By pacificIT on September 5, 2006 - 11:07am
I really enjoyed reading Peter Tupper's article in the Vancouver Courier last week on Wireless in Vancouver. It pretty much summed up what I already have concluded - the decision makers in the city have no idea what Wi-Fi is for and have no "real" intention of implementing a plan anywhere, anyhow unless it's really, really, REALLY necessary.
From one angle, I understand the apprehension. This is still bleeding edge technology and even advanced cities such as San Francisco are still grappling with how to implement a city plan to "Muni-Fi" the city. On another angle, Washington State knows exactly what the technology is and the benefits it brings to the workforce and local economy which is why it has been implemented on local transit buses as well as Interstate highway rest stops.
I'm glad Matthew Asham, a great colleague I met while being the Organizer for the Vancouver Wi-Fi Meetup is spearheading the initiative to implement some kind of system for businesses and associations to have some kind of Wi-Fi system in the city. Otherwise our smirky attitude of "Canada Kicks Butt" is in prime position to have its butt kicked - especially in 2010.
Enjoy.
Robert Sanzalone
Vancouver Technology Evangelist
By pacificIT on September 1, 2006 - 1:31pm
I've been using
Windows Live Writer for a
few weeks now and have been VERY impressed with the results. This new free product from Microsoft allows you to write your blog entries as easily as using Microsoft Word. You also have the ability write your material offline and post it when everything is just right.
One of the biggest advantages of using Live Writer is the setup. I did a little experiment to see how easy it would be to set up an account for my entries in Urban Vancouver. If you follow the
instructions Bryght places here and this stuff is all new to you, you probably would give up quickly and say, "I'll do it all online. Thanks anyway". But what if you only needed to put in three pieces of information: the URL (
http://www.urbanvancouver.com), your ID and your password? Not so difficult to get started, really! That's it! You now can post directly to Urban Vancouver. Very cool.
By pacificIT on July 3, 2006 - 5:45pm
(Cross-posted from http://www.pacificIT.ca/article/141)
Now that I've returned home to Vancouver from Gnomedex 6.0 in Seattle and have been able to absorb everything (well almost), it's now time to share my first thoughts.
First of all A VERY BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Chris Pirillo and Ponzi. This congratulations comes from the bottom of my heart and for many, many reasons. The top of the list is you pulled it off. Yes, the two of you. I know there were many volunteers and staff involved on the day of the event and they all worked hard to make it a success. But, it really came down to the both of you and your own blood, sweat and tears to make it happen SUCCESSFULLY.
What a team you two are. Not only engaged to be married this December (sort of like the Royal Wedding for techies), but your tireless work was more than evident in the details of the event.
While there are many, many blogs, picture posts and websites finely commentating on the details, my number one memory and take away was the love the conference showed for us Canadians. While Friday was highly focussed on the visiting American presidential candidate John Edwards (with the political and "non-techie" discussions around it), Saturday Chris and Ponzi FULLY acknowledged Canada Day by having the Canadians stand up (out of 320 people there may have been about 25 - most from Vancouver), allow us to sing "O Canada" (embarrasing to say the least, especially when halfway through the song half the group sang different words), then.... SURPRISE! - cupcakes with a little candle on each to be given to each Canadian participant. What a classy thing to do! Yes, I felt a little bad about taking the cupcake in spite of all my American friends (I offered some to Travis Petershagan and Dave Winer who were sitting beside me but had no takers) yet nonetheless enjoyed the sweet taste of friendship.
Thanks again Chris and Ponzi. You'll always be welcome in Canada as great neighbours and true friends.
By pacificIT on June 11, 2006 - 2:34am
(Cross-posted from http://www.pacificIT.ca/article/136)
The undisputed top blogger in the world, Robert Scoble, has just made an announcement which will not only shake up the blogging world - but the whole tech world as well. He's leaving Microsoft to join a new Silicon Valley startup called PodTech.net.
I first met Robert at the Vancouver Northern Voice / Moosecamp blogging conference last February. My first words to him was that since we were both having a presentation at the same time, I might as well pack it up since I expected maybe 2 people would attend mine. He blew me away when he said he not only would be moving the time of HIS presentation, but was interested in joining mine. Man, what an ultimate compliment by the so-called "Microsoft blogging big shot" who was so close to Bill Gates. From that point forward I too was hooked on Scoble because I felt he really was, well... real.
Robert makes it very clear he has no reason to back-slam Microsoft or his other former colleagues. He views this simply as a "career move" which will no doubt leverage him to explore even more technology areas - as a Podcast Journalist (oooh, that's a new one!).
While the news flies through the Internet over the next few weeks, I'm really looking forward to connecting again with him at Chris Pirillo's Gnomedex 6.0 (after all, he came to this blog and said he's looking forward to seeing us there... I'm keeping him to his word!).
Congratulations Robert! You are now truly a respected entity in your own right. You don't need no stickin' Microsoft badges to get you in the door! The best of luck!
By pacificIT on May 28, 2006 - 1:06am
Today a special friend of mine, Fumiko Ito, had her family story featured in the national edition of the Globe And Mail. Her cousin, Sally Ito, has written a moving account called "exiled", the generational odyssey of a Japanese family in Canada since 1894. This "Roots" story centres on Fumiko's grandmother, Chiyoko, and how even though she was born in Canada, she was forced against her will to return to war-torn Japan after 1945. While Japanese-Americans were allowed to return to their birth homes on the West Coast, Japanese-Canadians were given the ultimatum of either go to the unfamiliar east (Alberta) or back to Japan. The touching story ends with Fumiko herself fulfilling her grandmother's dream of immigrating back to Canada:
Fumiko, the daughter of Jimmy, the second oldest of the brothers, was born in Japan the same year that I was born. In 1994, she came to Canada under a special clause formed at the time of redress that allowed descendants of Japanese Canadians to immigrate into the country without restriction.
