Rolandt

Kellie Leitch's values are not Canadian values, and the ultimate proof of this is that she would even consider the possibility that there would be a values test for new Canadians. Or for people, generally, at all.

Xerox, [Sept] 11, 2016

This item began life as an advertisement in Quartz but is in fact quite a useful and insightful article on the concept of 'flow'. According to the eBook (22 page PDF) flow is when "process and people and technology seem to slip into place and make everything feel effortless." The three 'flow killers' are friction, noise and drag, and you can imagine each operating in an educational environment as easily as a business environment (where, I can attest, each operates). Worth a read.

Roberto Baldwin, Engadget, [Sept] 11, 2016

I was fully prepared dislike Apple's  move to  eliminate the headphone jack from the iPhone. It replaces a common standard with proprietary technology. It introduces 'smart' technology to earbuds that could be used to enforce rights management, closing the 'analog gap'. But I wasn't prepared for the tone-deaf manner in which they introduced the idea. "The reason to move on. Courage." Yeah. Except the only ones facing any danger is the consumer. The danger of a Google-Glass-like dongle hanging out of your ear. The danger of an adapter you'll lose. The danger of paying $159 for $20 earbuds. The danger of not being able to listen to your phone while its charging. "We're going to move from an open standard to a closed, proprietary, expensive competitor because COURAGE,"  says Ben Werdmuller. Yeah. More uniformly negative reaction from The Verge, TechCrunch, CNN, Mashable, Tech2, and  BBC with even more.

A while ago I wrote about about web performance and ad blockers. In that blog post I explained that I block ads because I can’t take the performance hit, that running an ad blocker or using Firefox’s tracking protection makes the web responsive again and a real pleasure to use. That blog post lead to discussions with a few people, including Mozilla intern Francesco Polizzi. Francesco and I discussed a study Tracking Protection in Firefox for Privacy and Performance (pdf) and how we could build on that. That study measured a 44% increase in page load performance and a 39% reduction in bandwidth usage across the Alexa top 200 news sites when tracking protection was enabled

So, ad networks, on average, are dramatically burdening page load times and drastically increasing data usage. This makes people sad and makes the Web less competitive with mobile. But publishers depend on ad networks for their livelihoods and surely some ad networks are better than others, right? Francesco and I wanted to quantify this and because Francesco is awesome, he created a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome, called SiteSonar, that identifies and benchmarks performance information about ad-related assets on the web as you browse.

(The extension uses Disconnect‘s list of ad domains to identify ad-related assets and then uses the WebRequest API to determine network response time for individual ad assets. That benchmark, along with information received like file size, status codes, and a timestamp are recorded locally. Finally, every few minutes the anonymous benchmarking stats are sent to a server where they’re parsed and logged into a database. The data powers a dashboard that displays aggregated information about ad network performance that the extension collected. To learn more, check it out on github.)

The early results from project SiteSonar are available at this dashboard. These are preliminary results from just a couple of us running the extension. We’d like to improve the results by broadening the base of people using this extension and submitting data. If you browse without an ad-blocker and would like to share some of your browsing history with us to improve the results of this experiment, you can find and install the Firefox extension at addons.mozilla.org and the Chrome extension at the Chrome web store.

Point-and-Shoot Plus

Did you ever read a passage and then feel woozy afterwards? The problem is toxic prose. Three common writing problems, taken together, make it hard to figure out what people are trying to say. Passive voice. When you can’t tell who’s responsible for the actions in a sentence, it confuses you. Jargon. When a passage … Continued

The post Identifying and fixing toxic prose appeared first on without bullshit.

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User experience remains a huge risk in the next generation. 

