I have to admit that the play on Lionel Richie’s lyric made me laugh.
Categories
Chris Turner, an old friend from Crazy Go Nuts University and author of the books Planet Simpson and The Geography of Hope, is launching his new book, The Leap, tonight (Wednesday, September 28th) at the Gladstone Hotel.
The titular leap is, in Turner’s own words, “the big jump we need to take that leads to our best possible, brightest future.” He calls it “The Great Leap Sideways”: a leap from our current unsustainable way of life, bound straight for ecological, energy and economic troubles, to a better way. This better way lets us pursue the same goals and preserves our quality of life, but is far less deleterious in the long run. And best of all, we have glimpses of this better way in many places in the world, right now.
Turner likes to quote sustainability guru Paul Hawken: “Civilization needs a new operating system. You are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.”
The Leap is a field guide to that better way. Turner takes the reader on a tour of breakthroughs in renewable energy, “clean tech” and liveable urban design. He talks about the solar towers in Spain, the bike- and pedestrian-friendly avenues of Copenhagen (billed as the world’s most liveable city) and “green-collar” economies jump-starting the former East Germany and the American Rust Belt. These bits of that better way show us the better future, one that we could reach with a little effort.
Here’s Turner at TedXCalgary talking about The Leap:
I’m going to try and catch the launch. I was late in RSVPing, but if I bike down to the Gladstone and do some work at the Melody Bar later this afternoon before the event, I might be able to schmooze my way in.
Categories
You’re Still Lapping Everybody
Here’s a little inspiration for those of you who feel that they’re not making any progress at the gym (or any other challenge).
Categories
Nicely Done, Microsoft!
Well, that didn’t take long. Last week, I wrote about how Microsoft Canada’s blog for mobile developers still had my picture on the banner, even though it’s been about five months since I’d left the company. My true complaint was that the photo was two years and more importantly, twenty additional pounds out of date.
It seems that my gentle ribbing has resulted in some action being taken. If you were to go to the Canadian Mobile Developer blog right now, you’d see the updated banner, featuring my friend and former coworker and fellow Windows Phone Champ, Developer Evangelist Paul Laberge, in the spot I used to occupy:
Remember, Microsoft Canada: any time you need an irritant to help you produce a pearl, you have but to call on my services!
Categories
Panhandler of the Day
Categories
Hello from Florida! (Part 1)
I’m in Tampa, Florida as I write this (and as you read this, I’m back). I’m here on business: to visit Shopify customers and partners, as well as to represent Shopify at BarCamp Tampa Bay, where we’re one of the sponsors that makes the BarCamp Tour.
This trip makes my fifteenth round-trip flight this year. All but one have been business trips, with 4 on behalf of Microsoft and 10 on behalf of Shopify. Here’s a quick run-down of where I went and why:
| Destination | For whom | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle Early/mid February |
Microsoft |
The Trip of Much Weirdness. Gave one of my best presentations at a Microsoft employees-only conference, got perp-walked into a “bad doggie” meeting with a CTO, went on a “non-date” that didn’t end well but will make a high-larious blog entry some day. This one was rather lengthy: 11 days in total! This was the trip that got me thinking “You know, as nice as the pay at Microsoft is, I’ve got enough juice to write my own ticket. What are my other options?”
|
|
Seattle |
Microsoft |
A mere week after a 10-day trip to Seattle, I return for a 5-day trip, this time for the MVP Summit, where I hang out with Microsoft Most Valued Professionals from Canada and around the world, jam with a band at Safeco Field and partake in hijinks that while fun, are best left unblogged.
|
|
Ottawa |
Me |
Now it can be told: a one-day, fly-there-in-the-morning, fly-back-same-evening secret trip to do an interview with Shopify.
|
| Austin Mid-March |
Microsoft |
Another 11-day trip, this time to attend South by Southwest Interactive, where Microsoft was launching IE9. I helped out Carter Rabasa and the IE9 team at the launch party, helped at the Microsoft booth (Dare Obasanjo tweeted I was as much as attraction as the Kinect) and generally did IE9 and Windows Phone-promoting stuff. I also signed my contract with Shopify while there, and filed my resignation from the cowboy bar at Austin’s airport.
|
| Boston Early April |
Personal |
In Friday and out Sunday to attend BarCamp Boston as an unofficial representative of Shopify (still a Microsoft employee at that point), along with Shopify developer James MacAulay. The event is at a Microsoft building, which means my blue badge lets me open doors the other attendees can’t; I can walk around as if I owned the place. Sometimes, it’s nice to have the bathroom all to yourself, especially if you’re “dropping a noisy one”.
|
| Las Vegas Early April (flew to Vegas on the same day I arrived from Boston) |
Microsoft |
My last trip as a Microsoft employee. I flew to Vegas for the MIX conference to perform my final Windows Phone Champ duties, take a tour of Zappos (where I’d entertain their employees on accordion and participate in a corporate culture consultation) and drink Australian quantities of free booze. This trip was about six days.