Fumiko had grown up with her grandmother Chiyoko telling her how wonderful Canada was. The impression never left her. She now lives in Vancouver. This summer, her younger sister, Toshiko - born and raised in Japan - will marry her Japanese fiancé in Richmond, B.C., the very place where Chiyoko, our grandmother, was born nearly 100 years ago.
It's a wonderful story.
By pacificIT on May 20, 2006 - 1:16pm
I first met Isabella Mori last September when I made a presentation at the Vancouver Westcoast Self-Employment Strategies program. She was one of those people who make presenters very happy - she got it. I could almost literally see the light bulb turn on as I spoke about technology - particularly the merits of blogging.
Isabella didn't sit long on her laurels. She walked the talk. Within a couple of months she established her blog on Blogger (change therapy) and began defining what she would write about and for whom. Most importantly, she went out there. Who else was blogging? How did other people in Vancouver do it? Her approach was to take the full bull by the horns and become the Organizer for the Vancouver Blogger Meetup Group.
I took a few moment out of Isabella's time this week to ask her a few questions about her experiences, the Vancouver blogging community and where she would like to take things.
The mic was a little to far away from her so please forgive me for the "not professional podcast" quality of the program. I still think you'll like it. Enjoy!
By pacificIT on May 15, 2006 - 5:13pm
Amazing announcement today by Skype. They are now offering their SkypeOut service to any phone number in Canada and the United States for unlimited calling for FREE! This includes Vancouver!
This is not a scam, a quick promotion to get names and addresses or anything else which would otherwise make you go hmmmm. This is a legitimate service I frequently use myself and is prominent on my website. The free SkypeOut service to North America expires at the end of 2006.
There are two sides of SkypeOut. The first is to simply use your Skype setup to call any number in North America. That's right, if you use the phone I suggested in this posting or any other headset you may have, your computer can now call any regular landline or cell phone in North America without incurring any long distance charges (of course the receiver still may have their usual call charges). That could be a lot of talking with no charges whatsoever!
But wait, there's more! If you use the Call Forward feature of Skype, you can have your Skype account automatically connect to YOUR own cell or landline phone. That means if I call your Skype number from my computer, and you're not at your computer, it just forwards the call to your cell which you may have on you. All for FREE!
By pacificIT on May 1, 2006 - 3:25pm
Here's an interesting twist in the mad dash of technology. The American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC-TV) in the U.S. has just launched the ability to provide full episode streaming of ABC hits such as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy (one of my favourites!), Commander in Chief and Lost..... ALL FOR FREE! This isn't just blockie little clips of episodes - they're the full meal deal - with a few commercials and everything!
This is a little experiment ABC is trying out which has tremendous potential. I watched a few clips and was really impressed with the quality.
The only problem? You must be in the United States of America to be able to access this service.
Wow. I was really surprised and shocked by this. Not that I'm complaining about why this is the case - I fully understand that. It's just that the technology is in place to truly limit distribution of Internet content. Unlike TV which we have been able to sponge from the U.S. since the 1950's, this truly cuts the line once your IP address is discovered. Amazing.
I can live without Tivo and a few other technologies which slowed down or stopped at the 49th parallel. But this? Hmmm. A little more difficult.
By pacificIT on April 22, 2006 - 3:48pm
[Xposted: Pacific IT]
Over the last three weeks I have taken numerous trips down to Seattle. My objective was to meet certain individuals, network, seek out new opportunities and generally find out what the heck was going on in this neighbour city other than Ichiro (or anything with the Mariners or Seahawks), Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks (or anything to do with coffee), Amazon, Expedia, Frasier, Sleepless or the Space Needle. What were people doing, working at and talking about.
My adventure first connected me with Sean Cunningham of Logic 20/20. Sean is a technology consultant and a great guy to know in Seattle. Our discussion covered a lot of areas but one of the terms he used which lit my eyes up was TECHNOLOGY EVANGELIST. "That's what you do, isn't it Rob?". Hmmm. I had heard it before. I had even seen it posted formally as a position on a major computer company's website. But was I an Evangelist?
The first thought which popped into my mind was a religious fanatic: someone who preached loudly whether others wanted to hear it or not. I didn't perceive myself that way. The word frequently used in Vancouver for someone like me has been GURU. I never liked that term either because it says a person knows everything about a topic which I have never said about myself. So what about TECHNOLOGY EVANGELIST?
This is how Wikipedia defines Technology Evangelist:
A technology evangelist is a person whose job is to assist organizations adopting new technologies. The role of Technology Evangelist was first created by Guy Kawasaki while working for Apple Computer in the late 1980s when the Apple Macintosh was first being marketed.
By pacificIT on April 3, 2006 - 3:53am
[Xposted: Pacific IT]
I attended the well organized rally today for the Walk For Democracy, the Anti-Emerson rally I mentioned in my blog recently.
Congratulations to the organizers. It was well behaved and I believe a very decent turn out (CKNW reported about 500 though I would say there were more there).
I really enjoyed reading Peter Tupper's article in the Vancouver Courier last week on Wireless in Vancouver. It pretty much summed up what I already have concluded - the decision makers in the city have no idea what Wi-Fi is for and have no "real" intention of implementing a plan anywhere, anyhow unless it's really, really, REALLY necessary.