Blog about Blogs

There are ever increasing awesome useful blogs. This is part of Web 2.0 that is changing society. Some blogs, like this one, are mostly personal, a diary of sorts that I don't mind if others read it, but it is mostly for me.

More and more blogs are becoming authoritative sources of information. Some are part marketing and part message. Here's some:

Michael Geist, CRC, Internet Law http://www.michaelgeist.ca
Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary http://blog.calgarymayor.ca
Cloud Computing Best Practices http://cloudbestpractices.net
Calgary City http://www.calgarycitynews.com

Web 3.0 and SaaS

The cloud model is opening up entire new ways of doing things. Web 1.0 was push/broadcast/repository. Web 1.5 was online retail and commerce. Web 2.0 was social media/crowdsourcing/co-authoring games and gaming. I think Web 3.0 is the cloud. It is an entirely new order-of-magnitude shift to a new model of information and tools.

So, I'm just going to list some interesting cloud-enabled tools for now and keep adding to the list:

General
Wikis - we use Confluence, so teams can collaborate on documents
Shared File Systems - DropBox, box.net, SugarSync, mobile.me, iCloud
Multi-function team collaboration - Huddle

Specific
Edistorm - online stickie notes http://www.edistorm.com/
Doodle - online polling for meetings
Zoomerang - online surveys

Other notable
Sharepoint - Microsoft's multi-function team sharing - not in the cloud, but sort of in a private cloud - I don't like it, but it is a "corporate standard".
iCloud - what will this be?
Citrix - is not SaaS is PaaS or IaaS but seems to be coming at cloud as a good competitor to VMware, keep watching

Unbelievable Election Results

Shocked. Stunned. Scared.

Tonight the Conservative Party of Canada won a majority (166), New Democratic Party is official opposition (102), the Green Party got its first seat (1), and the Liberals (35) and Bloc Quebecois (4) are almost dead.

Starting backwards, good riddance BQ. They spun off of the Conservative Party about 15 years ago and only represented Quebec interests. They influenced Federal elections towards minority governments since they started. Thank you, Quebec voters. There will always be a separatist movement in Quebec, but it is getting smaller. I hope it becomes a fringe group soon and I think this is evidence. I hear soft signals about this from friends/colleagues in Quebec. Quebec needs Canada and Canada is stronger with Quebec.

Liberals are my natural/default party. I voted for them in this election. I don't always vote for them. I actually believe in the "mushy middle ground" in politics - that realizes that there is benefit - social and economic - in strong social programs, policy that shapes the future, a balance between economic development and environment stewardship, and a government that works for all people. But the Liberals have not had a strong leader in a while and they are getting weaker. Ignatieff and Dion before him did not have what it takes to inspire and lead in cutthroat politics.

Congrats to Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party. I saw her campaigning last summer (I think she is always campaigning - there wasn't even a hint of an election last summer :)) She just goes out an gets seen in communities all the time, building grassroots support, and saying really intelligent things. She is the most quick on her feet and articulate of the bunch!

Even more congrats to Jack Layton!!! They went from a slightly-better-than-fringe or always-third party to the official opposition. Wow. We've had provinces with NDP governments, but this is close to having a close-to-socialistic government in federal power. The people have voted. He can sell and inspire. I hope the NDP can put reigns on the Conservatives. Jack has balls.

OK, now I get a little queasy. I am just sick that the Conservatives under Stephen Harper got a majority. He is a very narrow-minded partisan. He thinks this is just a game to win, not a country to build. And I don't think that he realizes that there are real people involved who are not like him, or more likely, he doesn't care. Low taxes, free markets, lots of jails for people who can't fit in, small government, privatize as much as possible, more guns, low immigration, big defense, blame others. But, about 40% of the Canadian population voted for this. Scary. He just says things that will get him elected. I guess they are popular things.

I don't believe in the invisible hand of Adam Smith and the ultimate truths/black & white/narrow definition of success/and other Conservative Gods. I do believe in evolution.

I am very afraid. I believe that we can influence our future. We can choose between a market-free-for-all and an informed caring democracy. Stephen Harper doesn't care about this or you unless you fit his definition of a Canadian.

