Monthly Archives: May 2007

| Blogosphere, Technology

I’m starting my own wikiconference

Following up on my previous post on RoCoCoCamp, Evan Prodromou has a post-mortem filled with links (like his brilliant proof-of-concept Wikiclock which I’m considering contributing to regularly), and recounts a sad event that shows the true face of so-called “openspace” unconferencing:

We had Open Space’s minimalist instructions posted on the walls of the SAT, so people would see and remember them. Steve pointed out that the first of Open Space’s “four principles” is grammatically incorrect: Whoever comes is the right people. He said, “In the spirit of wiki, I’m going to correct it right now!” And to applause, he got up with a marker and changed the “is” to “are”.

Before I made that change, I asked for opinions from others on how to change it. Should it be “Whoever comes are the right people” or “Whoever comes is the right person” or something different entirely?

Then, just as we were about to reach a consensus, the OpenSpacePolice came down on me hard. You see, we were working under talking-stick rules (where only the person holding a particular token — in this case a marker — could speak). The Nazi-esque nature of a particular dictating moderator meant we could not bend the rules, and I was left to my own devices. I crossed out “is” and replaced it with “are”, as the emerging consensus seemed to indicate was preferred before it was brutally silenced by the gestapo-esque proletariat.

It gets worse.

Moments later, as the marker had been passed down, some idiot gave some hippie-nonsensical BS about how “is” is better because we’re all one people. Yeah. Then he passed around some LSD and started chanting about how we should end the war. Or at least he could very well have, judging from his clearly screwed-up philosophy.

So this guy, putting his own radical political ideology over simple grammatical rules, stood up and declared proudly that he was going to “revert” my change, restoring the original wording.

At first I did nothing. I wasn’t about to start a war over this, even though I know I would have gotten more support. Later, quietly, I talked with Evan about how outrageous this all was, but he just laughed at me. Someone from the openspaceocracy got to him first, and he sided with them.

I left the “unconference” in disgust (and also because I wanted to get home to watch some West Wing reruns). But I’m not bitter about all this. Instead, I’m going to turn this into something positive.

I’m starting my own wikiconference. I’m going to call it Citizendicamp, and it will have rules that prohibit this ridiculous anarchy and peer pressure that stands in the way of true development. This new conference will be more reliable and more accountable, and will involve the use of real experts instead of these know-nothing nerdy momma’s-boys.

Who’s with me?

| Montreal, On the Net, Technology

Montreal: Home of pedophilia online

UPDATE: Macleans has a piece on pedophilia in Montreal in general, with a focus on Epifora.

A Seattle-based pedophilia website, with lists of events where sexual predators can find pre-pubescent girls to stalk, was shut down last month by Virginia-based Network Solutions.

Now it’s found a new home, at Montreal-based Epifora, and has re-launched.

Though the hosting provider’s terms of service state that any of its clients can be shut down for any reason, they also “accept controversial speech”, according to their homepage. They refused to comment on the pedophilia website, and it’s still online, which can only mean they support it.

Epifora is in turn hosted by Wisconsin-based Steadfast Networks, which lists “child pornography” as an example of “unacceptable content“.

Of course, the pedophilia website says it’s not doing anything illegal.

(via Digg)

| Blogosphere, Montreal, Technology

Wiki: The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems

I only got to see one day of RoCoCoCamp (I love technology and all, but some things take precedence), but it was enough for me to be pretty impressed at the wiki culture both here and abroad. The main floor at SAT had nine stations for discussions about all sorts of things wiki-related.

For those who missed the goodness, there’s plenty of blog posts:

| Montreal, Public transit

Say goodbye to the 21 and 23 … nevermind, you won’t miss them

Now that they’ve been in service for almost a year, the STM will be evaluating the “senior” buses running through Côte-des-Neiges (21) and NDG (23), and disappointment with their popularity might lead to them being cancelled.

Is anyone surprised? Let’s go over why these routes were a bad idea in the first place:

  • They run only on Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., meaning you have to set your weekly schedule around them.
  • They run only every 50-55 minutes, which means you can spend almost an hour waiting for a bus.
  • They only stop where the STM thinks you want to go. So unless you live in a big apartment building and want to go to Loblaws, you’re out of luck.
  • The routes are confusing, even for me. Instead of going up and down a street like the very popular 105, they take wild loops around everywhere, passing on many major streets in only one direction, meaning you might have to go in the opposite direction of where you want to go.
  • You can’t find them listed if you go to the STM site and search for bus schedules. The only way to find them is to download the PDF flyers and search for departure times.

