tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67234612024-03-06T22:00:14.946-08:00The Daily UploadA look at the events of Dave's world, updated as circumstances warrantDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.comBlogger730125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-68795011453263394332015-10-08T09:48:00.000-07:002015-10-08T09:48:06.321-07:00Wikileaks - The US strategy to create a new global legal and economic system: TPP, TTIP, TISAIn recent days, we've been hearing a lot about the TPP, and it's potential for problems for democracy. But I hadn't realized just how far-ranging and frightening the full impact of these "trade" deals really are. I had only the barest understanding that the TPP was part of a three-pronged effort by the US to break free of the World Trade Organization structure.<br />
<br />
If you want to start to learn more, this video from WikiLeaks (which has brought us much of the secret negotiations of the TPP) is informative.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Rw7P0RGZQxQ?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-29200485817508921962014-12-21T09:39:00.001-08:002014-12-21T09:39:04.961-08:00How to make a bookFor those of us who still have a love affair with old books (even if most of the ones I buy now are via my Kindle) this is a wonderful video. I don't know anything about it's origins, but it's available via a Facebook page version, without any music. And it was posted to YouTube, with some music added. Take your pick.<br /><br />I've got a lot of those old, leather-covered books in my collection, but I never really thought about what goes into putting them together. It's fascinating to watch a craftsman put it all together.<br /><br />You can see the original post on Facebook (sans music) via the link below.<br /><br /><div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153067485459245" data-width="466"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153067485459245">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/willyfoo">Willy Foo - Photographer, Marketer, Technopreneur</a>.</div></div><br /><br />And I've embedded the YouTube version (to which someone added music) below.<br /><br /><iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/T17aCX2iBBY?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-9201073095845230742014-09-06T15:42:00.001-07:002014-09-06T15:46:14.991-07:00Scott Rosenburg reflects on the "web"<div>
Scott Rosenberg is a web veteran and a long-time blogger - heck, he really did <a href="http://www.sayeverything.com/" target="_blank">write the book</a> about it. In this essay, he covers a lot of ground talking about the act of creation - and how the web has profoundly affected our relation to works of art. Here's the opening...</div>
<div>
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lou Reed cast a stony stare over a hotel ballroom packed with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and geeks. It was November 8, 2006, the peak of the last Web bubble — remember? the littler one? the one <em>between</em> the monster bubble that ended in a big mess in 2000 and the bubble we’re in now that will end in another big mess one of these days?</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That one, right: the bubble we called “Web 2.0.” That was also the name of the conference that Lou Reed was very visibly getting pissed off at — because, as he stood there and played his guitar and sang his songs, the geeks and VCs and founders weren’t listening. They were talking.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Reed was not known for suffering fools or turning the other cheek; he was famously prickly. (One live track from 1978 captures a rant he directed from the stage at a critic: “What does Robert Christgau do in bed? I mean, is he a toe fucker?”) So maybe the whole idea of having him serve as the after-dinner entertainment for a Web-industry conference hadn’t been so bright. But here we were!</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Reed stopped playing. An AOL logo haloed his leathery face. While one of his two accompanying bassists vamped, he began barking at the crowd.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“You got 20 minutes. You wanna talk through it, you can talk through it. Or I can turn the sound up and hurt you.”</span></blockquote>
And it just keeps on going. It's a terrific long read. I highly recommend it.<br />
<a href="http://www.wordyard.com/2014/08/10/doing-is-knowing-sweet-jane-and-the-web/" target="_blank">Doing is knowing: "Sweet Jane" and the Web</a><br />
<br />
You should also check out his blog at <a href="http://wordyard.com/">Wordyard.com</a>. </div>
Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-69778994659545820912014-02-23T16:25:00.002-08:002014-02-23T16:25:20.255-08:00Roger Angell talks about being an old manWhen a story starts like this, you just know you're going to like it:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Check me out. The top two knuckles of my left hand look as if I’d been worked over by the K.G.B. No, it’s more as if I’d been a catcher for the Hall of Fame pitcher Candy Cummings, the inventor of the curveball, who retired from the game in 1877. To put this another way, if I pointed that hand at you like a pistol and fired at your nose, the bullet would nail you in the left knee. Arthritis.</span></blockquote>
The New Yorker's Roger Angell weaves a wonderful tale about reaching 93 years old. Poignant, insightful and hilarious.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/17/140217fa_fact_angell">Read it for yourself. </a>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-38744726976540077072014-02-20T10:06:00.001-08:002014-02-20T10:09:00.595-08:00Kathryn Calder at TEDxVictoria 2013I was in the audience when Kathryn performed at TEDx Victoria last fall. She has a great story to tell and is a talented musician. She's also a good friend of Victoria Hospice. Listen to her story and enjoy the music. And watch for the movie coming about her mother's struggle with ALS.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ANVbYe6BVi0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-84994472825502140982014-01-30T17:22:00.002-08:002014-01-30T17:22:55.686-08:00How to download video's in Safari 6In case you are ever trying to download a YouTube clip for a presentation or something like that, you might want to keep this bit of advice around. This used to be a lot easier with older versions of Safari. But I just did it for a presentation and this method worked for me.<br />
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<div class="jive-username-link-wrapper">
<a class=" jive-username-link" data-avatarid="1316" data-externalid="" data-username="marqqq" href="https://discussions.apple.com/people/marqqq" id="jive-989014925178430787734663" rel="nofollow">marqqq</a>
</div>
<div class="jive-thread-reply-subject font-color-meta">
<div>
<strong>
<a href="https://discussions.apple.com/message/24255098#24255098">Re: how to download videos in safari 6.0</a>
</strong></div>
<span>Dec 26, 2013 5:22 AM</span>
(<a class="font-color-meta-light " href="https://discussions.apple.com/message/19219769#19219769" title="Go to message">in response to arieldg</a>)
</div>
<div class="jive-rendered-content">
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
I
found the following method to work for various web sites and is pretty
similar to those mentioned above. This is using Safari Version 7.0.1
(9537.73.11).</div>
<div style="height: 8pt; min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
1. Safari->Preferences->Advanced, ensure Show Develop menu in menu bar is checked.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
2. Open the web page that contains the movie you want to save locally and start it playing.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
3. Develop->Show Page Resources</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
4. Click on the page showing the movie and refresh it, you should see the Web Inspector window in the background also refresh.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
5. Click on the Web Inspector window. There will now be an “Other” folder.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
6.
