Acts of Volition

Given the petty squabling and childish interuptions I’m seeing on the Canadian federal leadership debate, maybe it’s in his best interest that the leader of the Green Party was excluded from the debate.  •  I’m guessing there was a language issue when Gilles Duceppe said of Canada / US relations …

A look at how Stuart Brand’s classic work of social and architectural criticism, How Buildings Learn, applies to web design and development.  •  First, if you are in any way interested in design, history, or architecture, which I assume you are by your presence here, read the book How Buildings …

Last week, thanks to the efforts of office-mate Peter Rukavina, I had an unfortunately extraordinary opportunity. Each of the four candidates in our riding in the upcoming Canadian federal election was invited to come to our office and spend an hour with us. It was part job-interview, part debate …

When the Mozilla Foundation announced the name change for their web browser from Firebird to Firefox, there was a predictable response of skepticism. It was the second name change and people were understandably skeptical that the name would continue to change.  •  Even though the Mozilla … read more »

It is generally understood that sometime in the next few months, our new Prime Minister will call a federal election here in Canada. We’ll have a bit of variation on our standard political fare this time around. The Liberal party is wrapped up in financial scandal, the Conservative party is a …

During a recent conversation about software upgrades (to which I am a confessed addict), a friend made the profound statement that “everyone loves the future.”  •  Perhaps you’ve seen the recent television advertisements in which GM promotes their oddly-spelled “hy-wire” concept car. As Wired News …

As you have probably already seen, Ralph Nader has announced that he will run for president in 2004. Lot’s of people seem to be saying that he shouldn’t run because he it will take votes from Democrats and in doing so, help the Replublicans (or the press talks about people you say that a lot, at …

I think we’ve let a term slip through our collective defences against nonsense and foolishness. Programs like Microsoft Word and WordPerfect are referred to as “word processors”.  •  Word processing? Think about it. It’s the dumb term. An editor or writing application maybe. Have you ever told …

Editorial Note: However cliché it may be, I have to point out that this post was first written on two sides of a (thankfully unused) barf-bag on a plane.  •  On a recent flight from one boring city to another, I had a minor revelation. As we took off and gained altitude, I had a clear view of the …