Blogging Hiatus
Hi everyone! The blog is on pause for now. I really want to come back to it soon, and redesign the whole thing and make it much better. But for now I’m more active on Twitter. Please meet me there! @kulpreetsingh.
Twitter Topic: The Blues
Have you ever doubted the power of Twitter to help you out? It’s not only a place to post meaningless notifications of your trip to the mall. There are have been some profound things accomplished on Twitter such as evidenced in Barack Obama’s rise to the top of Twitter in the 2008 US Presidential Election, or the ability of upset moms to get the Motrin website shut down, or the power of several individuals to fundraise thousands of dollars for a good cause.
All of these things are quite profound, but milder versions of the same happen constantly on Twitter in the form of impromptu conversations on diverse topics between people from all over the world. For example, today, I’m not sure if it was the weather or whether I was just tired, but I wasn’t feeling very well emotionally. You could say I had the blues for a short time there. So I posted out to Twitter:
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Hi Tweeps! What are your favourite ways to get out of the blues & be in high spirits? (answer can’t include alcohol or drugs)
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And the responses were unique, effective and sometimes hilarious:
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Leonashanana @kulpreetsingh peppermints!
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Tania94 @kulpreetsingh or make reservations at a fave eatery, invite a friend out for dinner and complain and solve world problems (I don’t drink)
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Tania94 @kulpreetsingh I’ll compile a collection of my favourite dvds, curl up in bed and have a marathon (Love Actually, LOTR, Star Wars, Batman)
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Taichiskier @kulpreetsingh Get active… embrace the season – I go skiing! Plug in the iPod, play it loud and go
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legacyb4 @kulpreetsingh Play a good game of Scrabble with a competitive partner!
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teenbizcoach @kulpreetsingh watch comedy videos online or I call someone I haven’t spoken to in a while..they always say “oh so NICE to hear from u ” :)
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Joanmarie @kulpreetsingh (i.e. please broaden my blues-chasing musical horizons) :-)
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Joanmarie @kulpreetsingh I’m not familiar with bhangra music. In terms of Indian Music I stumbled across Kamal Heer’s Masti. Love it. Recommendations?
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hackerhaus @kulpreetsingh Actually, I grab a guitar and *play* the blues to get rid of the blues. Works well.
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zyggyrat @kulpreetsingh Hula hooping is great way to beat the blues! And it burns 500 calories an hour!
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ppmartin @kulpreetsingh Listen to the blues (music) will help you get rid of the blues (not music) ;)
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ctccct @kulpreetsingh Doing good works. Walking on a Tofino beach. Watching The Incredibles. Eating cheezies in bed.
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aquietmind @kulpreetsingh go all the way into the blues and come out the other side:)
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WinnieYeo @kulpreetsingh oh yah and hanging out with friends – they’re the best at beating the blues!
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WinnieYeo @kulpreetsingh run, a walk, yoga, swim or cooking helps me get rid of the blues :-)
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jaredavery @kulpreetsingh If I feel depressed I just sit down and read a book, watch an anime or play on my PS3, XBox or Wii and I feel at peace.
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Franca @kulpreetsingh 1) Vitamin D helps especially in winter time. 2) Stroking my sweet animals’ fur. Very comforting.
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SuzeMuse @kulpreetsingh turn on your favourite music loud and dance till you can’t dance no more!
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WoWNoob @kulpreetsingh Hang out with the cats, play WoW, call my brothers and complain… Yup! That’s about it. Unless I can find some cookies.
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Durgamaa @kulpreetsingh Teaching a Yoga class where everyone TRIPS
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Durgamaa @kulpreetsingh Learning how to snowboard (and carve) in ONE afternoon
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BradyV @kulpreetsingh Sit back, and blast the screamo music.
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Durgamaa @kulpreetsingh ACTUALLY… singing along to your favourite song, WHILE doing a free handstand.
