For all of the details you can check out:

• Press release
• GigPark blog
• A great story on StartupNorth
• Globe and Mail story
• TechCruch post
• National Post story
• ... and lots of comments on twitter

I'm planning on spending the next few weeks saying thank you to all of the incredible people who helped build and grow GigPark - as a product, a buinsess and a community. These fine folks deserve extra special mention:

• Noah Godfrey - the best business partner I could possibly wish for
• Paul Dowman - our Director of Technology and, for all intents and purposes, the 3rd founder of GigPark
• Tony Targonski and Gianni Chiappetta - our massively talented and absolutely hilarious developers. These guys are the future of the tech scene on Canada
• Our 25 first beta members who were kind enough to meet with us and provide invaluable feedback for many months - you are the heart and soul of the GigPark community!
• Our first few business members including Rannie and Alistair who helped us build our businesses product
• Jaspal Riyait - one of Canada's best designers and the talent who (together with Gianni) created the look and feel of the site
• Erica Godfrey - another incredibly talented designer and the creator of the beautiful GigPark logo
• Clayton Hanmer - long time GigPark user and the person responsible for the fantastic illustrations on GigPark
• Rob Hyndman - our fearless lawyer. If you are running a tech company in Canada please hire this man. He is simply incredible to work with
• Stephen Shulman - one heck of an accountant! Which, as it turns out, is a pretty important thing to have :)
• All of the people that gave us invaluable advice over the last 3 years including: Mike McDerment, Mike Masnick, Mark Fletcher, Mark Shedletsky, Dre Labre, Dan Debow, Mark Evans, Mathew Ingram, Stuart MacDonald, Jevon MacDonald, Jonas Brandon, John Phillips Green, Malgosia Green, Jay Goldman, Leila Boujnane, Paul Bloore, David Crow, Albert Lai, Anand Agarawala, Rick Segal, Michael Holland, Erick Schonfeld, Mark Dowds, Greg Wilson, Jodi Brown, Paul Godfrey, Mike Cassidy, Chris Sukornyk, George Telidis, Hector Catre, Kirk Lapointe, Pat Lor, Sonya Meloff, David Stein, Danny Khatib, Tony Mamone, Dave Kashen, Michael Williams, Reuven Cohen, Shawn Konopinsky, Candice Faktor, Darren Morgenstern, Max Ventilla, Rick Camilleri and all of the other fantastic people I've forgotten to mention (sorry!).

Cheers! :)

(from the team at espresso)

The move will mean we will be a lot closer to the beaches and the incredible Don Valley. I'd almost forgotten how great the mountain biking is in the Don. Aside from the North Shore in Vancouver, the Don is probably one of the best trail networks in a major city.

Here is a map of a ride I did with my friend Mark in the weekend. Apparently we didn't even get to the upper sections. Have fun in the trails!

We love our loft and would really like a nice tenant who will enjoy and look after the place. If you know someone looking to make a move then please do us a huge favor and pass along this info. Friends helping friends is a beautiful thing. Thanks so much!

UPDATE: We've now found a lovely tenant to rent the loft. Thanks to everyone who helped us spread the word!! I'll post again next time the loft is available.

Toyota Canada invited about 100 of their nearest and dearest along to the Canadian AutoShow at 8am for breakfast and a good look around the new model. There was a display model that we could climb all over and a second Prius that we could turn on to see some of the new instruments.

I'll stop blabbing and get straight to the photos. Scroll to the bottom if you're interested in our thoughts about the car.

Things we loved about the new 2010 Prius:

1. 7% more fuel efficient  than the previous Prius
2. 22% more powerful (the engine is substantially bigger)
3. Styling is still quirky and obviously focused on aerodynamics - the Prius has a drag coefficient of 0.25 (very low apparently)
4. Solar roof to heat and cool the car
5. Most of the plastic in the interior is manafactured from plant matter in an attempt to cut down on CO2 emissions during manufacturing
6. The Prius has 3 modes: Power, Eco and Electric (not the actual names). Electric mode lets you drive short distances, a few kilometers, without using the gas engine

Things we didn't love about the Prius:

1. The price. Although not announced yet I suspect the Prius will be very close to $30,000 in Canada - a little out of reach for most people.

Overall Ros and I were pretty excited about the new 2010 Prius. Toyota seem to have made a huge number of improvements while still staying true to the original purpose of the car. It still looks quirky and it is still an outrageously fuel efficient ride. Well done Toyota!

While at the AutoShow we also checked out the Prius' main competition, the Honda Insight. Stay tuned for a post about that car soon.

Dre is always showing me iPhone applications that he downloads to replace other devices in his life. His guitar tuner app, for example, that means he doesn't need a seperate guitar tuner in each of his 11 guitar cases (he like guitars!). Dre makes a good case in this presentation that a growing number of unsuspecting businesses are going to feel the burn when their products start to get replaced by apps in large numbers.

He makes a bunch of other great points too. Take a read - it's short...

Anyway, over the holidays I played a few rounds in Perth, Western Australia. They have 3 courses there and I only got to play one but it was great! These photos are from Rob Hancock park.

Friends who know what an espresso nut I am sometimes ask me about buying coffee machines. They are usually weighing up between a couple of different $200-$300 models and they ask my opinion. I always try to convince them to take a deep breath and then fork out $700 for a great espresso machine that will last them years rather than an average one that will last a year or two. 

Here is my personal case for why you should invest $700 in a good espresso machine. I hope it helps you justify buying one... You won't regret it! :)

Cost of a good espresso machine: $700

I picked up a basic La Pavoni back in 2001 for about this price but there are much better models available now.

Lifetime of a good espresso machine: 7 years and counting

I've had my Pavoni for 7 years. The only repair I've had to do so far is replacing a gasket. Cheap and easy.

Number of espresso shots pulled: more than 2500 so far

I have a shot a day from the Pavoni. Two on most weekends but we won't even count those ones. So, 365 shots per year x 7 years = 2555 total shots so far.

Cost per shot: $0.28

Compare that to a $250 machine that lasts 2 years (if you're lucky)... 365 shots per year x 2 years = 730 total shots until it dies. $200 / 730 = $0.34. 20% more expensive!

I rest my case :). Invest in great coffee and you will be repaid with years of happiness AND savings.

Also, let's lay to rest the idea that a cheap espresso machine can pull the same quality espresso as good one. Does a $250 machine produce hockey pucks like this? Thought not :)