Jason M. Hanley

Dear younger generation...

2013-03-20T21:32:00.000-04:00

Note: This is a guest blog post from GrumpyOldMan123.

Dear younger generation,

As many older generations have done before, I humbly offer you some sanctimonious, unsolicited advice.

When you encounter a minor obstacle, never, ever make any effort to find a solution by yourself.

If you can't immediately find someone else to solve a problem for you, don't even consider researching it on your own.

Instead, amuse yourself with distractions. Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are all great resources for this.

If anyone asks you about the problem, complain loudly that you "just can't figure it out," and ask "why is this so hard?"

When you suffer the inevitable consequences, be sure to explain how you were "going to do it eventually," and say: "It's not my fault!"

And rest assured, this attitude has no adverse impact whatsoever on your career and personal life.

You're still entitled to the best of everything.

If you are disappointed with your accomplishments, don't worry, it's not your fault.

It's probably just bad luck.

Don't bother changing your attitude.

Keep it up. You're doing just fine.

Sincerely,
GrumpyOldMan123.

Fix Toronto Streetcars Tomorrow

2012-09-20T16:55:00.000-04:00

Dear Toronto,

Your streetcars have always caused me a lot of grief.

First, their schedules are so inconsistent. You don't see any for a half hour, then there's like 3 in a row.

Second, they're slow. Like, really slow. The east-west routes on busy streets are often much slower than walking at times.

Third, they're dangerous. You often have to cross a lane of traffic to board and disembark, so you risk death quite a lot.

These problem have existed for decades, and nobody seems to care.

Meanwhile, the main east-west routes (ie. King, Queen, Dundas, etc.) could be fixed tomorrow in 3 easy steps.

1. No street parking on main routes.

Toronto is not (supposed to be) a pissant little rural town where you just drive in and dump your car on Main Street to visit the General Store.

The never-ending stopping and parallel parking causes so many problems, it's ridiculous.

This is supposed to be the downtown core of a "world class" city.

Park those cars on side streets and in parking garages, out of harm's way.

2. Lane restrictions

Now that you have a second lane you can actually drive in, restrict the transit lane (the one with the train tracks that's annoying to drive in anyways) to trams, buses, and taxis.

Paint it blue, and put little train pictures on it.

Make a hefty fine for abusers (to supplement the revenue loss from the street parking).

This is what real cities do to keep people moving, instead of idling, yelling, and swearing at each other.

Bonus tip: Consider a bike lane or two while you're at it. Right now your bikes are all over the place, conflicting with both street traffic and pedestrians.

3. Make the streetcars safer to ride

Your only current protection from death when exiting a streetcar is a tiny little stop sign on the door -- after the door opens!

I don't know how many people are injured or killed this way each year, but I can say that many people very nearly get schmucked approximately every 3 minutes.

And it usually leads to lots of dinging, honking, yelling, and swearing.

All of which are easily preventable.

Long term, you need to either:
1. Move the streetcar lanes to the outside lanes (best solution) or at least
2. Make way more of those safe "islands" for people to wait at and exit to.

In the short term, at least put some bloody red flashing lights on the back (like a school bus) so drivers behind realize when to stop.

That small change could save both rider's lives, and help stupified out-of-town drivers that have no clue when they need to stop.

Summary

So there you have it. Toronto could improve its streetcar situation by about 300% by:

Eliminating street parking on major routes
Restricting access to transit lanes
Making it safer to get on and off

You're welcome. :)

Copycat, copycat!

2012-08-25T05:28:00.000-04:00

As a technologist, the recent Apple vs. Samsung lawsuit is extremely concerning.

I was hoping all of this software patent nonsense would go away, but Apple just proved that the new business model is more about litigation than innovation.

As a company that essentially "stole" the entire desktop GUI and mouse concept from Xerox, you have to wonder how they arrived here.

Ironically, this concept was subsequently "re-stolen" by Microsoft to create Windows -- one of the most ubiquitous, profitable pieces of software ever.

