While biking down to the Hacklab (which I use as a day-to-day workspace) on Dundas Street West this morning, I noticed this ad at the Landsdowne bus stop’s shelter:

“My Neighbour Jerks My Chicken” might sound like the sort of situation that would make for a pleasant freshman year in a dorm, but in this case it refers to the Jamaican style of cooking in which you dry-rub meat with jerk spice. It’s pretty tasty, and I recommend trying it if you’ve got a Jamaican restaurant in your neighbourhood.

Speaking of restaurants in your neighbourhood, that’s what these posters are all about: encouraging you to support your local businesses. There are plenty of great ones around my place – Sweet Flour, My Place, Bloor Meat Market and Crema Coffee come to mind – and I’m sure that there are plenty of businesses in your ‘hood that deserve your business.

If you look closely at the bottom of the poster, you’ll notice that they were sponsored in part by Tabia, the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas:

A little farther east on Dundas, I stopped to take a picture of a less racy poster in the series:

Hank Young, country-and-western musician from Halifax turned Gladstone Hotel character-at-large, died of a stroke this past weekend at the age of 68. I first met him at the Gladstone during its grungy pre-renovation days at its karaoke night, where he was known for his rendition of Hey Good Lookin’. When the hotel underwent its transformation from fleabag to boutique, the management made him the operator of its antique elevator and his enthusiasm made him the hotel’s unofficial historian and tour guide.

In addition to his better-known work at the Gladstone, Hank also did a fair bit of community work. He opened a centre to help teenage kids off the street, volunteered at a program to feed the homeless and advocated for his neighbours at City Hall.

Hank always had a smile for anyone who passed by and a hearty “Hey, Accordion Man!” whenever I dropped in. He was one of Parkdale’s finest characters-at-large, and the neighbourhood was a little bit better thanks to his presence.

R.I.P., Hank.

The official launch of Windows 7 doesn’t happen until tomorrow, but we’re having a big launch event with Steve Ballmer today in Toronto! I’ll be blogging and tweeting all day from the launch venue – Toronto’s Harbour Castle Westin Convention Centre.

For the full skinny on the event, follow the #cdnwin7 (short for “Canadian Windows 7”) hashtag on Twitter.

This article also appears in Canadian Developer Connection and Global Nerdy.

Most of you will be heading to FailCamp via public transit, and many have asked how to get to FailCamp’s venue, the South Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, from Union Station – here’s how!

First, go up to the main level of Union Station, which looks like this:

On the west end of the station – the side with the Harvey’s – you should see a sign marked “Skywalk”. Go down that hall!

Keep going…

There’ll be a slight twist to the left, but keep following the hallway! You’ll get to a tunnel like this:

Keep going! At the top of the steps at the end of the tunnel, it’ll turn left and you’ll see this:

That’s the entrance to the actual Skywalk, which looks like this. Follow the signs to the door on the left that says “Convention Centre”…

…then follow the signs that say “South Building”…

…and follow the arrows that lead you to the TechDays conference. FailCamp is in room 716, which is on the 700 level of the South Building. Note that the 700 level is below the 600 level, not above it.

See you at FailCamp!

In honour of tomorrow’s event, FailCamp Toronto 3, I present The Manifesto of Fail, which was published for the FailCamp held in Philadelphia last summer.

The Manifesto of Fail

Failure is the default

From biological species to companies to government policies, there appears to be an Iron Law of Failure, which is extremely difficult to break.

Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail

Failure can be intrinsically valuable

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

J.K. Rowling, Harvard Commencement Speech

We can bond through our failures

But there is an even stronger reason why we can learn from the failures of others, beyond the simple pleasure of knowing that an expert can fail too. It has to do with our ability as human beings to relate better to people in their failures than in their successes, and to learn more in the process.

Richard Farson, Management of the Absurd

And bonding over failure is a good thing

Over and over again, when people ask how they can achieve the Silicon Valley-type of opportunities in their areas, I tell them, "Celebrate failure."