Open the “Other” folder and there will be one or more URLs that include
the movie field extension somewhere within. e.g. “.mp4”,”.flv” etc..</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
7. Click in the link you think represents the movie.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
8. The right panel of the web inspector will show the “Full URL”.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
9. Select it from “http” to the end and copy.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
10. Open a new browser window and pass into the URL. The movie should start playing there.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
11. You should be able to right click on this movie and select “Download As…”</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
12. Once it starts to download (you can see progress in the download button), you can close the other windows.</div>
<div style="height: 8pt; min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
You
would need to check the TOS of the web site you are saving the
downloaded movie from to ensure that you are not in someway violating
the agreement you made to use the site.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-11800739588546457952013-06-08T14:31:00.001-07:002014-02-24T10:21:32.859-08:00To This Day<div style="text-align: left;">
"To This Day" is a video which was released in early 2013. It is a remarkable animation of a spoken word poem written and performed by <a href="http://www.shanekoyczan.com/" target="_blank">Shane Koyczan</a>. It was launched as part of an anti-bullying campaign. It was remarkable then and it's still remarkable. So I thought it might be a good idea to post it again, for those who hadn't come across it before, and again, for those who have.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It's still good no matter how many times you see it.</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/59956490" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/59956490">To This Day</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/tothisday">To This Day</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-54818341486957489082013-05-12T22:03:00.001-07:002013-05-12T22:03:08.258-07:00Rethinking the Bucket List: Kathleen Taylor at TEDx TampaBayI like to tell people that I work at Hospice because wonderful things happen there every day. Hard as that might be for some people to accept, it's the truth.<br /><br />My sister-in-law, Trish, who is a real TED fan, came across this wonderful TED Talk from Tampa, by Kathleen Taylor. I'm glad Trish sent it along because its all about the stories that we hear at Hospice every day. And it confirms that wonderful things happen. <br /><br /><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8U8Pkod2n4&feature=player_detailpage&ytsession=GTwdspV6idO2ljt_-2iQLFrIxJPUM5-CimNy-z4rnVoMlDxUNABJvMlnxVluP1P_7F1eP_UeF7EBuIHtY07qv0VJ12e9odbcJK2PMizAFh0yj_XVgzTCnZRKTmvUGr7cCH2EwhVRaWaqU67XjCTe7Ou0tlq6Q8MBjSgPDs0ozEExXkncZDxeQEYlUXglDMuDt8EJgJQHHzZbMVrT0D1pk6wP9CT0FSovN52ArTB0KmMVpArK-MWHvrj3onJcsHNeEwIpwUpAO1cGmlLZG-UE1kT3vqDnyRXU5aP17j4dcJyCGcDOhBTDsiTl3Idz-SV6BZ52JbdcOYhIehztuVJIqJo2XMOLSAVTBQyTUFwG1bg6-pxGl0p-wQHiJqZK1tBMRN8-h1XJ6Jb4cgcJaq9v5aYmnmEP1Hj2LQqcJhckEsSDIne96B1V_2Z4-PsnZtV0RqWa55XATy2o3M_sYJLVXfHRb4dUwLZ_PqHZ8yyVjr71BOnasqYIFKPFjVxyrkrhYOYcaLRL-U5IOJemd_BYU2WdSM-oM1IL_1x_phmR04wdEU0AxGPDIW1AxMk7azvaYCDMP4_ruXboIy3E3-IKBtL0WtopE2VWQhfCWxTg7zk">Rethinking the Bucket List: Kathleen Taylor at TEDx TampaBay (The Future of Stories) - YouTube</a>: "<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O8U8Pkod2n4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>"</p><p>(Via <a href="http://twitter.com/pjmcadie">@pjmcadie</a>.)</p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-5966298145465583862013-04-21T15:10:00.001-07:002013-04-21T15:10:17.869-07:00What a picture - from Quora<span class="quora-content-embed" data-name="Photography/What-is-the-most-amazing-photo-you-have-ever-taken/answer/Kent-Miller-2/quote/430858">Read <a data-width="575" data-height="1606" class="quora-content-link" href="http://www.quora.com/Photography/What-is-the-most-amazing-photo-you-have-ever-taken/answer/Kent-Miller-2/quote/430858" data-embed="bUFSbVS" data-type="quote" data-id="430858" data-key="bbf4872b3abe4258c4d8bcd3c90b5fd2">Quote of Kent Miller's answer to Photography: What is the most amazing photo you have ever taken?</a> on <a href="http://www.quora.com">Quora</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.quora.com/widgets/content"></script></span>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-25928559534908218172013-03-01T08:48:00.001-08:002013-03-01T08:54:25.834-08:00No more remote work at YahooAs a long-time advocate of remote work, both as a participant and as a manager, I was going to sit down and write a piece about what a misguided decision Yahoo has made to ban the practice. But then I saw this piece from <del>Jason Fried</del> the <a href="http://37signals.com/svn/">Signal vs Noise</a> blog. <br /><br />I think David nailed this one.