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On Vancouver

TigercatTomorrow — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:59:55 +0000

It really is a shame what happened last night in Vancouver–I truly believe it was the work of a small minority, taking advantage of the situation. I personally believe we would have seen rioting and looting even if Vancouver won. Here’s why:

I have always been a fan of the “street party”. From my early high school days in South Western Ontario where small towns would shut down streets to let everyone roam around with (or without) drinks, to homecoming parties at Queen’s, to Canada Day here in Ottawa. I’ve always thought that being outside with multitudes of people celebrating is a great way to spend a day/evening. But more recently there seems to be people who are not there for the celebration, but are there for the chance to cause some damage.

I’ve noticed this happening recently in Kingston. Incidents lead to Homecoming moving from the fall to a time during the summer session — when far less students are on campus. Was it alumni coming back and ripping up the town for old time sakes? No way, it was current students, Kingstonians, and many out of towners in for the party.

That’s why I think the riot would have happened whether they won or lost. There were people in that huge crowd that were just there for the chance to go crazy. Now I shouldn’t say that the negative vibe from losing wouldn’t have made things a bit more violent–that is a distinct possibility. But I really do think the party was going to get out of control one way or another.

Now what to do about this. Truthfully I’m not sure–this seems to happen more and more often with these major sports championships. Perhaps a greater police presence? Or should there be some more communication with the revellers before the game that night? I’m not sure, but I do hope that the follow up actions that Vancouver is undertaking at least make people think before things get out of hand. Unfortunately this has put the great city of Vancouver in a very poor light.

And just edited my post to add this–I do hope that the idea of the street party continues! So many good (non-rioting) memories!

My Book List and Convergence

TigercatTomorrow — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:32:45 +0000

Even though I don’t get too much time to read I have started to get some time to read some books over the last few years. I realize now that the kind of books that I have chosen are starting to help define my view of the world. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but there are probably worse methods of defining your world view (like, say, watching Jersey Shore–which I have been known to do…my shame).

But here’s a list of books that have changed how I view the world:

Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
Guns, Germs, and Steel – Jared Diamond
The Omnivores’ Dilema – Michael Pollan
Zen, and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert M. Pirsig
Management Rewired – Charles S. Jacobs
The Hiram Key – Christopher Knight

What I find interesting is there is some convergence through out all of these books. In later posts I hope to explore how some of these seemingly unrelated books provide similar views on the world around us.

Ann Coulter in Ottawa

TigercatTomorrow — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:50:41 +0000

Again, I’m a little late on the ball, but definitely had to comment on Ann Coulter’s recent visit to Ottawa. I am by no means a fan of Ann Coulter, but think that the University of Ottawa did themselves a disservice by sending the letter to warn her about her speech. I believe this was a mistake. The way to confront ideas that you don’t believe in is to engage in discussion and bring to light the problems with their ideas. Not to stop them from talking at all. Again–this letter was probably a mistake.

On the other side, I agree with letting the protesters also say what they want. Free speech should be applied to both sides.

But now the damage is already done. There is a lot of controversy about who actually had the final decision to cancel the show. Whatever the case may be, Ann Coulter is now playing the role of the victim. This martyrdom, along with all the extra press from this incident, will no doubt be used to her advantage.

After the protest, what’s next for concerned citizens?

TigercatTomorrow — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:17:55 +0000

I enjoyed reading the coverage of the No Prorogue rallys around the country. Opposition parties are acting on the public outrage and attempting to draft some legislation to slow down our proroguing Prime Minister (and future PMs). The question now is, how does the public continue to show support for this initiative? How do we let the politicians know that the public is still concerned.

News changes, different things come up (Olympics, etc.), and the public’s interest in this issue may wane. It’s good to have a follow up strategy–the question is, what do we think that strategy should be?

Can the government complete big projects?

TigercatTomorrow — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:30:35 +0000

I’m still getting alot of information from podcasts that I listen to while I walk the dog and I recently listened to Chris Gondak review the book “If we can put a man on the moon”. This book explored the sequence of events that led the American government to succeed in the pursuit of it’s lofty goal of putting a man on the moon. It also explores and makes some hypothesis on what to do, and not to do. It also looks at business people who try to succeed in politics, and some of the struggles they face.

It sounds like an interesting read. It seems like it has been a long time since a western government has been able to successfully complete a big project.

And one interesting local corollary is the tale of Larry O’Brien. A successful business man who tried to make the transition to politician. I know his term is not quite over yet, but Mr. O’Brien has faced some difficulties in implementing his plans. From all I’ve heard, government is a different world and requires different skills to get things done. Definitely a topic that I find fascinating.

CSI–there’s something about it…

TigercatTomorrow — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:06:28 +0000

I don’t know why, but there is something about the CSI shows that sicken me. I find that the premise is ridiculous, the science is ridiculous, and the acting is ridiculous. Really, scientists that physically arrest people? And the fact that the bad guys are just so bad, but really ridiculous?

I just watched an episode of CSI NY with my wife. If CSI Miami is on, I actually have to leave the room, but try to tolerate the other CSIs. Maybe I was in a bad mood, but I could not handle it!

Crime shows can be done well…it has been proven! I just watched an episode of Criminal Minds–a good show. And I admit to being a fan of the Mentalist–the witty repartee works well. How do people tolerate this CSI crap!!

Sorry, just had to vent…

Wall Street: Can we live without it?

TigercatTomorrow — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:45:37 +0000

During my very chilly walk with my dog tonight, I was listening to the Invisible Hand podcast from Heron and Crane. This episode was a review of the book “Liquidated – An Ethnography of Wall Street” by Karen Ho. Quite an interesting interview. Many know about how the people running the big investment banks may have some say in the current economic collapse. This interview actually explores how lessons may not have been learned. And how, for short-term pain, it might be worth revamping the whole retirement system–especially the reliance on owning shares in the stock market. Some interesting ideas, but may be almost impossible to implement.

Overall it gives some insight into the world of investment banking on Wall Street. The podcast is definitely worth a listen.

SEO and WordPress

TigercatTomorrow — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:25:29 +0000

One thing I’ve noticed recently is that I’m getting hits from Google searches. When I do some searches myself I notice that this blog shows up relatively early on some of the search results. In my previous position with a media company, SEO was stressed as something important. Meta keywords were studied and all kinds of things were attempted. Some of these websites were many years old, but still the Google results were not great. So I was kind of surprised at how well this little blog was doing. I don’t input keywords, just tags–I guess WordPress does all the rest. Just wanted to say that whatever they’re doing, they’re doing a good job of it!

Canadian political podcasts?

TigercatTomorrow — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:44:52 +0000

Just throwing a question out to the audience…I find I am getting alot of information from just a few American based podcasts from iTunes. I realize that without watching TV news, and reading a few articles and blogs online, I may not be getting much Canadian political news. I usually walk our dog for between 45 minutes to an hour everyday, and take that chance to listen to podcasts. Right now that is the longest uninterrupted time I have.

So my question is: Can anyone recommend any good political podcasts available on iTunes? And if possible, are any of them humourous?

“The Littlest Hobo” is back on the air!

TigercatTomorrow — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:46:00 +0000

This post is not really related to engineering, technology, or politics, just something of general interest. While flipping through the channels the other day, my sister-in-law happened to come upon the “The Littlest Hobo”. CTV is bringing it back on the weekend, and actually have season 1 and 2 online (here’s the first episode)!

A great Canadian show from my childhood, but what I remember the most was the great theme song. So for all you nostalgic people out there, here’s the full version of the Terry Bush song, Maybe Tomorrow.