Finally sleeping in...

… after the first week of insanity, this morning is the first morning of sleeping past 7:30 - including the dusty morning after the night that was, last friday.

The condo is ready, in fact, when we took out the last bin of clutter, i actually had misgivings about selling the old gurl. (which lasted for about 50 milliseconds, shorter than it takes a packet to get from toronto to vanouver, in fact) 

So - old house is in order, new house is ON order… now we just need to sell.  Anyone know anyone who wants to live on the water in toronto?

;-) 

Driving Miss Visitor...

… it's curious how people are drawn to blogs, and even more curious who decides to subscribe, and who simply bookmarks… and I wonder if bookmarks are a thing of the past, what with all the fancy blog reader tools that are now available…

I've struggled with many of them, and then settled on the good old google personalized page. Seems too simple, and sometimes i wish it did more in the way of convergence, but it's easy, damned easy. I've read the rumours that google isn't going to turn out a portal offering, but i so wish they would reconsider, considering all the tiny apps that they have, that i happen to use… and i'd love to be able to include additional things in their personalized page… like pandora ;-)

So - back to my original train of thought, my blog stats have quadroupled in the past 3 months… partly to my announcing my departure from the company who cannot be named, and i aptly included my URL in my g'bye letter…. thus forcing myself above the radar ;-) And perhaps partly because of…. who knows? Maybe i'm writing things that are getting picked up by the zillions of blog pulse engines….

on ne sais jamais.

one never knows.

Technorati : Blogging, Google, Traffic Stats

And So Time Flies...

Funny, how that happens, and how one decision can lead to hundreds of other decisions, I suppose life’s like that…. to go from downtown working and living, to commuting and deciding in suburb living again. 

Close your eyes and remember how good grass feels on your bare feet… and sitting on your own front stoop and having loads of closet space…. and being able to have a simple thing like an automatic coffee maker!!

heaven. 

Pieces falling in place...

… finally, all the decluttering has been completed. All the necessary legalese has been done.  All the mortgage numbers have been added and subtracted.

And the sun is out!

Today is all about actually going out and looking at houses *in real life* (IRL), as opposed to remotely via mls.ca 

The Canadian Real Estate site is pretty, well, lame.  But when you cobble it with kaboodle , you’ve got yourself one heck of a grocery list of homes to easily keep track of. 

*wink* 

Missing the Bigger Picture of Net Neutrality... Consumer Choice...

it's everywhere, full scale panic about net neutrality is but a few key strokes away. Om Malik and Mark Evans and Scot Peterson and the rest of the free world are writing furiously about the freedom of the internet, and the efforts of the carriers and telcos to "stifle internet creativity"….

Why is it that everyone seems to be missing the bigger picture here? 5 years ago, consumers and businesses were so very excited about using VoIP over the net, and then they realized, yikes, the quality isn't all that great, i think I'll wait till more of the bugs get worked out….

And then a few years ago, corporations again thought about taking another run at VoIP as a business application, again using the internet, with VoIP phones for their remote workers, and again, the quality was lacking, so they resorted to VPNs using the internet, and cellphones for voice. During the whole time, big companies kept asking: "when are you going to have quality of service on the internet? I can't risk my business applications over a public network, with no guarantees"…. And MPLS networks were born. Quality of service, Class of Service, DYNAMIC Class of Service, all geared to corporations who had to have guarantees on bits and bites. Companies bought MPLS networks to move their corporate app traffic. They couldn't risk the uncertainty of the internet for mission critical, revenue driving traffic.

But still they asked, "when are you going to get quality of service on the internet"?

Now, the telecom industry is baby steps from being able to implement a global, meshed MPLS network, capable of carrying end to end, quality of service internet traffic. Now, the Net Neutrailty debate bubbles to the surface, wanting to force all traffic to be the same. Wanting to force all carriers to be blind to the bits they are carrying. Wanting to squash classes of service.

Folks - classes of service are a GOOD THING. The last thing i want is a neighbourhood full of gamers bringing down my internet VPN when I have a proposal that has to get out the door by 9:00 am on a monday morning. Classes of service don't have to be negative, and they can allow for the consumer to have a CHOICE, which, really, is what the internet should be all about.

Again I say, bring on classes of service, let people dynamically choose how they want their bits treated, let them be able to choose daily, hourly, over a portal, with an easy to use interface.

LET THE PEOPLE CHOOSE.

Technorati : MPLS, Mark Evans, Net Neutrality, Om Makil, VoIP

72 hour later...

… and i find myself still being surprised, and a bit stressed at what’s transpired in the past few days. And now i’m staring at boxes of clutter, as we have been de-cluttering the tower to make way for potential buyers of the abode.  Wow, when I make a decision, alot of things start happening all at once. 

