Northern Voice, Day 1: Wow!

Mac OSX on a ThinkPad at Northern Voice

The first day of Northern Voice is called Moose Camp. I’m not exactly sure why it’s called Moose Camp, but it has something to do with Foo Camp and Bar Camp, the first of which was an attendee-powered conference by “Friends Of O’Reilly” (O’Reilly is the Developer Book Publisher and general centre of much of Web 2.0 information…and perhaps some of the hype).

The day started early, at around 8:00 AM, where I descended into the complex of rooms underground the centre of downtown. It’s really a shame that I spent a good deal of the day indoors underground, because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky today. As I waited to register, I met the benefactor of my ticket, Gene Blishen, who represents the Mount Lehman Credit Union. I link to them here not only because they sponsored the event, and also gave me the chance to attend, but also because I’m extremely impressed with them. They’re a small business in an incredibly competitive market (Credit Unions in Vancouver are dominated by big names like VanCity), who competes by being both innovative technologically, and making an effort to know each of their customers. Most of the other sponsors of the event were what you’d expect, some software companies like Bryght, the domain registry Webnames.ca, who I share office space with, Sun Microsystems, and so on. With the exception of Raincoast Books, Mount Lehman was the only local non-tech business to realize how important blogging is. I’m sure a lot of this is due to Gene, but I’m glad to see a banker with vision, all the same. George Bailey would be proud.

The sessions started promptly at 9 AM. They were put together quickly, in ad-hoc fashion. There were a few last minute changes, but for the most part the board of handwritten session names on 5-by-8 cards came pretty close to what I had read online in the past week. I attended a session on sxore, the identity protocol that would allow participating web sites and blogs to know who you are (and let you post comments) without you having to sign in each time (your credentials would sit on a server you designate as your homesite). It would also make posting easier, and allow sites to cut down on comment SPAM. It looks interesting, but time will tell whether it’s successful, since many sites will have to adopt their protocol. Then, I saw an absolutely mind-blowing demonstration of NowPublic, a citizen-powered newspaper that is really Journalism’s answer to Wikipedia (and perhaps could become almost as powerful a force). It’s Vancouver-based but International in reach, and it also has some of the most fascinating ways of pointing to content with a sophisticated ‘wrapper’ that neatly handles some of the rights issues by automatically building in links back to the original content, like this photo of the Northern Voice Event:

I loved how Michael Tippett (who shares the name of one of my favourite British Composers of the 20th century), described some of his contributors as ‘Accidental Journalists’. The next session was pretty free-form, and led by Mark Hamilton (not sure of where he’s teaching, but he was clearly an academic). The topic was Journalism, and how blogging has changed the media landscape for all of us. I had to admit that I am not as optimistic about the wisdom of the masses as he seemed to be, and I downright disagreed with his assertion that these days are the best for mass media delivery choices for humanity as well as alternate media. Having escaped the inexorable consolidation of News networks and papers in the US into Corporate surrogates, I would definitely not think of the 21st century as starting out with a robust and courageous Mass Media. In any case, it was a lively discussion, and a bit of a breather. Not for long. Next came a demo of Ma.gnolia.com, a sort of blend of Flickr’s social aspects with the bookmarking of Del.icio.us (hence the similarity of the name). Then, a session on videoblogging led by Robert Sanzalone, a corporate trainer who talked about how (among other things), the video iPod has changed the demands of what video you should probably produce if you want it viewed by the widest possible audience (it turns out the sweet spot is to offer it in Flash video for the web, and QuickTime movie for iPods and the iTunes podcast/videoblog feeds). The only site he’d found that trans-codes to the right formats for you turns out to be an outfit in France called Dailymotion.com.

Getting out of breath? I haven’t even gotten to lunch yet: I was just getting to noon and information overload was the order of the day.

The afternoon included a session on building Community with blogging. My favourite term from that session was a name for people you first meet online and then later connect with in-person: an e-quaintance. What a great neologism! Photographer Kris Krug tried to hit some of the more interesting topics on digital photography (although he spent a long time curiously enough talking about shooting with plain old film, and then having it processed with the ‘wrong’ chemicals to produce startling effects - I’d seen some of his photos on exhibition at The Wicked Cafe and it was great to find out how he achieved those wild portraits. There was some useful information on depth-of-field, as well as some other tips. Then I saw yet another amazing demo of an online database that anybody can use (not just geeks) called Dabble DB. It will have so many useful applications and looks so cool that I can’t wait for it to go live. Then there was a session on ‘Leadership Hacks’ with the founder and CEO of Technorati, David Sifry.

