I’m just trying to come to terms with what can only be described as one of the single largest fusterclucks I have ever experienced in my 45 years on this planet. Even with a day to digest what happened, I really can’t get my head around the magnitude of the absurdity, nor just how significant [...]
July 30th, 2010 :: reflection :: 7 comments
This looks like it will be awesome. I’ll let the trailer speak for itself. You can get more on the background from the CBC.
April 30th, 2010 :: reflection :: 1 comment
This was originally going to be a post about beginning to track my workouts again, tackling a new year by getting fit and all that kind of crap. The workouts have been a bit haphazard though, so I thought I’d just reflect on the past few weeks and where things are going in the next while.
January 31st, 2010 :: reflection :: 3 comments
From the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Flickr … Or, from nj.com. The CBC has put together a micro-site with regular updates on the status of the Haiti quake. Please take the time to donate to this terrible tragedy. There are a number of organizations that do exceptional work on the ground, who are accepting donations.
January 17th, 2010 :: reflection :: 2 comments
Imagine my amazement. In Sunday’s Vancouver Province I saw a double-page spread that said I could get a free sample of the “Rolls Royce of male enlargement.” Say no more and sign me up.
What really caught my eye was the ad, pictured at left, showing a curious looking Ewan McGregor with the headline beside it, “What Celebrities Had To Say!” If this thing is endorsed by Ewan, how can I go wrong? It’s also “already tested with success by GQ Magazine” so it must be for real …
October 12th, 2009 :: reflection :: 2 comments
So, when I finally sit down to write my first journal entry in more than a month, what do I write about? Why, my recent sports hernia operation, of course – and getting out of holiday mode and back to job work and thesis work. Truth is, I’ve got two or three partially written posts [...]
August 20th, 2009 :: reflection :: 2 comments
Who’d have thought getting new glasses could be this complicated? I’ve had a customer experience that I am still finding hard to grasp. I’ll make this short, but writing about it is a bit therapeutic too, I guess. I got an eye exam a few weeks ago with my normal optometrist, who also runs a small optical store in the same office …
May 23rd, 2009 :: reflection :: 2 comments
A couple experiences I’ve had in the past week left me wondering whether a nonprofit would suffer from bad customer/user experience in the same way a business would. I figure that good causes can be cut a bit of slack because they usually operate on very small budgets and, if some process isn’t great, I still feel good helping something important …
March 30th, 2009 :: reflection :: 1 comment
The camera zooming down on the mall is pretty breathtaking. A couple quotes which stood out for me; “A man 60 years ago who might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath,” and “People will judge you on what you build, not what you destroy.” A truly great day and optimism for better things to come south of the 49th.
January 20th, 2009 :: reflection :: 0 comments
The following encounter at the mall is, unfortunately, exemplary of public mall etiquette at the holidays – all the more when immersed in gadget chatter. I had quickly met my sons at the mall this morning while they were pondering a gift for their stepmom. As we stood looking at the item, a woman talking on her cellphone proceeded to push past each one of us, making shoulder contact, without so much as an apology or making eye contact …
December 23rd, 2008 :: reflection :: 1 comment
It’s par for the course when athletes let their mouths run off – more so when the athlete in question is Sean Avery of the Dallas Stars. What’s kind of amazing about this, aside from the complete lack of class Avery’s comments show, is that everyone – from management on down to his teammates – is pretty much abandoning him …
December 3rd, 2008 :: reflection :: 1 comment
I read with some interest this week, that the two dominant political parties are both taking a page out of Obama’s campaign book with their approach to online politicking. The governing BC Liberals open platform is going head-to-head with the BC NDP’s rapid responders to engage the clicking fingers (and hopefully, minds) of British Columbia’s voters, who may have severe election fatigue by the time May – and the next provincial vote – rolls around …
November 25th, 2008 :: reflection, technology :: 3 comments
Apologies to my wife for my lack of social presence notwithstanding, sometimes when you reflect on being overloaded you realize that it made you get things done. My last couple of weeks have been intense, but when I look back I realize I’ve now got about a week with a little breathing room because of [...]
November 12th, 2008 :: reflection :: 0 comments
It’s all about empowerment and taking back our society. Resonates beautifully with the Obama win though it’s about much more than that. Are you looking forward to the next four years south of the border as much as I am? Goodbye W.
November 5th, 2008 :: reflection :: 2 comments
Originally found this via pkulak. In honour of our election day north of the 49th, another US-based reason to make sure you vote.
October 14th, 2008 :: reflection :: 1 comment
From the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford. Funny stuff.
August 28th, 2008 :: reflection, technology :: 0 comments
It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of access you want, or what you want access to. You’re under assault, plain and simple. With the news last week that Bell and Telus customers will pay at both ends for text messages and the obscene Rogers iPhone rate packages, we just have two more issues to [...]
July 13th, 2008 :: reflection :: 4 comments
While I haven’t yet printed, signed and sent any of the copyright petitions, I did manage a bit of an email writing spree regarding this hideous proposed legislation. Would it surprise you to know that I haven’t had a real response from anyone yet? To be fair, our politicians might just be getting a tiny [...]
June 25th, 2008 :: reflection :: 2 comments
merican pressure is nothing if not intense. It starts with big business and media bending the ear of the Bush administration, who in turn, essentially forced Canada’s hand. Did we just become the 51st state? Sovereignty, anyone?
June 16th, 2008 :: reflection :: 2 comments
I really don’t get this legislation, purely from a political standpoint. I completely understand that Harper will tend to swing between supporting a business agenda or toeing the American line, depending on who he’s pandering to at any given time …
June 13th, 2008 :: reflection :: 6 comments
As often is the case when government either can’t control, or can’t understand something, the current drafting of ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is more about ensuring citizens have no right to privacy, than it is about addressing counterfeiting in any significant way. Unchallenged, this could spell trouble for the movement to data portability and open [...]
May 28th, 2008 :: reflection :: 1 comment
There is significant research available pointing to the success of InSite, the Vancouver Downtown Eastside supervised injection site, run by Vancouver Coastal Health. The conservative government has been tepidly extending its life in bits and pieces while they continue to fish for red herrings, allowing them to justify closing it down, as they have been [...]
May 7th, 2008 :: reflection :: 0 comments
The biggest problem with the current food crisis is not that it exists, but that it never should have happened in the first place and can definitely be reversed. And it’s not just the wrong-headed rush to create biofuels, but the products our food system produces the most of (and how it produces them), which [...]
April 30th, 2008 :: reflection :: 0 comments
Would you like to be extricating yourself from a relationship with this woman? This came to my attention courtesy of Boing Boing.
April 16th, 2008 :: reflection, technology :: 4 comments
Are you a mud person or a sand person? In this piece the narrative is just as important as the pictures. Courtesy Slate.
March 27th, 2008 :: reflection :: 0 comments
© James Wanless