Caption This 95

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]London, ON, October 2008

About this photo: We're continuing this week's Thematic Photographic theme, night. If you want to share your own night-themed picture, please head over here to get started. (And, no, it's not too late. We'll be doing the night thing until Wednesday.)

Tuck-in time is a special time in our house, as it should be. There's something reassuring to a little person about the way we say goodbye to the day. The experience should be fun, happy and comforting.

Frasier's picked up on our ritual, and he often insinuates himself into the process. Our kids are only too happy to have him add his own unique sendoff before he, too, curls up and nods off for the night. It's always the little things that seem to matter most.

Your turn: Please click on the Comments link below and share the most creative caption you can come up with. Have two? Enter as often as you like! See here for details on how the Caption This thing works. I'll announce the winner next Sunday.

About last week's photo of my feet: Business travel can be a real drag when you're far from home, alone, and bored. So as you can see, I take oddball photos to keep myself amused. I was happy to see so many of you appreciate my somewhat stilted sense of humor. Honorable menschens go to:

• Awareness: "Footloose." (Such a classic movie! The tune's dancing in my head as I write this.)
• Sara: "TOEtally blocking the view." (Loved the play on words.)
• Moi: "Happy Feet." (Another favorite flick of mine.)
• Colleen: ""Toeing the line." (It's been a very music/movie-themed week!)

Christy's "Exhale" reminded me why we need to set aside more time to just relax. I felt like doing precisely this as I lay back in that oh so quiet hotel room. Her caption takes it this week. Please visit her blog, Paul Newman Shirt Days and wish her a happy from all of us. While you're there, I'm willing to bet she'll leave you thinking with her deft combination of prose and photography.

Who should I vote for?

Oooh, we're down to the wire and I've gotta admit I'm enjoying the rising adrenaline levels on the television news networks. Whether you're an Obama booster or a McCain groupie (can he even have groupies? Discuss), you've got to admit that this is a pretty cool time to be alive. Will Wolf Blitzer pop a cornea? Only his opthamologist knows for sure.

Sadly, I can't vote for anyone on November 4th. I'm Canadian, apparently, and I had my chance last month. I voted, of course, because I wanted to retain the right to whine, bitch and moan about the doofii who now claim to represent our interests on Parliament Hill in between expense account lunches and protracted heckling sessions with reporters in Centre Block.

And there's the rub. Loads of people didn't vote in the last Canadian election and it's a sure bet millions will stay away from U.S. polls as well. Maybe I'm super-naive, but it astounds me that anyone would willingly back away from participating in the democratic process. Whoever you support, this is your one shot to be heard.

And if you refuse to take that shot, please resist the urge to say anything about the elected officials you failed to either support or oppose. Kindly keep your opinions to yourself over the entire course of their subsequent term because, frankly, you don't deserve to have a voice at the table. Indeed, you voluntarily pulled your voice from the discussion when you chose to stay home on election day.

Your turn: What say you about folks who won't cast a ballot?

Studs Terkel - loss of a literary giant

Every writer has a short - or maybe not so short - list of masters who've achieved something great. Some have penned bestsellers. Others have won Pulitzers. Whatever their achievement, we follow them because we don't get better by patterning ourselves after mediocrity. Rather, we improve by shooting for the stars.

Studs Terkel was such a star, and he passed away yesterday at the age of 96.

I latched onto him early because he championed an observational style of writing that reached through my journalist's cynicism and taught me that simple perspectives on real people's lives could make for compelling storytelling. With him it was never about putting on an air. He said it like it was, as it needed to be said. Unadorned, straightforward prose. It rocked my world.

He came by that simplicity early on. As he was growing up on Chicago, his parents ran a small rooming house. He'd often sit in the lobby and watch the comings and goings of the folks who stayed there. That exposure helped him develop his voice as a writer and a broadcaster, and he went on to build a remarkably diverse multimedia anthology. It saddens me immensely that this great voice has been silenced.

Funny how this writing thing works, how influence tends to gravitate through the community. I was never privileged to meet Studs Terkel, but I'd like to think - humbly, of course - that a tiny piece of what made him great will somehow find its way into my own work.

