BlogosphereRadio

Northern Voice 2006

mig14 — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 23:14:00 GMT

Mack, Dickson and I are all attending Northern Voice 2006 in Vancouver from Feb 10-11. As you're mostly aware, Mack and I went last year, and had a really good time (minus the offputting fact that people knew who I was because of Mack. Creepy.) Anyways, it'll be a good time, I'm sure. And Curious George opens that weekend, so I'm going to go watch it, regardless of what they end up doing.

Man, I think I'm going crazy....and it's only the end of the first week of school. What am I going to do the week that all 4 of my major term papers are due (ranging from 25-70% of the term mark for the particular class)? I think I'll curl up into the fetal position and die....

Server Problems, once again.

mig14 — Sun, 20 Feb 2005 13:40:00 GMT

Apologies to anyone who tried to download or listen to the BlogosphereRadio episodes that we recorded yesterday. We are experiencing intermittent times of complete and utter uselessness from our servers. Now that things are working better, this means that people who would like to comment on our blogs can do so now, without getting an error message like Jeremy Wright did last night. (It works now, I promise.)

And one final thought for the moment - I was asked this morning at dim sum if I was a blog widow (you know, someone who's married to a hardcore blogger/podcaster/whatever, and gets left behind.) In one sense, I have NO idea about the tech stuff that Mack does, I'll be honest. But I am DEFINITELY not a blog widow. If that were the case, I think it'd be illegal. Right Mack?

Post-post Conference Party

mig14 — Sun, 20 Feb 2005 01:57:00 GMT

So Mack and I have just returned from the Take5 cafe, where the Post-Conference party was held. We definitely had a good time. Unfortunately, we were forced to pay over $7.00 per bottle of beer. That's highway robbery, especially when I can buy a bottle of Kokanee at the Power Plant for $4.25. Of course, that's implying that Kokanee swill (or piss water, as I have often called it) is beer. BUT we schmoozed and made some contacts and got some business cards, and maybe got ourselves a bit of a promo gig. It was good times all in all. After Mack and I each bought 2 beers, they became free. It was a really good time. And we're apparently going for dim sum tomorrow; we got some good advice not to trust Asian people. (Which means I was right all along). And Mack tells me that I'm a good bullshitter, because he didn't think I actually listened to him when he talked geek. But I do, sometimes at least. Proved HIM wrong. *sigh* My work here is complete. Anyways, I'm off. Probably won't be back until later in the week, when I get some time again.

Northern Voice, Part 3

mig14 — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 20:27:00 GMT

Well, after the hoopla of the conference, I've got some thoughts to post.

First of all, I'm not nearly geeky enough to be attending these things. Like, yeah, I'm a good pretend geek, but I've got NOTHING on some of these guys!
Most of the people who attended are not what a person would typically describe as computer nerds. I mean, they are, but the majority of these people who I met today are very socially adept and didn't come across as complete nerds. In fact, most of the people, especially the ones who spoke, were quite adept at speaking in terms that “humans“ could understand, and making me feel not quite so out of place at a so-called “tech“ conference.
I'm amazed at how many people knew who I was, solely because of Mack. I met Darren Barefoot, Jeremy Wright (who somehow knew who I was without an introduction), Boris Mann, Eric Rice, Robert Scoble, and Tod Maffin; all of them seemed impressed with the work that we do on BlogosphereRadio. I know that I'm impressed by the reception we got from people; that was something that Mack and I talked about last night. I pointed out that because of our ages (yes, we're both 21) we might not be taken seriously. But we apparently were. So that's a good thing.

That's really all I've got to say, so I'm gonna head off. Hopefully Mack gets the files from our podcasts converted soon so we can go do some serious liver damage to ourselves.

Northern Voice

mig14 — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 16:34:00 GMT

Well, the first half of the Northern Voice Bloggers Conference has gotten off to a really good start. We've really enjoyed ourselves so far today, despite the general negativity surrounding the server being down. It's definitely been stressful because Mack's been really grumpy. But thanks to the hard work of Dickson, plus Mack's and my diligent website testing, things are back up and running. Thankfully, it's before Mack's panel session, so then he can display some things. This mornings first session was a keynote session by Tim Bray, who strangely enough compared blogging to soup.(Don't ask. My memory's not that good.) Robert Scoble was up next, and you all know how I don't get lots of this technobabble, so most of his session was lost on me. I'm sure for people who are hardcore, it was interesting, but I was remarkably lost after only a few minutes. He does use OneNote, and he writes like Mack. So maybe that means that Mack will one day be considered one of the “gods” of the Blogosphere. Tod Maffin (from CBC) was the next speaker we listened to; he's super interesting, and has a lot of energy. It's really quite obvious that he's a good public speaker. Mack and I (well, mostly Mack) interviewed him later in the day for BlogosphereRadio. You'll have to check out our shows as soon as they're up. Following Maffin, I went to the “Introduction to Video Blogging” session, presented by Jay Dedman and Peter Bull. The session could have been interesting, but they lost my attention after about 3 minutes. The only thing that I remember from that one at all is the video they showed of the girl who got the record player for her birthday. I'm going to be honest and say that I spent the majority of the time chatting with Dickson and Mack's dad on MSN, and not really paying attention. Currently, we're in the middle (actually, I think we're at the end) of a panel discussion on building blog traffic and promoting your blog. It's been quite interesting so far, and it's kind of nice to be able to put a face to a name (ie Darren Barefoot and Jeremy Wright). The other members of the panel are Chris Pirillo, Suw Charman and Derek Miller. Next up is Mack's panel session. I'm all over that like a rash. Check back later for an update on that session, as well as the much-anticipated after party (where apparently there will be beer.)