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Tajah @kulpreetsingh pwning Kurzicks in Alliance Battles on Guild Wars, a hot, steamy bubble bath, or writing poetry.
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gsik @kulpreetsingh music or yoga
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tyamdm @kulpreetsingh think and reflect about what your motivaions are. Then everything will come to you.
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jemmen @kulpreetsingh Getting outdoor exercise! We live in the most beautiful place on earth – and now is prime snowshoeing conditions! :)
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ameetjohal @kulpreetsingh Some bhangra music always helps.. cant help but move!
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sukhjit @kulpreetsingh Listening to bhangra.
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Durgamaa @kulpreetsingh Handstands.
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tejaaa @kulpreetsingh The common theme is good dance music :)
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Durgamaa @kulpreetsingh Find the song that makes you SOAR… and listen to it.
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ReikiAwakening @kulpreetsingh Bubble bath, good music, good book.
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gmarkham @kulpreetsingh music. Listening to or trying to play it.
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sforzley @kulpreetsingh get some good tunes and blow the music as low as u can
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skeskali @kulpreetsingh Dancing.
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tejaaa @kulpreetsingh Loud Dance music always works for me, how about you?
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trishussey @kulpreetsingh friends. Having some time with friends.
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Vancouver Digital & Social Media / Business & Technology Events 2009
January 2009
Pacific Northwest Wireless Summit
January 2009
WordCamp Whistler <-- GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!
(Now on Twitter)
February 2009
Northern Voice <-- TICKETS ALMOST SOLD OUT!
(Preceded one day before by WordCamp (for) Education Vancouver)
April, 2009
Get Connected Vancouver eConference
(Formerly Massive Technology Show)
May, 2009
WordCamp BC (British Columbia) *Coming Soon*
(Now on Twitter)
May, 2009
Vancouver Digital Week
September 2009
CMOS Emerging Technologies
If you have more, please add them in the comments and I’ll post them up!
Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen
Hey everyone, every month Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen, a non-partisan volunteer-driven project of the Sikh community, serves thousands of meals in a multi-day free open-to-everyone community kitchen in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, modeled after the Sikh tradition of langar (free egalitarian community meal). You can take part by visiting GuruNanaksFreeKitchen.com or by emailing gurunanaksfreekitchen@gmail.com. They take place at the Life Skills Center on East Cordova Street.
The same project also operates a weekly free meals dropoff every Sunday evening. Meals are prepared at the Sukh Sagar Sikh Gurdwara in Queensborough (on Wood Street), and transported in a van and delivered by hand to people in the Main & Hastings area in Vancouver. You can email the same address above to volunteer.
Twitter Topic: Air Canada Sucks!
So as many people experienced during the crazy snow storms of the Christmas holidays, airlines in Canada are not equipped for severe weather conditions. I have spoken with some people on this issue and all have said that if modern airline equipment cannot handle the freezing temperatures of extreme weather, and if due to the poor economic times the airlines cannot afford to upgrade their equipment, the least they could do is instill the value of good customer service in their employees and professional policies. However, this message does not seem to be reaching Air Canada.
The most recent example of this was tonight, with my little sister coming home to Vancouver on an Air Canada flight from Calgary set to arrive at YVR by 5:50pm. The plane was diverted (I guess?) to Victoria due to the weather conditions. Now that much is understandable – stuff happens. However, updates to the condition of the flight were only posted about five minutes before the posted arrival time. So if the flight was delayed to 6:50, at 6:45pm the flight would be further delayed to 7:45pm. So conceivably many people would have come to the airport for 6:50 and be stuck until 7:50, at which point the flight was further delayed. Eventually the flight was delayed again and arrived at YVR at 10:45pm. Of course, as is normal for ill-equipped airlines during this weather, the luggage compartments required de-icing and despite the passengers coming off the plane at 11pm, the luggage did not come off the plane until much later. Now, these technical topics are not so relevant as the issue of what happened on the plane.
