Sunday, August 26, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Controlling the Web
In the wake of the death of Demonoid.com, yet another popular online-content-facilitator, by the coordinated efforts of agencies with powerful interests in the movie & music industries. Demonoid's demise was also mitigated by help from foreign governments (her Mexico & Ukraine) in partnership with U.S. authorities
This 2012 documentary by Al Jazeera’s weekly show, Fault Lines, discusses increasing attempts by US authorities, in the name of so-called national security, to regulate on-line user freedoms with legislation like the recently squashed SOPA and PIPA acts.
This 2012 documentary by Al Jazeera’s weekly show, Fault Lines, discusses increasing attempts by US authorities, in the name of so-called national security, to regulate on-line user freedoms with legislation like the recently squashed SOPA and PIPA acts.
It is a well presented piece outlining in a matter-of-fact fashion, the dilemma online users face in an age when the US government presses a relentless campaign, in seeming conjunction with agencies like the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), to control the web.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Acadie, and the Coming of an Idea!
It began with a book. Actually, it began with my never-spoken-of
heritage. As I toured the historic sites in the region the idea
germinated. The idea.
I have always been interested in my Acadien roots,
and in the reasons why my mother chose to close the door on this aspect
of my family history. I was raised in a Loyalist city, educated in
English schools, though accessibility to a French school was entirely
possible. I remember my grandmother's excessively broken English, as
she would occasionally revert to the more natural rhythms of French out
of frustration. I remember numerous trips to Quebec when I was a child
and my mother stubbornly refusing to respond in the language of the
province, though this language was her very own.
The 60s and 70s in Canada rife with multi-various cultural biases; some toward minorities, others English toward French, and as I would come to know - Quebec-French toward the french of L'Acadie. These biases still exist to this day, the stagnant remnants of an old and nullifying cultural elitism. Living in Quebec in the 60s and 70s, my mother and father fully endured this cultural ostracizing and low level abuse, a kind specific to Acadiens. For my mother, it would ultimately manifest as a rejection of her Acadien heritage, a rejection that did not dissipate after returning to New Brunswick. It was a reaction I never understood.
Familial dysfunctions aside, I would carry this cultural void with me. As I discovered my skill with the pen I knew one day I would somehow use it, as any writer worth his salt will utilize dysfunction for creativity. It is from these places that ideas are born.
Then I got my hands on a copy of John Mack Faragher's 'A Great and Noble Scheme'.
For the past couple of years I have been trying to tour all of the Acadien historic sites, military forts, locations of landings and historic villages in Atlantic Canada. I explored, asked questions and shivered on the verge of a worthy project that has eluded me for some time.
I can see through the creative fog a potential and topical story. It is an abundant and adventurous history of discovery and loss, of hardship and oppression, of traitors and heroes alike. The story speaks of independence against pan-continental political intrigue. It is of a people who crossed an ocean to start over in a new, untamed land, befriended the Mi'Kmaq nation, inter-married and went on to develop a unique and prosperous culture. Then suddenly, crushed by the political machinations of an imperial and haughty nation of conquest against a nation which forgot its relocated children, this new culture was nearly snuffed from existence by the earliest documented act of ethnic cleansing on any Continental soil.
However, they endured - to this very day. Peppered along the East coast of Canada and the U.S. they continue and prosper.
Some forty years ago the "Quiet Revolution" portrayed in the documentary, 'Acadie, Acadie' is a reminder of the type of battle still fought by this resilient people. They remain an indelible and unique slice of one of Canada's two solitudes.
But about 'ideas'.
L'Acadie is a piece of my history. It was untapped in my upbringing, smothered by an Anglo-Loyalist educational system which quite simply ignored this historical embarrassment - the systematic dismantling and removal in 1755 of a nascent, culturally distinct community.
The ideas come.
Writers dig for them constantly and unconsciously, and here I think I have found such a one. I'll continue to dig through Acadien history, perusing the drama, pondering real and fictional characters, and then I will sew it together into.., into something.
And this is how it starts. A writer's golden nugget, or clump of rock - depending on the outcome. An idea, grounded in some kind of reality, in this case a personal and cultural one. Then we write. And write. And see what kind of world transcends the ink on the pages.