• Sony’s launch of two new PlayStation 4 consoles broadens the appeal of the platform nicely but these devices do nothing to alleviate the issue that could cost Sony its lead in the console gaming market.
• Sony launched two new consoles at an event in New York on Thursday, each of which is aimed at spreading the appeal of the platform more widely.
  • First: PS4 update.
  • This is a slimmer, sleeker PS4 with all the same specifications as the original except that it comes in a smaller box with a lower price tag.
  • This is selling at $299.99 and is aimed at bringing new gamers into the world of PlayStation.
  • Second: PS4 Pro.
  • This is device is roughly the same size as the original, except that the graphics have been beefed up to support 4K, HDR as well as higher frame rates.
  • This is aimed at hard core end of its fan base which is always looking for ways to enrich the gaming experience.
  • Developers are already creating downloadable patches that will upgrade existing 1080p games to 4K as well as expanding the colour gamut and frame rates.
  • The 4K will also support video streaming services like Netflix which are already moving to 4K.
  • This device will be priced at $399.99 pretty much where the old PS4 was selling for.
• These updates are great for widening the appeal of the PS4 for playing games but they nothing to improve the user experience.
• Sony and Microsoft have carved up the console market between them with Sony doing extremely well in the current generation taking roughly 2/3 of all gamers onto its platform.
• I have long believed that this was more due to mistakes made by Microsoft at the launch of the Xbox One (see here) rather than the PS4 offering a substantially better gaming experience.
• Microsoft scrambled to fix these issues but the damage had already been done resulting in PS4 outselling Xbox by 2 to 1.
• However, I think that the next generation could be very different because then the user experience and the ecosystem will be much more important and here Microsoft utterly destroys Sony.
• When I compare the Xbox One’s rich and fun user experience to the bare bones of Sony, there is simply no comparison.
• The PS4 experience appears to be aimed at allowing the gamer to launch the game and little more.
• Furthermore, doing basic things like uploading a gamer photo, changing a password or setting up payment is tortuous and frustrating. (see here).
• When one is trying to develop an ecosystem, the user experience has to entice the user to stick around and explore what else is on offer.
• This is how user loyalty will be generated and how an ecosystem will get its users to spend more time within its community.
• Furthermore, the look and feel of that experience can then be replicated across other devices creating a feeling of ease and of being at home.
• With the Sony PS4 user experience it is almost a relief to fire up a game as Sony has provided the user with no reason whatsoever to hang around and explore.
• This will be much more important in the next generation as most games will be available on both platforms meaning that how well the device delivers other functionality could be the deciding factor.
• Microsoft is languishing when it comes to its Digital Life ecosystem but the assets themselves are in good condition and Microsoft has long understood what it needs to do to make its console appealing.
• Furthermore, Microsoft is unlikely to repeat the mistakes it made at the launch of the Xbox One meaning that Sony really needs to pull its socks up.
• Unfortunately, software is not something that Sony does very well and the company has a habit of ceding commanding market positions with very little resistance.
• I see no signs of Sony working on improving its user experience and I fear that Microsoft will take a large bite out of its market share when the next generation consoles launch.
• This is one reason why I fear that Sony’s improved fortunes may end up being short-lived as I think that Hirai-san has applied a Band-Aid rather than addressing the root of the company’s woes.
• Hence, I would be very wary at getting involved with Sony’s stock even though it remains the only Japanese consumer electronics company with any real chance of longevity.

It’s been quiet on the blog because I just got back from vacationing in British Columbia’s beautiful Okanagan and Kootenay regions. We spent a few days in Osoyoos enjoying the warm lake and wineries. We then drove further east to the Kootenays, home to many historic mining towns (Greenwood, Kaslo, New Denver and Nelson), beautiful hot springs, artisans and the expansive glacial Kootenay Lake that surrounds the whole region.

Living in a global city of glass towers like Vancouver, it’s easy to feel out of touch with the historic roots of our province. I loved connecting with the changing landscapes and seeing the great frontiers of British Columbia’s earliest settlers. I was even surprised to find a piece of the big city in the abandoned ghost town of Sandon, which is randomly home to a fleet of old Vancouver trolley buses from the late 1940s.

Spawning Kokanee salmon in Kokanee Creek

Trying to get Vallen to pose for a photo at Tinhorn Creek winery. 

Historic town of Greenwood. It’s claim to fame is the “World’s Best Water” and being a backdrop to many movies.

Kootenay Lake.