Your turn: An artist who has influenced your life. Please discuss.

After the shoppers have gone

Empty
London, ON, October 2008

I've never been into crowd scenes. The noise and chaos tend to throw my whole sense of balance off. Because of this, I avoid malls and other retail outlets as much as possible in the runup to the holiday season. And over the rest of the year, for that matter.

But that doesn't mean I won't peer through the locked doors of a mall at night and marvel at how the place is transformed by a total lack of humanity. If only these walls could talk, I like to imagine that they'd agree with me.

Your turn: Crowds or lack thereof? Please discuss.

About this photo: We're exploring the "night" theme all week in support of Thematic Photographic. If you've got a pic or link to share - and I sincerely hope you do - then please head on over here to dive right in.

Bloodless

Quick note: If you're looking for the latest Thematic Photographic entry (this week's theme: night), please click here. It's definitely not too late to share some nighttime perspectives.

Headlines like this scare me. Not enough Canadians are donating blood. Reserves are bottoming out and that has dire implications for the state of health care in this country. We've made extensive use of the ER in recent weeks, so it hits particularly close to home for us.

My wife, bless her, signed up to donate blood at a clinic this week. I hovered over her while she was in the chair and silently mused to myself that she looked even lovelier than usual. She's had more on her mind than any one person really ought to have, but she still took the time to give. And looked positively radiant in the process. I guess that's another angle of beauty that you'll never see in a magazine.

She's just like me: not a fan of needles. But she wouldn't let that stop her. I've always been proud of her for so many reasons. Yesterday, I added another one to the list.

One more thing: I'll be at Canadian Blood Services here in London tomorrow morning. If anyone wants to join me, cost of admission is a reasonable $0.00, plus all the cookies you can eat.

Thematic Photographic 22 - Night

Lots of parking
London, ON, October 2008 [Click to embiggen]

I've always preferred night to day. My eyes, like the rest of me, are weird: I have great night vision. Unfortunately, this light sensitivity comes with a bit of a cost in that I can barely see on a sunny day unless I squint severely or wear sunglasses. So I tend to spend more time outside after the sun goes down than before. I've learned to enjoy the peace and quiet that the darkness brings.

Night is a fantastic time for photography as well. Auto-everything goes out the window. You find yourself juggling with compromise after compromise as you try to sharply capture a scene without a tripod or place to brace yourself. Because you're usually alone - because most sane people are tucked safely and quietly away at home - you get to think through a scene in a place that, during the day, wouldn't offer you the same luxury.

Although photography revolves around the capture of light, and night offers precious little light to work with, it's this precise lack of resources that forces you to bring your a-game every time you decide to take pictures this late in the day. It wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun - or as rewarding - if the process was easy.

Your turn: Got a night-themed image (or two, or seven...)? If so, I hope you'll share it with us. Here's how Thematic Photographic, my weekly educationally enjoyable photo challenge, works:

• Every Wednesday evening, at precisely 7 o'clock Eastern, I post a new Thematic Photographic entry.
  
• Each entry has a unique theme. This week's is...night.
  
• You post a similarly themed image over on your blog.
  
• You paste a link to your entry in a comment here.
  
• If you've already posted something that fits (on a blog, Facebook, MySpace, wherever) simply post the link to the existing entry.
  
• You may post as many photos or links as you wish. For the next week, I'll be supporting this theme with a related picture/posting each day. I encourage you to do the same. This is all about sharing, so feel free to share to your heart's content!
  
• Please share this link with friends, too, and encourage them to join in. The more, the merrier.

Have fun with this week's theme, and thank you for making Thematic Photographic such a highlight here on Written Inc. For last week's TP entry, please click here. For all TP entries to date, click here.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy potatoes

When dinner smiles back at you
London, ON, October 2008

About this photo: It's happy week all week long. There's still time to contribute to Thematic Photographic's happy theme (click here to get started.) I'll post a new entry with a new theme on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET (yes, precisely.) Scroll down to the bottom of this entry if you want a sneak peek.

