A fleeting glance over my shoulder

While driving the little man to his second birthday party of the day yesterday, I decided to go through the middle of London's downtown. I do this kind of thing all the time - I figure that taking a different route whenever the urge strikes allows us all to see things we wouldn't otherwise see.

Little man in his back-seat booster agreed, and happily commented on the interesting new vista that unfolded outside his window.

As I cruised to stop in front of an interminably long red light in a city of interminably unsynchronized traffic signals, something reached out from my peripheral vision and prompted me to take a closer look. I'm glad I did, because this is what I saw.

It's just a picture of a couple of upper-level balconies on a downtown block that time seems to have passed by. But it provides a tantalizing glimpse into how two households live, and how things might have looked long before any of us was even here.

This slice in time lasted all of 10 seconds while I grabbed my camera, barely composed the shot and fired the shutter before hastily stuffing everything back in the console before the light once again turned green.

But it's one of those little pieces of happenstance that seems to happen on days like this, when you're hanging out with a fascinating little person and you're not overly worried about the big nasty things in the world.

Lesson learned: I'll be taking the scenic route more often from now on.

A day of parties

Our worldly five-year-old, Noah, had two birthday parties today. So precisely scheduled was he that I had them both entered into my PalmPilot, complete with alarms and instructions of what to bring to each one. My wife packed a knapsack with everything we needed to navigate the celebratory day.

I hung out with my little man and his minions for pretty much the entire day. The first party, a relaxing couple of hours in a backyard pool followed by pizza and cake, gave way to a somewhat more frenetic one involving a huge, crowded splashpad, a not-so-huge patio in the baking sun, and, oh yes, the requisite pizza and cake.

He fell asleep on the way home, waking up as we turned into the driveway so that he could tell Mom all about his exciting day.

Today's photo paints a picture of our thoughtful little guy. In the midst of the hubbub, he somehow found the time to look out at the flowers. What I'd give to know what he was thinking as I tripped the shutter on this one.

Please click the picture to see the larger, full-resolution version.

Your turn: What constitutes a good day when you're five years-old? Do you remember any particularly outstanding days from your own childhood?

While you're mulling that over, I'm tucking in for a nap of my own. Spending an entire day surrounded by little people is pretty exhausting. I know I should know this by now - and I do - but days like this remind me just how tiring the process can be. And rewarding; I wouldn't change a thing.

A columnist evolves

More crazy news from my world of words...

My life as a newspaper columnist is about to undergo major change. Starting next week, the regular biweekly column gives way to an entirely different animal known as ink blog. The promo from Friday's paper is just over there on the left.

I've long researched and studied that elusive convergence point between so-called old and new media. I'm a firm believer in the ability of online and offline vehicles to complement each other. I'm also pretty firm in my contention that few media organizations have executed on this promise.

My dream is that this initiative represents a first step in that direction: already, no one else is even trying this on the op-ed page, so we're off to a good start.

The idea generator is working at warp speed - I'll be filing every day next week, and my 160-word pieces will appear Tuesday through Saturday, inclusive. Kinda crazy, I know, but right where I want to be, and precisely what I want to be doing. Writers write. Often. This is a forum that I've always hoped to have.

Please pray that I manage to pull off the following:

• Come up with compelling ideas that hit readers right where they need to be hit.
• Deliver those ideas not just once, but day after day (I'll be writing every other week, more or less - "on" weeks will be five days straight.)
• Never miss a deadline (no sweat there, as I never do. Journalist's credo, after all.)

Your Turn #1: If you're in London, I hope you'll read the paper with an extra degree of interest starting next week. I also hope you'll fire e-mails into the paper - pro, con, whatever's on your mind - to prove that blog-like concepts can fly in a newspaper.

Your Turn #2: If you're not in London, I hope you'll track this experiment through the links on my blog - and I hope you, too, will send letters into the paper if I manage to get your gourd.

For the record, my last "regular" column is posted here. It closes a loop that started with the first op-ed piece I published in the paper way back in 2001.

Vacation images - pelican needs a name

Another in a continuing series of images and words from our odyssey drive to Florida last winter. Will we do it again? You betcha!

The scene: Deerfield Beach on a gray, windy day. My wife and I left the kids with her parents so we could walk - blissfully alone - alongside the pounding surf. Not your typical day at the beach, but it was a cool experience all the same.

