Author: Steven Garrity

WikiPEI: The Prince Edward Island Wiki

by Steven Garrity

WikiPEI

For years, our humble Canadian province of Prince Edward Island had a far better government website than any other I have seen. A few years ago I even posted on Slashdot about how great the site was. The site was built by my friend Peter Rukavina and his company Reinvented. Recently, though, Peter decided to move on to work for other clients and ended his relationship with the PEI government website.

Predictably, the quality of the PEI government website has gone downhill since the end of the involvement of Reinvented. This month, the provincial government put out a request for proposals for a redesign of the site.

This got some of us at silverorange thinking about the government of PEI website. As citizens of PEI with an understanding of web technology we feel a bit of responasbilty to help ensure that our province is well represented online. That said, we just don’t have room in our minds for another large government client.

The peculiar and fortunate chemistry that Peter Rukavina seemed to have the government website staff was something that is unlikely to happen again. Instead, we thought, why not create a wiki-powered website about Prince Edward Island that anyone can contribute to and edit.

A few days later, we have WikiPEI. The site is powered by MediaWiki, the software that also powers the Wikipedia (and the silverorange wiki).

The site is still only a few days old and still quite light on useful content. The idea, though, is that if you have anything useful to add, you can do it. Hopefully, if there is enough interest and participation, the site will grow to become a useful resource for locals and visitors to PEI.

 

3rd Annual silverorange Frisbee Golf Tournament for Charity

by Steven Garrity

The 3rd annual silverorange frisbee golf tournament for charity is coming up this August 27th (Date changed to Sept 11, 2pm). Organized by Daniel Burka and Dennis Arsenault at silverorange, the frisbee golf tournament raises money for Habitat for Humanity and is a fun way to spend a day whether you’ve played frisbee golf before or not.

silverorange frisbee golf tournament for charity

I’ll be there, all married and whatnot. As the website says, “If you can throw a frisbee, come out and play!”

 

Why I’m Getting Married

by Steven Garrity

As I announced here just under a year ago, I’m engaged to be married this coming Friday (July 22nd). In the months leading up to the proposal, I did a lot of thinking about what it means to be married. In the last year, my fiance and I have also spoken about the meaning of our upcoming commitment. I thought I would share a bit of the rationale for why I decided to get married.

What makes marriage such a daunting choice is its permanence. Divorce rates aside, you are making a commitment for the rest of your life. Forever.

One thing we wondered was, can we truly understand a permanent commitment? “Forever” is really just an abstract thought that I’m not sure we can ever truly understand – even when limited by our own lifespan.

Does the current “version” of yourself really have the capacity (or even the right) to make a commitment that the “you” in 10 years, 20 year, hopefully 50 years, will be held to?

I finally came to grips with this paradox (how can you make a commitment for a longer term than you’ve even been alive or can understand) when I realized that this is the very essence of marriage. This is exactly why marriage is important.

In addition to being an act of love, commitment, and hard work, marriage is an act of faith. I am making a commitment greater than I can truly understand. Rather than rendering the commitment hollow, though, the true and honest intention to uphold such an unfathomable commitment is what elevates it from the realm of legal matters to the realm of the spiritual and sacred.

Oh, and the gifts, dancing, and a honeymoon are cool too.