We've done a fairly good job winnowing down the amount of fried foods that make it into our kids' tummies. But french fries still find their way on occasion onto the dinner plate. I guess if they have to have an addiction, it may as well be potatoes lovingly prepared by their mom.

The current favorite is the happy face fry. They swear they taste better than the conventionally shaped variety, but the cynic in me believes that's only because they're smiling as they chew.

Your turn: Can you not smile when this appears in front of you at dinner time? Got any other happy food experiences?

One more thing: Because you're all so special, I'll let you in on the secret a little early. Our next Thematic Photographic theme is night. The photo will be up Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET - hope to see you then!

Birthday cake delayed

I scream, you scream. We all scream for ice cream. Cake.
London, ON, October 2008

This is the Dairy Queen ice cream cake that we bought for Zach's birthday. I didn't spend my usual amount of time fawning over it with my lens. No tripod in the middle of the kitchen. No shushing the munchkins while I composed one artsy perspective after another. No collective holding of the breath waiting for the camera to finish doing its thing.

It was a bit abbreviated this year. Birthday boy was still feeling blue (see here for more) so I stuck to a few hasty pictures before my wife lit the candles and hurriedly brought it to our waiting, tired man-boy (boy-man?)

There's always next year.

Your turn: Make a wish. What is it?

One more thing: Thank you all for your very kind birthday wishes. He's quite tickled that you'd all take the time to share such sweet thoughts with him. He was home from school again today, still sick. A second visit to the doc netted a new prescription and an appointment for a chest x-ray tomorrow. I want to talk to the people who said this parenthood thing would be a snap.

Oops, I lied. Make that two: It's a happy birthday cake, which explains the rather tenuous connection to this week's Thematic Photographic theme, happy. Such cleverness, eh? Head over here to share your vision of happiness. And if you haven't captioned yet, please click here to roll the literary dice.

Caption This 94

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
San Francisco, CA, March 2007

As we've seen with this week's Thematic Photographic journey, happiness can take on many forms. (Not sure what I'm talking about? Click here. I'll wait.) For me, happiness is knowing that I've had a good, productive day of churning and sharing ideas with really smart people, then turning those exchanges into something tangible and cool, like an article or an interview. It's an absolute gas, but often by the end of the day, I feel like I could sleep for a week.

So happiness could mean kicking back with the remote and resting the body and mind for a little bit. We don't always have to be "on", after all.

Your turn: Right? Wrong?

About last week's traffic-themed long exposure: I love these kinds of shots not only because the results are so weird-looking, but because of the process I get to follow in shooting them. There's a certain personal sense of peacefulness - a photographer's zen, if you will - that I get when it's just me, my tripod-mounted camera and a remote control in my hand. It's one of the few moments during any given day when I can completely control every element and ignore everything else. Not that I deliberately want to ignore folks, of course, but there's something to be said for unplugging for a bit every once in a while. I'll stop rambling now. Your turn...

This week, honorable menschens go to the following good folks:

• Heidi: "Moving at the Speed of LIFE."
• Awareness: "Life in the fast lane..."
• Barb: "The River of Time."
• Em: "Going nowhere fast."
• Christy: "While I stand still..."
• Craziequeen: "So, sir, did you get the registration plate?"
• Bradley: "TRON."
• Sarah: "Don't blink."
• Salubrina: "Bended light."

But because there can be only one winner, PastorMac's Ann tops all with "Life went by me like a blur." Made me kinda sad, but it touched on what I felt as the cars whizzed by in the darkness. We need to pause more often, I think. Her blog, It's Always a Production, is a delightfully real peek into the very real, very full life of her family. Highly recommended. Have fun with this week's photo. And no jokes about my feet, k?

One more thing: I've noticed a few comments in recent weeks from visitors who've said they didn't post their own photos because they weren't "perfect" enough. This photo, a quick snap with barely-adequate lighting and composition, is far from perfect, and I'm sharing it here for a reason. Specifically, not every photo needs to be ideal. As long as it sends a message, or touches the eye and the brain in some way, then it's worth sharing. I think we need to get a little more comfortable sharing the merely adequate snaps as well, since photography is more about participation than perfection. I hope this encourages more people to post whatever they've got.

