Life
Quote of the Day
December 28, 2007, 12:39 PM | 0 Comments
I’ve come up with some pretty deep thoughts this year… the latest was dropped in an IM session with my brother today:
The new one is newer.
Brilliant. Simply Brilliant.
New(er) Beginnings
October 1, 2007, 5:48 AM | 11 Comments
This may seem like déjà vu to the regular visitors of my site, but life is changing again. After a brief cup of coffee at Blue Coat Systems (actually, several cups thanks to the impressive coffee machine in their kitchen) and an unfortunate incident involving my car, I have decided to take my career on an exciting new adventure.
Sour Note
September 2, 2007, 12:43 AM | 4 Comments
How to end of your first week at a new job (and go into a long weekend) on a sour note:
- Sit at your desk in an unassuming manner, going about your business.
- Be interrupted by one of the staff of the office building your company is housed in.
- Have said office building staff member ask for you by name.
- Have said office building staff member inform you that your car has been smashed into in the parking lot and that no note has been left on your now-even-more-devalued vehicle.
- Leave office and inspect damage to find shattered pieces of your tail-light, major rub marks on your bumper, and a flat tire just for good measure.
How to respond to a sour note such as the afformentioned:
New Beginnings
August 25, 2007, 11:21 AM | 4 Comments
Last month I posted a rather vague sentence about how I’d been making some difficult decisions lately. At the time I didn’t want to dive into too much detail, but now that the dust has settled I think it’s time I let the cat out of the bag.
After just under 2 (incredible) years, I’ve decided it’s time for me to move on from my job at Barking Dog Studios. I can honestly say that I’m leaving with mixed emotions because part of me is sad to leave such a great team, but another part of me is really excited about what the future has in store. Over the past 2 years I’ve learned so much and had so many great opportunities, and for that I’m truly thankful
Quote of the Day
August 15, 2007, 12:53 PM | 2 Comments
It’s been a particularly crazy couple of weeks, as evidenced by this brilliant line I dropped today while in conversation with a co-worker:
I remembered, otherwise, I would’ve forgotten.
Wow.
July Randomness
July 31, 2007, 9:01 PM | 2 Comments
It’s been far too long since my last post, and for that I’m sorry. I can’t get into too many details right now about why it’s been so quiet around here lately but I will say that I’ve had to make some difficult decisions over the past few months. Those decisions have been both mentally and physically draining, and that’s pretty much why I haven’t spent too much free time online in the past couple of months.
Anyways, the reason for this post is partly because I feel a little guilty that I haven’t been posting regularly lately, and partly becasue I just can’t allow my site to go an entire calendar month without at least one post :). So, I thought I’d post a few quicker thoughts that have been rolling around in my brain for the past few weeks. Hopefully they’re usefull to someone and maybe we can start a conversation over one or all of them. Anyways, here goes…
Relocation
May 9, 2007, 11:29 PM | 6 Comments
So things have been a little quiet around here lately and I haven’t been posting as much as I want to. I haven’t been actively reading or commenting on other sites or articles either, which is a little different from my usual routine. In fact, I haven’t been spending as much time in front of a computer at all recently (which is arguably a good thing anyways). Outside of work lately, most of my time online has been spent checking emails and very casually sifting through my feed reader.
To those I met at Web Directions North
February 9, 2007, 4:26 AM | 0 Comments
This goes out to all of those who I met at Web Directions North. It was great to meet so many really nice people but there’s just one problem… when you meet so many people all at once in such a short amount of time it’s really hard to keep everyone’s name straight.
So, for those of you who I met, gave my card to, or those who were there who I may not have met (and are finding your way to my site), please post a comment, use the contact form, or email me to remind me who you are, where you’re from, what you do, etc. Also, feel free to post your thoughts on the entire Web Directions North experience.
Hello from Vancouver
February 6, 2007, 11:22 AM | 3 Comments
Well, I’m here in Vancouver and excited about the start of Web Directions North in a few hours. Flying over the mountains was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I had seen mountains before, just never from that angle. My photos from out the window won’t do it justice, but here’s one anyways:
One reason I’m excited about WDN
January 31, 2007, 10:21 PM | 2 Comments
One reason I’m excited about Web Directions North next week:
I Need Your Help!
January 26, 2007, 10:53 AM | 8 Comments
Over the past several months I’ve been putting off re-writing the back-end of my site. As some of you may know, everything on this site I’ve built from scratch and the main purpose for doing that was to learn. The problem I’ve been experiencing lately is that I just don’t have the time to re-write my custom CMS and continue to publish content on a regular basis. There are only so many hours in the day and I just can’t do both.
Web Directions North
November 25, 2006, 2:25 PM | 2 Comments
If you haven’t noticed the Web Directions North badge on my sidebar, let me introduce you to the premiere web development conference in Canada in 2007. Web Directions North will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside in downtown Vancouver in February of 2007.
