Petra's Call is an innovative flash-based webcomic from Ninja Robot Dinosaur that you should definitely check out. There are 15 episodes currently, all available through the embedded flash app above.
I met the creator Shane Neville years ago in Vancouver. He since moved out to the Maritimes, but looks like he's back in Lotusland in 2010. Exciting!
Lantern Park - Beacon at Main and Terminal is an entry in the VPSN "Where's the Square?" design competition, created by myself and 2 friends. It's a re-design of the large park between Main St Skytrain station and Pacific Central station in Vancouver.
Critical Mass is a fun bike ride that lets everyone cycle parts of the city that are normally overrun with cars. Costumes are encouraged in our monthly bike parade!
Vancouver details: Meet at the North end of the Art Gallery. On the last Friday of every month. Announcements at 6 PM, we ride at 6:15.
Critical Mass uses ad hoc organization through the ride. Every cyclists looks out for each other. It's important for safety that all the bicyclists stay together in one large group. Safety in numbers.
Stop and "cork" open intersections to cars. This is a very rewarding experience and good opportunity to see the beautiful parade go by. After corking you'll be at the back of the ride, and can play the peloton game of racing to the front.
People at the front need to choose the route in real-time and shouldn't get too far ahead. The group will stop after the top of bridges or big hills and let everyone catch up. If the mass is big stay on larger streets so we have more lanes and can ride together.
I've taken to sharing links and quick posts on my twitter account instead of here. Twitter is a real-time micro-blog network. It lets you write short posts and also watch a feed of messages from people you follow.
People can follow your posts without you following them back, making for an interesting usage slope: how much publishing vs reading. Wildly different uses result.
This blog remains the place for longer writing. A blog is a simple way of creating permanent public webpages. An important tool in the cyberage.
Why do I publish media online? To share information. To entertain. To advertise my business. To advertise causes I believe in. To write the history of my life. To help write the history of humanity.
What about Facebook? I am still a fan of Facebook. I find it useful for events, photos, and entertainment. Facebook remains a walled garden, so it doesn't compete with blogs or twitter for real web publishing. It excels as a more private communications infrastructure.
One of the speakers at Interesting Vancouver scoffed at Facebook as a community tool. Well, my pictures from the last Vancouver Zombie Flashmob were mostly collectively tagged when I added them to the event page on Facebook. That is community building.
Interesting Vancouver 2008 was a delightful little conference covering a wide variety of topics. Here's a recap of some of the points that I liked the most.
James Sherrett: We put 2 things into our bodies to make us who we are: stories and food. Be aware of what you're making part of yourself.
Darren Barefoot: Living outside your comfort zone helps show you who you really are, and grows you as a person.
David Young: All the "great places" throughout history have been created by a core group of individuals in that place. Vancouver has more then enough potential to be a true great place.
Huge credit to Brett Macfarlane for organizing the event. I'm looking forward to more Interesting in the future.
Posted on October 6, 2008 @ 4:19pm tagged with LuxMap
The year is 2,348 A.E. (A.E. — After Earth) OR 12,349 C.E. and Earth has been rendered uninhabitable—forcing humanity into the Galaxy. The forces of New Earth fight for order, while the many crime lords hope to destroy it. It is a turbulent place, filled with thieves, mercs, warlords and those ... [read more...]
Karen Fung is doing an amazing job captaining the SkyTrain Unconference Blog. There's an open in-person meeting on Saturday with Translink. I don't think I'll make it, so here are some thoughts on their targeted issue of Safety.
SkyTrain stops are are hubs that lots of people pass through. Usually when there are many people around safety is not a concern. Problems can arise when a hub has relative down-time (empty except for a few people) or in quiet areas close-by.
The worst case is when you get off a skytrain or bus in a totally deserted area, or with only a few sketchy people and nobody else.
One powerful path to improvement is to build more community and commercial services around our transit hubs. A coffee shop, restaurant or bar right beside a transit hub is a world above a deserted hub in terms of safety.
Vancouver doesn't do this very well. Many large transit hubs are completely devoid of any services. These hugely traveled areas could support a variety of businesses, or serve as excellent locations for community activities if allowed.
Location, location, location! Translink needs to build more sticky activity in its centers. Safety through active community is the real way to improve the situation in and around transit hubs.
Locking the system down with turnstiles or more cops is an easy sound-bite solution, but doesn't address the root of the problem.
Posted on September 22, 2008 @ 4:34pm tagged with LuxMap
One small world. One big island.
Countries are connected if adjacent or linked by a dotted line. The "N.W. African Coast" and "E. Brazil" are connected; as well as the "W. Australian Claim" and "New Zealand".
Map based on Dymaxion map projection.
(Compass design has ... [read more...]
Posted on September 16, 2008 @ 4:03pm tagged with LuxMap
The front-runner for the nomination of the President of the United States misinterpreted the media's definition of a "battleground" state. Taking the term literally, the candidate brought his own private army to New Hampshire assuming that it must be conquered by force in order to win the election... [read more...]
Posted on September 4, 2008 @ 11:33pm tagged with LuxMap
The year is 1711, for decades the European colonists have lived in relative peace with their native neighbors. However more and more colonists arrive everyday, straining the already tense situation. The most powerful tribe in the region is the Tuscarora tribe. The Upper faction of the tribe, led by... [read more...]