Naturally, Apple sued Microsoft in 1988, a long and bitter lawsuit that wasn't resolved until 1994, when Microsoft won.

In the midst of this, Apple was actually sued by Xerox, a suit that was dismissed.

In the Apple vs. Microsoft ruling, the court stated: "Apple cannot get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface, or the idea of a desktop metaphor."

They obviously took this to heart, and started patenting every damn thing they came up with -- "innovative" or not.

Now they've finally received what they were looking for -- damages for copying (what are essentially) ideas.

True innovation is always an incremental improvement on existing technology.

Meanwhile, patents are supposed to "promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries"

However, in a world where 6-month old technology is considered obsolete, a patent that can last up to 20 years just doesn't make sense.

Now, with my project management startup, PMRobot, I have to consider the huge, impending risk that a large incumbent has a patent "war chest" they're sitting on, just waiting to unleash it as soon as one of their competitors are successful.

What are my options as a small startup?

Build a massive paper trail and file as many "defensive" patents as I can, as insurance.
Estimate and factor in a possible "patent tax" to future financial projections.
Close my eyes, cross my fingers, and hope this insanity ends.

I really hope the Apple decision gets overturned, and we start cleaning up this whole software patent mess.

WHY are YOU doing a startup?

2012-07-10T10:07:00.000-04:00

Everyone and their friend's brother's baker seems to be doing a tech startup these days.

If you're not building your own web or mobile app, you're just not part of the cool crowd.

Some of these startups have investors and funding. Some don't.

To all you founders out there, I have one question:

WHY are YOU doing a startup?

Starting a new company is not easy.

I started my consulting company, Syllogistic Software, in 2003. It's almost been a decade, and the road to success was winding, ever-changing, and mostly uphill.

My startup, PMRobot, has been in the works for anywhere from 2-4 years, depending on how you count. I've poured in my heart and soul, with little financial reward.

So again, WHY are YOU doing a startup?

Are you hoping to get rich?

Please, please, please stop right now if that's the case.

The odds that your company will last more than a few years are less than 50/50.

Then, if you do survive -- after many years of blood, sweat and tears -- there is a 67% chance your company will sell for less than $250,000 -- an amount that one developer or designer could make in 4 years, working regular hours -- with evenings and weekends off!

So you might ask me: Why am I doing a startup?

Is it a rational choice? No, not entirely.

So why bother then?

1. I love building software

The pure intellectual challenge of connecting so many complicated pieces to create something useful is both an art and a science.

2. I love learning

Every single minute of every single day I work on my business I'm learning something new.

3. I love creating something that other people love

I may not have a billion active users, like Facebook, but I have traction. More than 100 unique daily visitors. Almost 10 people a day signing up (a 10% conversion rate for you other startup geeks).

My Expectations

I think it's important to have realistic expectations.

I have no grandiose visions of replacing generic, mass-appeal market leaders like Basecamp and Pivotal Tracker.

That would be like opening a local, organic Italian restaurant with the intent of driving Olive Garden out of business.

My product is not for everyone. Not at all.

If you haven't managed several large, successful software projects, you probably won't get it.

If you haven't managed several large, unsuccessful software projects, you probably won't get it.

If you have less than 5 years experience with software project management, you probably won't get it.

But if you do get it, you really get it, and you're in my little niche of a niche of a market.

My Customers

More important than the vanity statistics like DAUs and CTRs, I have a core group about 100 people I call "power users" that have been with PMRobot for many months (or even years in some cases).

These people tell me what is working, and what needs improvement.

They say "thanks" when I roll out a new feature they asked for.

They bug me about bugs that are bugging them. (say that 3 times fast :)

These customers are the reason I spend some late nights reading about obscure Javascript optimizations to make their pages load faster.

What are YOUR reasons for doing a startup?

Do you have a personal passion for your product?

