If you’re interested in Python but have never shown up to a Montréal Python session yet, you really should.
At Montréal Python 5, we saw some really cool presentations.
One of which was Alexandre Vassalotti’s talk on Porting to Python 3.0.
Alexandre Vassalotti
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Janina Szkut
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Michelle Blanc
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Every year, the Kokoromi Collective throws a wild party.
A wild party involving video games!
GAMMA 3D was a wild ride of stereoscopic fun.
There were tons of people in 3D glasses.
It was like going to an old 3D drive-through.
An interactive 3D drive-through.
Without cars.
And if you own a pair, you can play too!
Download the games!
Red and cyan
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Double vision
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
3D spectacles
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Fireflies
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Excitement
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
We were only at the Hudson for a short time, back in July. The next day, we moved our bags to the New Yorker Hotel, which is significantly less spacious. We were joined by Ani and Alex, who split the room with us, and were also attending the same conference.
The Last Hope is a computer security conference held at the historic, but doomed, Hotel Pennsylvania. That hotel was even more cramped than ours!
There were a few talks that I wanted to attend, but I mostly wanted to see my friends. It’s nice to have friends all over the world, but it does make it inconvenient to have them over for dinner. We did attend a talk on how to get passwords out of your computer, even when it’s been turned off. And saw a demonstration on lockpicking. And ate some instant icecream.
I was most happy to see ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ioerror, janviere, secretsoflife, and Micah. All of which I hadn’t talked to in a very long time. I also got to have dinner with bokunenjin and meet princessleia2, at a stylish, but awful, restaurant.
You know, I’m getting worse and worse at actually attending conferences. Instead, the worrying trend is that I go to foreign cities to shop for hats, buy books, drink tea, and eat. Strangely enough, this doesn’t make me unhappy at all.
Small baths do, though. I got the worst crink in my neck while I was there. And bathing was so necessary in the sweltering moist heat of a metropolis in July. It should be no surprise to many of my readers that this was something highly encouraged, and frequently ignored, at this conference.
On the last day of HOPE, we scooped up some bottles of Club-Mate, grabbed some souvenirs, and went to stay with andukar. All the ex-NITIots in New York seem to be living under the same roof, which is nice because it’s a rather lovely one. We shopped for clothes in Williamsburg, took some photographs, and ate with regyt and novalis.
I can’t wait to go back. But mostly for the pizza.
I haven’t posted here for months. Not that I haven’t wanted to, but I’ve been working very, very hard on a very, very cool project.
Akoha is our little game that aims to change the world, one good deed at a time. I haven’t been able to tell people what it is, and so much of my life that been dedicated to this project, but it’s been totally worth it!
We’re a TechCrunch50 Finalist, which means we get to go on stage in front of thousands of people and unveil our little project. And we think you’ll like it.
But it is a little stressful.
Biting our nails
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
The whole team has worked night and day to make our little experiment come true. It’s not perfect, but it’s not done. With your help, we can make the world a better place, a bit at a time.
How can you learn more? You can read our blog, follow our Twitter, or join our Facebook page.
You can also watch us on stage this afternoon.
Akoha at TechCrunch50
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
13:30 – 14:45 EDT
Watch TechCrunch50 Live
May’s Girl Geek Dinner was held at Station C, the lovely co-working place in Mile-End.
We ordered pizza and sat down to hear Stephanie Troeth give her talk on “Better Living Through Computing Algorithms”.
When Tanya McGinnity first told me about her idea, I was thrilled. Who wouldn’t be? The premise is simple: find a girl geek to speak about an exciting project, hunt down a restaurant that will host a group dinner, and let people mix.
Now simple as that sounds, it isn’t easy to organize. So after the first Montreal Girl Geek Dinner ended in a resounding success, Tanya’s been working hard to host one a month.
There have been talks ranging from starting your own business to hacking on open source software to innovative computer games. Because Montreal is fast becoming an exciting place for technology, there’s no surprise that it’s full of talented geeky women.
Recently, I found a chance to interrupt her busy schedule to ask her a few questions.
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a transplanted Maritimer who, due to cod-overfishing, needed to find a new job. So I landed a gig with Matrox Graphics way back in the pre-bubble days.
After the bubble burst, I got into digital marketing and project management with some cool web firms here in Montreal. Now I am currently freelancing with ihaveanidea.org as their Director of Social Medification and webology.
How did Girl Geek Dinners get started?