Finally (and boy, am I out of breath), there was a demo of the latest beta (only 48 hours old) of Windows Vista. I’m sad to say that it looked clunky and entirely derivative of nearly every feature of Mac OSX, (which many people have already pointed out). I was also disappointed to see that much of the animation or ‘eye candy’ was not really thought through. When you close windows, they always fade out, instead of, perhaps, zooming down to where they appeared from, which would provide more useful information. I hope that there will be more changed and added, but at this point, it’s no great leap forward. The ultimate irony is that when one of the presenters for that session mentioned at the end that he had successfully installed the new Mac OSX for Intel on his IBM Thinkpad and started it up, the room went wild and cameras appeared from all sides to shoot this.
In the evening, I walked with many of the other attendees to Stanley Park, where we drank hot chocolate and coffee and ate barbecued sausages (and Tim Hortons donuts) while watching the pink sky- sunset was already mostly over. A great end to a day full of intellectual stimulation. I haven’t seen this much cool stuff in a long time. Hard to believe that tomorrow is the real, official part of the conference. My brain is going to need some extra RAM.

Getting Ready for Northern Voice

I can hardly believe my good fortune, but I’ve been offered a ticket by a supporting vendor to Northern Voice, a fascinating “community-based blogging and personal publishing conference” right here in downtown Vancouver.

It’ll take place for 2 days, this Friday and Saturday, pretty much all day at the UBC downtown campus (underground, just opposite the Museum of Art, right in the centre of downtown). I’ve gotten support from work so that I can spend the day there on Friday. Sessions run the gamut from integrating the new identity system, sxore, podcasting and videoblogging, AJAX for geeks and non-geeks to Structured Blogging and Microformats. If none of these terms ring a bell, don’t worry. Some of this stuff is pretty cutting edge. There’ll also be some sessions on Saturday on The Changing Face of Journalism, and my favourite title for a session: “So They’re Threatening to Sue: Blogs and the Law”, featuring the conference’s founder and organizer, Darren Barefoot. I met Darren briefly when I attended the first blogger’s Meetup a few months ago (although those days sometimes feel like they’re in the distant past). The conference is in its second year. I like the History Page on their site, though. It reads simply: “It’s fun and pretentious to have a history page for your second year.” I’m thrilled to be part of what may be becoming a major event in Vancouver, and the blogosphere (whatever that is anyway).

Near the Business

I just found out from Pam that we are just down the street from a landmark of sorts in Rock and Roll.

It’s the Mushroom Studios at 1234 West 6th Avenue. It seems that several big hits were recorded there, including “Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman Turner Overdrive. In later years, Loverboy, Sarah McLachlan, Colin James and Skinny Puppy all recorded there. The place was built in 1965, and there had been some talk of it being converted into condominiums, but the new owner has saved it from the wrecking ball, so it will remain a recording studio, surrounded by condos. Apparently, no one has complained about the music all these years. An article in the local newspaper said that “It wouldn’t be a stretch…to call Mushroom Studios the Abbey Road of Canada”.

The State of Their Union and a Strange Sign

I missed the State of the Union Address last week (what a pleasure to be able to say that!), but I did hear the commentary and coverage that echoed the main sound byte of the speech: “America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.” The choice of this particular phrase fascinated me for several reasons. First of all, why would a president who’s always done his best to gloss over his past abuses of alcohol and drugs (which I fully expect will some day reveal a past that would have made his predecessor in the Oval Office look like a teetotaler) even mention the word addiction. Doesn’t it remind us of the elephant in the room? No, not the Republican mascot, but the fact that Bush’s unscripted appearances are frequently incoherent, and along with the preponderance of burst arteries on his face, that were, according to a friend of mine, clearly visible on his high-definition TV during this appearance, seem
to suggest that he has started drinking again.

