Ex-buzzers wreak havoc 
The work blog
Author
POSTS BY Peter
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May 05, 2008WordCamp Vancouver 2008 mini-recap — a great community event
Shorts (2)I use WordPress not only for my friends' blogs but also for several small websites. While I have heard many sophisticated coders complain about the lack of sophistication in the WordPress code, I find it brilliantly easy to use and easy to extend. So when I found out on Tazzu that it was organizing the first ever WordCamp Vancouver, I jumped at the opportunity to attend! The event was packed with fellow bloggers and people who use WordPress for more intense, CMS needs. This was my second tech community ...
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Apr 14, 2008Finding meaning in indirectly meaningless work
Job Profiles, Working Life, career (2)When I walked through a hospital last month, I was reminded of how the employees there endlessly care for those who are in great need. Then as I commuted to work the next morning, I walked past construction on the new Canada Line transit route and thought of all the people who were contributing to something that would ease the transportation woes of many citizens. When I got to work, I sat down at my desk and thought about how the material I write and edit could help people. (I work as an editor for a software company.) The worst case ...
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Apr 03, 2008Business communication: good responses to criticism
Working Life (5)Learning how to take criticism (or "feedback") well, and more importantly to make good use of criticism, is a crucial skill, both in the workplace and in life in general. Once we have accepted the premise that we are not always correct, we realize that for many things, unless other people tell us about it, we will go on being harmful, inefficient, impolite, and incorrect. Unfortunately, we don't always respond to criticism well, making the same mistakes repeatedly. The negative associations with the word "criticism" bring up several barriers that often prevent human interaction from bearing good fruit. What if we ...
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Mar 09, 2008Internet tech news before it happens at Techmeme
Shorts (0)One of my sources of technology news is the feeds on the My Yahoo! page, such as "Technology news from Reuters" and "Internet Stock Index". However, why should I rely on traditional media outlets for the non-traditional media news? As time goes by, I notice more and more completely useless and uninformed tech articles put out by the big media outlets. Often, it is the blogs that provide more up-to-date, honest, accurate news. But who has the time or patience to sift through the millions of tech blogs? Enter Techmeme. The about text on Techmeme ...
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Feb 19, 2008Yahoo! Mail finally adds the “download all” attachments at once feature
Shorts (0)While Gmail has had this feature for quite a long time, Yahoo! Mail just added it in February 2008. Have you ever received a bunch of attachments (such as pictures or documents) in one e-mail message and had to download each of them one by one? When you click on the "Download all" link when viewing an e-mail, Yahoo! Mail will prompt you to download a zip file of all of the message's attachments. For those who know the pain of 10-minute e-mail ...
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Jan 21, 2008Red dye foils robbery?
Shorts (1)January 21, 2008, around 2:00pm. A stack of 20-dollar bills just outside of Sinclair Centre on Granville Street, next to the big Canada Line construction hole. The stack is stained red, as is part of the sidewalk. It's a clear, sunny day so this won't wash away quickly. A few construction workers gather along with some passersby. A cop soon shows up. I hear mumblings about a robbery -- maybe at Royal Bank or Birks? Whatever the case, someone out there is also stained red. I guess this gives new meaning to the expression "caught red-handed"? Was the ...
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Jan 10, 2008The business and user benefits of open source software in a nutshell
Industry Commentary (0)Open source software is everywhere. OpenOffice.org, an office suite with much of the same functionality as Microsoft Office. eZ Publish, the enterprise content management system that runs sites such as Elle magazine in France, Italy and the UK. WordPress, the blog platform that runs this site. Firefox, the browser that you might be using right now. Even Facebook "has been developed from the ground up using open source software..." What is open source software? Basically, it's software where you ...
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Jan 03, 2008Shallow success has never felt better!
Media (3)Something disturbed me in the January 2008 BCBusiness magazine. No, it wasn't the two booklet ads that were stuck to articles so that when you remove them, part of the page rips and you can no longer read the articles underneath (that is a true story by the way). It was a "need to know" feature titled "How to look more successful than you are". I realize (actually, I hope) that this feature is a bit tongue-in-cheek, especially given that ...
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Nov 26, 2007Singapore and its effort to shake its straight-laced image
Shorts (1)Singapore is making a concerted effort to become a fun city, after years of, well, being a "fine" city: First, there was the much debated decision to open casinos. And now, business rap videos! As I discovered on TechCrunch, the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore, whose goals are to 1) promote the growth of the Singapore media industry and 2) to manage content to protect core values and safeguard consumers' interests, has released a *ahem* creative ...
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Nov 26, 2007Editing isn’t just proofreading
Job Profiles (5)At university, there were two defining moments where I was reminded that there is always more to most jobs than meets the eye. When I was studying Kinesiology, I walked past a student society booth where they were selling shirts that said something like "No, I am not studying to be a PE teacher." Of course, there's nothing wrong with being a PE teacher, but Kinesiology can be the starting point to everything from interface design to medical school. When I volunteered for a student newsletter, I took the heat (rightfully so) for allowing an article to go ...
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