Montreal Girl Geek Dinners are an offshoot of the London Girl Geek Dinners, started by the awesome Sarah Blow who also runs the Girly Geekdom blog which I contribute to (albeit sporadically!)
What inspired you to start Girl Geek Dinners in Montreal?
Montreal is an incredible city and there are so many interesting and innovative things going on in all sectors—the music scene, startups, film, arts and so on. As a tech geek by trade, I would attend tech events and see that there weren’t too many girls in the crowd. I came across a video clip from one of the Barcamp events where Martine Pagé asked the crowd “Where are the Women?” and I felt like maybe there was something to be explored in creating some smaller scale mixers where girls could hone their presentation skills and meet other people who are as jazzed about being geeky.
Who shows up?
Mainly girls, but we do get quite a few guy geeks too. Most people who attend are invited by someone who has attended a previous event and many others are new Montrealers who are looking to meet new people. There have only been four dinners, so we are a new group but we’re looking to grow and evolve.
What happens at each event?
We eat. We talk. We network. We exchange business cards. A featured speaker gives a presentation on a topic. Then dessert and the cheque. So far, we’ve had dinners featuring Heather Kelley, Angela Byron, Aleece Germano, Kim Vallee and Bronwen Zande.
What topics are you looking for?
Absolutely anything, as long as you are geeky about it. There are plans to do sessions on time-management, comics, nutrition, rock-bands, developing negotiating skills, crafts, as well as some “surprises” in the works.
How can people get involved?
Visit the blog or our Facebook group for more information.
I’m looking for speakers, restaurant suggestions, translators, event planners, help with promotion and anything else that could help this group evolve and meet everyone’s needs. It takes a village to grow a nation of geeks.
Girl Geeks
Originally uploaded by Simon Law.
Special article for Montreal Tech Watch by Simon Law.
Photographs by Janina Szkut and Simon Law,
used under Creative Commons licenses.
The second edition of Montréal Python was held at the Standout Jobs office, upstairs from where I work.
It’s the first chance I’ve had to attend, but I’m glad I did. It’s awesome to see so many people interested in the Python programming language.
When Arach first talked to us about holding a regular gathering of people interested in the language, we were really enthusiatic. At the office, we were bemoaning the fact that it was quite difficult to get in touch with people in the city who really knew the technology we were using. So of course we wanted to help out.
I counted at least fifty people showing up. And I think we’re going to get many more.
Arach Tchoupani
Uploaded by sfllaw.
Cyril Robert
Uploaded by sfllaw.
Yannick Gingras
Uploaded by sfllaw.
Presenting
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Akoha’s sister company, Standout Jobs, has been hosting Montreal on Rails for quite a while. We figured we’d get into the act.
So we’re sponsoring the first Montréal Python gathering tomorrow. Sadly, we don’t really have enough space for everyone, so we’re commandeering the Standout Jobs offices upstairs. After all, what good are siblings if you can’t ask them for favours?
I will actually be on a train to Toronto, so I’m going to miss David Goodger talking about crazy awesome stuff he does in Python. But you should go!
Intimidated? Don't think that Python is for you? Worry not! Python programmers are friendly, charming, and helpful.
Montréal Python 1
Thursday, 7 February 2008
18:30 – 21:00
Standout Jobs
3981 boul. St-Laurent #615
Free admission
( Website | Facebook | Google Maps )
It’s been a long time since I’ve written about our local unconferences, but a neat one coming up is DemoCamp CUSEC 2. It’s attached to the Canadian Undergraduate Software Engineering Conference, which is being held in Montréal again.
Last year, I did a demonstration on how to cook an omelette, with it being a metaphor for software engineering. This year, I’m going to do something more prosaic and run a round of Powerpoint karaoke, under the guise of getting people to practise their presentation skills.
Or it will be a convincing argument against its use.
Show up if you can! Present something you’ve been working on! (There are still some slots left.) It’ll be exciting.
DemoCamp CUSEC 2
Thursday, 17 January 2008
19:00 – 21:00
Centre Mont-Royal
2200 rue Mansfield
Free admission
( Sign up | Google Maps )
gamma 256 is happening tonight!
Come to the Société des arts technologiques at 21:00. See a few bands, play a few video games, and have a good time.
I'll be there with my camera!
Heather Kelley, of Kokoromi fame, was the speaker at the inaugural Montreal Girl Geek Dinner.
I showed up to La petite marche last week, armed with my trusty camera. I sat down, had a very decent meal, and then we heard Heather talk about her recent projects.
