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| Planking Laval, QC September 2012 Thematic. Muted Colors. Here. |
"When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it is over, I don't want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world."This reminds me of Steve Jobs's wish to leave a ding in the universe. It isn't about passing through. It's about leaving a mark. So what's your mark going to be?
Mary Oliver
"Creativity is intelligence having fun."I could myself pretty darn blessed to have been struck by the creativity lightning bolt when I was initially formed. Closing my eyes and feeling the words swirl around my head is a pretty powerful thing, and not a day goes by that I don't remind myself how lucky I am. First, to have the ability in the first place. Second, to keep it.
Albert Einstein
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| Tactile Foothills of the Rockies, Alberta, Canada February 2013 For more Thematic muted colors, please click here. |
I don't write this to glorify them, or hackers in general. But one of my goals as a technology journalist is to make the difficult-to-understand easier for everyone to understand. And as this murky subtext to a fast-eroding, massive-scale tragedy continues to unfold, I consider myself lucky to be able to share what I know and help put it into something approaching a realistic perspective. Hard to conceive when we're talking about a dirty civil war that's already consumed too many lives, but still, if we can't repair the world in one fell swoop, we can start the process one conversation at a time. And so that's what I'm doing today."The common question that gets asked in business is, 'why?' That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, 'why not?'"This from a guy who built Amazon.com into an Internet-era powerhouse that's redefining online retail, found and retrieved the F-1 engines that launched the Apollo 11 mission to the moon and is restoring them, and bought the Washington Post as a precursor to trying something new in old media that the old guard simply didn't have the guts to do.
Jeff Bezos
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| Back alley light Montreal, QC February 2013 |
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."Benjamin FranklinEither way, I think I'll follow his advice.
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| Time alone London, ON August 2013 Photo by Dahlia Levy |
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| Dad on the beach Deerfield Beach, FL December 2010 Thematic. I didn't shoot this. Here. |
"Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."Challenge = opportunity. Who's with me?
Joshua J. Marine
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| Walking on the moon, at the beach Deerfield Beach, FL December 2010 |
About this photo: Thematic's "I didn't shoot this" week continues. To share a photo that someone else took, head here.Our daughter took this picture as we spent a quiet late afternoon on a windy seashore. Conditions were far too chaotic to swim, so we simply walked along the almost empty beach, cameras in hand, and looked for things that caught our respective eye.
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| Game on Laval, QC September 2012 Photo by Noah Levy |
About this photo: Thematic's theme this week is I didn't shoot this. If you'd like to share a pic that was taken by someone else (I know, it sounds bizarre. Thanks for humoring me) please head this way.A couple of months ago, I shared a picture of our son, Noah, getting right down on the ground to get the shot. Here's the original posting, Not afraid to get a little dirty.
It's moments like this that make me glad we have him. Dog ownership is likely the most inconvenient, expensive and annoying process known to humankind. While petless souls are enjoying the aesthetic perfection of their pristine homes, we're slogging ourselves in from walks in the pouring rain or cleaning up after yet another canine romp through the garbage. But when we need an unconditional friend and a fix for a bruised body and soul, I admit to forgetting all about the inconvenience for a while. I'll trade away every last iota of neatness for another moment with him. |
| Mooring lines Grand Bend, ON July 2013 |
"There are always flowers for those who want to see them."Key word: want.
Henri Matisse
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| Chomedey, at a glance Laval, QC February 2013 Click all photos to embiggen |
About this photo: Thematic celebrates downward this week, and you can, too. Just head here and all will be explained.I was flying into Montreal for less than 24 hours, a blink of a stop in a trip that had already seen me skipping across the country, racing winter storms every step of the way.
All of which meant I had a bird's eye view of the little burg, Chomedey, where I grew up. This borough of Laval is no longer the center of my world, as virtually my entire generation moved elsewhere as soon as we hit adulthood. But anyone who was raised in Chomedey seems to recognize the strong pull this place continues to have on us no matter where we end up or how many years have passed.
The photo at the top is a wider-angle version of the ones below. Virtually my entire life played out in the relatively small bedroom community pictured here. My childhood home on Canterbury, friends' houses where we spent countless days just being, the roads where I developed my still-raging cycling addiction, the community centre a few blocks away where I learned to swim, became a lifeguard and met a girl who amazingly agreed to be my wife, the building where my parents and in-laws eventually moved...an entire world contained within a few pictures. |
| Waiting for shipment Toronto, ON February 2013 For more downward Thematic, click here. |
"One of the greatest tragedies in life is to lose your own sense of self and accept the version of you that is expected by everyone else."I'm grateful for so many things, not the least of which is the fact that I've managed to retain my own sense of self, and a family that supports me unconditionally. Call me blessed. I hope everyone who reads this can say the same thing.