Europe 2011

Brett on Spanish Steps in Rome

Brett, Barry and I went to Europe for two weeks during Spring Break this year. It is Brett's last year in High School so we thought that we'd take one trip together because who knows when we will take another one.

We went to London for 4 days, Paris for 4 days, Venice for 3 days and Rome for 4 days. It was marathon touristing! We wanted to take in as much as we could.London: saw 2 shows (We Will Rock You and Wicked), all the regular stuff (Wesminster Abbey, Parliment Buildings, Buckingham Palace), got lost trying to find the British Museum and the Globe Theater, went on a day bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath.

Paris: Went to Louvre, saw Eiffel Tower (day and night, but too busy to go up), walked to top of Arch du Triumphe, went to Montmartre, Louvre, and saw a very cool light show on Notre Dame. Brett met up with a High School friend who happened to be in Paris also. Funniest thing that happened was when we first arrived off of the chunnel train and then tried to get on the subway at Gare du Nord our luggage got stuck in the turnstile.

Venice: When we arrived in Venice, the first thing Brett said was "this is a good gimick!". Venice is strange. Took the boat-bus to St Mark's Square to find out hotel. We got an upgrade and quite a fancy hotel room. It rained a bit on the first day. Barry and Lynn went to where we were married 19 years ago and got a picture. Grande Canal and Rio Alto Bridge in the background.

Took a helicopter ride over the city on the second day - that was very cool!

Lynn and Brett at Colleseum

Rome: Our legs burned we walked so much. Saw all the sites. Joined a tour for the Vatican and that was worth it. Best thing for me was the Sistine Chapel (no photos allowed). Good stories about the difference between Michaelangelo, Raphaeal and DaVinci all living at the same time. Wow! Also, the subway system in Rome is pretty minimal because any time they did to build more, they find more ruins.

Great weather, great company and and great trip!!!

Christmas Eve 2010

Had an interesting multi-cultural dinner tonight: Chinese (BBQ & Teriyaki pork), Italian (pasta), Thai (salad), Canadian (deer sausage). Brett has gone out to visit friends in the neighbourhood. Real tree, presents wrapped, very content. Off to Lethbridge after breakfast tomorrow. Brett will be going to the University of Lethbridge next year, studying English and Social Studies - he wants to be an English teacher. Merry Christmas!

China and more

I certainly don't get around to posting much. It's now October and I haven't posted all summer and especially since our trip to China! So I better start there. My sister Dawn and her daughter Quinlan (6) and I traveled to China May 18 - June 4 to pick up Lindsay (2), Dawn's new daughter! What an awesome adventure! We started in Beijing and chilled for a couple of days to get over jet lag and get ready for the real fun. We went to the city of Shenzhen in Guangdog province. Dawn has a really good blog here. This is the wild handoff video. This is fun in the hotel eating noodles. And this is the best when we're back in the Beijing hotel and settled and some shots from their home in Winnipeg - watch this. The following is what I posted on Dawn's site. I'm copying it here as it is a list (I am a list-maker!) of a lot of the things we did.

Lindsay's Lucky

Often, when someone hears that you have adopted a child, they say, "Oh that child is lucky" because they are going to Canada etc. But Dawn usually responds, "No, I am the lucky one" to have two beautiful children. Well, I have to say that Quinlan and Lindsay are very very lucky to have a wonderful, intelligent, thoughtful, adventurous, and very caring mom, Dawn. I am very proud of her and thank her for her inspiration and the opportunity to share in this journey.

We all did a lot on this trip.

Of course, the absolute best thing is what a spark Lindsay is. She is happy, engaged, curious, sly, playful, cuddly, willful, left and right handed, strong, still smells and fells like a baby, and is now another great part of the Sutherland family.

