or, viral marketing in practice?
I think I’m going to have to get one of these. I also think that this is going to be one product that sees the bulk of its promotion on blogs and geek email lists (So far today I’ve seen it on SAGE and SANS Alumni).
The Complete April Fools’ RFCs by Thomas A. Limoncelli and Peter H. Salus
Update: order has been placed for my copy…
OK, so on my way to work today, I noticed a flock of pink flamingos hanging out in a snow bank at Grant McEwan. I just figured someone there was unfortunate enough to have kooky friends who put them up for a birthday prank. That is, until I discovered a smaller flock hanging out in a snow bank in Winston Churchill Square. I also noticed that people were taking some of these flamingos.
Well, since I figured there wouldn’t be any left later in the day, I wandered over to learn more. I was thinking “hey, cool art installation/project - put out birds and see how far they migrate.” Alas, I was disappointed. It was just a Telus marketing ploy. Something about their latest campaign that allows you to win stuff if you check their website. So, I didn’t take a flamingo home as a pet - if it had been the cool art installation, I was so going to participate.
For the record - all flamingos were gone from Churchill Square by 10am break time. So it was a good thing I checked them out on my way in to work.
Oh, and while I would have loved to take a photo, I had to pick today to leave it at home recharging. Sigh.
Well, it’s official. I now have my motorcycle (class 6) license. I don’t need it to drive Dragonfly (the scooter), but I wanted it.
I took the NAIT motorcycle safety course last weekend in preparation for the driving exam. Man was that exhausting! We were on motorcycles for something like 14 of the 16 hours of class. It was incredible. And many of the skills will be extremely useful for scootering. Pretty much everything except the whole ’slipping the clutch’ thing - Dragonfly is an automatic, so it’s just not technically possible to slip the clutch.
If you’re even a little interested in driving a motorcycle, I can definitely recommend NAIT as a place to start. They were respectful and helped the most nervous among us relax and succeed.
So, while I have the real license now, it will be a while before I’ll be riding a real motorcycle on the road. I think a bit of practice with the machine itself is important - I think that means dirt-biking will be my next activity.
I really should be doing about a million other things, but I had to take some time out to write this one down.
Today while riding the not-Vespa home from the U, a motorcyclist waved at me! Coming up Victoria Park Hill. Oh, it made my (very long) day! And then, minutes later, a second motorcyclist waved…and then a third! I don’t know, did all the motorcyclists get together to take a vote and finally resolve the question of whether to wave at scooters or not? Oh, it was so exciting.
One other point. I’ve decided to call the not-Vespa ‘dragonfly.’ So this is the last ‘not-Vespa’ posting.
Ciao.
OK, I bought a scooter. An Aprilia Scarabeo 50 (the not-vespa). Back in early May I test drove a different type. The Usual Suspects came along and documented it here and here.
For years, I was a bicycle commuter. I loved it, even in the rain (well, maybe not in the hail, but rain was OK). But then I got a job downtown with no good bike parking, and I started to like dressing up, and I started to hate changing in bathroom stalls, and I started to have more places to go where I needed to be wearing my work clothes (ride there, change, meet, change, ride back to office, change,…) I guess I’m just getting old. It is a funny time to stop riding my bike so much–now that I have 3 bicycles.
So, in order to be more flexible in my mobility (buses are only so good) while still avoiding the dreaded car-commute, I figured I’d give the scooter a try. Well, after a rocky start actually getting it from the dealer, I have to say I’m in love. It’s like a bike only better.
I can go fast. Faster than I can pedal, anyhow. And I can wear nice clothing and it’s just kinda neat. Yesterday was the first time I rode it to work. That was fine - but it lead me on a 30 minute adventure to find parking. That’s probably a posting on it’s own…tomorrow.
My one fear - this might just be a starter-bike. It might lead me to bigger, real motorcycles. Eek. Well, we’ll find out in July. I’m signed up for the NAIT motorcycle training course. I have to ride a real ‘bike there. Yipee!
Dana Porter all lit up for Exams at Student Life Centre
Some fun from my Alma Mater, UWaterloo. You have to think it was the engineers…
In the small amount of time between the end of the pre-summit and the beginning of the summit-summit, a few of us had time to drive in to St. Louis to see the Arch. I’ve posted some photos to my Flickr account.
I only have a 16Mb card (actually I now have a 128 Mb card thanks to Matt from SeattleWireless, but I didn’t have it when I was taking the photos), so I couldn’t capture too much. I have a really short video clip, too, but I can’t load it to Flickr. I’ll need to find it another home. Wait, the blog let’s me load files…but not this one, not today.
This year will mark my 8th time riding the MS Mountain Bike tour in Hinton, Alberta. This is very exciting for me, personally. I’ve ridden in every MS Mountain bike tour and I’m planning on being around for the first 10 rides, at least.
The group of those who can claim to have ridden every year is growing smaller and smaller. Fundraising and training represent huge commitments for many people.
This year, I’ve started a brand new approach goal setting. I’m going to raise $2006 to match the year. And I’m going to ride at least one of the ‘grip ‘n’ grind’ challenge loops. Wow, it scares me to write that–the challenge loops scare me. I only started mountain bike riding 8 years ago when the MB tour was announced. I’ve come along way and I’ve had some really personal encounters with trees, but I’ve also learned to love it. Perhaps this year will be my skills development year. Anyone up for some training rides? Well, maybe once the snow has cleared up.
Finally, if you’d be so kind as to consider sponsoring me in this cause, you can do it online by following the link below. And I promise to post photos right after the tour. Hmm, maybe I can get permission to post 2004’s ‘oh shit’ video.
Today’s fun distraction courtesy of Userfriendly’s link of the day. Write a song and have sung to you by the stars.
Boing Boing: Video game scenes recreated in legos
Really, it needs no comment. The direct photo link at flickr is here.
| www.flickr.com |