Do you love building it?

Do you love your customers?

If you answered YES to all three of these questions, please -- Carry on and keep going!

You may or may not succeed in the end, but either way, the journey will be well worth the investment.

Update: Discuss on Hacker News

About the author: Jason Hanley has a Computer Science degree, a Business degree, a PMP certification, and a pilot's license, but believes that real life experience trumps formal education -- every time.

Au revoir Nice, Hola España (and مرحبا المغرب)

2012-04-22T06:09:00.000-04:00

We're just about finished our 3-month stay here in beautiful Nice, France.

It's been excellent. We're sad to go, but the adventure must continue! :)

In a week, we'll be flying to Madrid, Spain. After touring there a few days, we'll be volunteering and teaching English for a week at the Pueblo Inglés program in the mountain village of La Alberca.

Then we bus back to Madrid to take a train to the southern city of Seville for 3 days. After hopping another train and spending 2 days in Cordova, we go even further south to Tarifa, Spain to spend some time on the beach watching the kite surfers.

That will be followed by a 1-hour high-speed ferry trip across the Straight of Gibaltar to the African continent, landing in Tangier, Morocco.

After a few days in Tangier, we take a train to Fez, where our camel trekking safari in the Sahara desert begins. We'll be spending a night under the desert stars before continuing to the ancient city of Marrakesh.

From Marrakesh, we head back north to Casablanca, where we catch a flight to Bordeaux, France.

Bordeaux will be our home base for the summer -- June to August.

Here's what the trip looks like on a map:

We're both very excited about the trip. Of course, you'll be able to follow along as we post pictures to Facebook and Google+.

Live in the South of France for cheap

2011-12-11T17:26:00.001-05:00

I like seeing people's reactions when I tell them we are going to live in the South of France.

People get the impression that we're super-rich.

I've got news for you. We aren't. Not in the slightest.

So how are we doing it?

Well, for one, we've done something this year that few Canadians or Americans do anymore -- we've put money into a savings account.

That's right -- we resisted the incredible consumer spending urge and actually put away a few bucks for a rainy day.

And how'd we manage that?

The biggest savings, by far, came from neither of us owning a car for 14 months. This Globe & Mail article pegs the annual cost of car ownership between $8,500-$14,000.

Even subtracting TTC passes, tokens, car rentals and ZipCar, we each saved approximately a crapload of money by not driving.

This had its drawbacks and inconveniences, of course. But in hindsight, it's a tradeoff I would make again.

Meanwhile, our flights to Paris booked with TravelCuts cost less than $500 each.

What about our accommodations in Nice?

We used a site called HomeAway to find a long-term furnished rental. The rent is about the same as our downtown Toronto condo. Except that all utilities and Internet are included. So really, it's even cheaper.

That means that 3 months of living in beautiful southern France, by the ocean, will be far cheaper than weathering another Toronto winter.

Of course, it does mean we have to sell all our furniture -- which is a giant pain in the butt, no doubt. (Email me if you know someone who needs a bed, couch, tv, desk, shelves or coffee table :)

Isn't that all a lot of work?

In a word, yes. There's a ton of work and planning to make something like this happen.

It's not a lifestyle for the lazy or complacent. Like anything in life -- you get out what you put in.

We decided travel was a priority, so we made it happen.

There are lots of other things we have to scale back on or defer, but it's a conscious decision we're both very happy with.

What will you do when you get back?

Good question! Our plan so far is mapped out to the end of April 2012.

We have some ideas, but we'll have to see where the wind takes us... :)

Please keep in touch with your favorite method -- Email, Facebook, Phone (I have a local Kitchener number that forwards to my computer), etc.

We'll do our best to do the same, and keep you all updated on our adventures!

T minus 2 months to France!

2011-11-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

As some of you may already know, Melissa and I were recently accepted for a one-year working holiday to France!

We had our interview (which we conducted mostly in French) on November 18th, and received our visa in the mail the following week.