Tara Hunt, Losercamp

Also, beer is a good thing

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Ben Franklin (allegedly)

FailCamp Toronto 3

FailCamp Toronto 3 takes place tomorrow night – Tuesday, September 29th – at the South Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, room 716 at 7:00 p.m.!

It’s a FREE event in which you’re invited to share your tale of epic fail with your peers, whether the failure was personal, business or technical. By celebrating failure, we hope to overcome the fear of failure, which in turn leads to fear of trying. We want people to unlearn the moral that Homer Simpson taught his children: “You tried, and you failed. So the moral of the story is: never try.”

We’ll start FailCamp with an opening monologue talking about failure in general, some well-known and obscure failures throughout history and why we fear failure. Then we’ll turn the microphone on you, the audience, and challenge you to tell your most spectacular and epic story of FAIL. Our “Judging Panel of FAIL” featuring Justin Kozuch of Refresh Events and Meghann Millard of Unspace will preside and decide which stories are most worthy of winning valuable FAIL prizes.

After FailCamp, we’ll make our way to the pub. FAIL demands beer!

For more information about FailCamp Toronto 3 and to register (remember, it’s free!), visit FailCamp’s event page.

When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade. And when your company produces a cringe-inducing video on how to host a Stepford party, you repurpose it:

Don’t forget that FailCamp Toronto 3 takes place this Tuesday, September 29th at 7:00 p.m. in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, Room 716. If you’re coming in from the Front Street entrance of the Centre, remember that you’ve got to go up one floor then use the bridge to get to the South Building.

Here’s a map of level 7 of the South Building showing room 716, where the FailCamp magic takes place:

Tell Me Again: What is FailCamp?

FailCamp is a celebration of failure. It’s about sharing your tales of epic fail and the lessons you learned from them. It’s about learning not to view failure as defeat, but as a learning opportunity and stepping stone to success. It’s about taking away the fear of failure and learning to take a chance, think big and achieve what you thought you couldn’t.

We’ll start with some stories of historical failure: some you’ve read in the history books, and some culled from our own personal histories — the wisdom of fail through the ages. Then we’ll turn the microphone on you, inviting you to share your greatest stories of failure, challenging you to entertain the audience and even win prizes if our "Panel of Fail" deems your failure or the lessons derived from it to be the best of the bunch. The more embarassing, hilarious and educational your story, the better! Where else can you win big by losing big?

Joey deVilla (Microsoft, DemoCamp, accordion trouble-making) and John Bristowe (Microsoft) will host the event, encouraging you to confess your failures while sharing their own. FailCamp alumni Meghann Millard (Unspace, RubyFringe, FutureRuby) and Justin Kozuch (Refresh Events) and others will be the Panel of Fail whom you must impress in order to win prizes.

How Do I Get Tickets?

It’s very easy, because the event is free! Just sign up on our event page and show up on Tuesday, September 29th at 7:00 p.m. in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, Room 716!

Today, September 22nd, is One Web Day, the day on which we celebrate the awesomeness of the web and try to make it even better! As the One Web Day folks put it, think of it as “Earth Day for the Internet”.

Here in Accordion City, we’re having One Web Day Toronto, where there’ll be many independent events as well as a big one tonight at Cafe Taste (1330 Queen St West, at Brock) from 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.. It will feature:

• Talks by Us Now, Little Geeks, the Mozilla Foundation and my old company, the good guys of domains, Tucows!
• Free wine, snacks, buttons and t-shirts
• The “I Love the Web” poster wall to which you can add your own art
• A used computer drop-off organized by Tucows and Little Geeks
• General celebration of the World Wide Web, which we know and love (and without which I wouldn’t be me)

If you can make it, drop by Cafe Taste and celebrate the web, and if not, make sure you celebrate it wherever you are.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

FailCamp Toronto 3 is 10 days away! Come join us in our “celebration of fail”. We’ll share stories about the times when things went pear-shaped, got SNAFUed, or just plain failed — and just as important, the lessons we learned from them. And unlike many failures, FailCamp’s admission is free.