If we leave aside the question of Bush’s addictions, up until this point, the standard GOP talking point was that ‘we need to address America’s dependence on foreign oil.’ The standard fix to this was ‘more drilling, especially in the Arctic Wilderness’. If you think that way, it makes sense: More dependent on foreign sources? Come up with your own sources. But if you replace the word ‘dependence’ with ‘addiction’, it doesn’t work any more. After all, if someone’s addicted to cocaine, you don’t try to help them start an opium poppy garden to help them switch to a local source.

What’s more, the other terms that each of these words evokes couldn’t be more different: ‘Dependence’, in Microsoft Word’s built-in Thesaurus produces matches like ‘reliance, trust, confidence, belief, hope and faith.’ Not bad. On the other hand, ‘Addiction’ produces ‘habit, compulsion, need, obsession and craving’. Not so good. The terms also point to each other, to be sure, but it does point out the negative associations for the new word. Note that for the Left wing, ‘Addiction’ means sickness, something that you need therapy or counseling to help overcome. On the Right, it’s a vice, or a lack of moral fiber or failed upbringing. It doesn’t matter which way you look at it, being addicted to something is far worse than being dependent on it.

I finally came to the conclusion, that despite the many negatives associated with the term, Bush’s speechwriters decided to go with it in order to appease some of the administration’s base, the Christian Taliban, even at the risk of angering the oil companies or Detroit (who are pretty much speeding toward bankruptcy anyway). In this case, I’m sure that it’s all just talk. Bush would never do something concrete, like actually push automakers to adopt better miles-per-gallon standards, or suggest that citizens use Mass Transit as a way of getting the petroleum monkey off their back.

No… What?
I saw a very strange sign at the bottom of the stairs at work the other day. It seems there are two language schools on the lower floors (we’re on the third), who serve a primarily Asian clientele. The kids are from China, Japan, and perhaps Korea, and I usually see them smoking in front of the building most of the time. Apparently, this sign was meant for them:

Text reads: “Spitting is a culturally unacceptable habit. If you absolutely must spit, please do so in the gutters of the road, not on the pedestrian walkways, and in particular not in front of the main doors to the building.”

When I mentioned this to my friend Matt, he was amused. “Dude, he said, “Everybody in China spits everywhere. In fact, they had to put up signs on The Great Wall to discourage it.” He gave me a picture he took of this to prove it:

Text reads: “In order to keep fit no spitting please no throwing waste”

Matt pointed out how the sign tried to get people to stop spitting to “keep fit”, as if doing so made them better people. That’s very typical, he explained.

Another Holiday, sort of

“Is this is what you do with Eternity?” asks Andie MacDowell.

It’s Groundhog Day, again. As I’ve often said, it’s one of my favourite movies of all time, partly because I think that Groundhog Day with Bill Murray is actually a very serious movie masquerading as a light, funny movie. If I were ever called upon to teach a course in say, ethics or karmic redemption, that film would definitely be on the syllabus. I particularly love it because it manages to ‘teach’ a lesson without being preachy or condescending.

It was a good day today, one I wouldn’t remind reliving (although not forever, to be sure).
There was the review in Georgia Straight. And it didn’t rain today. A pat on the back from the boss didn’t hurt either.

Experiencing a law of Musical Economics
I’ve been going to Gamelan rehearsals twice a week now, because of our upcoming concert on February 21st. It’ll be at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. In fact, I’m learning firsthand a rule that my father has codified after many years of performing music:

Arno’s Law of Remuneration
The amount of money that you will receive for a concert is inverse to the amount of effort expended in preparing and giving the performance.

This means that if you don’t work hard on a concert program, if it’s something you’ve played many times and comes together easily, you’ll be paid well. If it’s hard music that you have to practice and rehearse a great deal, forget about any payment. My father played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue many times. So many times, that the last 10 or so performances were probably a snap, and sure enough, they paid well. But if he played Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunnaire, or perhaps Leon Kirchner’s Sonata Concertante for Violin and Piano (I remember that was incredibly difficult because I turned pages for it but I really liked it nevertheless), he didn’t get a penny.

The music for this concert that I’m playing in on the 21st is very hard. Yup, I’m getting bupkis.