I've been taking French classes at Alliance Francaise 3 days a week, and Mel has been practicing her French writing her resume and calling up places in France.

I will continue to grow my startup, PMRobot, as well as managing consulting projects for Syllogistic Software, working remotely and following 4HWW principles.

We're leaving Toronto for Paris on January 8th. After a few days in Paris, we're kicking off the trip with a cross-country of Italy, flying south to Naples on the 13th, then slowing heading north via Rome, Tuscany, Vienna, and Milan.

From there we'll go west to Nice, where we'll be planting roots for a whole 3 months. It's been a lifelong dream of mine to live in the south of France, so here comes another check on the ol' bucket list :)

After that? We'll likely travel further west to check out Spain's spring festivals, then north as we head into summer.

As much as we'll miss all of our friends and family here in Canada, we're both very excited about experiencing European life and culture for a whole year.

As usual, you'll be able to follow our progress in pictures on Picasa Web, and via Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

We look forward to keeping in touch and hearing from you during our travels!

How to: Plan a trip overseas in 5 steps

2011-07-16T14:45:00.000-04:00

With all of the travelling we've done recently, we have the planning down to a science.

Step 1: TripAdvisor

First we hit up TripAdvisor and check out their "Things to Do" section.

Step 2: Google Maps

Then we map out everything we want to see and do on a shared Google Map, so we can start grouping things that are close together.

Step 3: Google Docs

Next, we create a shared Google Doc, start listing the attractions, and figuring out which day to do what. Once we start booking flights, trains, hostels, etc., all the times and confirmations numbers go here.

Step 4: Mobile phone/apps

For this trip, I've used the Labs feature in Android Google Maps to download all of London for offline use, in case I don't have a mobile signal. I've also installed two different apps that give live train and tube schedules.

Step 5: Paper

As great as technology is, it's not quite perfect. Laptops and phones can break or run out of battery power. Before we leave, we always print out a few copies of our most important information, just in case we can't access it electronically.

That's it!

Just remember that steps 1-3 do take a while, and you'll often come back and update them as you get advice from people on what to see, or realize that you've scheduled way too many things for one day :)

Hope this helps. Happy travels!

h5note: HTML5 Notepad

2011-05-24T23:15:00.000-04:00

For the longest time, I've been searching for a quick, easy way to take quick meeting notes.

I used to use a text editor called SciTE, the same editor I use for quick code editing, but I find managing files in a file system to be a real pain.

When I had an iPad for a while, I liked the default Notes application, but hated that there was no cloud storage or synchronization. (No, the crappy Gmail sync doesn't count)

Then I heard about EverNote. I thought that was the answer to my prayers, but unfortunately those guys decided to add every conceivable feature in the universe and have ended up with a bloated mess that takes an hour and a half to load.

There's a bunch of others I've tried too, like UberNote, Springpad, and the Diigo mishmash of apps.

But nothing was small enough, or simple enough for my taste.

So I did what any good developer does.

I created a "learning" project to scratch my own itch.

I used technology I've discussed at the HTML5 Toronto Meetup, and created the HTML5 Notepad:

All you do is type "h5note.com" into your browser bar on any device -- PC, Mac, iPhone, Android -- and start taking notes.

Everything is automatically saved to the device as you type. You can also sign in with a Google account and then your notes are synchronized across all of your devices.

It just works.

So what do you think? Does this fill a void for you, or do you have a better solution for note-taking already? Let me know in the comments.

Why do people vote Conservative / Republican?

2011-04-20T07:55:00.000-04:00

Add another one to my "things that confuse me" list...

Why do average, ordinary people vote for Conservative / Republican / (insert your right-wing party here) politicians?

I can see voting for them IF:

Your household income is more than $500,000/year
You are a majority shareholder in a corporation that employs more than 500 people
You are a senior management in a major corporation
You have the majority of your net worth invested in energy and "defense" stocks

But honestly, unless one or more of the above applies to you, it just doesn't make sense.