I posted on Twitter:
My sister’s flight was grounded for FIVE HOURS & apparently Air Canada did not offer them ANYTHING to eat or drink. I’ll have to make sure.
Responses:
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megsmitley @kulpreetsingh Typical! How awful. Hope she’s arrived safely.
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ValerieMacLean @kulpreetsingh No need to check, not when it’s Air Canada.
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kabutar @kulpreetsingh I’ve heard of this happening before with AC (with variations i.e. food & drink ran out since deplaning wasn’t allowed etc)
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erikmagraken @kulpreetsingh Air Canada or Westjet? I’ve heard some stories of AC being woefully prepared for this winter weather.
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When I asked my sister basically she said that they gave the passengers water and pretzels over those five hours. Perhaps the airline was also not equipped for these types of emergencies, but you’d have to imagine with Air Canada running so many flights day in and day out across the world, they’d have some experience with delays and how to keep customers happy. I’m not sure if it was just a shortage of real food on the plane, or if it’s Air Canada’s policy to just keep their passengers at basic sustenance level for as long as the delay lasts, without considering spending more money on real food. Admittedly, this is a mild issue compared to some of the travel nightmares caused to entire families by Air Canada in other instances.
Obviously we “baby” our little sister so I was a little frustrated for her, and posted on Twitter:
If WestJet was the larger carrier, would it have as poor, negligent treatment of customers as Air Canada?
People responded:
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rmdstudio @kulpreetsingh I think we need one or two more air carries so the competition would have driven them to improve their services.
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jeffkee @kulpreetsingh So my answer is no, even the dominating company can still put the values into the actions of their employees.
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jeffkee @kulpreetsingh A corporations policy and education of its employees to feel ownership of the company is important based on my corporate exp.
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PureEminences @kulpreetsingh If Canada had more than one major airline
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raincoaster @kulpreetsingh No. Service is its edge. My dad used to work for Canadian, and they were proud of their service. Air Canada has ALWAYS sucked
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kabutar @kulpreetsingh (2) that no deplaning allowed incident was actually due to Transport Canada safety regulations I believe
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kabutar @kulpreetsingh I’m not sure, really – on one side WJ built themselves on service, on the other they’re also bound by regulations, like (1)
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It was interesting to get feedback on Twitter about this topic but I wonder how many others have discussed their frustrations about Air Canada on Twitter. If Air Canada is the target of customer complaints in general, the same is being reflected on social media as well.
Replies to my post on Twitter (and blog comments below):
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erin337 @kulpreetsingh You might have an easier time asking who has NOT had a problem with Air Canada.
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buzzbishop @kulpreetsingh fly westjet. That’s what you can do about it.
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duanestorey @kulpreetsingh yup.. but they don’t care.. http://tinyurl.com/4bugqe
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mluu1179 @kulpreetsingh i’ll have to be flying back to Vancouver shortly too. I’m not looking forward to it b/c of the snow
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jeffkee @kulpreetsingh Yeah I always felt AC was a bit off.. Prefer Westjet for sure.
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raincoaster @kulpreetsingh Good one! They have it coming, but don’t care.
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Richmond Food Bank
Last week I had the opportunity to go to the warehouse for the Richmond Food Bank to drop off our company NewspaperDirect’s collections for our first annual holiday food drive. We had about eight boxes of various types of food. When I drove into the warehouse I was shocked to see that there were dozens of large crates covered with what must have been several thousands of different types of food items. I guess I didn’t really expect that there was as much demand for the Food Bank’s services in Richmond.
At the warehouse I met Rick Younie who works with the Food Bank and he informed me that although people perceive Richmond to be less affected by poverty, they get visits from as many as 150 families a week. I was very happy to also see some of their volunteers and it just reaffirmed my appreciation for the work done by the Food Banks.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please get out to your local Food Bank or any convenient drop-off location and share some non-perishable food items for those less fortunate. Rick mentioned that infant formula and powdered milk are two items that are a little more expensive but also more in need – the requirements for donations may vary across food banks so it’s best to check with your local food bank.