<br /><br /><p><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/37signals/beMH/~3/H9fbyw9qwb4/3453-no-more-remote-work-at-yahoo">No more remote work at Yahoo</a>:</p><blockquote><p><p>Employees at Yahoo have had a rough decade. The company has been drifting aimlessly with little vision, an endless parade of CEOs, and a flatlined stock price. That’s not exactly a conducive environment to be inspired and motivated within, let alone do the stellar work that Yahoo needs to pull out of the rut.</p><p>So it’s no wonder that they’ve been suffering from severe brain drain for a long time. But Yahoo is a big company, and there are surely still lots of talented people who don’t want to leave (or can’t)—waiting for better times. Unfortunately, it appears they’ll be kept waiting, if <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20130222/physically-together-heres-the-internal-yahoo-no-work-from-home-memo-which-extends-beyond-remote-workers/">Yahoo’s announcement</a> of “no more remote work” is anything to go by:</p><blockquote>Beginning in June, we’re asking all employees with work-from-home arrangements to work in Yahoo! offices. If this impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration. Being a Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices.</blockquote><p>The leadership vacuum at Yahoo is not going to be filled by executive decrees issued on such flimsy foundations. Imagine you’re a remote worker at Yahoo and you read that. Hell, imagine you’re any kind of worker at Yahoo and you read that. Are you going to be filled with go-getter spirit and leap to the opportunity to make Yahoo more than just “your day-to-day job”? Of course not, you’re going to be angry at such a callous edict, declared without your consultation.</p><p>What this reveals more than anything is that Yahoo management doesn’t have a clue as to who’s actually productive and who’s not. In their blindness they’re reaching for the lowest form of control a manager can assert: Ensuring butts in seats for eight hours between 9-5+. Though while they can make people come to the office under the threat of termination, they most certainly cannot make those same people motivated to do great work.</p><p>Great work simply doesn’t happen in environments with so little trust. Revoking the “yard time privileges” like this reeks of suspicions that go far beyond just people with remote work arrangements. Read this line one more time: “please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration”. When management has to lay it on so thick that they don’t trust you with an afternoon at home waiting for the cable guy without a stern “please think of the company”, you know something is horribly broken.</p><p>The real message is that teams and their managers can’t be trusted to construct the most productive environments on their own. They are so mistrusted, in fact, that a “zero tolerance” policy is needed to ensure their compliance. No exceptions!</p><p>Who cares if Jack is the best member of the team but has to live in Iowa because his doctor wife got placement at a hospital there? Or if Jill simply can’t deal with an hour-long commute anymore and wants to spend more time with the kids? With a zero tolerance policy, there’s simply no flexibility to bend for the best of the team, and thus the company. The result is a net loss.</p><p>Now imagine all the people who actually have a choice of where they want to work. Does management really think that the best Yahoo employees currently on remote work arrangements will simply buckle and cave? Why on earth would they do that given the wonderful alternatives available to remote workers today? No, they’re simply going to leave, and only those without options will be left behind (and resentful).</p><p>Yahoo already isn’t at the top of any “most desirable places to work” list. A decade of neglect and mounting bureaucracy has ensured that. Further limiting the talent pool Yahoo has to draw from to those willing to relocate to Sunnyvale, or another physical office, is the last thing the company needs.</p><p>Companies like Google and Apple can get away with more restrictive employment policies because they’re at the top of their game and highly desirable places to work. Many people are willing to give up the improvements that remote work can bring to their life to be part of that. Yahoo just isn’t there. It’s in no position of strength to be playing hardball with existing and future employees.</p><p>The superficial trinkets, like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-mayer-just-gave-every-yahoo-employee-an-iphone-5-2012-9">a free phone</a> or free meals at the cubicle compound, are simply not going to serve as adequate passage for a zero tolerance work place that’s still fumbling its way out of a haze of disillusion. In fact, it cheapens those initiatives when the things that really matter, like the power of teams to recruit and retain the best, are curbed.</p><p>The timing of all this couldn’t be worse either. Remote work is on a rapid ascent, and not just among hot tech companies like Github, Automattic, or thousands of others. It’s been taking hold in supposedly stodgy big companies like Intel, <span>IBM</span>, Accenture, and many others. Worse than simply being late to that party is to try to turn back the clock and bait’n’switch your existing workforce.