Dustin Sacks is a Random Dude

Northern Voice 2010 takeaways

Dustin Sacks — 2010-05-07T22:52:16-04:00

Notes from day 1 of the 2010 Northern Voice personal media conference...

Bryan Alexander reminds us inject a sense of mystery into our (digital) lives.

How do you Find Your Voice?
Monica Hamburg says "Write, write and keep on writing. Don't be afraid to suck."

Dave Olson says "Take Risks and Hone your Craft with practice. Your voice comes out of your personal experiences."

The Cunting Linguist said "Write for yourself. Create excellent content. Be yourself online and don't pull your punches."

Taylor Loren ended the day with a hilarious take on relationships in the digital age. She had artistic slideshow technique, and maybe works with my cousin.

PS: Lunch chatting with the creator of Get out of Canada!

PPS: A friend of mine recently started a new blog about food and environment issues in Vancouver. I have been quite enjoying it, so check out: None too strong.

My Favorite Mac OS X Games

Dustin Sacks — 2010-04-01T15:55:03-04:00

I just updated my list of cool Mac OS X Games to Download. Mac gamers should take a look and have some fun.

Osmos - Relaxation Game

Dustin Sacks — 2010-03-23T06:02:38-04:00

Osmos is a fantastic game based around the concept of planetary orbits, and set in a relaxing ambient space environment. I highly recommend you try it when you're in the mood for a chill activity.

Watch this video trailer for the game, or download the free demo to dive right in.

Gaming can make a better world

Dustin Sacks — 2010-03-20T06:34:11-04:00

Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

Pink Lemonade

Dustin Sacks — 2010-02-02T19:51:27-05:00

Lemonade the Movie - It's not a pink slip. It's a blank page.

Petra's Call flash webcomic

Dustin Sacks — 2010-01-26T06:57:37-05:00

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 Design Entry

Dustin Sacks — 2009-04-08T17:09:37-04:00

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.

Vancouver Critical Mass Bike Ride

Dustin Sacks — 2009-01-26T02:29:39-05:00

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 a 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 it should stay on larger streets so we have more lanes and can ride together.

Critical Mass is many things to its many participants. Partly it is a non-violent protest for bicycle rights. A gathering for the thousands of cyclists in the city. We deserve more of the road and Critical Mass is our proof. These are our streets and we want to ride our bikes on them.

First and foremost it is a celebration of Vancouver and bicycling! Everyone is welcome to ride. Have fun and be nice to people along the parade route!

More...
Join the Velolove Announcement mailing list to get reminders about Critical Mass!

Join the Velolove Discussion list to talk with other local cyclists.

Check the CycleMass Vancouver Blog for more local cycling events.

Music for the kids

Dustin Sacks — 2009-01-05T23:04:23-05:00

Youtube: Bert & Ernie Ante Up

Growth Explained

Dustin Sacks — 2008-12-10T21:07:07-05:00

What's the result of ongoing 5% growth?

Watch this video for important insights into the future of the world.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.

Online Publishing Playgrounds in 2008

Dustin Sacks — 2008-11-02T00:06:56-04:00

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.

Watch the video The Machine is Us for a powerful visualization.

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 Recap

Dustin Sacks — 2008-10-25T19:44:34-04:00

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.

Roy Yen: Our community is our culture.

James Chutter: Artists build on each others work. Push copyright laws to let it happen more.

Cheryl Stephens: Talk in plain language and more people will understand you.

Shannon LaBelle: There are a ton of little local museums around Vancouver.

Irwin Oostindie: We are our city's communities. Fuck stratas that shut down culture next to them.

Jeffrey Ellis: Vancouver has a vibrant underground comic community.

Tom Williams: Follow your true passion. Don't bullshit yourself about what that is. If you're unsure about your true passion, follow your tears.

Joe Solomon: We can create real climate change solutions today, using a kiva.org funding model and our existing community connections.

Dave Ng: Perspective is everything.

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.

2008 Lux Awards

Dustin Sacks — 2008-10-23T16:41:39-04:00

The Luxtoberfest 2008 award ceremonies are being held inside online Lux Delux on Sunday at 1 PM Pacific / 4 PM Eastern / 8 PM UK / 9 PM Europe time.

All Luxers are eligible to vote for the best map of the year. Please vote now!

World Domination Video

Dustin Sacks — 2008-10-20T21:52:15-04:00

Lux Video of World Domination.

Harper's Accomplishments

Dustin Sacks — 2008-10-10T14:40:07-04:00

VIDEO: The Harper government: here for a good time?