Bush & The Two Shoes
Just for those who don’t understand why an Iraqi journalist would throw shoes in protest of US President George W. Bush’s last visit to Iraq yesterday (video), here’s a short explanation:
Shoes are worn on your feet, they are low and they gather the most dirt from the ground. Being hit with shoes is like being admonished or denounced as the “lowest of the low” and is commonly reserved as a punishment for despicable criminals. It is worse than a pie in the face or any other common Western protest insult. My dad who was raised in Indian culture and is not too fond of Mr. Bush, watched the clip of shoes being thrown at him at least four times today and laughed out loud every time. The bottom of one’s shoes has dirt and the person receiving the shoe is considered low and dirty in their conduct.
Some funny comments from the blogosphere:
“lol yeah he was like “BY GOLLY! A man just hurled his footwear at me! This is a matter most peculiar! But why? Why would someone do such a thing? What might his cause be? I don’t know. I am just as baffled as you are, Madam Reporter! What’s that you say? He’s screaming about dogs, widows and children? MY GOD! This man is on crack! Away with him to the dungeons.”
MuslimMatters.org
“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” – Sigmund Freud. Likewise, sometimes a shoe is just a shoe. Don’t overanalyse it, the guy didn’t like Dubya, or what he was saying, and threw what came to hand first. (the secret service will, as a result of this, insist that everyone remove their shoes before being allowed to attend a press conference. (we’ve seen this absurdity at airports already)”
Crikey.com
WordPress 2.7 (Short Review)
So I’ve finally installed WordPress 2.7 here on this blog and I’m loving some of the features.
I think all those who contributed to the UI deserve credit for the improvements. That said, there are still some useability issues which could be fixed with minor tweaks. For example, in the Posts, Links and Pages screens, although the “Add New” button appears in the left-hand menu, it does not appear in the actual screen on the right which would just make things quicker and easier.
I’d like to give a shout out to one person who I think developed one of the most import recent plugins, WordPress Automatic Upgrade. Made by Keith Dsouza, the plugin was retired in September when Keith got notice that WordPress would integrated the automatic upgrade feature in 2.7, which was a good decision on Automattic’s part but kudos to Keith for the original concept.
One thing that we still don’t see, which I think is a big void, is the ability to add custom meta data to the Links. If you can customize your posts so that you can add various types of custom data, why not to your links? With custom fields in your link edit screen, you could provide your blog/website readers with more information about people, organizations or websites in your blogroll, such as their email address, physical address (for businesses and charities), twitter ID and other social network and social bookmarking ID’s. This would allow you to take your blogroll to the level of a community directory. There is a temporary workaround for this which I’ll post about later.
Another thing – the option to make a post “stick” to the front page is great, but being able to define a date until which is sticks would be icing on the cake.
Help Your Local British Columbia Food Bank
[This post will stay at the top until January 1st]
Please donate to your Local Food Banks in BC
Read the rest of this entry »
WordPress 2.7 “Coltrane” – It’s Out!
The much anticipated WordPress 2.7 is out!
- Matt’s Blog Post on WordPress.org
- Direct Download (zip)
- Bloggers React (Technorati)
- Bloggers React (Google)
I didn’t mind the other layout from a visual perspective. This one saves a lot of vertical space however.
From a functional perspective there are a lot more great features:
- You can quickly post a draft directly from the dashboard.
- You can also completely customize the display on the dashboard and only see the boxes you want to see.
- You can batch edit posts, so if you want to change a certain word or phrase in all posts it’ll be easy.
- You can also customize the Write / Edit post page so that it only has the boxes you want and need, in the places you want them.
- You can reply to comments directly from the admin area rather than going to the post
- Once you turn the option on, you can also use keyboard shortcuts to moderate your comments (simple as A for Accept, S for Spam, D for Delete, R for Reply, Q for Edit).
- You can make posts “stick” to the top of your home page
- and many more features.