Onion Cups, Homeless People and Demons

mig14 — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 00:16:00 GMT

Well, we've been here for not quite 12 hours, and we've already had Starbucks, McDonald's, seen a movie and eaten at "The White Spot." We ordered onion rings to start but they wer more like onion cups. You know, the part of the onion from either the top or the bottom, and then when it gets deep fried, it looks like a little cup. Anyways....we've seen lots of homeless people so far. And no, I don't have spare change or a cigarette for you, so don't bother asking. Even if I had either in my possession, I wouldn't give them to you in the first place. And with that said, let's talk about demons.

So we went to see Constantine tonight. (Yeah, I know, seems dumb to travel somewhere, and then go see a movie. Deal with it.) It wasn't a bad movie, per se, but it wasn't that great either. It seemed to me that it was suffering from an identity crisis; we didn't know when we should be laughing or taking it completely seriously. The film also contained elements of shock and fright, and seemed rather oddly timed. I'm going to be honest, I did jump a couple times due to the shock value. But I wouldn't say it was a horror film. It was more one of those movies that gets caught between genres, like most comic book based stories are. At least, without the comic book value, there would have been a storyline, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has seen demon half-breeds roaming the earth. However, there were some really neat elements of religious symbolism in the film, and some of the effects were pretty well done. In a cheesy homage to The Matrix, Keanu Reeves' character (John Constantine) is shown as if he had been crucified, complete with the blinding light. That being said, the relious aspect of the movie was pretty interesting, though Mack and I agreed that it was kind of like The Matrix without the kung-fu and the crazy bullet stopping. All in all, I'd say the movie was a solid 2.5/5.

Stay tuned for more updates from here in Vancouver. And check us out at BlogosphereRadio.com. And if you'd like to know what's happening at Northern Voice, please feel free.

In Vancouver, Day 1

mig14 — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 17:57:00 GMT

After a long, ear-plugging and head-bobbing flight, Mack and I arrived in Vancouver at about 11am (PST). We then waited in what was possibly the LONGEST luggage pick-up line ever. I swear we were there for a half hour. It was not a lot of fun, especially with both of us being kinda tired and grumpy. We cabbed it to the hotel we're staying at, which is pretty nice, all things considered. From the outside, it looks like a dump, but the inside is really nice. We've got a GREAT view. (Actually, we can't see out the window because it's frosted glass, presumably because there's another building or another window right close by.) We found our way to the location of the Northern Voice conference (which is why we're here, after all); discovered that recording stuff will be pretty easy, and there was Starbucks. In fact, in the 6 and a half blocks between the hotel and the UBC Robson Square campus, we saw 3 of them. They're everywhere. And there's lots of homeless people. And Asian people. Think there's a connection?

Anyways, we're here to attend a conference. Which will involve podcasting. Which we're going to do now. So check back later for pictures of our classy hotel room (that has 2 beds, I promise), and maybe look for a new radio show. Who knows, you just might like it!

Northern Voice

mig14 — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 16:34:00 GMT

So I made the booking for a hotel for Northern Voice. We're flying out to Vancouver on the 18th of Feb at 10:10 am, and flying back on the 20th at 8:30. If you're interesed in coming, you'll need to find your own way there and back, but you can come and stay with us. And we'll be podcasting as much as we can, so be sure to check out BlogosphereRadio.

Ukraine Follow-up

mig14 — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 12:15:00 GMT

Thanks a lot to Dr. David Marples for letting us interview him for our latest episode of Blogoversial. I've been doing a bunch of reading on the subject, and it seems that as one thing gets resolved, something else comes up to make it difficult for the opposition to at least obtain a fair result. On December 3rd, the Ukrainian Supreme Court ruled that the election results were invalid, new ballots had to be designed to ensure more fair voting, and a new date needed to be set. Unfortunately, “The legislature adjourned for 10 days without passing a package of bills that would amend election laws, reshuffle the central election commission and make other changes to ensure fair balloting in the December 26 runoff.” (CNN) Viktor Yushchenko and his opposition supporters were hoping that the legislature would make the necessary changes before adjournment in order to give Yushchenko a better chance to win a second run-off vote. One of the more contentious issues is that of absentee balloting, which is thought to be the root cause of the electoral controversy. The speculation is that Yushchenko would have won the election if there had not been so many absentee ballots produced after vote counting had begun. Rumours of violence and police presence and brutality at the voting booths have not been confirmed, but it is safe to say that the democratic process was interrupted by something. Tentatively, the second run-off vote is set for December 26th, giving both Yushchenko and Yanukovich ample opportunity to campaign for victory once more. Should be an interesting situation; we'll have to see how it plays out over the next few weeks. Perhaps by the time Ukrainian Christmas rolls around, there will be a new, fairly elected president of Ukraine.

For more on this, check out Mack's blog, or Blogoversial, with the interview with Dr. Marples.

In the Blogosphere, on the radio....Ukraine is STRONG!

mig14 — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 17:48:00 GMT

Have you been living under a rock the last few weeks? If you have, then you may not know that there were elections in Ukraine recently. And there's controversy, like in any self-respecting former Soviet republic. The air is ripe with the feeling of possible revolution (at least on a small scale), and the world media has its eyes and ears turned squarely in the direction if Kiev (and Moscow). Perhaps you should tune in to our latest episode of Blogoversial to find out what's being said in the blogsphere about our neighbours to the east, and about what our western idealists think of the “democratic” process. (And remember, we LOVE feedback!)