</p><p>Yahoo deserves better than this. It’s one of the classic brands of the internet and it’s painful to see it continue its missteps, especially on something so fool-hearted as trusting its employees and attracting the best talent.</p><p>But if recent history is any guide, I guess Yahoos without options to leave can console themselves with the fact that the average <span>CEO</span> term in the past six years has been a mere one year. So the odds are good that a new boss will be in place within long.</p><p><br><small>Interested in learning more about remote work? Checkout our upcoming book <a href="http://37signals.com/remote"><span>REMOTE</span>: Office Not Required</a>. It details all our lessons from more than a decade working remotely along with those from the growing list of other companies reaping the same rewards.</small></p><div><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/37signals/beMH?a=H9fbyw9qwb4:Ne2KeoJ-t9k:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/37signals/beMH?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/37signals/beMH?a=H9fbyw9qwb4:Ne2KeoJ-t9k:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/37signals/beMH?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></a></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/37signals/beMH/~4/H9fbyw9qwb4" height="1" width="1"></p></blockquote><p>(Via <a href="http://37signals.com/svn/posts">Signal vs. Noise</a>)</p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-14301909116177249992013-02-28T22:40:00.001-08:002013-02-28T22:40:50.988-08:00Bradley Manning: the face of heroism | Glenn GreenwaldBradley Manning talked for the first time about why he leaked top-secret information to Wikileaks. It's a fascinating and inspiring story, believe it or not. Glenn Greenwald's column today explains why Manning is a hero, and deserves to be mentioned with Daniel Ellsberg:<br /><br /><blockquote>This was all achieved because a then-22-year-old Army Private knowingly risked his liberty in order to inform the world about what he learned. He endured treatment which the top UN torture investigator deemed "cruel and inhuman", and he now faces decades in prison if not life. He knew exactly what he was risking, what he was likely subjecting himself to. But he made the choice to do it anyway because of the good he believed he could achieve, because of the evil that he believed needed urgently to be exposed and combated, and because of his conviction that only leaks enable the public to learn the truth about the bad acts their governments are doing in secret.<br /><br />Heroism is a slippery and ambiguous concept. But whatever it means, it is embodied by Bradley Manning and the acts which he unflinchingly acknowledged today he chose to undertake. The combination of extreme government secrecy, a supine media (see the prior two columns), and a disgracefully subservient judiciary means that the only way we really learn about what our government does is when the Daniel Ellsbergs - and Bradley Mannings - of the world risk their own personal interest and liberty to alert us. Daniel Ellberg is now widely viewed as heroic and noble, and Bradley Manning (as Ellsberg himself has repeatedly said) merits that praise and gratitude every bit as much.</blockquote><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/28/bradley-manning-heroism-pleads-guilty">Bradley Manning: the face of heroism | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk</a></p><br /><br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-50969866550851374862013-01-23T10:48:00.000-08:002013-01-23T10:48:15.995-08:00Questions for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Review PanelMy cousin, Jim Traynor, is a remarkable guy. He now lives in Lillooet but has been a lifelong hiker and outdoors enthusiast. When we've met over the years, I'm always impressed by his gentle confidence and his remarkable life history.<br />
<br />
Recently, Jim put together a personal presentation for the review panel looking at the Enbridge Northern Gateway project. It's a remarkable story, in which he talks about his own relationship with that area of the world and asks the panel to consider six significant questions before they make a decision.<br />
<br />
It's a fascinating read and Jim's questions are thought-provoking, at the very least. I admit I'm cynical about the outcome of this process. I fear that the outcome has already been decided and despite the near total public opposition to this project it will move ahead.<br />
<br />
But Jim's passionate words, and those of many others who have presented their views through the public review process, have impressed me. And I hope they impress the panel members too. Our world will survive without this pipeline project - but I'm not at all certain that it will if the project goes ahead.<br />
<br />
Here's the text of Jim's presentation.
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>January 15, 2013</b><br />
<b>Oral Presentation to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Review Panel
Jim Traynor, Lillooet, B.C.