I’ve got some time, and some things to do, and some even more things to put in order, before this new adventure can officially commence.

;-) 

The Curious Tale of the Gurl and the Telco...

… it all started in 1995. A curious gurl, interested in the internet… and struggling with international development…

And she managed to parlay it into a gig, and then NETCOM arrived…  and then it was the big leagues…. and she learned, and struggled and always laughed. And she grew. And then she realized she had value. And then she grew some more. And the more conversations she had, the more interesting life became.  It was always about the technology, the friends and the future.

And now, her future takes her on a different course, and it’s wild, and scary and ridiculously interesting, all at the same time.  She’s a non-conformist, a contagious optimist and a solid beer drinker. And she’s going to miss YOU.

Yup Yup, it’s just me, going onto a new adventure. And you know our paths are always going to cross, because that’s how I am.
This world is small, but I wouldn’t want to paint it ;-)  We will always find each other in the magic of the cyber space.

It’s been a wonderful ride. I can’t wait to ride with you again.  It’s all about good conversations, good solutions and good floobergeist.   For those of you not familiar with floobergeist - it’s the sparkley dust that turns dreams into ideas.


All my love,

jules

The 5th Day of Easter...

… and i finally found my easter egg.

I knew it was around here somewhere.  

:-) 

happy easter....

i’m never a good one to be traditional about easter. it just wasn’t my thing.  Other than the foods and the family, and the over-indulgence in chocolate by-products, it’s just the fist canadian long weekend of the year.  And this has been the 1st year in 3 that we haven’t had the chickadees for the event, so we didn’t have to do the hiding of the oeufs.

Perhaps tho, i shall find a little easter egg this week yet. I’ll let you know. 

Going out with a BANG...

… it was one of the biggest going away bashes yet, rivalling even the Coffey/Johnson debacle of
‘05.  Mayhem, bedlam, harried waiters and waitresses, jovial patrons, ego-maniac bouncers.

Ah, just another half priced thursday at the Crock, not to worry. But last night brought together folks from all industries to say adios and welcome and bon voyage to 3 old netcommies. Nothing better than 1/2 priced appies and bevvies to crowd a 3rd floor patio on the first hot night of the spring…

Ahhh. It was a good evening, and the wiz and i made it home safely, to have fancy grilled cheese to stave off the dustiness of the next morning. It worked. 

Fickle RSS Readers...

… so i'm admiting i'm new at the rss game. But once my blogroll became unwieldly, i realized with a heavy heart that an RSS reader was the way to go. That being said, my blog platform allows me to see the RSS subscription count on my very own feeds. And now, i have a problem… i'm addicted to the stats. Sure, there are worse things to be addicted to, but rss stats have the dubious honour of being perhaps entirely too geeky and addicting. Dangerous combination.

WHat i can't figure out is the fickleness of the subscribers, one week i can have over 50, and the next week be under 20. I can only think it's because of the odd timing of my postings, tech whisperer doesn't akways get the daily feed and watering it deserves, granted…. but still!

Sheesh people, have some patience. Brilliance doesn't happen for me EVERY day. RSS Subscriptions should be an INVESTMENT, not just a flash in the pan.

;-)

Technorati : rss readers

Weather Forecast: Rain

Fairly apropos weather for the first day back to work, I have to admit.

Whereas yesterday was filled with sun and light and laughter, and HOUSE HUNTING. We stalked the illusive house beast for the afternoon. And returned to the tower for ribs and sweetcorn. It was a long and successful last day of vaca.

yeesh. what i am i doing awake so very early now? 

last official day of vacation....

… and i’m quite proud of the fact that very little has been accomplished.  What, with the weather being what it’s been, i’ve been amazed that i’ve accomplished anything at all ;-)  And now it’s friday. 2 more days and back to [work].  it’s been a virtually stress free week. And i’ve been loving it.

I have a feeling april is going to simply WHIZ by.

grin. 

On the Quest for Relevance in Web2.0

rel·e·vance Audio pronunciation of "relevance" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rl-vns)
n.

1. Pertinence to the matter at hand.
2. Applicability to social issues: a governmental policy lacking relevance.
3. Computer Science. The capability of a search engine or function to retrieve data appropriate to a user's needs.

One of my tasks this week, aside from relaxing and painting, is to delve deeper into the meaning of relevance in web2.0 apps. Without relevance, all you've got is a sack full of teenagers in social networking scenarios. Without relevance, you've got a favourites folder jammed with different web2.0 apps, and more than a thousand accounts sprinkled across the ethersphere. SO - my challenge is this, when keeping track of apps is harder than herding cats, how does one portray relevance in web2.0? Is it via the new ajax portals? Is it a desktop gizmo? Is it a blog that can do everything? I'm not the only one looking at this from squinty eyes….