Ainsworth Hot Springs (before it opened and was packed with people and a black bear eating berries in the bushes above).

Vancouver trolley buses in Sandon, BC, a historic mining town now abandoned.

Pretty sure even I wasn’t old enough to have ridden these buses back in the day.

The view from our gorgeous cabin. The candles were massacred by a local black bear, clearly a sign that it was time to go home!

Mozilla is very open about the stuff it does compared to many companies. It's a perpetual worry for me that we are never open enough and could always be more open. But this has some interesting consequences. One of them is that we can be very messy in communciations.

Some examples:

• "Person X said this, you said this. You don't even agree with each other."

• "Person X said this and now you are saying this, who's right."

• "Listen to the advice of your own people who don't agree with you."

Mozilla tries to be an open source organisation of contributors to the project, but we can't ignore that there are about (currently) 1,000 people employed at the Mozilla Corporation and they are paid contributors to the project. Most of the time criticism like this is directed at the paid contributors.

But in an organisation where all the paid contributors are on IRC and mailing lists and blogs all day long, you have a scenario where any paid contributor can say whatever they want, when they want. If you work at Mozilla you likely care about the open web, the code area you work in, your colleagues, believe in open source and likely have strong opinions on things.

People care and are willing to talk about things openly. And because people are people, people disagree with each other. This isn't a large secretive corporation where people can't talk. This isn't a place where answers to questions are ignored or funnelled through one or two people.

In fact I've seen some amazing things in meetings and mailing lists where lowly Engineers directly and openly question Directors and Vice Presidents in front of others.

But that's important, because it ensures that good ideas are formulated by the most knowledgeable people and discussed openly. That's the cost you pay dealing with the Mozilla community. You might get differing, conflicting or incoherent answers as you interact with it.

Would you rather have the alternative?

• Even the big, experienced companies get it wrong from time to time
• Make sure all the key data is included in your email flyer, including the location!

Here’s a fun one from the Guardian. They go over the change in political landscape, leading in with a map that shows states flip around like cards each election cycle.

Relying on the same handful of states to decide the outcome of presidential elections is a fairly recent phenomenon. Just three decades ago, when politics weren’t yet so polarized, all 50 states were up for grabs, swinging between parties from one election to the next.

Tags: election, Guardian

Understanding your market

GIPHY

Whether you're a sadboy protagonist coming out of your shell, a supervillain celebrating a particularly devious plot, or a magical chimney sweep symbolizing the working class, a good dance is an entertaining way to push character development and plot devices forward. Film essayist Antonio Marina da Silva (of Hell's Club fame) strings together 300 jumping, gyrating, and jiggling movie characters in a four-and-a-half-minute video that's entertaining as hell.

We're not even going to try to name all the iconic dance scenes in the lightning-fast supercut, but they range in time period from Charlie Chaplin's classic potato jig to the groovy baby-Groot from 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. There are a few surprises in here, such as Jack Nicholson's joyous Joker, plus memorable scenes from 80s dance dramas like Flashdance. The pure volume of films da Silva was able to cram into the short video is a nostalgia overload. Sit back and let a century of bouncing and bopping coax you off the couch and onto the dance floor.

See more of Antonio Maria da Silva's work on YouTube.

Related:

Daft Punk DJs a Club with Ghostbusters In This Video Mashup

There's a Nightclub Where All Fictional Characters Meet...

8 Projection-Mapped Performances That Have Us Dancing with Our Computers

Rirkrit Tiravanija, Untitled (freedom can not be simulated, New York Times, June 28, 2016), 2016. Courtesy of artist and 1301PE

As a way for artists and influencers to pay it forward, specifically with regards to reproductive rights, L.A.'s Night Gallery co-partners, Mieke Marple and Davida Nemeroff, co-founded Sexy Beast. This Saturday night, Sexy Beast, A Benefit for Planned Parenthood will honor Emmy-nominated director Dawn Porter, whose feature new documentary Trapped follows reproductive health clinics struggling to stay open in the face of nearly 300 TRAP laws (Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers). These laws, which have been passed since 2010 by conservative state legislatures, restrict abortion clinics and doctors and have forced many providers to shut their doors.

