Jef Raskin

Jef Raskin, one of the primariy instigators of the Macintosh, passed away yesterday.

97% of the installed base doesn’t know what they owe this guy. Were it not for him, you wouldn’t have the less crappy version of windows you currently have to use.

3% of the installed base does know, and are happier people for it.

Jef - you will be sadly missed.

Branding Vancouver

As someone who’s worked in Marketing for a while, I was caught up in the whole branding insanity of the mid to late 90s. It, of course, fizzled miserably - who couldn’t see that one coming? Mutual Fund companies spent millions “building the brand” while their performance sank - sales did too, notwithstanding the brand.

Here’s a clue: the Coca Cola brand? It’s sugar and water in a can, not a fancy logo. You can change the logo, but don’t touch that sugar water - anybody remember New Coke?

Anyway, to the point - Vancouver’s tourism commission has decided to brand the city, and they were yammering on about it on the CBC this morning. I chuckled vigorously when I heard the new mission statement for this city:

The Vancouver experience will exceed visitors expectations and we will deliver superior value in a spectacular destination that is safe, exciting and welcoming to everyone.

What does that mean, again?

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Ushuaia

Mt. Fitz Roy
Cerro Torre
Ushuaia
Valparaiso
Santiago

These places all loom in my head at the moment, and I’m planning a trip. Next year. Winter, of course, because that’s when I like to travel and the South American winter corresponds quite nicely with my birthday.

2006 will mark my 35th year, and I’m going to celebrate it in style.

40 years of the Canadian Flag

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Canadian flag - a flag I’ve known, and been proud of, for my entire life.

The flag meant something powerful 40 years ago: it meant that Canada was finally, at long last, one nation - sovereign. No longer a mere offshoot of the British Empire, our fate was our own to mould.

It’s been 40 years since then, and the nation is still wrestling with the same issues.

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Anniversaries

I only just found out - I had long since forgotten the date - that last Friday, February 10, 2005 would have been my grandparents 64th wedding anniversary had my grandfather not passed away 16 years ago.

I smiled when I heard this, and thought of the three elephants I have lined up on the table that currently serves as my desk.

It’s a time of anniversaries for me: about two years ago today, I moved into a house I expected to live in for a long time. On the very same day, I lost a very close friend in Toronto who had two kids of his own to take care of.

Anniversaries are important, but I like some more than others.

canada

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someone very tired

there’s something seriously wrong here

it’s 3 in the morning, and i wake up. no big deal, except that this keeps happening earlier and earlier.

yesterday it was 4 a.m., and it took me two hours to get back to sleep. not fun.

so this morning, i’m sitting here doing some internet domain admin waiting to catch my ride to work. this is just wrong.

but i gotta go now. time to leave.

i need sleep. normal. regular. extended hours of sleep.

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