Author: Steven Garrity

Highlights from a Modern Workplace

by Steven Garrity

I have spent much of the last five years working with a fine team of like-minded people. Fools and geniuses, we have managed to accomplish quite a bit. It has been, and continues to be, an interesting ride. Here are some random highlights:

  • There was a time when our CEO IM’ed in late to work several times citing a “laundry emergency”.
  • We spare no expense of corporate shwag (we now even have business cards that can stand up to the punishment of being in my wallet – not that I ever show them to anyone).
  • We play The Final Countdown by Europe really loud when launching significant websites. We really do.
  • In the heady dot-com days, we narrowly dodged two acquisition bullets, both of which were exciting at the time, but would have seen us living in a big city working as dish-washers by now.
  • We go out for a fine curry lunch every Friday (a tradition that started with Fajitas, before our local faux-tex/mex motif restaurant was replaced with a faux-east-side-NY motif and we were forced to seek more authentic lunchables).
  • We punctuate special occasions with low-quality cakes from local grocery stores (e.g. Exhibit A, Exhibit B).
  • We spend a weekend each December playing video games, eating fine food, and planning the next year out in Cavendish.
  • We don’t do all-nighters anymore, unless there is a hurricane or something (well, most of us don’t).
  • We take pleasure in smashing obsolete electronics (example photo).
  • We have met Jakob Nielsen. Some of us have shaken his hand. (I didn’t make this trip)
  • Our current vice is Madden NFL 2004 for the XBOX on a large LCD projector. Previous (and possibly future) vices include Counter-Strike and Mario Cart for the GameCube.
 

Acts of Volition Radio: Session 15

by Steven Garrity

Acts of Volition Radio: Session Fifteen I had already accumulated a great list of songs to share, so session 15 of Acts of Volition Radio comes out hot of the heels of theprevious session. No musical theme this time, but all great songs.

More good music. Recorded Wednesday, September 29, 2004 by Steven Garrity. Run time: 42min.

Session Fifteen Playlist:

  1. Gordie Sampson – Sunburn
  2. Gandharvas – First Day of Spring
  3. Green Day – Holiday
  4. Smashing Pumpkins – 1979
  5. U2 – Vertigo
  6. Aunt Bettys – Jesus
  7. Fleming & John – Love Songs

For more, see the previous Acts of Volition Radio sessions.

Acts of Volition Radio
Acts of Volition Radio
Acts of Volition Radio: Session 15
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Acts of Volition Radio: Session 14

by Steven Garrity

Acts of Volition Radio: Session Fourteen The fourteenth session of Acts of Volition Radio searches the barren wasteland of “adult contemporary” radio music and comes back with a few worthwhile songs by artists that deserve a second listen. The speech recording is a little weak on this one, so I boosted the signal between songs – the songs sound fine, but the speech is a bit rough. It’ll be better next time.

Adult contemporary music that doesn’s suck. Recorded Sunday, September 26, 2004 by Steven Garrity. Run time: 32min.

Session Fourteen Playlist:

  1. Joan Osbourne – St. Theresa
  2. Counting Crows – Angels of the Silences
  3. Travis – Last Laugh of the Laughter
  4. The Wallflowers – I’ve Been Delivered
  5. The Cranberries – Go Your Own Way
  6. Smashing Pumpkins – Landslide

For more, see the previous Acts of Volition Radio sessions.

Acts of Volition Radio
Acts of Volition Radio
Acts of Volition Radio: Session 14
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My Brush With Micro-Celebrity

by Steven Garrity

The crowning moment of my recent Firefox local media blitz was an interview on Canada Now, the local CBC Television evening news. Local anchor, Bruce Rainnie (brother of Matt Rainnie, who conducted my recent radio interview – thus confirming all assumptions that everyone on Prince Edward Island is related), came by our silverorange offices to conduct the interview.

Here are some assorted thoughts on the experience:

  • I prefer radio over television. The visual aspect of television might add a lot to some stories, but it really just seemed to detract from this one (especially since my ugly mug was the primary visual)
  • I am not, as was mentioned in the piece, the “head man”, at silverorange. We didn’t discuss my role at silverorange, so it was likely an honest mistake. I probably exuded too much confidence.
  • Television is all a big lie. Ok, this isn’t a big surprise, but this was my first real exposure to the fabrication that is television. Since there was only one camera man, the interview was filmed with me in front of the camera, and the interviewer behind it. Then, after the interview is over, we trade places, mix up the background props a bit so it’s not too obvious, and the interviewer “re-asks” (apparently an industry term) the questions for the camera. That said, it still fooled me when I watched it.
  • TV requires visuals. We didn’t have many, but was kind of cool to see my Linux desktop on TV.
  • The camera (and its operator) prefer LCD screens over CRT screens, as they avoid the dreaded flicker effect on camera.
  • No matter how comfortable you are with your appearance, watching yourself on television will make you self-conscious.
  • They did a good job. It’s easy to mix up a technology story when dealing with a general audience. Bruce Rainnie did a good job of setting up the questions.
  • Fame, no matter how small in scale, is a cruel mistress.
 

SpreadFirefox.com Likes Me

by Steven Garrity

Slice illustration

Being as humble as I am, it can be difficult for me when I’m showered with praise. However, it does soften the humility blow when the praise is written cleverly and with wit. Such is the case in my selection as Volunteer of the Week at SpreadFirefox.com.

SpreadFirefox.com, is a community site focused on promoting the Firefox browser through a variety of campaigns. They’ve been tracking the progress as 2 million copies of Firefox Preview Release 1 have been downloaded in the last 10 days.

The best part (after, of course, the illustration of myself in the style of the Slice of the Month) is being referred to as the “Martha Stewart of Web Browsers”.

Thanks!

 

Firefox on Local CBC Radio

by Steven Garrity

CBC Radio’s head geek, Tod Maffin, did a great piece about Firefox for CBC Radio today. I was invited into the local evening CBC Radio show, Mainstreet with Matt Rainnie to talk about the local connection we have to Firefox.

Today, Mainstreet played Todd’s piece and followed up with my interview. Listen to the two pieces together (6.4MB MP3 – 16 minutes).

I’m reluctantly becoming a local media representative for all things Firefox. I’m talking to the evening TV news tomorrow afternoon. It’s not a full-page spread in the New Zealand Herald, but it’ll do.

 

Quirks & Quarks on the Long Term Issue of Nuclear Waste

by Steven Garrity

Darlington Nuclear Power Plant

This week on Quirks & Quarks, Canada’s weekly science program on CBC radio discussed the issue of long term (really long term) nuclear waste management.

The program was well produced, covered the topics from interesting angles, and generally made for great listening. Eerie vignettes of speculative future news-bites were read by CBC host Michael Engright.

Listening to various scientists debate how best to deal with nuclear waste of time-lines that extend well over 10,000 years goes a long way to convince you that humanity is simply not capable of dealing with issues longer than our recorded history. I was reminded of the rule of thumb: don’t trust a warranty that purports lasts longer than the company offering it has existed.

The 9 minute segment is available for download in a 3.6MB Ogg file or or a 5.5MB MP3 file.