K.L. Toth
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| Where's my broom? London, ON August 2013 Thematic. Downward. Here. |
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| At the corner of Regent and Colborne Old North, London, ON July 2013 Please click here for more downward Thematic |
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| Table for 2 London, ON July 2013 |
[Snip]
Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst, believes BlackBerry has no other choice but to look at a sale, joint venture or alliance or mix of those.
“If BlackBerry could survive in its current form, we wouldn’t be seeing these actions right now,” Levy said. “Radical change is called for.”
“Doing it now maximizes value and minimizes the potential for further erosion, while the company considers its options.”
Levy argues BlackBerry could be much more than a handset maker, given its BB10 platform is state-of-the-art technology that has potential application in everything from medicine to industrial automation.
“It’s not enough to have the best technology. You have to have a way to connect the technology to markets to drive business,” he said.The worst-case scenario would be a breakup of the company for parts, selling off different divisions, he said.But Levy doesn’t believe that’s what anyone wants to see especially CEO Heins, who took over from co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis in 2012.
“Thorsten Heins did not take this job in order to preside over a funeral,” Levy said.
The best-case scenario is some form of partnership or some form of joint venture that would bring in the resources that BlackBerry needs to expand, or figure out a way to leverage its existing technology, he added.
[Snip]More on the way tomorrow...
[Snip]In its heyday, it was all about messaging, but as soon as the iPhone came out, it became apps, apps, apps," said Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst based in London, Ont. And because change within the tech cycles is that much more accelerated, Levy says, it didn't take long for BlackBerry to fall behind. No longer was it enough to be the company that wrote the book on encryption software and produced a hand-held device offering secure messaging.
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Just last week, International Data Corporation released data showing Black-Berry in fourth spot - with a 2.9 per cent market share - and continuing to bleed subscribers."That's another reinforcement for BlackBerry to get out of the handset business," said Levy.
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Levy points out it's those who were the early adopters of the BlackBerry, which happens to be the boomers on the cusp of retirement, is the demographic that cares about the keyboard.The next generation, he says, doesn't care.
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Does all this mean the demise of yet another Canadian company, which once dominated a market but became too arrogant to realize there is no such thing as stasis in the business world - especially in technology? Levy doesn't believe BlackBerry will be sold off in pieces."(CEO) Thorsten Heins didn't take the job to preside over the company's funeral. He doesn't want to be remembered as the guy who killed the company," he said.The good news, perhaps, is that as an outsider, Heins is not inextricably tied to a legacy business - which means he can to look for ways that maximize value that aren't necessarily hinged to the handset world."It can't be about the hardware," says Levy.
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In that world right now, there is one name that might make sense - Dell.It might be in the throes of its own challenges regarding a going private transaction - but adding BlackBerry to its corporate infrastructure makes some sense. Levy points out that Dell needs the credibility in the enterprise space - and more than 72 million subscribers - that would come with a BlackBerry deal.[Snip]
[Snip]Cons: Neither company is in a state to be swinging for the fences. And although both companies have a strong presence in enterprise, they have struggled to attract consumers to their brands. “An interesting play would give Dell the mobile capability it has tried repeatedly to create, and failed,” independent technology analyst Carmi Levy said. “But both companies are in need of help, so it’s not a case of a negative times a negative equals a positive.”[Snip]This isn't just work for me. It all brings back memories of sitting around the kitchen table wondering about the wonder of radio and all media. It was magical then, and it remains even more so today now that I get to be a part of the big show. Coolness.
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| Multiplied sweetness London, ON August 2013 Thematic. Repetitious. Here. |
"Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are."I'll go for what's behind door #2. You?
Anne Lamott
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| Where did the forks go? London, ON August 2013 Click here for more repetitious Thematic |
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| Pipe dreams London, ON July 2013 |
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| Oops London, ON July 2013 |
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| Marketing fail London, ON July 2013 Thematic. Signs. Here. |
“I sit in the dark and wait for a little flame to appear at the end of my pencil.”
Billy Collins
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| Parked Grand Bend, ON August 2013 |
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