</b><br />Hello panel members.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
It is good to be here - I am thankful this process is in place.<br />
<br />
After retiring at age 65 from a career in project management in the field of architecture, I started my own small business, and also became a volunteer advisor with CESO working with aboriginal communities for example, with the Gitsan people at Kitwanga on the Skeena.<br />
<br />
I have been hiking in the B.C. mountains since the age of 12 - 65 years ago, including in the mountains close to the pipelines route. As a former member of the executive of the Orienteering Association of B.C., and former member of the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C.,I can say that the outdoors is like a second home to me.
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About a year and a half ago, on a bright day in May, I headed up into the Stein Park alpine to back country ski. Half way up the active logging road I was stopped by a roof top high wall of ice and embedded rock - an avalanche not in a recognized avalanche zone. Avalanches and major mud slides are being observed in many places not previously identified for slide events. - Lillooet lake for example, and Johnstons landing, where the town had to be evacuated last summer.<br />
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What is going on here? Environment Canada historical records show coastal mountains intercept more than 7 times the annual precipitation of Calgary, for example. However, as reported in the Vancouver Sun, climate scientists have estimated expected increases in up to 50% above the historical averages, for precipitation in coastal mountain areas to more than 10 times that of Calgary. Also many glaciers in B.C. are observed to be in retreat, probably from warming temperatures. The observed result is an increasingly very high volume of mountain water load moving downslopes, increasing slides into areas that are not historically designated as avalanche zones. With the complexity of climate change, there appears to be no way at present to accurately predict where the rogue avalanches and mudslides will occur.<br />
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<b>My first question then is: </b><br />
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Other than at the two proposed tunnels, how can the engineering design be done to protect the pipelines from the unpredictable slide events, when the historical records are no longer adequate - how will the engineering deal with unpredictable change? It no longer works to say 'we designed according to the best information available at the times - the times are changing too fast. At this time in history we need to use the precautionary principle.<br />
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Since an avalanche is unstable, it is not practical to rebuild over, under, or through it, so when the rogue avalanche hits, creating massive damage, what happens? <br />
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<b>My second question is:</b><br />
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In the case of a slide event hit taking out the pipelines, how will Enbridge get the dil-bit to the coast, and the condensate to Alberta.? The increase in moisture load in the mountains also results in more days socked in - zero visibility - when helicopters and ATV's are grounded. Sloping terrain is dangerous, especially when wet if you can't see, you can't move. I have been trapped for 3 days in a tent. On one occaision, it was only because my german shepherd/husky could retrace our climb route by scent that I was able to get out unstressed when weather went from clear to socked in inside of 30 minutes - I could barely see 3 metres ahead.<br />
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<b>My third question is:</b><br />
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How can the spills be quickly accessed for containment in these socked in conditions speed being essential to success? <br />
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The spills can be as widespread as the width of the avalanche, having high probability of getting into water courses on sloping ground. Other than the highly controversial chemical dispersants, the present clean up technology relies mainly on containment by booms for absorbing and skimming which can work on flat water, but are ineffective in fast moving, high volume mountain watercourses. <br />
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<b>My fourth question is: </b><br />
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Even when weather does permit access to the spills, where is the proven specific technology that can be used to clean up a dilbit and condensate spill in these sloping terrain conditions, once they get into fast moving, high volume water courses?<br />
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Next I would like to show evidence from extraction industry remediation history in Canada. According to a Scott Vaughan, Federal Commissioner of Environment, report, out of the 22,000 abandoned contaminated industrial sites in Canada, more than half could be putting Canadians environmental health at risk, requiring remediation now costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year.<br />
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For example, the Faro lead/zinc mine near Whitehorse, abandoned by the mining company simply through the act of creating bankruptcy after a decline in the world prices of the metals. The estimates of the remediation costs to our taxpayers for the Faro project alone vary from 523 million ( Scott Vaughan ) to 1 billion dollars over the next 100 years - 4 generations! We know that very large bankruptcies happen in Canada - Nortel for example. I have read that clean up costs of a bitumen/condensate spill can be more than 10 times the costs of a conventional oil spill.<br />
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<b>So, my fifth question is in several parts:</b><br />
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Who will pay for the clean up and multi-generational remediation when Enbridge declares bankruptcy acting in the best financial interests of the shareholders?<br />
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Where is there any requirement for performance bonding?<br />
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Where is the legal/contractual structure in Canada to force Enbridge to pay the costs of remediation of the large bitumen and condensate spills when the avalanche or mudslide hits the pipelines?<br />
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These questions are so fundamental to this Enbridge concept, that the proposal must not be given approval in principle until these questions are answered to the satisfaction of all stakeholders - it is not acceptable to claim to be able to answer these questions at a later stage - it would be irresponsible to the taxpayers of Canada, to the residents of B.C., and it would be irresponsible to Enbridge who will spend more money on a prohibitively risky concept if approval in principle is granted.<br />
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Is Enbridge underplaying the risks - the slide risks, the earthquake/tsunami risks, the navigation risks? How else can we interpret for example, their removal of the islands in Douglas Channel in their commercials?<br />
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<b>So my last question to the panel is:</b><br />
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What independent technical sources can the panel consult with to evaluate the soundness of the Northern Gateway risk estimating process?<br />
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I would like to leave these questions with you with confidence in the valuable work you are doing here.<br />
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In finishing, I would like to go back in time 62 years - I was 15 years old when a surveyors helper summer job came up in a remote mountain mine south of Smithers. On weekends, I would climb high through tallus and skree slopes listening to the shrill warning whistles of marmots. Finally reaching ridge top I saw spread before me as far as eye could see a world that took my breath away - white ribbons of water falling from emerald lakes into lush green valleys below red chevrons of rock topped by bluegrey stone under white sails of glaciers and permanent snow - so vast - so striking - so magnificent - I was sure it was Shangri-la. I fell in love with this sacred place - it set the course of my life outdoors - I want to hike my grandchildren there. What I was looking at to my north was the Northern Gateway pipelines route.<br />
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Thank you panel - If I could make a wish for each of you, I think it would be for "courage."