|
| Minneapolis Early May |
Shopify |
My first official trip as a “Shopifolk”. I was there for three days to represent Shopify at MinneBar as part of the BarCamp Tour. Also a good chance to hang out with my friends Luke and Jenny.
|
| Toronto Mid-May |
Microsoft |
A weekend flight from Ottawa (where I lived for the summer) to Toronto where I spent Friday hosting an internal workshop for Microsoft employees. It was strange coming back as a non-employee; I’m certain a number of managers were feeling a strange disturbance in The Force.
|
| Portland / Seattle Late May |
Shopify |
Five days! I first flew to Portland for BarCamp, then took a train up to Seattle to spend May 2-4 weekend in a mountain cabin. Flew home from Seattle.
|
|
Seattle |
Shopify |
A four-day trip to attend BarCamp Seattle, hang out with my longtime friends (since Crazy Go Nuts University) George and Leesh, tour a distillery, go to the zoo and partake in some other hijinks.
|
| New Orleans Mid-late July |
Shopify |
A four-day trip and my first business trip with friend and coworker Edward Ocampo-Gooding to BarCamp New Orleans. This one featured an airboat tour of the swamp, much silliness in the French Quarter, becoming the accidental leader of a Bastille Day Parade for a glorious ten minutes and being taken about town by some of the nicest and prettiest ladies in the south.
|
| Vancouver Late August |
Shopify |
A five-day trip, this time with friend and coworker David Underwood to help out at HackVan, a Vancouver hackfest. We also gatecrashed the GROW conference and hung out with my old workmates from Microsoft, David Crow and Mark Relph. I also got to catch up with my friends Adam, Nancy and Chris.
|
| Toronto Late August |
Me |
A weekend trip, flown on my own dime (or more accurately, some Porter credits I had left over). Caught up with family, got to hang out with Jim Munroe, go to Fake Prom 2011, attend my friend Keith’s 40th birthday and get some Brenda time before she leaves for Lake Louise for a whole year.
|
| Omaha Early September |
Shopify |
Another BarCamp weekend trip, this time to BarCamp in Buffett Country (Warren, not Jimmy)! I also used this trip to talk to some Shopify customers.
|
| Tampa Mid-September |
Shopify |
Just got back from this one! A nice long weekend trip to BarCamp Tampa Bay, where I got to walk about Ybor, get some shopping in, interview customers and get shown about town by Anitra, who is a most excellent tour guide.
|
| Milwaukee This coming weekend |
Shopify |
BarCamp in the land of “boo-yah”, beer and cheese. There’s also the Harley-Davidson Museum!
|
It’s a crying shame that I don’t have my NEXUS pass interview until October 13th. It probably would’ve saved me a grand total of ten or so hours of waiting in line. Mind you, if I had a NEXUS pass, I ‘d have missed my opportunity to make some news at the crazy customs line back in March.
Categories
SkyMall’s Air Travel Pillows
I’ve cut my carry-on travel bulk by switching from “dead-tree” books to electronic books on my iPad, but you can’t use electronics during takeoff and landing. Luckily, I was flying on “Continited”, the merged airline made up of Continental (“Cheap like Northwest, but our pilots are sober!”) and United (home of “Economy Minus” class), who provide a copy of SkyMall in every seat pocket.
SkyMall is always fascinating reading. It’s the finest catalog of things best described by Japanese terms: gomi, which means “junk” and chindogu, a neologism used to describe “unuseless” items: seemingly clever yet impractical solutions to First World Problems. If you’ve always wanted Draco Malfoy’s snake-headed cane, a kind of device that lets you make your own soft drinks at home or a fancy laser helmet that supposedly reverses male-pattern baldness, SkyMall can satisfy your needs.
Since the February, I’ve been averaging a flight every two and a half weeks, so I thought I’d check out the section for frequent travellers. These two items, both air travel pillows, caught my eye.
If you’re the kind of person who likes something to lean on while sleeping and extremely well-defined boundaries, the EZ Sleep travel pillow was made for you. If you’re by the windows, this pillow turns your seat into a little fort, and if you’re closer to the aisle, you can play “border guard” to the passengers in your row now trapped behind your inflatable Berlin Wall. The EZ Sleep pillow’s design also ends resolves the battle between you and the poor schlub beside you over the armrest by forcing a stalemate: it’s not-win-not-win!
While the ad for the EZ Sleep pillow amused me, the ad for the SkyRest pillow cracked me up. If you prefer to sleep on your stomach and you place a much higher value on 40 winks than on dignity, you’ll love this pillow. It seems designed specifically to make you look as if you’ve drunk too much and passed out right at the bar. Pair this with a dark suit and you’ll look like you had a successful three-martini business lunch with Warren Buffett; wear an aloha shirt like the guy in the ad above and people will think that you had a rip-roaring’ time with Jimmy Buffett.