The avian: This pelican braved the biting winds to pick up some grub at the water's edge. Then again, it's not like he could duck into a hotel nearby to get out of the blustery weather, so I suppose he didn't have much choice.

Surprisingly, he let me get really close to him before he flew off. I didn't have my Nikon with the big lens, so I couldn't cheat. Either way, what an amazingly beautiful animal.

I wonder where he (she?) is now.

Your turn: Got any suggestions for a name?

Quoted - Canadian Business Magazine

The editorial fun continues: I was interviewed by Andrew Wahl for his piece, Trouble on the Line, in last month's CBM.

For the record, I am not saying Voice over IP (otherwise known as Internet telephony) is bad. I'm simply recommending that businesses get into it with their eyes open. I'm still cleaning the egg of my face from the last time I dared suggest that VoIP wasn't the ultimate technological solution to all the world's problems.

Hmm, maybe it is. Thoughts?

Quoted - feelin' wormy

By now, the world knows that vaunted news organization CNN and the leadership of the free world, among others, were taken down by the Zotob worm. It caused computers running Windows 2000 to constantly reboot themselves, thus giving employees a day off and prompting CNN anchors to make fools of themselves on-air. It was quite a thing to watch.

In the overall scheme of things, it wasn't much of a hack attack, but it was high-profile enough for Info-Tech's client base that we sent out a press release on it: Zotob exploits lax PC security policies, says Info-Tech Research Group. It's also posted here on PR Newswire.

Pickups thus far have been really cool, and I've done interviews with the following media organizations:

New York Daily News - Many who kept Windows open let in new worm.
Houston Chronicle - Wake-up call comes in form of worm. Also ran in business section.
Red Herring - Zotob worm attacks Visa (Take a peek at the giant, boldface pants-down pull quote!) and Zotob Morphs into 11 Variants.
Vancouver Sun - War of the worms is a preventable battle.
IT World Canada - Windows worm wiggles through Canadian firms.
Ottawa Citizen - Lax security let worm hit networks, experts say.

Places that have run the press release include:
Yahoo! Finance.
Tekrati.

Other notable pickups/rewrites:

La Nacion (Chile). Apparently, I speak Spanish:

"Si todo el mundo instalara los últimos servicios de protección en sus sistemas informáticos, este virus no estaría ocupando los titulares de la prensa" declaró Carmi Levy, analista de la consultora Info-Tech Research Group.

SeattlePI.com's Microsoft Blog. Zotob worm update.

I'll post more later, and associated links, as they come in.

Droplets

Most folks I know look at a rainy, gray day and think it's depressing. I'd rather look at a day like this and see the fact that it paints everything in a different, more sombre light. It isn't more sad than a sunny day. Nor is it justification for barricading myself inside until the clouds go away. It's just different, and new.

Photographically, I find the possibilities fascinating. Leaves would look bare without perfectly formed droplets of water scattered across their surface. Likewise, windows would be empty expanses of slick nothingness if not for the residue of a light morning rainshower. It's what I was thankful for as I noticed what was left on the windows of our minivan while we loaded the kids in for the trip home.

The water no doubt evaporated by the time we hit the highway onramp. But I look forward to the next rainstorm, because what it leaves behind will no doubt be worth capturing - again.

Your turn: Rainy gray days: good, bad, or indifferent? Why?

Back to the beach

For reasons that make little logical sense, I find myself thinking about the time we've spent at one of our local beaches this summer. We live an almost equal distance from two Great Lakes - Erie and Huron - and they exert a tremendous influence on our lives: from weather to how we spend our weekends, they manage to work their way into at least one or two conversations daily.

The question, of course, is why. What is is about a messy strip of sand and rock beside a huge expanse of water that so fascinates us? Why do we find ourselves thinking about these places long after we've packed up the last sand toy and headed home?

Your turn: I need help answering these unanswerable questions of the universe. Why can't I seem to get the beach out of my head these days?

About this picture: I took this a few weeks back at the end of a particularly wonderful day at Grand Bend on Lake Huron. I thought the sand patterns on the bottom of the shallow water were pretty memorable. This is one of those images that immediately evokes images of my kids enjoying a carefree day in the water with me and my wife. I'd go back tomorrow if I could.

A child's insight

My wife was heading over to my parents' house last week to help them pack in advance of their impending move. I stayed back that morning to ensure the little people didn't reduce the inside of my in-laws' house to the functional equivalent of Saddam Hussein's famous scorched earth scenario.

