Arjun Singh...

Very Nice Spots in Vancouver...

I went to visit people I know who live on 14th Ave, just west of Burrard Street. This is got to be one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Vancouver. Old, magical looking, expansive houses, beautiful fragrance of flower bushes as you walk down the street. Really enjoyed my short walks on 14th.

On a different level, I found the Think Cafe on 10th also very pleasant. I am always interested in cafes that offer free wifi. Added to that, the Think Cafe has great food, great coffee, and many other people with laptops (at least when I visited, I didn't feel that I was sticking out). I went there last night and it felt a little warm in there - my only small complaint.

Bryght guys very kind....

And in that corner, drinking Kool Aid out of glasses clearly labeled Web 2.0 (quite technical link),  the awesome team from Bryght. These guys are evangelists in the best possible way.

Boris, Roland, Kris - thank you for your warmth and friendly disposition today. I felt a bit like a fish out of water at Massive 2005 (or at least as much as thats possible for me). And you welcomed me like a friend to your booth. Really appreciated that.

Psst... Bryght sells a very promising looking self managed web site service - easy to use, with interesting features.

Check out Kris' amazing photo album, 119 photos album strong, from the day.

Insomnia in Vancouver....

Heck - I just can't seem to get much sleep in this town. I even remembered the keys to the family apt this time.

Well, I have decided to laugh and write rather than cry and toss and turn. It is now just past 3am and I am sitting in front of a beautiful view of night time swells on English Bay. Man, it is windy tonight.

Didn't sleep much before the Northern Voice conference either.  Today, in 5 hours or so, I will be checking out the Techvibes organized Massive 2005 conference.  Kind of a strange name - lets see if it lives up to the advanced billing. It just might.

I plan to blog during the conference - if just to keep from falling asleep. The speaker roster looks really good. And there is a large group of exhibitors. I plan to fly the Kamloops tech industry banner a little.

My friend Roland Tanglao will be manning the Bryght booth and he invites everyone buy for a chat. Roland was one of the driving forces behind Northern Voice and was very welcoming to me there. A good fellow to talk to, if anyone gets a chance.

And I did not get a chance to meet Kris Krug at Northern Voice - he took some incredible photos of the proceedings there. I am certainly going to say hello tomorrow, if I can find him, as he takes his event blogging business forward.   

Recycled Comments about International Anti Racism Day

You sometimes discover the most incredible things while searching for the name of your blog in Google. I am blessed that The Colorblind Society blog linked my post on International Human Rights Day last year. I stand by what I said. We all still have to struggle against racism, and our first priority is to be ever vigilant of our own bias.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was celebrated yesterday- March 21st . I am thankful to live in Kamloops, BC Canada. And I am thankful to be associated with people like Tina Hickey at Kamloops Immigrant Services. Tina, a wonderful friend, coordinates diversity activities throughout Kamloops.

We got lots of racism in this world. And to the worst of it, the world has not yet adequately responded at all. Sudanese still die in droves.

Initial thoughts on Air India Verdict

This is such a difficult issue. My feeling is that we need to have some faith in the trial judge that he could not, in good concience, send these men to jail.

Someone or some group of people did bomb Air India. And thats really the toughest thing right now. Our system has proclaimed Bagri and Malik innocent. Who actually committed this heinous crime?

As painful as it is to have that question looming in so many hearts and minds, I am not sure we are ever going to know who did this.

I take some comfort in my belief in a higher authority. Whether you call it Karma or God or whatever, the bombers of Air India Flight 182 will be brought to justice in the end.

I have taken some comfort from the words of this gentleman, quote from CBC:

"This is a small court. There is another higher court, God's court," said Rattan Singh Kalsi, whose 21-year-old daughter was killed.

"They will be punished a little later."

Talking to Bernie's Students and We are all asleep...

\My friend Bernie Warren asked me to come to speak today to his smartest students at UCC today.

BC STV - Need to help educate people!!

A good debate is starting on the new electoral system proposed for BC - the Single Transferrable Vote.  What is striking, from my perspective, is the lack thus far of balanced media coverage - weighing both the pros and cons.

I just got off the phone with Ray Jones, a member of the BC Citizen's Assembly, an amazing group of randomly chosen BC Citizens who came up with the STV proposal. I hope to work with Ray and people like Bud Smith to educate people as to the pros and cons of the proposed system. Ray is pro STV and Bud has serious concerns.

Here are some links for self serve education:

- Yes to STV - Citizen's Assembly Alumni Site
- No to STV - Know STV

Emerging Tech Conference Update...

I mused a while ago that I was thinking of trying to get to the O Reilly Emerging Technology conference. I emailed O Reilly to try to get a press pass and got a very nice email saying all the press passes were taken. So, not going to make it there. The press pass was definitely the basis of my plan this year.

The conference is starting on Monday and I definitely will be following all the bloggers, reporters, and assorted scoundrels who will be covering it.

Still a little unsettled in 2005...

Still can't seem to get 2005 to fit right, even 10 weeks in.  I worked hard, was quite focused, in the latter bit of 2004. Maybe that over the top sleep in on boxing day is to blame.

Anyhow, am now starting to get a lot of the strands of my life into some sort of comfortable routine.

I have spent this evening doing a lot of scheduling work and I feel like I have put many of my orphan to do items into appropriate time and date boxes.

I guess I have been struggling with my desire to incorporate a whole lot of new things into my schedule. I have been exercising a lot more, I have been attending toastmasters meetings, I have been attending City Council.

The major thing, career wise, is a transition in my thinking from mostly small scale and local to bigger scale desires to take my work globally. That is not such a stretch in the world of the Internet. But, as happens with many, more and more frequently, the reach the Internet provides forces me to stretch my thinking. And, frankly, to go beyond my comfort level. Old local thinking habits die hard.

I am in the beginning of a campaign to create a relationship with every english language paper on the planet (over time). I am hoping many will find my newspaper column of value to them and will part with a small amount of money to have it available to them.

I can feel my new year finally truly beginning.

75 years ago, Gandhi marched to the sea. Still more work to be done...

In 1930, Indians were forbidden to make their own salt. They had to buy it from the British. Mahatma Gandhi was not happy with this arrangement:

The 388-kilometre (241-mile) journey was undertaken by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also called "Mahatma" or "a great soul," to protest the monopoly of the British colonial authorities over the production of salt in India.

 

After traveling through numerous villages and small towns, sleeping under the open sky and eating frugal meals, Gandhi, then aged 61, reached Dandi, a natural salt-producing beach, on April 6.

 

Watched by thousands, he picked up a lump of salt and broke it in defiance of a ban on Indians producing salt. The act sparked mass civil disobedience across India, leading to thousands of arrests including that of Gandhi.

quoted from this story from Agence France Press...

75 years later, Dandi is unfortunately not much more advanced.

"I have done three trips to Dandi for this march and I was pained to see that much has not changed since 1930," said Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi who now runs the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, a co-organiser of the march.

 

"The villages are perhaps as poor as they were in 1930. We have not been able to provide the poor even basic sanitation facilities," he said.