</blockquote>
<i>If anyone wants to comment directly to Jim, his email is <a href="mailto:shaeshebear@yahoo.ca">shaeshebear@yahoo.ca</a></i>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-36945664809054065992013-01-01T18:31:00.001-08:002013-01-01T19:00:07.451-08:00Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek - Multimedia Feature - NYTimes.comThis is a remarkable piece of reporting, making full use of pictures, video, graphics, and remarkable imagery, woven together in a gripping narrative.<br /><br />It took six months of work, but the result is remarkable. It shows how storytelling remains the base of any good tale, but how technology, used wisely, can add a lot to the telling.<br /><br />The best way to read this is on the New York Times website, so that you can get the full benefit.<br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/?hp#/?part=tunnel-creek">Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek - Multimedia Feature - NYTimes.com</a>: ""</p><blockquote>Saugstad was mummified. She was on her back, her head pointed downhill. Her goggles were off. Her nose ring had been ripped away. She felt the crushing weight of snow on her chest. She could not move her legs. One boot still had a ski attached to it. She could not lift her head because it was locked into the ice.<br /><br />But she could see the sky. Her face was covered only with loose snow. Her hands, too, stuck out of the snow, one still covered by a pink mitten.<br />Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic.<br /><br />Breathe easy, she told herself. Do not panic. Help will come. She stared at the low, gray clouds. She had not noticed the noise as she hurtled down the mountain. Now, she was suddenly struck by the silence.</blockquote><br /><br />UPDATE - There's a <a href="http://source.mozillaopennews.org/en-US/articles/how-we-made-snow-fall/">Part Two</a> to this story, about how the story was created.<br /><br /><br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-53644103830978533162012-11-16T08:43:00.001-08:002012-11-16T10:46:28.601-08:00The Disappearance of Darkness - book release<p>I had always used film in my photography until the last few years, when, like virtually everyone else in the world, I switched to digital photography. And while I enjoy this brave new world, I often feel nostalgic for the "old" ways.</p>
<p>I have lots of happy memories of heading out on film shoots, carrying a lot of equipment and coming back with a few, carefully chosen exposures. We did a lot of editing before clicking the shutter in those days. I used to do my own darkroom work and the experience of developing the film, viewing the negatives, then making a contact print to see just what I had, was wonderful. I got a lot of pleasure out of the process, even if sometimes the results were less than optimal. But now, the pleasure is more in being able to see the results immediately. And if I don't have the right shot, I can take another right away. I do like that option, but I can't help feeling that some of the creative process has gone away.</p>
<p>While I know that digital has obliterated film, it's still jarring to realize how complete the victory has been. This little trailer, for a bittersweet book about to be released about the end of the film era, struck a chord for me. I'm sure I'm guilty of romanticizing what I used to do, but that's the way it is. While I love my digital Nikon and the amazing camera in my iPhone, I miss those old film cameras, and the hours spent in the darkroom and the joy of discovery. That's just the way it is.</p>
<p>This looks like a good book. I think I might add it to my collection of photo books, which themselves are probably going the same way as the photograph on film.</p>
<p>UPDATE - I've ordered a copy for myself from Amazon. If you want to get your own, visit <a href="http://www.robertburley.com/index.php/site/gallery/disappearance_of_darkness_2010/">Robert Burley's website</a> and order it from there.</p>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/51946903?badge=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/51946903">Disappearance of Darkness Book Preview</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2407977">Robert Burley</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-90078631879007778172012-11-07T09:40:00.001-08:002012-11-07T09:40:39.516-08:00Obama victory - on the scene reportI'm starting to think that my daughter Jaime is a good luck charm for politicians. They'd be wise to take note of this.<br /><br />Jaime was in Chicago yesterday night for Obama's victory rally - and it was quite the experience!<br /><br />This morning, she talked to CBC Regina and described her day to host Sheila Coles. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.davetraynor.com/media/Jaime-post-election.mp3">Link to CBC Regina interview with Jaime</a><br /><br />This was Jaime's third time working the ground on election day - once here in BC, once during last year's provincial election in Saskatchewan and now working for Obama in Iowa. And so far she's 100% successful!<br /><br />So, if you're considering running for office, look her up. She's got an impressive track record as an election worker.<br /><br />Way to go Jaime.<br /><br />By the way, I've asked her to send along some photos, so if she does, I'll add them here later.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-27531505875341379022012-11-06T09:49:00.001-08:002012-11-06T09:49:55.710-08:00Jaime is on the Obama campaign trailA lot of Canadians are interested in the US election results today. But some are more interested than others.<br /><br />Today, my daughter, Jaime, is in Chicago to help get the vote out for her favourite - US President Barack Obama.<br /><br />Jaime has volunteered for the Obama campaign after spending the weekend visiting her sister, Kelly, who lives in Edwardsville, Illinois, about four hours west of Chicago.