For the average Joe, voting for Conservative politicians is basically the equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot -- over and over again.

Their modis operandi is to systematically underfund and dismantle public institutions, and replace them with private corporations they can profit from.

The result is an ever increasing divide between rich and poor, creating a cheap labor force at the bottom (more profit!) and increasing conflict (more profit!).

These are the people that enable corporations like BP ruin a 600,000 square mile ecosystem without oversight, and let banks bet their money at the racetrack and keep the winnings, but get bailed out by the government when they lose.

And yet, a huge number of people vote for them each and every election because they say stuff like "No new taxes".

Somebody please explain this to me.

Imitation is not always the greatest form of flattery

2011-02-10T21:34:00.000-05:00

Compare my company's website:
http://www.syllogisticsoftware.com/

with this one:
http://mindfulltech.com/

Yikes!

They stole my intellectual property!

So should I go and sue them?

Issue a "cease and desist" letter?

Ummm... No.

Why not?

Because I'm not a moron and I don't have time and money to waste.

Large corporations and entertainment companies waste countless hours and millions of dollars suing people about their intellectual property.

Their products and businesses suffer greatly due to this distraction.

It's a digital world. People are going to copy stuff. It's easy and free.

I choose to not be bothered, and instead, focus my efforts on making my business better.

Maybe they should too.

Why not private healthcare?

2011-01-26T15:56:00.001-05:00

The traditional "for profit" economic model works great for most things.

For instance, take the mythical "widget". You research all the different types of widgets, find out the best deal, and purchase it.

Manufactures and suppliers compete to offer the best widget for the lowest price. You set a budget, and buy the "most bang for the buck" widget.

Now think about healthcare. What if your child has cancer? What is your budget to save them?

Are you going to be enticed by a discount coupon or "one day only sale" from one of the local competing hospitals?

Are you going to make a rational cost-benefit decision?

Or would you be willing to mortgage your house, cash out your RRSP, and sell everything you own, if it meant saving them?

That's the problem. The standard "supply and demand" economic model does not apply.

Now, I definitely think private healthcare has a role -- for elective and optional procedures.

But for emergency and critical care, for-profit healthcare just doesn't make sense to me.

What do you think?

Got problems? IPD: Identify. Plan. Do.

2011-01-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Do you have any problems?

I sure do. Tons of them!

Everyone has problems. You might even call them "challenges" or "puzzles" or "opportunities".

I use an incredibly complex, patent-pending 3-step methodology for dealing with them:

Identify
Plan
Do

This may seem like a very simple idea, but I assure you, most people do not follow this.

Everybody gets step 1. Most people know their problems.

Then then add:
Step 1.a) Worry about the problem.
Step 1.b) Complain about the problem.
Step 1.c) Make up excuses for not addressing the problem

I call this the WCE problem-solving methodology -- pronounced "wuss" ;)

I have news: WCE does not work. They are unnecessary steps.

A few people get to step 2, the planning stage, but never complete that step.

What about step 3: Doing -- the one that really matters? Hardly anyone ever makes it there. They're still too busy cranking out excuses.

So next time you come across a problem, just remember the 3 steps -- and don't add any extra ones!

IPD: Identify. Plan. Do.

Done. :)

How to combat the obesity epidemic

2010-12-29T11:47:00.002-05:00

From the December 2010 issue of Nutrition Action magazine:

"...if it's an epidemic, that means it's been triggered by the environment.

And what do you do if you have too much malaria? You drain the swamps.

What do you do if you have too many deaths on the highway? You impose seat belts.

These are public health measures.

What do you do when you have an epidemic of obesity?

We're going to have to impose taxes on soft drinks and subsidize healthier food.

And we need safe neighbourhoods where kids can play.

...

My grandmother knew that if you want to lose weight, you have to eat less and exercise more

We're still there, but the real trigger of the obesity epidemic is the environment

I couldn't agree more.

