Fade to Play

It was one year ago, that I was shaken to the core as I heard how students in Virgina Tech lost their lives in a tragic and sudden way. As a fellow student here in Canada I felt deeply affected, scared, and a little lost. On this day, we remember.

Sent to VT from UBC last year

Relevance: Sad that students full of life and promise didn’t come home from college that day.

from the Facebook group A tribute to those who passed at the Virginia Tech Shooting

And how, originally uploaded by miss604.

Miss 604 aka Rebecca Bollwitt is nearly 15 hours into her 24 hours of blogging for Blogathon 2007. Although we attended Northern Voice 2007 (that where her t-shirt is from), we didn’t meet until a recent photowalk earlier this summer.

So, hop over to her blog and pledge her blogathon efforts. She has been posting a blog entry every thirty minutes since 6am and won’t stop until 6am Sunday morning. Yeah, hard core, but for a good cause — the Surrey Food Bank.

I am also amazed that she profiled me today. Very cool. It is definitely the first time that has happened on a blog.

Relevance: An example of the Vangroovy crew helping other less fortunate through blogging.

On Monday I bought a MacBook Pro. This is my first blog post from it and earlier tonight I made my first Skype call using my Mac. I love every minute I am on it and the moments I am away from my Mac are filled with sadness. I named her Shoshanna and she is fast becoming my BFF. It is such a different experience figuring out how to do something as simple as downloading an application or realising that my favourite radio station online I can no longer listen to as I don’t use windows.

However, I feel closer now to my friends in the Web2.0 and digital media world who all have MacBook Pro except me. The reason why I chose this Mac so because I want to improve on my photography skills with Photoshop. As some of my friends are excellent photographers I can get tips and learn from them. I will also be getting into video editing so I will be using Adobe CS3 to become more creative and enhance on my expertise.

If anyone has any suggestions on applications I should download or tips on becoming a better MacBook Pro user, please leave a comment. Goodbye Microsoft, hello Steve Jobs. Sorry it took so long to join your family, but I am here for good and never looking back. All we need is an Apple store in Vancouver so I can camp out for Leopard.

When is money used as a place holder rather than having monetary value?

In the game of pool, there are social conventions that exist regarding the desire to use the pool table next. One places a coin (e.g. a quarter) on the table above where the slot exists to insert money. On Mondays at this establishment, the pool table was free to use, yet the convention is still being followed.

Relevance: Is this convention unique to pool? Is it universal in other cultures outside of North America?

I only feel sadness today.

Condolences to the family, friends, and students of Virginia Tech.

Bike Lock without a Bike

Originally uploaded by tyfn.

Around campus there are a variety of bike stations where you can leave your bike (which hopefully will be there when you return). Of interest to me is the mystery of the bike lock minus the absence of any evidence of a bike. Has the bike been stolen? Any ideas?

Relevance: Want to know if I should be more cautious at these locations or is another explanation probable?

This has been a real exciting and interesting day for me. I have been keeping a secret for about a week and a half from you, and only now am I able to reveal my small part in it.

I am one of a number of LivePoke™! Ambassadors chosen by Facebook for the UBC (University of British Columbia) network. What my position entails is physically poking 10 students that are part of the UBC network. Their Facebook friends woke up early this morning (as the offer was only good for the first 100 pokers), contacted Facebook providing the name of the friend to be livepoked, and then Facebook sent me my assignments.

It was an honour to be indebted with such an important voluntary role. As a Facebook user since 2005 I have enjoyed sharing the joys and wonders about Facebook to my friends. I have also written and spoke about why I love Facebook.

Fortunately for me, the 10 people I was assigned to poke are all residents of Green College, which made my task much easier, more fun and I was able to provide a much personable approach. Who doesn’t love a digital poke on Facebook from a friend and a LivePoke™! is just a natural extension of this concept. It shows that someone is thinking about you and that they care — similar to receiving candy or flowers. Wouldn’t you appreciate the real thing over the digital equivalent?

I will post pictures on Facebook of my actions this evening.

Relevance: A creative example showing the seamless integration between digital world actions and their equivalent in the physical world. I look forward to participating again next April 1st.

For the last couple of days I’ve noticed that people are having difficulty viewing my blog directly in both IE and firefox. I have contacted my blog host and I hope to have the situation resolved soon. Until then please use a blog reader such as feedburner or google reader.

Update: Thanks to Scott Nelson for telling me to change my PHP version on my dreamhost account.  I’m really glad I’m here at moosecamp.

AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf

I found this AP story by Tim Korte to be quite interesting as it is a novel approach to combat drunk driving using motion-sensitive devices. I wonder if there have been any studies on its effectiveness?

The state recently paid $21 each for about 500 talking urinal-deodorizer cakes and has put them in men’s rooms in bars and restaurants across the state.

When a man steps up, the motion-sensitive plastic device says, in a woman’s voice that is flirty, then stern: “Hey, big guy. Having a few drinks? Think you had one too many? Then it’s time to call a cab or call a sober friend for a ride home.”

The recorded message ends: “Remember, your future is in your hand.”

It is also true that they will have a captive audience as guys don’t go to the bathroom to socialise.

Department spokesman S.U. Mahesh said the bathroom is a perfect place to get the message across. In the restroom, “guys don’t chitchat with other guys,” he said. “It’s all business. We’ve got their total attention for 10 to 15 seconds”

Relevance: I’m interested in the test marketing of this product. Is a woman’s voice more effective than a man’s? Have other methods using ubicomp been used in other places to address criminal behaviour such as drug use, speeding, or drunk driving?

I followed the story of CNET Editor James Kim since he and his family were reported missing November 28th. I am very saddened by the news of his death and offer my sympathy to his surviving family and friends. He is the type of person I wish I knew.

Kim, 35, left his family’s stranded car Saturday morning searching for help and never returned. Kim apparently traveled in an 8-mile circle and was found less than a mile, separated by a sheer cliff, from where his family’s station wagon got stuck in the snow. Officers said there was no way to determine whether he was trying to return to his starting point or if he became disoriented.