<br /><br />Today, she's been bussed over to Iowa to help in that battleground state. But the best part, for her, is that she'll be able to go to Obama's victoria rally (she hopes) in Chicago tonight.<br /><br />This morning, Jaime was a guest on CBC Regina's Morning Edition, hosted by our friend, Sheila Coles.<br /><br />I grabbed a copy of the interview and I've posted it for anyone who wants to hear.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.davetraynor.com/media/Jaime-on-CBC.mp3">Link to Jaime's interview</a>.<br /><br />On Wednesday, Jaime will be back on CBC to talk about the results with Sheila and I hope to get that interview as well.<br /><br />Much more to come.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-47781845261936902892012-10-05T07:55:00.000-07:002012-10-05T07:55:47.725-07:00Why isn't poverty an issue in America? I didn't watch the American Presidential Debate the other night. But I did see the coverage and I was struck by how shallow most of the commentary seemed.<br />
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The first debate was about domestic issues but I didn't hear anything about poverty. It may have been raised, but it didn't grab the attention of the commentators or those writing about the debate.<br />
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It struck me as strange that a topic for which the President was so passionate about in his first presidential campaign - the plight of inner city children living in poverty - was not on his agenda any longer. But why not? Are the problems that were so prominent four years ago all better now? I doubt that.<br />
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This morning, I remembered seeing an article a few weeks ago about Chicago's inner city neighbourhoods - specifically two that Obama worked in as a community organizer. I had noted the article then, but sent it off to Instapaper without reading it and hadn't gotten back to it. So I went and looked it up.<br />
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The article is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/magazine/obama-poverty.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&&pagewanted=print">What Does Obama Really Believe In?</a> from <i>The New York Times Magazine.</i><br />
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It shares the tale of a youth worker who lives in the same area as Obama once worked in, and who is trying to help the children in his neighbourhood escape the poverty cycle they're trapped in.
It's not a happy tale. Along the way, we learn a lot about the nature of extreme urban poverty and about how American thinking about helping the poor has evolved since LBJ's famous War on Poverty in the 1960s.<br />
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It's a fascinating, well-written piece, well worth the time it takes to read through. I still don't know why poverty is never mentioned these days on the campaign trail. But at least I know there are some very good people who are still dedicated to finding a way to alleviate it. There are no easy answers, which is probably why we don't hear more about it. Sound bites and extreme poverty don't go well together.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/magazine/obama-poverty.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&&pagewanted=print">Link to <i>What Does Obama Really Believe In?</i></a>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-45266365902767978572012-09-21T17:16:00.001-07:002012-09-21T17:16:25.262-07:00Les Miserable looks Les Fabulous!This is a movie that I am going to have to see. The trailer is superb!<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wwgQjfg0hZw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-71577710837013874652012-09-21T09:48:00.001-07:002012-09-21T09:48:47.836-07:00A Conservative History of the United States : The New YorkerA hilarious - if somewhat disturbing - look at how American conservatives view their own history. Perhaps they haven't heard about the Internet or Wikipedia…or perhaps they'll create their own once they get control.<br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2012/09/a-conservative-history-of-the-united-states.html">A Conservative History of the United States : The New Yorker</a></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-4662136459864527702012-09-21T09:09:00.001-07:002012-09-21T09:10:55.478-07:00Why Philip Roth needs a secondary sourceI love Wikipedia. I use it every day, often many times a day. And when I have some time to kill, I often search it for interesting stories.<br /><br />It is perhaps the best example of what some would call the "true" web - or the kind of web that was envisioned by those who created it. It's open source for information.<br /><br />Last week, there was an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/sep/11/philip-roth-wikipedia">interesting story in the Guardian</a> about Phillip Roth's frustration with Wikipedia because the editors wouldn't make a change to an article about him on the site that he felt was wrong. Simply put, they said that Phillip Roth wasn't credible enough to make changes to an article about Phillip Roth.<br /><br />So he <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/09/an-open-letter-to-wikipedia.html">wrote a letter</a>, which was published in the New Yorker about the correction. And lo and behold, that letter was accepted by Wikipedia as credible proof of his identity and the change was allowed.<br /><br />That incident is being used by some as an example of why Wikipedia is not a credible source. But in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/19/why-philip-roth-needs-secondary-source">his own Guardian article</a>, Cory Doctorow puts the issue into perspective and tells us why Roth needs a secondary source.