What’s happened here? I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve posted on spillway. And I had so much stuff lined up, too. Ready to go with daily content. New original podcasts in the pipe. Gearing up for more posts in The Tiny Enterprise Project and Branching Out series. Where did that all go? The desire to share stuff hasn’t gone away. I’ve been excitedly prepping material documenting other projects, including paddle-making and a little scratchbuild I call DroidQuest2013. But the posts about them haven’t materialized. Why? I’ve…
Category: Blog
Think the Science Is Still Out on Climate Change? Think Again
The language above is obviously leaning towards the alarmist, but this infographic by the fine folks at learnstuff.com points out something critical: the effects of climate change are very real, indisputably so, and potentially disastrous. The numbers that they give in the writeup that accompanies their graphic are shocking. 72% of media outlets are currently reporting sceptically on climate change, whereas an overwhelming majority — 97% — of scientists agree that climate change is a real thing, and in fact caused by the effect humans have on the environment. And…
Sunday Reading 24/02/2013
It’s Sunday again, and I’m on my way to the office to do some skills assessments with new students, so this week’s reading will be short. 3Doodler: The World’s First 3D Printing Pen – WobbleWorks LLC, Kickstarter I love it when interesting Kickstarters get hella funded off the mark. The 3Doodler is a new take on 3D printing–rather than a $1200 MakerBot you can put an $85 pen in your hand. And unlike all other 3D printers on the market, the 3Doodler is INSTANTANEOUS. You have an object just as…
Sunday Reading 10/02/2013
Good morning folks! The plan for this morning was to sleep in, but there was one three-year-old and one five-year-old who had other plans entirely. Thus, instead of sleeping in there was laundry and cleaning and blogging and very soon a workout. Let’s round up the week together. Microsoft Surface Pro Review – David Pierce, The Verge Oh man oh man oh man. I’m psyched about the Surface. You’ll remember how much I love Windows Phone and how I was pretty thrilled to experiment with Windows 8 on my old…
Family
You’d think that you’d be closest with your parents when you’re little, when they’re more or less literally your entire world. I don’t know, in hindsight. I was always more comfortable, from a very early age, hidden in a book than really engaging. And now, even though I still love my make-believe, even though I still spend as much time as I can in my head creating things that may or may not see the light of day, I’m a little more grounded, and I want much more to be…
Sunday Reading 03/02/2013
It’s another Sunday, and that means it’s another edition of Sunday Reading! Folks, I had a Saturday off yesterday and it was about the best thing ever. I forgot what that feels like. I may be working more and harder than I ever have in the past but you know what? I HAVE SATURDAYS BACK. That’s okay. Saturday, in this week’s case, meant spending time with family, hunting stuff with which to pamper the impending puppy, and generally resting up. How’s your weekend been? While you ponder your own downtime,…
January 31st aiming to be official start of Windows Phone 7.8 update | Windows Phone Central
Well now, this is exciting news. Microsoft has been less than forthcoming with details about the Windows Phone 7.8 release. 7.8, the surface-level bump for Windows Phone 7 users, was touted as many as being an appeasement feature, little more than a gesture to WP7 adopters whose phones cannot be updated to the new Windows Phone 8 OS. My position has always been this: Windows Phone 7.x works. It works well. It’s good. And you’re getting what you paid for. Don’t order a pizza and expect it to become duck confit at…
Sunday Reading 20/01/2013
Well, folks, the Starfleet Corps of Tiny Engineers are fed and watered and are raring to go, but I should probably give you something to read with your second cup of coffee (or third, or fifth, if you’re anything like me) before the three of us vanish into the workshop for a couple of hours. Here are some fantastic, optimistic reads from around the web this week. It’s Time We Put the Bald Space Marine Away. It’s Time to Make Games for More People. – Patricia Hernandez, Kotaku I…
Sunday Reading 13/01/2012
Well, folks, this week’s Monday morning Sunday Reading is brought to you by my having to work yesterday (with a totally awesome student, so no big deal there) and also the project that involved turning the entire basement upside down to make room for a new workspace. I came into possession of a shiny MasterCraft workbench on Friday night and couldn’t go another day without setting it up. Anyway, how about we gather some reading from some beautiful people and read it together over coffee? Diary of a Prop Maker,…
Re: Talent is Cheaper than Table Salt
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ve been skeptical for a while about Kristin Lamb. I haven’t read her book, We Are Not Alone – The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. The growing obsession with social media “experts” turns my stomach, even when I recognize I could probably use some more of that expertise around the spillway. The #MyWANA community on Twitter, a sort of group-therapy session and navel-gazing exercise for writers, has both drawn me in and turned me off more than once with its promise of positive, passionate interactions and…
Sunday Reading 06/01/2013
Sunday Reading is a weekly collection of awesome stuff from all over the internet that showcases utterly enthusiastic people being utterly enthusiastic about the things they love. The Montreal Expo Canadian Flag: Zaricour Flag Collection I’m sure most people are passingly familiar with the flag popularized during Canada’s centennial celebrations, but this is not only a great little showcase but also provides some background on the design. It’s an indespensible piece of our history. Read More Company of Fools’ Twelfth Night Celebration: The Visitorium As much as I want to get…
#saturdayofficedoodles: crossover
Time to share today’s #saturdayofficedoodles! Via @Peady, on Twitter, who requested “something happy:” And for Alex, on Facebook, who wanted to see Spock and Obi-Wan meeting: That Vulcan Science Directorate spoils everyone’s parade. Paddle your own canoe, folks. Trevor #saturdayofficedoodles is Trevor’s crowd-sourced way to pass some time during a slow Saturday at work. Tweet him @trevor_ccw.