Noah, now an all-grown-up 5 years-old, asked her as she stepped out the door:

"They're Daddy's parents, so why do you have to help them?"

On a frighteningly regular basis, the thought processes of our insightful little man absolutely amaze me.

Publish Day - security rant

Processor.com has published a piece I wrote. It's entitled Credit Breach Brings Kindergarten To Mind. It's a fun rant on the recent security breaches that have exposed 40 million customer records to hackers.

It begs the universal question: Is your confidential information safe?

In a word, no.

Long in the seat

On any long drive, every family reaches the point where all the movies, books, singsongs, Game Boy games and snacks are no longer enough. All that will satisfy your little people is being able to run around their grandparents' house before tucking into a warm bed with the rest of the brood.

Here, Zach's face clearly asks the question, "When will we be there?" What he didn't appreciate at the time was the fact that my wife and I were asking each other the exact same thing. Even we get sick of the long haul after a while.

Your turn: How do you make long drives manageable for your kids? What works? What doesn't? (And if you want to share a long-drive-horror-story, I won't complain...I know we all have 'em.)

Quoted - Globe & Mail

Something very cool has happened once again in my insane world of words. I've been quoted in the Globe and Mail's Report on Business section. It's a pretty influential Canadian publication, so please excuse my extreme exuberance this morning.

The piece is entitled Piracy battle leaves Microsoft, 3Com in tough spot, and it's a column by Dan McLean, who is also editor-in-chief of ITWorldCanada. I was asked to share my thoughts on Microsoft's latest plan to scan end-users' computers to look for pirated versions of its software. I clearly had issues with the scope of Microsoft's effort. Click here to read it.

Yay!

Publish Day - A father shows his age

Today's column, Reflections on a father's failing health, might seem familiar to anyone who's ever watched a parent get sick. I've got a front-row seat these days, and it's not an experience anyone would relish.

Why I wrote it is simple: when I feel challenged, I write. As I doodled, I felt others might relate to the experience - if not now, then someday.

I wish that someday would never come for anyone who reads this. But I know life doesn't work that way.

Your turn: How did/do/will you handle coping with parents who get sick? How do you get yourself through it? More importantly, how do you get those around you - other parents, spouses, kids, etc. - through it with something more than you had before?

Car wash

The kids helped us wash the van for the first time last week. I use the term "wash" with great care, since it ended up taking twice as long to finish, and I'm still finding spots that were either missed outright, or had dirt "reintroduced" after the fact.

Regardless, the kids had a great time pampering their huge new toy, and we're already looking forward to the next party in the driveway.

I took this after we were done - I was afraid to take the camera out earlier in case a rogue munchkin with a hose decided to turn his attention toward me - and only realized after the fact that it ended up being a sort-of self portrait.

Your turn: What other household chores do your kids like to "help" you with? Are they really helpful? How hard do you end up laughing as a result?

Faces from the past

This is my wife, Debbie's, late great aunt Millie. A kinder, gentler person you'd never meet. She passed away many years ago, but not before I got to know her as Debbie and I grew into what we are today. It was a privilege to be part of her family.

I post this for a number of reasons. First, Noah's full name is Noah Mayer Gideon Levy. It is our tradition to honor the memory of those who have passed on by naming our children after them - if not the full name, then at least the initial. So Mayer is for Auntie Millie. He inherited part of her good soul.

Second, I wanted to define beauty in terms that go beyond what Madison Avenue would have us believe. This photo, more than others, reaffirms that true beauty comes from within. It outlives us, and influences those who come afterward to be better people. Auntie Millie would wholeheartedly agree.

I continue to post more pictures to the accompanying Flickr photo site (see photo strip to the right for the link.) I hope you'll cruise the images there for some more insight into what I think is worth looking at and thinking about.

Your turn: Please select three words that, in your opinion, define beauty.

A child's perspective of time

Sometimes, I have to wonder how deep the soul of a child can go. On turning 5 last week, Noah ripped open his present from us and gleefully screamed the following to all within earshot:

I've wanted this for my whole, entire life!

Almost instantly, my concept of time through his eyes changed. No, he had not literally been waiting for a LeapPad since the day he was born. But his use of the phrase suggested he was - and is - starting to view time in a whole new, and very adult-like, manner. Yet another milestone of growing up has been passed.