NetJaxer - a Web/Desktop integration product… but is it useful? by ZDNet's Richard MacManus - One of the many new web apps that has been emailed to me recently is one called NetJaxer, which caught my eye because it's a Web/desktop integrator. But it's a few days later and I've still not figured out what use it is. NetJaxer was described to me in the email: "Our program is called […]

weekends with the chickadees...

… i am quite enjoying weekends with the chickadees. The odd and interesting interactions, between each other, their dad and I, and the hilarity that often ensures.  It’s also quite thought provoking, and could create some very good conversations on the different practices of child rearing in the 21st century. I can sometimes enjoy the luxury of watching as an observer, outside of the realm of responsibility and accountabily….you know, not my kids, not really my problem… and cerrtainly not enough time to actually influence and change their behaviors. And the observations are curious, to say the least. The chickadees are remarkable, and growing so quickly, and developing their own opinions and vocabularys.

I often wonder how different it could all be. And more than once i’ve asked myself, how kids get to be the way they are. And if it’s simple genetics, or products of their environments. They do alot of things that i can see their dad do as well, which is comical [and sometimes creepy]….

Drowning in Web2.0

… the web2.0 wave has hit me, and i'm not afraid to say i've got some water up my nose. I've been flickr'd, wordpress'd, flock'd, del.icio.us'd, kaboodled, netvibed, backpack'd, mylist'd, myspace'd, mapped, tagged, my box'd, pandora'd…. and a zillion others that i've tested and given up on.

Tonight i thought i'd try to find something that could bring everything together, in one portal, in one dimension. Nope. Nothing does it all. Google is close, Netvibes is close; I thought I'd hit the jackpot with suprglu, but no, no, no. So - now i'm back with 4 tools. GoogleStart, Netvibes, Flock, and my own blog. can I please implore someone to make something that will do everything? Am I going to have to do this??

I need to go and blow out some of the wave. Maybe I will take a closer look at Pageflakes.

Technorati : Web 2.0

making a change

… they say a change is as good as a rest, but is a rest as good as a change? is there anything as good as a change?

well - i’ve got the next 10 days off, to think and read and relax and paint.  And wonder and dream and sleep.  and have good conversations.  oh don’t worry - there is a whole sack load of things to keep me occupied…. my list is over in the whispers.

the good and the bad of web 2.0...

As I struggle with coming to grips with web2.0 and the myriad of options and new tools, I realize that staying abreast isn't nearly as difficult as trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. There really are 3 camps. Those apps that are indeed "lifehacks" and those that are "social networking". I'm all over the former, and fairly put off by the latter. And then there are the ones that try to mesh the 2 camps together. Let's call these the "relevent networking apps". Add a little wrapper of live, interactive focus groups, and you've essentailly got web2.0 all figured out.

Lifehacks would include the productivity suites, and nifty apps that actually can add value to your life: flickr, pandora.com, backpack , del.icio.us , linked-in , eurekster.com

Hard core Social Networking sites freak me out, and i tend to stay away from them, once i've poked at them a bit: Ning, MySpace. Trying to find value and relevancy is a whirlwind of chaos is easier said than done. I want relevancy. To *MY* life. I have a hard time caring about Beth in Montana's new sound collection, or where she's going on her spring break. If I could get a social networking app that managed to package what i'm interested in, with people who are similar, i could begin to see more value. It's simply a matter of time.

The relevant networking apps are a blur, there's the social aspect, but also a bit of value… Kaboodle is one of the good ones.

The fun part of web2.0 is the increasing movement for people to actually meet face-to-face. To talk and learn and laugh and experiment and gain and share ideas. This is perhaps the mist interesting componenet, and the part that seems to get me even more intrigued that the software. It's the humanware. BarCampTDot and Mesh06

People getting excited about exciting things. That's the real excitement. Collaboration and participation. That's the real twig of web2.0

Technorati : Web 2.0, backpack, kaboodle, pandora

blurring digital and analog...

i like the blur - and it appears i'm not the only one… tara hunt is quite impressive. yup.

i've got a blog; i put my christmas and birthday wish lists up and people actually take a look ;-) I can be reached on an IP phone, that knows that if im not at home, it will try my cell. I get voice mails in emails and emails on phones. I've got a digial wishlist of houses and books and music. I've got figital photo albums and musical playlists. I order groceries online, and take-out chinese as well.

You can IM me, ping me, pin me and google talk me. You can comment, suggest and slander ;-)

There are a few things I *wish* i could do digitally:

• program my PVR from work
• order cleaning service
• watch my dog from work
• skype my parents
  

All in all, it's not so very bad. It's quite good.

Technorati : analog, blogs, digital

the possibilities of the future...

i love Robert X. Cringely…. and so should you. He’s one well connected dude. And has some very interesting thoughts. Reading him is like a little spa for your brain.