How long do you take to respond to emails?

2010-12-23T23:47:00.002-05:00

In Gmail, it's really easy to see how long it's been since you emailed someone, because it displays it right in the interface:

Lately I've noticed something very strange.

Most people seem to respond:

Within 24hrs
Exactly 3 days later
Exactly 7 days later
Or never

Has anyone else noticed a similar pattern?

I wonder if it has anything to do with how people manage (or mis-manage) their Inbox.

How long do you usually take to respond to emails?

Panasonic warranty is useless

2010-12-10T09:00:00.002-05:00

Last January, I bought a Panasonic Lumix camera when living in New Zealand.

I was wary of buying something expensive overseas, but was assured that it came with a 1-year "worldwide" warranty.

When the camera went dead in Thailand, I phoned the Panasonic support numbers in New Zealand and Canada (which of course both routed to India).

They asked where I lived, and told me I should deliver it to a Panasonic authorized repair center in Canada.

Very inconvenient, but I that's what I did once I returned.

However, after I sent it to the repair center, Panasonic decided they wouldn't pay for anything unless I could send them a copy of the warranty card that came in the box.

So now I have to pay for the repair estimate (they determined it was unrepairable) and shipping both ways.

I have the original receipt, the manual, and all accessories. The warranty is still valid through next month. Why should a photocopied piece of paper make any difference?

Oh right! So they have an excuse to weasel out, save a few bucks, and not honour the warranty on a product that has some serious design and quality problems.

Seems lots of others have had similar problems:

My advice to you would be to avoid buying a Panasonic product, unless you consider it disposable.

I certainly won't be purchasing from them again.

Congratulations Panasonic! You've earned a spot on my banned companies list.

What's really in our food?

2010-12-05T15:26:00.001-05:00

Before flying an airplane, multiple checks are done to ensure the fuel is pure, is the correct type, and has no containments, like sediment or water.

How often do we check our own fuel?

Do those "multi-grain" muffins actually contain any significant amount of whole wheat or bran?

How much salt does that "low sodium" soup really have?

Remember: You are what you eat!

Read those labels, learn what they mean, and make your own good decisions about your personal fuel.

In the meantime, check out the Nutrition Action Healthletter for some great information to help you out.

More on this topic:

First ZipCar Rental Review

2010-11-27T19:02:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, Mel and I took our first ZipCar for a spin.

For those of you who don't know, ZipCar is a company that rents cars by the hour or day, all inclusive of insurance and fuel.

The Good

- Cheap! Our 1.5hr trip to Ikea in a new Honda Civic cost a grand total of $18.23, including gas, insurance and all taxes.
- Easy! Reserve online, walk to the car, swipe your card, drive away.

The Not-So-Good

- The previous renter had left the has tank only 1/8th full -- contrary to ZipCar's policy of leaving it at least 1/4 full.
- The rear seat wasn't super-clean, and there was junk in the glove box.

Summary

Overall, it was a good experience and we'd certainly use ZipCar again for any short trip around town requiring a vehicle.

Are you actually hungry?

2010-11-22T08:22:00.000-05:00

You hear it all the time.

"I'm soooo hungry!" "I'm starving!"

But stop and think for a moment. Are you truly and actually hungry?

Here's one way to tell:

Pick a food you really don't like, but something healthy. Like spinach. Or broccoli. Or turnips. It'll be different for everyone.

Now pretend that's the only food available.

Still want some?

If it sounds appetizing and you could see yourself eating it, you're probably hungry.

If not, you're not hungry. You're likely upset, bored, or otherwise distracted.

In this case, try getting up and doing some sort of physical exercise. You'll probably forget about food altogether and start doing something productive instead!

What does your email address say about you?

2010-09-30T09:11:00.000-04:00

It may sound strange, but whenever I receive a business lead from my website, one of the first "qualifiers" I look at is the email address.