Josh Kline, Teratomas Americanos, 2012. Courtesy of 47 Canal

Supporting access to healthcare for all, the benefit is also auctioning artworks by more than 40 participating artists, from established figures such as Jasper Johns, Robert Mapplethorpe, Paul McCarthy, and Ed Ruscha, to emerging artists such as Claire Tabouret and Margaux Ogden.

About a quarter of the works are brand new or were created specifically for the auction. Artists such as Mira Dancy, Marcel Dzama, and Rirkrit Tiravanija created original works specifically for Sexy Beast. Tiravanija's work features enamel lettering on a recent New York Times article with the headline, "Justices Overturn Texas Abortion Limits," which the founders of Sexy Beast gave to him during a studio visit to discuss the benefit.

Sadie Laska, A Leather Jacket, 2016. Courtesy of CANADA

"We've seen a lot of political gains around women's health in the last few years, but they're far from universal and still very much in danger. It's inspiring to see so many artists coming together to help push the issue," Marple tells The Creators Project.

Sexy Beast program director and co-chair Eliah Perona adds, "Access to safe, reliable, and quality reproductive healthcare is being challenged in every state in the U.S., and the effects are far reaching—particularly for those who lack employer-sponsored health care, which is something women artists can certainly identify with. The services that Planned Parenthood provides are essential, and the support from the art community to ensure its existence for all who need it is priceless.”

Barbara Kruger, When was the last time you laughed?, 2011. Courtesy of artist and Spruth Magers

A pair of legendary female artists and contributors to the show are also weighing in on the issue. Says Marilyn Minter, "I'm attempting to counteract the thoughts and actions of people like Mike Pence. He's gone on record saying, 'We'll see Roe Vs. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs.'"

Barbara Kruger effectively sums up the feelings behind the event: "I wanted to be involved because sexuality, race, and gender can determine what you have and what you don't, how long you live or how soon you die, whether you speak or whether you're silenced, whether you're allowed to laugh or can only fear, whether you use power or power uses you." Check out works from Sexy Beast, A Benefit for Planned Parenthood, below: 

Camille Henrot, Tropics of Love, 2016. Courtesy of Metro Pictures

Marcel Dzama, Lady Death Disco, 2014. Courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery

Julie Mehretu, Untitled, 2015. Courtesy of artist and Marian Goodman Gallery

Theodora Allen, The Rising Up, No. 4, 2016. Courtesy of artist and Blum & Poe

Paul McCarthy, CSSC Fountain, 2016. Courtesy of artist and Hauser & Wirth

Neil Raitt, Emerald Waters (Permanent Green Light), 2016. Courtesy of artist and Anat Ebgi Gallery

Claire Tabouret, Close Watch, 2016. Courtesy of artist and Night Gallery

Orion Martin, Wilfredo's Taile, 2016. Courtesy of Bodega

Eddie Martinez, Suffer Cycle, 2016. Courtesy of Mitchell-Innes & Nash

Katherine Bradford, Star Gazers, 2016. Courtesy of CANADA

Marilyn Minter, Miley, 2016. Courtesy of artist

Sexy Beast, A Benefit for Planned Parenthood takes place Saturday, September 10 from 6:30 PM - 10:30 PM at the Theatre at Ace Hotel. Visit the online auction here.

Related:

A Plush Handgun Takes Aim at George Zimmerman's Evil Auction

Bring Your Luck—Not Your Money—to this Art Auction

Artists Paired on Creative Blind Dates Make Valentine's Day Posters

Click HERE to get PDF

Temporary Pathway Consultation:  From the City of Vancouver:

The Arbutus Greenway is a future north-south transportation corridor that will connect False Creek to the Fraser River.

In the short term, the City of Vancouver is building a temporary pathway that everyone can enjoy. We’re looking at several different types of hard-surface materials, especially those that that improve safety and accessibility.

Space is limited so RSVP soon HERE, or at arbutusgreenway@vancouver.ca, to participate and have your say.