Your turn: Kids really do say the darndest things. What notable quotes have you heard from our planet's little people?

Little hands

I have no words to add to this lovely scene, so I'll turn it right over to you...

Your turn: What 3 words come to mind as you absorb this picture?

Big Brother is watching...you!

Microsoft has announced a new program under which it will scan your computer before it allows you to download software updates. It's called Windows Genuine Advantage, and I've got serious reservations about it. They say it's to combat piracy, and I have no qualm with that. But the depth and breadth of their information retrieval far exceed what they really need to know to verify software authenticity.

I wrote a news analysis - Microsoft Anti-Piracy Move Raises Serious Confidentiality Issues for SMEs - at work, and it was published on the corporate site.

Which raises the question...

Your turn: Is this draconian? Do software companies - or any companies, for that matter - have the right to peek deeply into your computer? If we let 'em get away with it now, where does it end? This isn't a tech issue so much as it is a consumer-focused, abuse-of-power one.

---
Update - Thursday, August 4:

Earlier this morning, Info-Tech sent out a press release on this topic. It's entitled Microsoft Anti-Piracy Move Raises Serious Privacy Issues. I'll post updated links to responses here:

• CFRA Radio in Ottawa, Ontario. Interview aired Thursday afternoon. Here's the link to the MP3 file. To listen to CFRA live, click here. To browse their interview archive, click here.
• Tom's Hardware. Headline: Windows authentication: Sneaky or necessary? Was interviewed opposite a Microsoft spokesperson. I don't think Microsoft will be inviting me to the company BBQ anytime soon.
  

The tent game

Have you ever played "Tent"? It's a bedtime game I've long used with our kids to get them to calm down enough so that they can fall asleep.

Usually, it works. Tonight, it didn't. At least not how I oririginally intended.

Dahlia tucked in without much ado. But Noah was full of beans and didn't want to put his head down, let alone close his eyes. He wanted his Mommy. He wanted another drink of water. He forgot one of his stuffies downstairs. His fertile mind concocted one excuse after another that kept me hopping for far longer than it usually does.

Finally, desperately, I suggested we play the tent game. He smiled and grabbed for the comforter. As he covered my head with it, it occurred to me that on a hot and muggy night, this was the last thing we should be doing. But he was smiling, so I went with it.

One of the key transitions from childhood to adulthood is when you no longer can breathe in a confined space. When we were kids, my friends and I used to burrow ourselves deep in our sleeping bags for hours on end. We'd time ourselves and keep track of who held the record. Stupid, yes. But it made us happy at the time and didn't hurt anyone, so it couldn't have been all bad.

Back then, lack of oxygen and stifling heat didn't seem to deter us. Now, however, 30 seconds after our little people cover my head, I'm ready to get out.

I quietly fashioned a breathing hole as Noah settled into his side of the "tent". He babbled on about real tents and flashlights, his happy voice now devoid of the sad-clown tone that had filled the air only moments before.

The rhythm of his patter and the fact that I was still underneath way too much fabric soon made my logey. I drifted off before him, and woke up an hour later surrounded by nothing more than the sounds of kids sleeping.

I quietly tip-toed out of the room, careful to avoid stepping on an errant toy, smiling at the fact that my strategy to get them tired enough for bed ended up having the same effect on me.

Little boy goes away

Our eldest, Zach, is off on his first real trip away from home without us. He headed back to Montreal with my in-laws for some alone-time with them. With camp over and not a whole lot on the calendar, this is a great chance for him to forge some lifelong memories much like we did with our own grandparents so long ago.

When they were still with us, my wife's grandparents lived in Toronto - a six-hour drive away from our then-hometown of Montreal. Her parents regularly made the trip, and some of my wife's strongest images are from those trips. Now it's Zach's turn to do the same.

Debbie loaded his bags with enough clothes, books, games, and slices of home to last him until he returns. What we couldn't put into the bag was a piece of ourselves so that we would be with him for as long as he's gone. But at some point, we can no longer constantly be around him. He has to start learning what the world is like beyond his house, beyond the place where his parents and siblings are a constant presence.

That lesson started this morning as our 10-year-old little man waved goodbye to us from the back seat of our in-laws' car. He's somewhere in the hinterland of Ontario now, well on his way to the place where we grew up. When he comes home, he'll have done some growing up of his own. And so will we.

Your turn: How do you start letting go of a child? Can you ever really let go completely?