14 years, already?

Older. Wiser.
London, ON
August 2008

Our son, Zach, went to bed last night one age and woke up this morning another. It's been 14 years since he fought his way into the world and instantly turned us into parents. As I write this, I'm shaking my head at the sound of the number, 14. Has it been that long? The calendar says it has, but is certainly doesn't feel like it.

He's had a very tough week. A tenacious case of bronchitis has kept him home from school. He's still feverish, nauseous, exhausted and generally irritable, which is prompting a lower-key strategy to marking the day. Lunch with his grandparents is on hold for a bit, and although he'll certainly blow the candles out on his cake later, I doubt he'll be eating much of it. The cold rain outside probably isn't helping, either.

But this will pass, and when it does he'll still be a newly-minted 14-year-old figuring out his way through the world. He started high school last month, and has been beautifully settling into his very large new world. He's enjoying his classes and his teachers, and is bringing home marks that would make any parent proud. And we are, because all parents really want is for their children to be passionate and successful in whatever they choose. So far, Zach's doing an excellent job of that.

He's been quiet on the nag-my-younger-sister-and-brother front, but we know that'll pass as well once he feels better. Something tells me his younger sibs look forward to that moment, as well. Even the dog wants his big human brother healthy again: no one tosses a chew toy quite like Zach does.

May every milestone from now on be a happy one, Zach, as you continue to grow into the man you're destined to be. May we always be able to celebrate days like this as a family, and may you always be surrounded by the people who care, who matter, and who love you unconditionally.

Your turn: What does/did 14 years on the planet mean to you?

Happy Po

Teletubby waits in line
Toronto, ON, September 2006

About this photo: We're continuing this week's Thematic Photographic theme, happy. Please click here to share your own happy perspective.

At various times in my blogging past, I've mentioned that I carry around a little Po Teletubby doll on the outside of my beaten-up old camera bag (see here, here and here for archived entries of Po on her travels.) Why do I do this? Well, first, I'm a doof. But more seriously, I'm forced to stare at this slowly-fading and fraying stuffie every time I reach into the bag and grab my Nikon. Her blank little stare reminds me that sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself and ignore whatever anyone around you might say.

And speaking of others, I notice that this tiny addition to my bag often causes complete strangers to smile as they realize this grown man is hauling around a four-year-old's plaything. To wit, as I stood in an impossibly deadlocked line of delayed travellers at Canada's largest airport and took this admittedly ridiculous picture, folks around me found a reason to smile amid the chaos.

Whether you call it Tikkun Olam or Pay it Forward, if it brings joy to the world around you then it can't be a bad thing at all.

Your turn: Do you do little happies, too?

The computer people are talking to me

Messages for me?
October 2008

A captcha is a computer-generated sequence of letters and/or numbers designed to ensure that an actual human being has just filled out a form on the Web. It's designed to prevent mass-scale robotic scripts - often used by spammers, scammers and other online malcontents and criminals - from overwhelming a site with junk. Many bloggers use them to control comment spam.

The sequences are supposedly randomly generated. But just as 1,000 monkeys typing continuously in a room will eventually put something coherent together (it may take a billion years and many generations of walls covered with simian-tossed fecal matter, but it'll happen), captchas occasionally resemble words that may or may not exist in reality.

So when this one, fooker, popped up on my screen, I was left wondering if it was intended as some sort of message to me, a silicon-infused warning that I'd better stop fooking with the world. Then, barely 10 minutes later, along came another one, outch. Weird, yes, but worthwhile noting as yet another milestone along the erratic journey through the jungles of modern Internet-borne life.

Your turn: What's a "fooker"? What does it have to do with "outch"? Should I worry?

About these images: They're funny. Or at least I think they are. And funny things make us happy, hence the connection to this week's TP theme. Don't know what the purgatory I'm talking about? Head over here for some answers.

Happiness is a warm puppy

Someone loves her dog
London, ON, October 2008 [Click all images to enlarge]

About these photos: This week's Thematic Photographic theme is happy. I'd love to see your happy-themed photos. To participate, please click here. If you've already shared one, why not share another? There's always another happy to share, right?