Over 7 years and hundreds of leads (most of them useless), I've discovered that an email address can say a lot about someone.

Even before reading the project description or budget, I look very carefully at the email address. From there, my qualifying process is a bit like this:

1. Is it a company address or free email service?

If it is a company address, that's positive. I use the domain name to go to their website and try to determine:
a) How long they've been in business
b) Their relative size
c) Any affiliations with larger companies/organizations

2. If it is a free email address, it is usually one of the following:

Great: Gmail: This is what most technical people use, and it is by far the best.
Ok: Yahoo Mail: This was a great service back in the 90s, but has since declined. This might indicate the lead is "behind the times".
Bad: Hotmail: This service has always been and continues to be awful. The lead either doesn't know better, or is too lazy to upgrade.

3. If they use a free email service, is their address username:

Great: Some concatenation of their first name and last name? (ie. John.Doe@, jdoe@, john_d@)
Ok: Some derivation of their company name? (ie. great_car_reviews@)
Not good: Some random words or even worse, numbers tacked on the end? (happy_dude_638@)

It's amazing, but with one simple piece of information, and this process, I can usually determine whether the lead is even worth following up on.

So... What does your email address say about you? :)

Arrival in Koh Phangan, Thailand

2010-09-14T03:12:00.000-04:00

Click above for more pictures

We've arrived on the small, tropical island of Koh Phangan, Thailand.

After a few days, my initial impression is very positive.

The Thai people are very polite and clean. Shoes need to be taken off before entering any building.

Prices are cheap, but not massively cheap. Our small furnished house, with air conditioning in the bedroom, a living room, a kitchen with gas range, and hot water shower, cost 15,000 baht (about $500) for a month, plus about another 3,000 baht ($100) for water, electricity, and ADSL internet that is probably better than an average Bell connection.

A load of laundry can be sent for washing, drying, and folding for 120 baht ($4). That's cheaper than when we did it ourselves at the hostel in Australia.

Western (imported) products cost nearly as much as back home. Food-wise, you can get cheaper stuff when it only has Thai writing -- if you can figure out what it is.

A 1.5L bottle of drinking water costs 15 baht ($0.50) in a grocery store.

One odd thing: People don't walk here. Just about everyone drives a motorbike.

We were able to rent a small (110cc) motorbike for 2,500 baht ($80) for the month. It was rented without even checking if we had any sort of driver's license (let along M-class). No helmet was provided, and I've only seen one or two people actually wearing them.

I was able to drive it semi-proficiently within minutes, even with Mel on the back. Corners and slippery surfaces are the most difficult, but when you're going straight at a constant speed, it's remarkably stable.

That said, everyone we've talked to has had some sort of motorbike incident -- usually just resulting in a few scrapes and bruises. We'll keep to driving slow and cautiously.

Any tips from others who have visited Thailand?

Perhaps online privacy is important after all

2010-08-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

I recently watched an enlightening documentary called "We Live In Public".

It made me completely rethink my previous notions about online privacy.

I'd like to believe that we can all be adults about things, and accept people's differences, but I could be wrong.

The 1999 "Quiet" experiment documented in this movie almost seems like a visionary warning to "future us", a decade later.

Although some may think that people can live together in truth and harmony, it didn't seem to work in this particular setting.

How does this relate to the online world? Well, for one, having your opinions and interests public certainly makes you think a bit more about what you post.

For example, I "like" the television show Weeds on my Facebook profile. Does that mean I support the legalization of marijuana, or simply that I enjoy the show? (It's a hilarious dramedy, by they way -- highly recommended)

Different people could interpret it different ways, I suppose.

So is opening up and being more honest with each other a good thing, or could it possibly lead to anarchy and social collapse?

I figure about a 50/50 chance either way at the moment. What do you think?

The difference between Urgent and Important

2010-08-02T08:45:00.004-04:00

These days, I'm seeing more and more people who have trouble differentiating between things that are urgent, versus things that are important.