<br /><br />Great stuff. <br /><br /><p>Link: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/19/why-philip-roth-needs-secondary-source">Why Philip Roth needs a secondary source</a></p><br /><br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-1002657507648541562012-07-25T16:06:00.001-07:002012-07-25T16:06:29.576-07:00Jason Alexander calls it in the Aurora aftermathI'm late to this particular item, but in the wake of the horrific shootings in Aurora, Colorado, Jason Alexander has written an exceptional, common-sense essay in response to those who say that there can be no compromise on gun control.<br /><br />As others have said, this is the best thing I've read since the shootings.<br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.twitlonger.com/show/if2nht">Jason Alexander</a>:</p><p>(Via <a href="http://daringfireball.net/">Daring Fireball</a>)</p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-78922944136196686342012-07-19T07:51:00.001-07:002012-07-19T07:51:15.752-07:00Will Your Children Inherit Your E-Books?This is a wonderful <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/06/21/155360197/will-your-children-inherit-your-e-books">essay</a>, written by Amanda Katz, commentator for NPR Books and the deputy editor of the Boston Globe Ideas section. While I don't usually quote from the end of a piece, her concluding paragraph is wonderful and I can't resist putting it up here, for those of you who might not read that far into her piece. But you really should read the whole thing.<br /><br /><blockquote>But what do we lose as we bid farewell to what may turn out to have been a brief period in which common people owned physical books? I think of my own already excessive book collection, with its books that I have loved and worked on (as an editor and translator) and received as presents. Though I hope someone in the generation after mine will love living with them too, it doesn't really matter to me: I won't be there to see it.<br /><br />But when I think of sorting through the boxes of my grandmother's books — even the ones we couldn't keep, or didn't want — and what we found there, I am grateful not to have been handed her Amazon password instead. Among all the gifts of the electronic age, one of the most paradoxical might be to illuminate something we are beginning to trade away: the particular history, visible and invisible, that can be passed down through the vessel of an old book, inscribed by the hands and the minds of readers who are gone.</blockquote><a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/06/21/155360197/will-your-children-inherit-your-e-books">Will Your Children Inherit Your E-Books?</a>: ""</p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-7113379449545046082012-06-10T11:16:00.001-07:002012-06-10T11:16:58.942-07:00A problem with Evernote upgradeI just upgraded my edition of <a href="http://evernote.com/index.php">Evernote to Premium</a>, which seems like a pretty good idea. <br /><br />I use Evernote a lot as a note capturing tool, because I can easily format the notes to work as a mini-outliner, as well as capture pictures, pdfs, screen-shots, etc. I have plenty of other alternatives on my iPad and Mac, but I do like the convenience of Evernote and the fact it synchs all of my various devices effortlessly.<br /><br />So I was surprised when I upgraded and discovered that something had caused all of my notes to duplicate themselves during the upgrade. I ended up with a lot of duplicates. I searched around for someone else who had run into a similar problem but I didn't find anything. <br /><br />I ended up manually sorting through and deleting all the duplicates. But the job was tedious and annoying because you can't highlight multiple notes for deletion. You have to highlight the note, choose delete, then confirm, for each note. It took awhile. <br /><br />There might be an easier way, (there probably is) but I didn't have time to look for it and it wasn't obvious anywhere in the documentation. But it also shouldn't have been necessary - unless I did something wrong to cause the duplication.<br /><br />Oh well. It's done now. But I thought I'd write this up in case someone else has the same problem and finds this blog post in their search. Please add a fix in the comments, if you happen to come across one.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-81524622420298154132012-05-21T18:47:00.001-07:002012-05-21T18:49:18.913-07:00How Pixar very nearly lost Toy StoryLast weekend, I had a near-death experience (at least it felt like that to me) when I accidentally wiped out the database for a website I manage.<br /><br />With one click, I suddenly realized that I had deleted almost every page and post that had been published over the past year. Yikes!<br /><br />Fortunately, I have a back-up plan. So imagine my horror when I realized that my automated backup system hadn't actually been working properly for the last few weeks!<br /><br />Long story short, after spending a lot of hours sweating like crazy, I did figure out how to restore the database, and everything is working just fine.<br /><br />So I can relate to this nicely told tale, about how Pixar very nearly lost all of Toy Story. The parallels with my own experience are pretty close.<br /><br />Oh, and in case you're wondering, my new, improved backup regime is working nicely, thanks for asking.<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EL_g0tyaIeE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6723461.post-80968112119855674982012-03-21T15:18:00.005-07:002012-03-21T15:40:26.936-07:00Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?This is great fun. It makes you kind of like American politics, doesn't it? <br /><br />Kudos to Hugh Atkin<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bxch-yi14BE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bxch-yi14BE#!">Hugh Atkin's "Will The Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up"</a>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03658236222202747964noreply@blogger.com0