Frasier had a playdate with another miniature schnauzer a couple of weeks back. Roscoe's about the same age - 2 - and wears the same red harness, so if we squinted our eyes just so, it was easy to get the two of them confused.

Much to our relief, the two of them got along very well. Although Frasier's the sweetest dog on the planet - our biased assessment, of course - the breed isn't known as the most, um, calm. He wants to meet everyone he encounters on the street, and he'll bark, loudly, incessantly, until we either pull him out of sight or relent and allow him to approach. Once he has a chance to sniff said stranger out, he's happy. His bark is clearly worse that his bite, as he wouldn't harm a fly. But you can seriously go deaf - and get a great workout in your leash-holding arm - when he sees someone new.

So we were more than slightly concerned that he'd have issues with his newfound mirror-image friend. We needn't have worried. They played, hard, both in the house as well as in the fenced-in running area near our house. We let them run themselves ragged in the vain hope that they'd get a good night's sleep. Silly us: they're schnauzers. They convert the energy of the planet's rotation into the ability to leap wall units in a single bound.

But for the the entire afternoon, they were happy to be together. And all of us were happy to be a part of this informal festival of fur. Sometimes, life is just that simple and just that good.

Your turn: Simple things that make for happy moments. Please discuss.

Thematic Photographic 21 - Happy

Into the sky
London, ON, October 2008 [Click to embiggen]

Happy means different things to all of us, and as this week's Thematic Photographic theme, I'm hoping you'll explore the different forms it can take. It can be the obvious - a smiling face, perhaps - or the not-so-obvious. Whatever it is, please have fun with it.

Your turn: Post a happy-themed picture, then leave the link to it in a comment below. For full details on how Thematic Photographic works, please read on:

• Every Wednesday evening, at precisely 7 o'clock Eastern, I post a new Thematic Photographic entry.
  
• Each entry has a unique theme. This week's is...happy.
  
• You post a similarly themed image over on your blog.
  
• You paste a link to your entry in a comment here.
  
• If you've already posted something that fits (on a blog, Facebook, MySpace, wherever) simply post the link to the existing entry.
  
• You may post as many photos or links as you wish. For the next week, I'll be supporting this theme with a related picture/posting each day. I encourage you to do the same. This is all about sharing, so feel free to share to your heart's content!
  
• Please share this link with friends, too, and encourage them to join in. The more, the merrier.

Wordless Wednesday - Choices

How much is that cookie in the window?
London, ON, October 2006

About this photo: This is the final picture in support of last week's Thematic Photographic theme, blur. On Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. ET (I know, I'm manic about time) I'll be posting the new TP theme. To give you a chance to churn on it, I'm disclosing it a little early. (Drum roll, please...) The upcoming TP theme is...HAPPY. See y'all Wed. night, right here.

Our kids inherited a lot of traits from me and my wife. One of them is the way they talk with their hands. And when Noah found himself in the coveted spot in front of the display case at the local Tim Hortons, he let his hands do the talking to ensure we brought home exactly what his little tummy wanted.

Your turn: Do you talk with your hands? As Seinfeld would ask, what's the deal with non-verbal communications?

Lost in the fog of suburbia

Disappearing act
London, ON, August 2004

We live in a part of the world that has more than its fair share of foggy weather. I admit getting a little jolt of excitement when I wake up and realize the world outside is socked in. Sounds seem muted because folks either stay off the streets or choose to move more slowly on them. The soft light seems to take the edge off of the few things that are visible - it almost seems like the world is a blur (hence the connection to this week's Thematic Photographic theme...please click here to share your blurry vision.)

It usually doesn't take long before the sun comes along and burns it off, but for a short while, anyway, we get to enjoy a bit of nature-inspired peace.

I shot this photo down my street. The graininess is a function of low light, a pretty rudimentary camera and my inability at the time to coax anything better out of this very simple point-and-shoot. But considering that I was wearing my slippers and jammies when I first wandered outside, it turned into a memorable moment regardless. I'm already awaiting our next foggy morning wakeup.