• Saturday, September 17th, at the False Creek Community Centre between 1-3pm.
• Wednesday, September 21st, at the Coast Vancouver Airport Hotel between 7-9pm.
• Thursday, September 22nd, at the Kerrisdale Community Centre between 7-9pm.

I’ll probably attend.  While I certainly do not expect to have a veto, I will be speaking in favour of a temporary pathway that allows as many potential Greenway users as possible to travel it and imagine their preferred final design. I will oppose exclusion in any form.

More project info HERE, plus a sign-up page for the project newsletter.

From the Editors of Price Tags:

The Arbutus Greenway project is a small study in tactics.

The first tactic is the classic process argument over lack of consultation. Often equated with lack of veto power, this argument can go on forever: there are enough high-level concepts, choices and details to debate until all the participants (elected officials, engineers and opposition alike) have expired, retired or moved to Kelowna.

Secondly, and related, is the attempt to redefine the very meaning of the term “greenway” – not as a transportation corridor that favours people over motor vehicles (a rare commodity in North America) but as a nature walk, a forest trail, a haven for blackberry bushes and able-bodied walkers. And few others.

Despite decades during which greenways have been defined via major planning documents, the opposition hopes to spark a process of re-definition that will take months, years and (best case) decades, and achieve the opposition’s goals by default. Delay equals victory.

But there’s something else going on: an almost unspoken assumption about the intended users of this corridor. A few, or everyone?

Those opposing the temporary surface paving of the Arbutus Corridor were quick to identify (and hopefully defuse) a term that has been associated with the adjacent West Side neighbourhoods for over a decade now: the Crème de la Crème.

The term became popular as a short-hand for that west-side sense of entitlement over the Arbutus Corridor:

As reported in Vancouver Metro, the term was first used in a heated discussion in Council.

The millennium was still young when, during a debate over the future of CP Rail’s Arbutus Corridor, Kerrisdale resident Pamela Sauder stood up at a meeting and uttered the following breathtaking landmark of arrogance and entitlement.

“We are the people who live in your neighbourhood. We are dentists, doctors, lawyers, professionals, CEOs of companies. We are the crème de la crème in Vancouver. We live in a very expensive neighbourhood and we’re well educated and well informed. And that’s what we intend to be.”

If the Arbutus Corridor, purchased by all the citizens of Vancouver for $55 million, is to be limited in its access and designed primarily for the benefit of those in the adjacent neighbourhoods, then the use of the term Crème de la Crème is exactly correct.

The dilemma, on the other hand, for those who argue Arbutus should be developed according to the long-term vision for a network of greenways, and be truly accessible in the interim until that final plan is developed, is” What should that look like?” How can accessibility, safety and a respectful recognition of values be accommodated in the short term? How can the right of the many for access be respected as well as the rights of the few to delay?

But if there is a decision to keep the greenway in stasis until some indeterminate process is completed, then that become a decision of exclusion. And most likely, it will be the basis for all future fights to keep the status quo and prevent a rail/tram line from being constructed – the very reason the corridor was purchased in the first place.

Bottom line: will the City agree to allow all residents access to this important transportation and recreation corridor in the city so everyone can think about the final design. Or will the Crème de la Crème delay and win the day for exclusion and exclusivity.

We’ll find out as the Arbutus Consultation process on the temporary pathway rolls out over the next few weeks.

Many gamers just haven’t felt at home in the App Store without their beloved Super Mario.

While the recently announced ‘Super Mario Run’ hasn’t launched yet, the game already has a place in the App Store with an unfamiliar ‘Notify’ button next to it.

Rather than the ‘Get’ button or a price listing for the game, a bright orange ‘Notify’ button appeared beside the much anticipated ‘Super Mario Run.’ Users can now choose to be notified when an app they’re waiting for officially becomes available.

This App Store update got lost in the hustle and bustle of today’s San Francisco conference, but after clicking the ‘Notify’ button beside the app you’d like to download, a window pops up that promises to let the user know when it becomes available.

The notifications will be pushed to the Notification Centre of a user’s device when the app they’ve selected becomes available.