An idea. A wonderful thing. I wonder where it will go?
 |
| Painting - Acadie - Dan Brown |
The 60s and 70s in Canada rife with multi-various cultural biases; some toward minorities, others English toward French, and as I would come to know - Quebec-French toward the french of L'Acadie. These biases still exist to this day, the stagnant remnants of an old and nullifying cultural elitism. Living in Quebec in the 60s and 70s, my mother and father fully endured this cultural ostracizing and low level abuse, a kind specific to Acadiens. For my mother, it would ultimately manifest as a rejection of her Acadien heritage, a rejection that did not dissipate after returning to New Brunswick. It was a reaction I never understood.
Familial dysfunctions aside, I would carry this cultural void with me. As I discovered my skill with the pen I knew one day I would somehow use it, as any writer worth his salt will utilize dysfunction for creativity. It is from these places that ideas are born.
Then I got my hands on a copy of John Mack Faragher's 'A Great and Noble Scheme'.
For the past couple of years I have been trying to tour all of the Acadien historic sites, military forts, locations of landings and historic villages in Atlantic Canada. I explored, asked questions and shivered on the verge of a worthy project that has eluded me for some time.
I can see through the creative fog a potential and topical story. It is an abundant and adventurous history of discovery and loss, of hardship and oppression, of traitors and heroes alike. The story speaks of independence against pan-continental political intrigue. It is of a people who crossed an ocean to start over in a new, untamed land, befriended the Mi'Kmaq nation, inter-married and went on to develop a unique and prosperous culture. Then suddenly, crushed by the political machinations of an imperial and haughty nation of conquest against a nation which forgot its relocated children, this new culture was nearly snuffed from existence by the earliest documented act of ethnic cleansing on any Continental soil.
However, they endured - to this very day. Peppered along the East coast of Canada and the U.S. they continue and prosper.
Some forty years ago the "Quiet Revolution" portrayed in the documentary, 'Acadie, Acadie' is a reminder of the type of battle still fought by this resilient people. They remain an indelible and unique slice of one of Canada's two solitudes.
 |
| Photo - Madelaine Pearson |
L'Acadie is a piece of my history. It was untapped in my upbringing, smothered by an Anglo-Loyalist educational system which quite simply ignored this historical embarrassment - the systematic dismantling and removal in 1755 of a nascent, culturally distinct community.
The ideas come.
Writers dig for them constantly and unconsciously, and here I think I have found such a one. I'll continue to dig through Acadien history, perusing the drama, pondering real and fictional characters, and then I will sew it together into.., into something.
And this is how it starts. A writer's golden nugget, or clump of rock - depending on the outcome. An idea, grounded in some kind of reality, in this case a personal and cultural one. Then we write. And write. And see what kind of world transcends the ink on the pages.
An idea. A wonderful thing. I wonder where it will go?
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
An Interview
Today I was scrambling to get it together for something I hadn't done in some time: a formal work interview. This may sound strange but after building up a small, effective infrastructure I have been managing on contracts now for some time. Occasionally, I'll receive one of those ubiquitous online job postings to my in-box. And today's locale? Downtown. Brick and greenery. A building no more than 10 years old, if memory serves. A very reputable business with ties locally, regionally and nationally, and I was nervous. Now, I am no shrinking violet. Socially, I can play table-top caps with the best of my group at the local pub. In work dealings I am always a professional provider of words, who takes pride in delivering an impeccable product, whether it is a user guide, magazine article, forecasting report, online content, SEO strategy, or an operations manual. Working well with people is kind of a necessity these days, and I think I manage relationships fairly well.
But heading downtown, I was nervous. Not because I doubted my abilities. Not because I'd been out of the game for too long - I hadn't. And not because the scope of the position was beyond me. On the contrary, it was right up my ally. I think I've been so long involved in short and medium term contracts - which, mind you, are acquired under a different set of rules from full-time positions - that I think I forgot about the pace, the hustle and bustle, and the flowing bodies along corridors and between the cubicles. The water cooler cavalcade would be new to me again. Finding a parking spot would be new again. Navigating the ever-present and multi-various personalities would be new again.