These routes, which were launched with much fanfare last June, were quite possibly the worst the STM have ever come up with, and that showed after the initial novelty quickly wore off with seniors.

What’s hilarious about this is that the borough mayor, Michael Applebaum, is worried about wasting money. Why? Each route uses only a single bus for four hours a week. Compared to the cost of running a single regular route (like, say, the underused 138), it’s barely a drop in the bucket.

Next time, focus less on the colour of the bus stops and more on how useful a new line will really be to users. There’s nothing special about seniors that will cause them to embrace crap.

| Montreal, Public transit

The strike is on, unless the union caves

Le Devoir has an opinion from STM chair Claude Trudel explaining the company side of the labour dispute that will take public transit off the road on Tuesday morning.

While it’s obvious he’s sugarcoating his own position on the matter, it’s hard to see how the STM doesn’t have the upper hand on this. Public opinion is on their side, despite valiant efforts by maintenance workers to justify the $22-25 an hour they’re paid (plus overtime) to keep 40-year-old equipment running smoothly for hundreds of thousands of kilometres per year. And the city’s position, that everyone has to get the same deal, makes sense. And it’s not like the STM is swimming in profit either.

When the strike starts at 12:01am Tuesday morning (or perhaps more accurately at 1:01am since they’re supposed to have late-night service), people will have to find alternative ways to get around:

  • Taxi drivers will get a much-needed funding boost
  • Bicycle use will skyrocket (also because of the nice weather)
  • Commuter train use will be even more unbearable than it already is (ATM is unaffected by the STM maintenance workers’ strike, however the Blainville, Rigaud and Delson lines might see delays because of an unrelated CP rail strike)
  • People might actually decide to get out and walk to places

Most importantly, the strike will send people back to their cars, and may convince some people that the uncertainty of public transit isn’t worth leaving their SUV at home.

| In the news

Hail to thee, Anglophonia

A brilliant new plan: Since the Quebec Liberal Party takes federalist West Island anglophones for granted (and who wouldn’t? Why pay for oxygen when you get it free?), why not setup an alternative political party for this minority group and take the anglophone Montreal seats by a landslide?

A Westmount entrepreneur (who else?) is doing exactly that. He’s starting a party called the Equality Party … Unity Party … Democratic Alliance … Alliance Quebec … Affiliation Quebec! Their first meeting is Sunday afternoon.

Good luck with that.

| In the news, Montreal

Three deaths for $40

I don’t know what’s saddest about this story (The Gazette has a less-conclusionary article):

  • That an ethnic cabbie’s fear of being racially profiled led to him keeping information about (apparently) accidental deaths to himself
  • That guilt from this led to him committing suicide
  • That the lack of any family or friends in the city led to him not being discovered for months after his death
  • That just about every story mentions that the two dead Americans were “adult” “models” as if that mitigates matters at all
  • That a $40 unpaid cab fare led to a chase through a field late at night and eventually three deaths
  • That this story makes sense at all, and the actions, while perhaps not all justified, seem understandable
  • That the first question that comes to mind about this is “who takes a $40 cab ride to Laval to go to an after-hours club?”
| Fun, Montreal, Public transit

Metro party this weekend (but…)

Looks like some people on Facebook are organizing another metro party this weekend.

Saturday at 9 p.m., meeting at the Saint-Michel platform of the Snowdon station.

I’m not quite sure why they’re taking the short blue line instead of the considerably longer green or orange lines. In any case, there are only 18 confirmed guests, so it probably won’t be anything near the greatness that was Newmindspace’s metro party in March.

| Montreal, Public transit

All aboard the dream train

The city today released its 155-page transportation plan (PDF), which focuses on public transit, cycling and other green initiatives. Heck, even the report itself is green, so you know they mean business.

The report includes some very common-sense ideas: Extending the blue line metro East to Pie-IX and then Anjou, extending the orange line northwest to the Bois-Franc train station, connecting bicycle paths across the island, adding bicycle parking and adding express buses and reserved bus lanes to major arteries.

But just in case you’re hopeful that any of these initiatives will see the light of day, remember that it also includes a promise to finish the Cavendish Extension. Yeah.

As ambitious as the plan is, it’s not as crazy as tramway fetishists Projet Montréal’s plan (PDF), which proposes putting tramways on the highway and all the way out to Ile Bizard. (Well, some people at least think it’s worth the trouble)

Hidden in the sea of Montreal’s plan is another common-sense idea that I think would make a huge impact toward getting people to use public transit, especially in suburbs: Make express buses run all day. It works brilliantly for the 211, why not have something similar for the other suburbs?