Your turn: What's the first thing that comes to mind when you first peek out the window after waking up and see pea soup fog?

Caption This 93

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
London, ON, March 2007 [Click to enlarge]

About this photo: This week's Thematic Photographic theme is blur. Please click here if you haven't yet submitted yours. We're accepting submissions for this theme until next Wednesday.

A funny thing happens in winter when there's little to no snow on the ground: everything feels colder. I discovered this as I waited for our kids' evening program to end at the community centre nearby. Standing on the sidewalk beside an arterial road with a tripod-mounted camera shooting long exposures of passing traffic, I did everything I could to not ruin every shot with my shivering.

That was when I wasn't smiling at passing motorists and pedestrians, vainly trying to convince them that I wasn't insane. Appearances aside, I need to spend more time shooting traffic scenes at night. They have a dreamy, ghostlike quality that reminds me of photography's ability to see things the naked eye cannot. I find that strangely fascinating, and hope you do, too.

Your turn: I need your help coming up with a creative caption for this photo. What would you name it? How does it make you feel? Suggest as many as you wish by clicking on the Comment link below. We'll be taking submissions until next Sunday. If you're new to Caption This and need a primer on how it works, click here.

About last week's photo of a fallen leaf: For reasons I can't quite explain, I love sad, evocative photos. Based on your collectively great submissions this week, you are, too! Honorable menschens go to:

• Terri: "All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey..." (I love that tune!)
• Lissa: "Leaf me alone."
• Linda: "Leave me alone." (amazingly, Lissa's and Linda's entries were submitted one minute apart from each other. You know what they say about great minds...)
  
• Sealaura: "I've fallen and I can't get up!" (Because we all love laughing at infomercials.)
  
• Lara: "Summer move forward and stitch me the fabric of fall..." (Cool trend this week to quote song lyrics!)
• The late, lamented Harold Ballard: "In the fall the Leafs hit the road. They will have no better luck than they do at their home games." (Ontarians understand this. Please leave a comment if you'd like more Maple Leafs background.)
  
• Judy: "If I have to fall, I'm going out in a blaze of color!"
• Robin: "Only the great will fall."
• Heidi: "Transformation."
• Moi: "There is Death in the air."
• Anne: "Fell."

Linda's "Fallen beauty" struck a particular nerve this week. It's hard to articulate how images like this make me feel, but her caption came close. If you haven't visited Linda's site, you owe it to yourself to do so (click here). Please say hi when you do!

Media stuff

I've had a fun couple of weeks in medialand. As I do every so often, I try to share links to some of the more notable hits from TV, radio, newspaper and online media sources. One of the neatest was my appearance October 10th on 'A' Morning on London's main television station, 'A'. Host Cheryl Weedmark and I talked about cellphone rate plans. I've been invited back for the morning of November 7th to yak about smartphones.

Business News Network. On October 7th, I was guest judge for a new segment on Stars and Dogs. Anchors Kim Parlee and Andy Bell argued the bear and bull perspective on First Solar, a company that makes a new generation of lower-cost thin-film photovoltaic sheets. I listened in by phone and, when they were finished, I declared a winner and we briefly chatted about the issue. It was a very cool experience - so much so that I'll be doing it again November 3rd! Here's the link.

I was interviewed by BNN's Michael Kane on his morning show, The Street, yesterday. We chatted about Google, IBM and AMD in the wake of their quarterly earnings announcements. Click here to see it.

National Public Radio. Janet Babin interviewed me for her report, Intel processing in tight market, that aired on the Marketplace Morning Report last Tuesday. Click here to read the transcript and listen to the audio.

Canadian Press:

• Oct 16. CRTC reviewing its policy of not regulating Internet and mobile content. (Where I rip Canada's regulatory agency a new one for applying old-style thinking to Internet regulation.)
• Oct 10. Bell and Telus work together to roll out new wireless networks.
• Oct 8. BCE could be broken up if leveraged takeover fails, says telecom analyst. Byline Ross Marowits. (This one got me a call from Bell. Happy? I think not.)
• Oct 1. Better pricing and financing could be available for tech gadgets in weak economy.
• Sep 25. MySpace teams with major music labels to go up against iTunes. Byline LuAnn LaSalle.
• Sep 24. Quebecor could delay wireless launch until 2010 to ensure proper service. Byline Ross Marowits.