I was reminded about this by a recent posting over at Business is Pleasure.

Software and devices generally have a "do not disturb" setting that silences them and sends calls to voicemail.

Use these features! If you're having lunch with someone and talking to them, don't try to answer emails and texts at the same bloody time!

Urgency does not necessarily imply importance! In fact, they can often be inversely correlated.

The most important things in your life often have little urgency attached to them, so it's up to you to keep track of them and make sure they don't get smothered and forgotten in the minutia of the day-to-day.

So every day, take some time to turn off your cellphone, shut down your email, stop tweeting and twittering, sit down, and do something that's actually important!

Original article:

The urgent or the important: which should you choose?

Mid-air plane collision in Feilding

2010-07-28T22:25:00.000-04:00

On Monday, July 26th there was a terrible tragedy.

Two small planes collided with each other in mid-air.

One of the planes landed safely, but the other crashed, killing two people.

This accident is very near and dear to me, as it happened at the flight school I've been training at the past 8 months.

In fact, Mel and I flew in TOD -- the plane that crashed -- just one day earlier.

It's difficult to fathom how this accident happened. It was a clear, mostly sunny day with not much wind. Excellent flying conditions.

The planes were all very well maintained, and the school has a superb safety culture. Students are well-trained.

The official accident investigation is underway, and will probably take 6-8 months to complete.

In the meantime, my heart goes out to the families involved, and all of the staff and students at the school.

Related Articles:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/flight-school-closes-collision-probed-3675483
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3960507/Plane-crash-victims-named

BuyMyStuff.com 1-year milestone and competition

2010-07-17T07:00:00.099-04:00

Lots of milestones lately. Almost missed this one!

It's been about a year since I unveiled my georeferenced online classified site, BuyMyStuff.com.

It's funny. The first thing people always say to me when I explain the site is, "Looks nice, but doesn't Craigslist already own that space?"

Despite what some may think, I did perform a bit of research on my competition prior to launch -- although not a whole lot :)

What I found was actually quite interesting. Although Craigslist dominates online classifieds in the United States, a site called Kijiji has most of the Canadian market.

Since then, I've learned that the international classifieds site market is extremely fragmented. It's difficult to get exact numbers, but using Google and Compete, you can get a rough idea of market leaders.

For example, here's the top classifieds sites in Australia: http://siteanalytics.compete.com/tradingpost.com.au+gumtree.com.au+ozfreeonline.com/

After looking at several major countries, I've come to believe that the current world leader is probably EBay Classifieds.

"Ebay Classifieds," you say. "But I've never even heard of them!"

Actually, you probably have. Because of their mass number of acquisitions and (in my opinion) a horrible branding decision, their sites have different names and different URLs everywhere.

So they're known as EBay Classifieds, Gumtree, Kijiji, Slando, Baixing, Dba, Quikr, Marktplaats, and possibly others. The distribution of names is probably based on their acquisitions, but if you put them all on a world map, they look extremely random, especially in Europe.

I think this is a huge strategic mistake on their part. I prefer to take the Facebook route, having one brand name, and one URL world-wide. Whether you're in Canada, India, or Indonesia, it's still called BuyMyStuff.com.

As far as multi-language goes, I plan to follow Facebook's lead and use moderated, user-contributed translations when the time comes.

Furthermore, I'm not competing directly with the entire "online classifieds" space. BuyMyStuff is focused on selling physical, used goods -- furniture, electronics, kitchenware, collectibles, video games, etc. -- and doesn't bother with categories like real estate or jobs.

Only time will tell how this strategy works. So far the growth has been steady and encouraging. I clearly don't have EBay's marketing budget, but I think people appreciate the single brand, and Google-like simplicity of the interface -- especially compared to the busy, dizzying home pages of some of the other sites.

I'm curious to know what you think. Please leave a comment or contact me by email and let me know!