So I think this nervousness was also a bit of excitement. Like when you happen to be in your old university town and you decide to drive around the buildings, breathing in all that is new, yet feeling on the very hairs of your skin the absolute familiarity of it all. There is a wash of warmth. An understanding. And I realize I am not nervous, or in the steely grip of trepidation. I am excited by possibility, and of learning new things. I am excited by the gamble of being one of a small handful of potential candidates being considered for this interesting position. My ego tells me I'm the one, but who really knows. I won't find out for a over a week.
Change is good. It's exciting. It refreshes the long-stare perspective and lightens the step. And now, the interview is over and I am home waiting for my daughter to finish dance class, and for my partner to call me to pick her up, and all while I tic-a-tap, tic-a-tap the keyboard the last bits to a piece of a TOM manual I am working on for a local tech shack.
Maybe next week things will be different. Maybe they will remain as such. All we can really do is our best when trying to reshape, update or situate ourselves. Then we can slip into the current, close our eyes, and calmly anticipate where the invisible hand of fate may guide us this time.
 |
| "Pick ME! I'm Different!" |
So I think this nervousness was also a bit of excitement. Like when you happen to be in your old university town and you decide to drive around the buildings, breathing in all that is new, yet feeling on the very hairs of your skin the absolute familiarity of it all. There is a wash of warmth. An understanding. And I realize I am not nervous, or in the steely grip of trepidation. I am excited by possibility, and of learning new things. I am excited by the gamble of being one of a small handful of potential candidates being considered for this interesting position. My ego tells me I'm the one, but who really knows. I won't find out for a over a week.
Change is good. It's exciting. It refreshes the long-stare perspective and lightens the step. And now, the interview is over and I am home waiting for my daughter to finish dance class, and for my partner to call me to pick her up, and all while I tic-a-tap, tic-a-tap the keyboard the last bits to a piece of a TOM manual I am working on for a local tech shack.
Maybe next week things will be different. Maybe they will remain as such. All we can really do is our best when trying to reshape, update or situate ourselves. Then we can slip into the current, close our eyes, and calmly anticipate where the invisible hand of fate may guide us this time.
------------
Monday, March 12, 2012
My Blog Makeover!
It's definitely good to finally have my blog-space restructured and ready to go. I will migrate old content periodically and add the new stuff as ideas comes. With a broader approach I should be able to cover more topics with a wider appeal of interest. So here's hoping!
Blogs to come in March, April and May of 2012:
- A discussion on SEO writing / copywriting.
- The "How To" Manual; Ongoing Series
- Contracts
- Structuring various User Guides
- Writing Spaces
- Questionable CI Research & Behavioral Tactics
- 'Help' Authoring Tutorial
- Writing with Markets in mind
- Building a creative presence: Submitting to literary journals
- Development of a precision CI Map
- Publishing E-Books - Pricing, Covers, Exposure, & More
- Automated Publishing
- Estimation; The Difficulty of Forecasting Time to Write
- Difference between Competitive Intelligence and Data Mining
- Creating online content that will Rank well
- The U.S. list of challenged books, and other bannings
- Tools: An Update
- Book Review; Information Development: Managing Your Documentation Projects, Portfolio, and People.
- Writers' markets: Canadian, U.S. and the Global markets
- On Spec submissions
- The ethics of simultaneous submissions to magazines
These will be a good restart and should help reengage my old followers, and hopefully help acquire new fans. Stay tuned.
Blogs to come in March, April and May of 2012:
- A discussion on SEO writing / copywriting.
- The "How To" Manual; Ongoing Series
- Contracts
- Structuring various User Guides
- Writing Spaces
- Questionable CI Research & Behavioral Tactics
- 'Help' Authoring Tutorial
- Writing with Markets in mind
- Building a creative presence: Submitting to literary journals
- Development of a precision CI Map
- Publishing E-Books - Pricing, Covers, Exposure, & More
- Automated Publishing
- Estimation; The Difficulty of Forecasting Time to Write
- Difference between Competitive Intelligence and Data Mining
- Creating online content that will Rank well
- The U.S. list of challenged books, and other bannings
- Tools: An Update
- Book Review; Information Development: Managing Your Documentation Projects, Portfolio, and People.
- Writers' markets: Canadian, U.S. and the Global markets
- On Spec submissions
- The ethics of simultaneous submissions to magazines
These will be a good restart and should help reengage my old followers, and hopefully help acquire new fans. Stay tuned.
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