For more details about FailCamp, see the FailCamp registration page or this earlier article.

That’s right, you want to join FailCamp Toronto 3, the celebration of FAIL taking place on Tuesday, September 29th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre! Take it from Kanye, you don’t want to miss this event. For more details, see the FailCamp event page and my earlier article on FailCamp Toronto 3.

That’s right, we’re holding another FailCamp in Toronto! Mark Tuesday, September 29th on your calendar and be prepared to share you best/worst stories of FAIL, impress the judges in our “Panel of Fail” and win big prizes!

Here’s what the event is all about, as taken directly from FailCamp Toronto 3’s event page:

The pictures of Sean Connery in his ridiculous costume from Zardoz can only mean one thing: it’s time for another FailCamp!

FailCamp is a celebration of failure. It’s about sharing your tales of epic fail and the lessons you learned from them. It’s about learning not to view failure as defeat, but as a learning opportunity and stepping stone to success. It’s about taking away the fear of failure and learning to take a chance, think big and achieve what you thought you couldn’t.

We’ll start with some stories of historical failure: some you’ve read in the history books, and some culled from our own personal histories — the wisdom of fail through the ages. Then we’ll turn the microphone on you, inviting you to share your greatest stories of failure, challenging you to entertain the audience and even win prizes if our "Panel of Fail" deems your failure or the lessons derived from it to be the best of the bunch. The more embarassing, hilarious and educational your story, the better! Where else can you win big by losing big?

Joey deVilla (Microsoft, DemoCamp, accordion trouble-making) and John Bristowe (Microsoft) will host the event, encouraging you to confess your failures while sharing their own. FailCamp alumni Meghann Millard (Unspace, RubyFringe, FutureRuby) and Justin Kozuch (Refresh Events) and others will be the Panel of Fail whom you must impress in order to win prizes.

FailCamp takes place on Tuesday, September 29th at 7:00 p.m. at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (255 Front Street West, between John and Simcoe Streets). Admission is free — all you have to do is register to attend, and make sure you bring your best story of fail! It’ll be full of win!

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the HoHOTo party and last week, I posted a “Slice of Life” photo from it. Here’s another, more important photo from HoHOTo: the giant cheque displaying the amount of money that was raised for the Daily Bread Food Bank: $10,500. Nicely done, folks!

Photo of the Canadian National Exhibition courtesy of Wikipedia.

Yesterday, the Ginger Ninja and I went to the Canadian National Exhibition (a.k.a. “The CNE” and “The Ex”, Accordion City’s annual fair featuring shows, rides, shopping and amusements. According to Wikipedia, it’s the largest fair in Canada and the fourth largest in North America.

Part of the fun of going to the Ex is the junk food, and they’ve got that stuff in spades. There are few foods that can’t be made better by deep-frying. Even Oreos, which are pretty good as they are, benefit from being covered in batter and then dunked into a vat of hot oil. We ordered some deep-fried Oreos; here’s what they looked like:

The batter becomes a crispy shell, while the heat of deep-frying turns the Oreo into a gooey, tasty mess of chocolate and cream.

Wendy liked them more than she expected she would, and more than the deep-fried Twix bars I ordered later.

I’m hitting the gym later today.

Here, courtesy of the Economist, is a chart showing how long it takes for a workers in various cities all over the world, earning the average net wage to earn the price of a Big Mac in their respective cities. Note that Accordion City – sometimes referred to as “Toronto” – is one of the three best places for a Big Mac aficionado to live, since it takes us only 12 minutes to earn two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, onions, pickles on an sesame seed bun:

The Economist’s Big Mac Index was introduced by the magazine in 1986 (the year I started reading it, coincidentally) as a way to make it easier to visualize the differences among different countries economies, in terms of wages and purchasing power. Using Big Macs as an economic yardstick was a clever choice; they’re the same everywhere and available in many countries when it was first published 23 years ago, and McDonald’s has set up in more countries since then (remember, 1986 was before glasnost).