Other things that we did:
- safari park in Guangzhou was a surprising highlight (50+ tigers, 10+ animated panda bears, 20+ giraffes, an elephant troupe, koalas, rhinoceros, etc.) Great drive-though savanah.
- bought a cello for Quinlan
- went to an amusement park in Beijing (slogan is "because Disneyland is too far")
- shopping at pearl market twice
- lots of travel on subway. Map here http://www.chinahighlights.com/image/city/beijing/beijing-subway-map-2010.jpg
- new shopping area south of Tian'amen square at Qianmen station, was both Champs-Élysées-like (in a China kind of way), and also had a maze of Chinese-style shopping behind the main street
- many parks, including: Beihai (ho-hi) near Forbidden City , Ditan (Temple of Earth) near Dali Lhama temple, Purple Bamboo Park near Beijing Zoo, Summer Palace is magnificent and this time we saw it in the Summer, took a Dragon boat across the lake and had many Popsicles. Beijing map here http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/maps/photo/beijing-map-overview.gif
- Dawn still didn't get to the Forbidden City. It is not stroller-friendly or kid-friendly.
- bought a Lion and a Dragon marionette
- saw an awesome acrobat show
- climbed the steep section of the Great Wall http://kinabaloo.com/juyongguan_great_wall.html
- had to use UV-umbrellas for the first few days in Beijing
- could see the mountains from our hotel room in Beijing on one day
- ate lots of noodles, pizza, bacon and egg breakfasts, dumplings, etc.
- drank quite a lot of beer since it is almost as cheap as water and tastes better than water kept slightly cool in the hotel room fridge.
- ordered ice from room-service once
- met lots of nice people
- spent 3 hours on the tarmak leaving Beijing for Vancouver as they had to replace a part on the plane
- smiled and laughed a lot
- thought about how lucky we are


Another nice thing is that in September mom visited Dawn for 2 weeks in Winnipeg and then visited us in Calgary. Mom and I took a road trip to Jasper and it was beautiful weather and very nice to spend some time together. Mom will be 78 this year and lives in Toronto. We see each other probably twice a year. She's doing fine and has Glen and Jill near her. But it's a bit hard not to be closer, so it was really nice just to live together for 2 weeks. She loved Jasper.

Finally, for this post, I am turning 50 next week! Yikes! And Brett's football team went undefeated this year and will be in the playoffs beginning next week. And Barry, Brett and I are going to Europe (London, Paris, Munich, Venice, Rome) for 2 weeks in March. Well, you'll have to wait for the next post. In the meantime, here's a photo from Brett's 16th birthday at the Calgary Tower.

What is my best trait?

OK, more stupid Facebook quizes

What Muppet Character am I?

Janice

Well, aren't you just the coolest cat on the block? You ooze confidence and are very comfortable with who you are. A trend setter without trying to be, you often have a look and attitude that people want to copy. Because of your mellow demeanor, you fit in with everyone, and you fit in well. You don't try to put yourself in the spotlight, but the spotlight can sometimes find you, which is something you handle well.

While this is what I might want to be, I'm not sure that I am. -Lynn

What Element am I?

Gold

You are true blue. You have the vibrant qualities of Helium but you are not superficial. Your qualities are real and very deep. You are loyal, trustworthy, ethical, all of the things a Boy Scout would be. You are of great value to those around you simply because you care and are there for them when they truly need help. Who can say something bad about you? Except those who are jealous.

Janice in combination with Gold, would be what I strive to be. -Lynn

What is my best trait?

Compassion

You don't judge others' faults but rather have compassion on them and what they are going through. Your first instinct when you see someone in need is to comfort them and show them how much you care. You are gracious, and love flows out of you naturally. Even in situations where most people would back away, you are right there for people with your arms wide open. You feel empathy for those who suffer, and this might be because of your kind nature or maybe even because you can relate; whatever the reason, you help heal wounds and are a shoulder to cry on.

This is not that true of me, I don't think, as, while I do support everyone's right and need to be themselves, I am not that sympathetic to people who make bad choices. -Lynn

What Greek God are You?

Athena

You are most like Athena, the goddess of the City, War, and of High Intelligence. You are very smart and think things out clearly. You are the type of person who does not stoop to anyone's level, for you are at your own. You are kind to those closest to you, somewhat vain toward those who are ignorant. You protect what you personally care about, first and foremost, those around you and secondly the place in which you live. Nothing can get past you and you always have the answer to a problem. Your weapon of choice: Spear and Shield

This fits. -Lynn

OK, enough goofiness for now. Nice fun distraction.