I’m not competitive or anything, but here’s how Toronto and Vancouver compare – at least when it comes to Technorati Tags. (these charts are dynamic and will change over time)
Posts that contain Toronto per day for the last 30 days.
Posts that contain Vancouver per day for the last 30 days.
Vancouver bloggers – Toronto’s kicking our blogasses.
Lets see if we can do something about that shall we.
Getting a manuscript in front of a literary agent or publisher is almost impossible without a recommendation. The Front List combines the web and a type of peer review to help authors get their works seen…
The process is straightforward: After posting an extract from a completed work on The Front List, a writer is allocated five works to critique while his or her extract is, in turn, read and annotated by five other authors. Marks are given out of 50 – based on five set criteria, which vary according to genre.
Any member who scores over a certain threshold (225 points out of a possible 250) is guaranteed a reading by a respected literary agent or publisher. The site makes money by charging members £10, or about $19.75, if they wish to read the critiques of their work.
Microsoft’s new Live Search Books goes live tomorrow 7 December. The University of Toronto library is one of three libraries includes in the initial project.
All the books currently included in the project will be non-copyrighted but later it will also add copyrighted work that publishers have given permission to include in the project.
“We feel very strongly about copyright. We don’t do any mass scanning of in-copyright works,” said Danielle Tiedt, the general manager of Live Search Selection for Microsoft.
Initially the database of available books will be searchable from the book search engine’s home page or as a category on the main Windows Live Search page.
The UK and Ireland have the highest per capita WiFi on the planet:
The report found that 25 percent of the world’s hotspots are in the US. The US also has the highest absolute number of hotspots in the world (about 26,000), but in relative terms, the UK and Ireland both came out on top with approximately 18 hotspots per 100 people, compared to the 8.8 hotspots per 100 people in the US. China and Italy had at the lowest number of hotspots, at 0.2 and 3 per 100 people, respectively.
First shot out of the box with the new Lensbaby 3G.
I’m a long way from figuring out the sweet spot, but these selective focus lenses from Lensbabies are a riot.
And you thought your job was tough…
Santas get sneezed upon up to ten times a day, fend off children pulling their beards and mop up after children who frequently wet their laps, according to the survey of hundreds of men who work as seasonal Santa Claus characters.
Full story here.
I’m not obsessed with work-life balance, really I’m not.
It’s just that after being on a panel to discuss it, I keep reading stories about it, and I just have to share.
A few days ago I blogged about extreme jobs. Now from Australia, this story about shrinking-holiday syndrome.
Via the Sydney Morning Herald
The data identified several workplace conditions that were leading to shrinking-holiday syndrome, including the encroachment of work into personal life, the stress of not being able to take care of work issues remotely and the physical act of travelling into the office during days off and holidays.
It also found that many organisations were not giving their employees the tools required to work remotely, yet workers were expected to be on-call and available to travel into the office, which was leading to high levels of frustration.
The legendary French Foreign Legion wouldn’t be top of my list of savvy online organizations, but there, my friend, is my big mistake…
via the International Herald Tribune
Online outreach has proved so effective that the legion is considering closing recruiting offices in smaller French cities, allowing it to experiment with new approaches – like its recruiting truck that trolls the touristy beaches of France, emblazoned with the Web address.
“We constantly evolve,” said Colonel Vincent Le Cour Grandmaison, chief of staff of the legion’s general headquarters. “The Internet has really opened the way for us to reach the globe.”
AmieStreet is a fantastic music site – the idea is that every song starts off being free, but the more popular, the higher the price, until a song reaches a maximum price of 98 cents.
It’s a great idea, the music has no DRM, it’s just a great way for a band to share their stuff, and if people start digging it, they might make some money.
Seems better than a record deal in the long run…
Looks like Yahoo and Reuters are getting into the ‘citizen journalism’ game – though we’ll have to wait and see what this actually turns into.
via The Register
Yahoo! and Reuters are creating a website to collect video and photos taken by readers.
The site is called You Witness and will be available from tomorrow here.Initially, the service will provide stills and video media for the Yahoo! website, but from early next year the content will be offered to other Reuters customers. Yahoo! is still deciding how punters will be paid if their photos are sold on. Most existing services split the proceeds 50:50.
If you’ve been thinking “wouldn’t it be great to have something like YouTube but with high quality video” then think no more.
Zudeo by Azureus promises just that.
They’ve been growing on our dining room table …
Bound for the Cleveland School Craft Fair. Wouldn’t you want to pin one of these to your jacket ?
I like clouds as a visual tool. Quintura clouds help you search – roll over a cloud element to see sub clouds. Quintura.com
Where is Internet advertising going ? Look to the UK:
Online advertising is racing ahead in Britain, growing at a roughly 40 percent annual rate, and it is expected to account for as much as 14 percent of overall advertising spending this year, according to media buying agencies.
That is the highest level in the world, and more than double the U.S. percentage.
Our recent panel discussion on Work-Life balance sparked a lot of interesting discussion. This story in the Christian Science Monitor looks at what they call Extreme Jobs…
Although workaholics have always existed, their image has been glamorized. Today’s overachievers are cast as “road warriors and masters of the universe,” says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, president of the Center for Work-Life Policy in New York. Yet despite their impressive financial rewards, those burning this midnight oil face challenges. Warning that their pace is not sustainable, Dr. Hewlett says, “There’s a lot of risk attached. The fallout in private lives is huge.” In addition, women are being left behind because many cannot put in 70-hour weeks.
Cypress Mountain
9am, Dec 3, 2006
From the New York Times via the International Herald Tribune:
I suspect that even some of our more enlightened smokers will be surprised to learn that cigarette smoke is radioactive, and that these odd fears spilling from a poisoned KGB man may be molehills compared to our really big cancer mountains.
Riding the Sunrise Lift, Cypress Mountain.
9am, Dec 1, 2006
The school board here on the North Shore wants to sell ‘surplus land’ in order to find money for capital projects.
One of the pieces of land is the Cleveland Forest, and area that for generations kids at Cleveland Elementary have used as a playground. It’s a magic place for them, and they’re incredulous that the board is even thinking of selling it.
Unfortunately, the board seems intent on moving forward with this, despite an overwhelming public response against the idea.
There’s a long way to go yet in the process, but parents are trying their best to keep drawing attention to the issue.
You can help by commenting on the story at NowPublic – and by visiting and commenting on the ClevelandForest blog.
A museum dedicated to Swedish pop group Abba is to open in Stockholm in 2008, organisers have said.
Outfits and instruments used by the band will be on display along with handwritten song lyrics.
“It is nice someone feels compelled to take on our musical history,” the group said in a statement.
Last week I was on a panel discussion on Work-Life Balance, hosted by New Media BC at the Vancouver Film School.
I managed to stick my Compact Flash recorder in the sound booth and captured the session for a podcast.
The discussion was sponsored by New Media BC in Vancouver and held at the Vancouver Film School.
Work/Life Balance: Empty Promise or Key to Happiness?
Moderators:
W. G. Arndt (“Wil”), creative director and founding principal of mod7.com
Gordon Ross, Vice President and partner, Open Road Communications Ltd
Panelists:
Mark Busse, Partner and Design Director, Industrial Brand Creative
Stephen Beck,Principal, Engine Digital
Ron Bignell, Senior Art Director, Electronic Arts
Lisa Vogt, Managing Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Robert Ouimet, Partner, At Large Media
Jer Thorpe, Freelance Designer
Eric Karjaluoto, Principal, smashLAB
Podcast:
Runs 1:21:43 37 meg download
……….
PS:
A while ago I posted a pie chart of my current work-life-balance.