As for ‘Super Mario Run,’ Nintendo projects that will be pushed out sometime in December 2016, but you don’t need us to tell you that.

Related: Apple’s new App Store subscription pricing rules are now in effect

Samsung may not make a flat panel version of its next Galaxy S8 smartphone, according to The Korean Herald.

Citing its own sources, the publication says Samsung has already started procuring curved 5.1 and 5.5 inch displays, the same display sizes in use with this year’s Galaxy lineup.

As 9to5Google notes, if the rumour is true, it will be interesting to see how Samsung decides to name its two new phones; the edge nomenclature becomes redundant when both models have edged displays.

In any case, the move makes a lot of sense. When the company introduced the S6 and S6 Edge, there was more demand for the edged variant. That trend has continued with the S7, leading to strong sales of the S7 family for Samsung.

What do you think of the potential move? Tell us in the comments section.

Related: Samsung Galaxy S6 sales estimated to top 25 million units

It turns out the iPhone 7 Plus doesn’t just have more cameras than every other iOS device, it also has more RAM than almost every other iPhone and iPad made by Apple.

An industrious individual managed to get their hands on an iPhone 7 Plus and decided to put it through its paces on Geekbench. The benchmarking tool revealed Apple’s latest flagship iPhone ships with 3GB of RAM — more RAM than is available on any other iPhone released to date, and 1GB shy of what’s inside the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

All of that just means Canadian consumers who decide to buy the iPhone 7 Plus will get a phone that’s more than capable of running intensive apps and multi-tasking. Good thing, too, considering its asking price.

Related: iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus specs, pricing and Canadian availability

Vodafone Australia has confirmed that the Nougat update for the Nexus 6P has been delayed, stating on its support page: “An issue is affecting rollout of this software update and we are working with Huawei to resolve ASAP.”

This was spotted by Android Police after the publication noted that 7.0 OTA (over-the-air) updates and factory images were missing for several devices on Google’s developer site, including the Nexus 6P, Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 LTE.

The issue mentioned by Vodafone Australia is likely related to battery drain, a subject that many in the Android community have complained about following the initial release.

Since Google has not publicly commented on this issue, leaving it to come from the somewhat unlikely news source of an Australian telecom, there is no specific information to be found on when the updates will return, or why the updates for the 6 and 9 LTE are also currently unavailable on Google’s Nexus OTA page. This post will be updated as new information becomes available.

Related: Top 7 Android 7.0 Nougat features

Jim Groom, bavatuesdays, [Sept] 11, 2016

I was a bit uncomfortable with  Chris Long's reference to publishers wanting to see large numbers of social media followers when considering book proposals, and I'm not keen on the institutional focus, but I was otherwise supportive of his approach, and Jim Groom's discussion, around the idea of working openly. And if it moves us from a culture of closed to a culture of open, I'm good with it: "This vision of public scholarship and infrastructure is echoed in  Chris Long’ s notion of the ideals that can and should undergird a public, land grant university that is invested in cultivating and sharing as widely as possible the ideas that inform who we are as a culture." And after that, we can start to talk about one's personal identity over and above one's institutional identity.

Alex Usher, Higher Education Strategy Associates, [Sept] 11, 2016

The funny thing about Alex Usher's report in HESA is that while he keys in on the rising costs on colleges and universities in Canada, he doesn't talk about the students served by those institutions. In the  reports he cites but doesn't link to (966 page PDF) the word 'students' appears for the first time on page 952. He says "government funding is down in real dollars but student income has replaced that income and more besides, so that institutional budgets are still increasing at inflation +1% per year...  given that compensation is 60% of the total budget, that’ s still where the majority of the restraint needs to happen." Given that we're only spending inflation +1% per year I think  the fact that "the proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 with tertiary education in Canada increased from 39% to 50%" (between 1999-2009) is a remarkable achievement. But I guess the business officers don't look at remarkable achievements, and increases in costs (but not government funding) are grounds only for restraint. Though maybe instead we could look at restoring government funding levels and givings students a break.