I Want a MacBook Pro
August 16, 2006, 5:42 PM | 8 Comments
Even before Apple announced the switch to Intel processors a year ago, I knew I would be seriously considering the purchase of a new Mac for my next computer. Well, the time has come and I’m at the point where I’m ready to buy, but I find myself hesitating. The problem I’m having now is that there are some rumours going around about Apple updating their laptops to the new Intel Core 2 Duo processors in the near future.
Seven years ago I was…
August 14, 2006, 12:45 PM | 0 Comments
I saw this over on Cameron Moll’s site and thought I would post it here as well. I left a comment on his entry but thought of more things after the fact, so here’s my extended list:
Seven years ago I was…
- 15.
- Preparing to start 11th grade.
- Working my first job in a bakery at a grocery store (Zehrs if you’re wondering. The particular store has since been turned into a ValuMart, which is still owned by the same parent company of Zehrs).
- Making websites as a hobby and wondering how I could turn it into a career (which I did the following summer).
- Fighting with tables, font tags and spacer gifs.
- Questioning the hype surrounding “Y2K.”
- Single.
- Becoming more obsessed with Football (NFL) and less obsessed with every other sport.
- Dreaming about the freedom that would come along with my driver’s license.
Welcome to May
May 1, 2006, 9:03 PM | 1 Comment
It’s hard to believe that it’s already May 1st. Even counting the first 4 months of 2005 (in which I was not only enduring my last semester of college, but also preparing for my wedding, searching for apartments and weighing career options), this has been the busiest 4 months in memory by far.
So here’s a run down of what’s been going on in my life lately, and why the posts around here have been few and far between.
Random Thoughts
January 25, 2006, 9:55 PM | 1 Comment
Over the past few weeks I’ve had a lot of things running through my brain that I felt like I wanted to share. None of them really constitute a full entry in my mind, so I’ll just post them all at once.
This is something that I know many people do on their sites from time to time and I would imagine that more and more of these entries will show up here in the coming months as well. Wait and see…
Redesign Coming Soon
Well, I said way back when that I had wanted to give this site a facelift, but I didn’t really know when it would happen. I’m happy to say that the redesign is in progress, almost complete and will probably be uploaded this weekend. New site design, new logo, and new posts that actually relate to web development will all be coming in the near future! Check back often.
‘Tis the Season!
December 12, 2005, 8:38 PM | 0 Comments
I’m actually a little late in posting this, and I’m not sure why I hadn’t done it already, but here it is.
At Barking Dog Studios, we’ve put together an advent calendar filled with all sorts of random holiday cheer. The site has been updated every day since December 1st, and will continue to be updated until Christmas. Feel free to check out Barking Dog Studios’ Reinvent | Advent.
Heading for the Polls!
November 28, 2005, 11:54 PM | 1 Comment
Well, I wasn’t exactly planning this, but it turned out pretty well. Canadians are headed for the election polls on January 23rd. Today, Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal minority government was finally defeated by a non-confidence motion, effectively ending his current term as PM.
Reinspire.net is also heading for the polls, but I’m talking about a completely different type of poll. I’ve been hard at work on a polling system for this website that I’m happy to unveil today. As I said, I wasn’t really planning this to coincide with the election call, but so be it.
Sony DRM Update
November 12, 2005, 4:11 PM | 0 Comments
What a difference a week can make! Exactly one week ago I posted my frustrations regarding Sony’s Digital Rights Mis-Management. Over the last 7 days there has been a few major developments in this story. It seems that I wasn’t the only person who was frustrated by the way Sony is going about their content protection.
Sony’s Digital Rights Mis-Management
November 5, 2005, 5:51 PM | 2 Comments
The other day I purchased a CD that ended up making me angry. Not because the music is angry in any sense, not because the music disappointed, but more because of Sony BMG’s ridiculous Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Unknowingly, I had purchased a disc that included copy protection software that not only limits the amount of times you can copy the CD, but also forces you to use a protected Windows Media audio format if you’d like to copy your music to your computer - which makes it extremely difficult to copy the CD to your iTunes music library, and ultimately, your iPod.
Going to the Dogs
October 7, 2005, 3:03 PM | 2 Comments
Well, after 5 weeks of unemployment and watching far too much Sportscentre on TSN, I’m going to the dogs. No, I’m not going crazy, I’m talking about Barking Dog Studios. Starting on October 17th, I’ll be their newest employee, and I could not be more pleased to join such an incredible team.
Niagara Falls
October 3, 2005, 11:12 PM | 0 Comments
Over the weekend I was in Niagara Falls with the family for some touristy activities. Because I live in Southern Ontario, I’ve been to Niagara Falls several times over the years, each time taking in some new experience. The past few times that I’ve been there however, I don’t think I’ve fully appreciated it.
Feeling Old… at 21!
August 25, 2005, 5:01 PM | 3 Comments
This year has seen a number of significant changes for me. I’ve switched jobs twice, graduated from college, gotten married, watched some of my friends get married, and watched others have their first child.
These events however, have not actually made me feel old. At 21, I am still a young man with a lot to learn, but I have come to discover that no matter what age you are, certain events will come about that make you feel… well, old.