, I decided to take a few days off to both escape work and to continue developing the new version of this site. Late this afternoon, though, I was stunned when I heard about a co-worker’s departure. For the past four-and-half years, through boom and bust, we’d worked side-by-side — in fact, I’ve never worked with anyone else that closely for that long. This was the person who first showed me how the sites function and later became one of the few colleagues I’d share a drink with. But now, when I return to work on Monday, the chair beside me will sit empty.
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Speaking the unspoken
Here’s a new way to put words in your mouth: MIT has developed software that creates video of people saying words they have never spoken. While good for computer animation, it could become a powerful tool for propoganda, as the The Boston Globe briefly mentions in it’s overview of the technology.
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Take some time away from work
The Europeans have been doing this for a longtime, and I have been a quiet proponent of the ideas as well: taking a month off to recharge one’s batteries.
Latest Postings on Work
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Toronto votes
Six days after our neighbours to the south changed the make-up of their government, we in Ontario have the opportunity to the same — but on a local level. Across the province, municipal elections are being held today.
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Blogging Toronto
(The following are all via Carl Wilson’s “The Empire Strikes Blog.”) Toronto blogging goes big-time with the arrival of the franchised “metro” blog, Torontoist. Too bad they didn’t call it TOist. So far nothing wild; but nothing too sad, either. In the logo is, from left to right:
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Toronto’s subway at 50
Toronto’s — and Canada’s — first subway system (which is now in desperate need of much more than the expected $1-billion funding boost) turns 50 today. The first line ran up and down 7.6 km of Yonge St. and even had its own song. Although the TTC site has a photo album of its major line openings, a much better picture can be found in the comprehensive Toronto Transit blog
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Toronto votes; IE 3 and 4; PIE tutorials
Torontonians (and other Ontarians): don’t forget to vote today.
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Toronto Star doing registration; new media type proposed; invalid mayours
Here comes the predicted changes: the Toronto Star looks like it will be implementing registration on its site — it will be using Tacoda Systems’ Web audience management and the new registration system.
Latest Postings on Toronto
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Make a change
What to do with your “Taxpayer Dividend”
Latest Postings on Ontario
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Election blackout in Canada
Watching the election results not come in from the West coast of America is a surreal experience.
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Not-so quality TV
Last night, CBC broadcast an English-langauge remake of its Quebec arm’s hit sitcom, Rumeurs. This version, produced by the one and only Moses Znaimer, was well promoted and expectations were higher than normal for a Canadian show.
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Canada’s government on the brink
Now, it’s just a matter of minutes before the opposition parties in Canada’s parliament pass a motion of non-confidence in the Liberal government of PM². When that happens, Canadians will mark their ballots for the second time in less than two years — the date, likely Janaury 23, 2006.
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A social-democratic budget passes
Yes, there’s been a dearth of posts here; no, I don’t plan on turning this into a polictical blog. However, given the last two posts were about the Canadian government’s delicate position, consider this the third (and for now) concluding entry.
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Then again’
Okay, maybe the Gomery revelations will bring down the government. To be fair, my last post was based on the first day of leaked testimony. The subsequent revelations definitely make neither the Liberal party nor PM² look good. Nevertheless, I hope Mr. Wells is right — we don’t need another election a year after our last one.
Latest Postings on Canada
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Email issues; war on terrorism; and who’s phoned?
Lost all email sent to me yesterday thanks to a system-wide crash, so if you sent me a message can you please resend it? Thanks.
Latest Postings on U.S.
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Tiananmen at 15
Fifteen-years ago today a pro-democracy protest was brutally suppressed as the world watched in horror. Hundreds or thousands died demanding reforms that China is finally, but slowly, making
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Normandy at 60
Sixty years ago this weekend, thousands of soliders (including my grandfather) prepared for a massive invasion on the beaches of Normandy. The CBC’s online team imagines what its coverage would have been like had they been there. The clever project is not only a unique way to present a well-known story, but also a brillant way to tap into its archives (including a long-lost CBC recording of a broadcast by the late Katharine Hepburn)
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Rwanda, ten years on
We need look no further than our own backyard to see why it’s so important to remember what happened in Rwanda ten years ago.
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Buzzing: XFN, delicious, RSS and Atom; IE accessibility toolbar; hiking gas prices; year ending
XFN is starting to build some momentum, but I haven’t really bought into the concept for use on this site. Who knows, maybe in the next version… What I do like is proposed method — XMDP — for marking up profiles though.
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Tweaking the layout; Stop the War
A little over a year after my template started getting some public attention, I’m tweaking it ever so slightly. The changes are very minor, but before I “officially” release it, I’d like to ask you to test it out. Please report any problems to me (including the browser and operating system). Thanks in advance.
Latest Postings on World
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Election blackout in Canada
Watching the election results not come in from the West coast of America is a surreal experience.
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Toronto votes
Six days after our neighbours to the south changed the make-up of their government, we in Ontario have the opportunity to the same — but on a local level. Across the province, municipal elections are being held today.
Latest Postings on Politics
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T-5 Days
We’ve done the holiday tours, and the packers are here now, boxing up the last remnants of our stuff which will follow us into Seattle a few days after we land on January 2.
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T-1 month
Today marks the first day of our last month in Toronto, the first day we are not working, and the night of our Toronto send-off. It also happens to be snowing in Seattle and freezing in Toronto, alas, at least the loonie’s fallen back to par with the greenback…
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Pre-Seattle FAQ
So as the preparations for Seattle get underway, and we pack in the visits with friends, a few common questions are emerging. What better way to address the most common ones than a trusty old FAQ.
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Smells like Seattle
Almost exactly five months ago , I started my first major foray into the world of self-employment and began working with a series of exceptional clients to develop web applications and advise about online strategy. The quality, and quantity, of work surprised me, and I savoured every moment of it.
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Changing things up
Just a quick post to let you know about some changes that have happened and will be happening.
Latest Postings on Personal
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T-1 month
Today marks the first day of our last month in Toronto, the first day we are not working, and the night of our Toronto send-off. It also happens to be snowing in Seattle and freezing in Toronto, alas, at least the loonie’s fallen back to par with the greenback…
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Pre-Seattle FAQ
So as the preparations for Seattle get underway, and we pack in the visits with friends, a few common questions are emerging. What better way to address the most common ones than a trusty old FAQ.
Latest Postings on Seattle
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