I collect sayings.  Not physically, but in my head.  I've done so all my life, and it's something I enjoy no end.  In the past two days I've stumbled on two great ones, and I offer them here as a way to enjoy them more fully as I take the…

As Fardad gears up to start teaching OpenOffice.org development in the winter, he's doing a bunch of work on the code right now.  What he's finding is that OOo builds are slOOow, like 8 hours slow for a clobber build.  Yesterday, as I walked past all our quad-core machines…

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk…

Last night at dinner my girls got us talking about octopai, which led to cuttlefish, which led to squid and giant squid.  Well, it wasn't long until we were talking about Sperm Whales, at which point it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'd be reading Moby Dick after…

While I wait for a build to finish, I have time to share a story about something I learned yesterday.  First, I have to gloat: our girls are reading!  It's been incredible to watch them suddenly get it, and become ravenous readers ("Dad, what does it say on the…

Like most people I know, I'm thrilled that Change has come to the US.  I've been somewhat obsessed with US politics of late, following it on-line via blogs, twitter, youtube, and such.  I think one of the most emotional moments for me was watching a video of Obama vote with…

Yesterday Shaver and I were interviewed about the work we've done together at Seneca, and the article was published in Computer World Canada.  It was written on the occasion of Mozilla winning a Seneca Partnership Award for its incredible work with us to transform education and get students deeply involved…

Today as I went to get lunch at York University, I had to use the bank machine.  Beside the bank machine was a table filled with small black packages.  Around the table was a group of student-aged people handing them out to people. "Here's a free sample," said…

I've finally recovered enough from last week's FSOSS to sit down and write a bit about it.  The event was a real success, and I had a great time attending and participating.  This year I focused on speakers and content instead of logistics, which meant I got to actually attend…

As I drove home from the dentist today, I listened to Spark on CBC.  Today Nora was interviewing Sandy Pentland about his idea of "honest signals," those things that we do/perceive in converstation that help us understand beyond what the language says.  It's the sort of thing…