The index isn’t without its flaws. For starters, McDonald’s is perceived differently in different countries. Here in Canada, as with the U.S., it’s a cheap, working-class restaurant, while in other countries, eating there is considerably more expensive and exotic than having the local fare. However, there aren’t too many other products that are available worldwide that are made with local materials and yet universally uniform.

As for actually eating Big Macs: I used to love them as a teenager, but it’s been ages since I had one. Sometime in my late 20s, I noticed that eating just one made me feel nauseated. I suppose it might be because they changed the recipe, but I strongly suspect the real change was in me; I no longer had the same metabolism. I’m happy to spend a little money on a burger and not feel like hurling.

The tornado isn’t all that spectacular (as far as tornadoes go, anyway), nor is the phonecam footage remarkable in any way. What makes this video is the high-larious drama-queen dialogue. I’m downloading this sucker before the guy wises up and yanks it off YouTube.

I hereby give this video the Drama Queen seal of approval:

[Thanks to the Ginger Ninja for the heads-up!]

Just north of Accordion City is Vaughan, and they got a tornado earlier this evening:

Tornadoes normally don’t come ‘round our way here in Accordion City, but today’s storm system was quite unusual. Out here in the High Park area, it turned the sky wasabi green and smack in the middle of town, a proper tornado formed. Local YouTube user “Tubocracy” shot this footage:

Nobody in Accordion City throws a charity event quite like its creative techies, and the latest such event is hoHOTo. It’s the summer sequel to HoHoTO, a charity party that got put together in mere days, not weeks or months, by some very ambitious Toronto techies on Twitter.

HoHOTo’s charity is the Daily Bread Food Bank, the organization dedicated to eliminating hunger in and around Toronto. They provide food to hungry people. offer support with issues that often accompany hunger – social benefits, housing, employment, immigration – and work to create social change to reduce poverty through research, education and advocacy.

A recent report from the Daily Bread Food Bank says:

A new report released today by the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) revealed that there has been an alarming increase in the number of persons turning to food banks in Ontario since last fall. Between September 2007 and September 2008, food banks in Ontario have reported an average increase of 13 per cent in the number of neighbours turning to them for support.

HoHOTo will take place tomorrow night at Suite 106 & Wetbar, located deep in clubland at Peter and Adelaide, from 7 p.m. until late, with DJs and cash bars plying their trade all night. Only 500 tickets were made available, with prices rising steadily as the event drew nearer. In these last hours before the event, tickets are now $40 each and it appears that only three or so dozen remain.

Microsoft, for whom I work as a Developer Evangelist, is a sponsor of the event and has provided me with two HoHOTo tickets to raffle off. I’ll make it simple – just email me at joey.devilla@microsoft.com by 6:00 p.m. tonight and I’ll put your name into a lottery for those tickets. I’ll announce the winner on the blog tonight.

BlogTO has some great photos that readers took of last night’s lightning storm in Accordion City.

The Toronto Garbage Strike of 2009 may be over (as might be David Miller’s reign come election time next year) and garbage collection is resuming today, but that’s no reason not have a song about it. The Toronto Star posted a story today about The Toronto Garbage Song (a.k.a. Flush Your Garbage), which was written and posted to YouTube by Ian Kelk.

This isn’t the first strike song to gain exposure through the internet. London Underground is still my favourite. It’s a reworking of The Jam’s Going Underground by British comedy singing duo Amateur Transplants (Adam Kay and Suman Biswas).

Here’s a homemade video that someone made for the song – be warned, it’s a little sweary:

If it’s Friday, it must be time for another Toronto Coffee and Code! This one will take place at the usual location – the Dark Horse Cafe, 215 Spadina – and will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m..

Coffee and Code is my Friday afternoon ritual (a phrase that my classmates at Crazy Go Nuts University will find hauntingly familiar) in which I work out of a cafe and announce that I’ll be there. I’m making myself available as both a Developer Evangelist working for Microsoft Canada and a member of the Toronto Tech Community to answer your questions, take your comments, bounce ideas off or just chat with. Come on down, have a coffee (or tea, or juice) and say hi!