Reuters. Sep 23. Credit crisis may delay Canada wireless plans. Byline Wojtek Dabrowski.

The Montreal Gazette. Oct 11. Google's Android 'opens up' the smart phone. Byline Marc Saltzman.

Centretown News. Oct 9. Viewpoint: Don't expect to see new Google phones in Canada for a while. Oct 9. Byline Brendan Ross.

DPA/German Press Agency. ‘Mobile Internet’ creates a buzz. Sep 25. Byline Andy Goldberg.

Financial Post/National Post. Sep 26. RIM misses the mark for second quarter in row. Byline David George-Cosh.

Globe & Mail. Sep 24. Why can't Canadian parties connect with young voters like Obama does? Byline Brodie Fenlon.

BetaNews. October 14. Analysts: Will $999 MacBook have an impact? Byline Jacqueline Emigh.

IT World Canada. Oct 16. Magician sues Molson over iPhone app. Byline Nestor Arellano. (Where I rant on the silliness of mobile beer software.)

And if you want to listen to be chat about tech, I'm on Toronto's AM640 most Friday nights. John Downs and I talk tech, then open the phone lines up to callers. You can listen in at am640toronto.com. And if you're really feeling cheeky, you can even call in and try to stump me!

The best photography only LOOKS insane

After they change. Before they fall.
London, ON, October 2008 [Click all images to embiggen]

How to freak the other parents out at end-of-day-pickup from school in 8 easy steps.

1. Get there a few minutes early. Park close enough for waiting parents to see you, but far enough to force you to walk for a bit. Go on, the exercise is always a good thing.
   
2. Exit vehicle and make sure your camera is visible to all.
3. Fiddle with said camera as you walk. Make it look like you're really into it.
4. Walk up to the most colorful tree you can find and stare at it. For added effect, walk to a couple of different vantage points before you initiate your little one-sided staring contest
5. Reconfirm camera settings - best bet is to flip it into manual, drop the ISO as low as you can, use a small aperture and the slowest shutter speed you can get away with. (I used f/32 and 1/8 sec and ISO 100 for this shot.)
   
6. Hold camera up nice and high in front of you, well away from your body. Wave it diagonally up and down as you repeatedly trip the shutter. Bonus style points if you get a crazed look in your eyes and/or gyrate like an imbalanced gyroscope. Don't forget to put the strap around your neck, as a flying camera would be a Very Bad Thing.
   
7. Back up. Repeat.
8. Step forward. Repeat. (Alternatively, change your zoom settings between each set. If your camera has a continuous-shoot feature, use it.)

I swear the other kids' parents thought I had lost it as I waved my SLR wildly from the middle of the parking lot. No one asked me what I had shot after I closed up shop and fetched my munchkins. I think they may have been afraid.

For the record, here's what the tree looked like without the slow-mo shenanigans. Neat, isn't it?

Your turn: Have you ever freaked people - strangers or folks you know, whatever - out while taking pictures? Do tell!

Why the blur? My weekly optical challenge/extravaganza known as Thematic Photographic is zooming in on blurry pictures all week long. If you haven't yet shared something, please proceed here to get started. You've always wanted an excuse to share blurry photos. Now's your chance!

One more thing: I've got a Flickr page (I know, please contain yourselves.) Because this is the season of color, I've saved a set known as "Color" (creative, eh?) You can find it by pointing your browser to http://www.flickr.com/photos/writteninc/. Hope you enjoy 'em!

Joe the Plumber? Nah, just my kid

Impending splash
Laval, QC, August 2008

About this photo: We're exploring blurry pictures in support of this week's Thematic Photographic theme. Got a fuzzy image (or seven) to share? Head over here to get started, as the party's just getting underway.

He plays with a spirit that can't help but make those who watch him smile. Whatever he does, he gives it his all. At moments like this, I find myself learning important lessons from him.

Your turn: Where do they get their energy?