This included mention of gamma 256, which is best described as a giant party to showcase independently developed games. There will be electronica bands on stage, video games to play, and plenty of cool people to talk to. It's happening this Wednesday, at the SAT, from 21:00.
Many thanks to Tanya McGinnity for organizing the dinner!
Kokoromi collective
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Here are some very belated photos from BarCamp Montréal 3.
If you weren't there, I'm sorry you missed it. We had a lot of fun!
Aleece Germano
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Two Julies
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
The rest of the summer flew by quickly. I had less and less time to take photographs as more and more of it was consumed by, you know… I don't remember. But in any event, I was so busy I barely had time to sit down and edit photographs.
Plus, I started to feel more and more guilty about not writing. You know that feeling, where you haven't done something for so long that you put it off because you're too embarrassed to just pick it up again? Yeah, I knew you'd understand.
Facepainting
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I stayed in Ottawa for the Canada Day long weekend. After lounging around the city, trying to avoid the crazed tourist mobs, I ended up on Parliament Hill with ostraya and her friends. We blew bubbles and painted people's faces, as we waited for the fireworks.
Spotlights
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Through the grapevine, we heard that the organizers might cancel due to the weather, but in the end they launched them. Jas, who had tagged along, eloquently described the spectacle as “fucking awesome”.
Cappuccino
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
When I returned to Montréal, I discovered that the office had acquired one of those fancy Italian coffee machines. I tried my hand at grinding, tamping, and pulling a shot.
Not bad for an amateur, eh?
The bosses had been talking about the July offsite meeting for some time and I was beginning to dread it. For some inexplicable reason, I thought of suffering in a lousy hotel at the corner of Nowhere and Nothing.
Instead, we drove to a lovely cottage retreat, had a local restaurant provide us with gorgeous meals, and lounged around in a hot-tub every evening. I love working here!
I soon discovered that my favourite abadoned store, Gillman's, was closing.
Binky Holleran, a local restaurateur, bought it. With the excess unsold inventory in hand, she asked various artists to make something out of it. Their exhibit was a fabulous tribute!
Counterclock
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
In my quest to make computer conferences more interesting, I did a cool tutorial at DemoCamp Montréal 3.
Instead of the overdone topic of “How to build a flashy, interactive ‘Web 2.0’ site that only geeks will use”, I opted for teaching people how to build a counterclock.
A counterclock, of course, runs counterclockwise. I ripped apart a clock I bought merely hours before, flipped its motion around, and got it working before the end of the conference. It went over pretty well.
Natasha Duchene
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
tashamonster and rubythirtythree held a little concert at Buddhi Lounge. That's a pretty nifty place that looks like a converted basement apartment. That's too depressing to actually live in, but makes a fun space for a club.
Whoever did their interior decoration is a genius! Colanders for lampshades and a bathtub-mounted television playing Disney movies complete the quirky atmosphere.
Peter Zion
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Because Peter threw a party for his triumphant return to Montréal, we met our really cool neighbour Jen. Apparently, madamewoo and I made such a good impression on her that she invited us to a picnic in the park.
Or perhaps it's just because we live so gosh-darned close? In any event, whipping up a little spaghetti puttanesca never hurts for a picnic that's right outside my front door. And neither does a little bit of photography.
Christine and baby
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Oooh, my friend Christine is having a baby. Doesn't she look beautiful? I got invited to their baby shower where I got to see kids running around like mad, a really happy dog, and three sane men stomping on a wasps' nest.
Before I knew it, summer had hit full swing. June's when stuff really starts happening in Montréal. That streets fill with tourists, people who show up to poke and gawk at how strange and beautiful everything is here. Native Montrealers try to ignore them—you can tell the tourists apart because they aren't half as stylish as the locals.
The beginning of June also marks the beginning of the Fringe Festival. Which is where we start off our little photo journey.
Packed bags
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Rachelle performed during the Fringe and I happily volunteered to take some photos of her, and her teddy, for an upcoming play.
We met at cpirate's apartment, where we did a few shots. Then we hijacked an old suitcase and this is what we got.
Bike musician
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
A few days later, I was walking down the street and ran into a crowd of people riding down Rachel for Clean Air Day. At one intersection, I saw a man with a harp, a panflute, and a bike riding around in circles.
“How novel,” I thought as I pulled out the camera.
Make a wish
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
The Fringe isn't all about independent theatre, though. You've got people who spin around fire at dusk. That's always particularly exciting. I caught the S. Vestas as they were wrapping up a performance in Parc des Ameriques.
Cameras really love fire poi.
The happy couple
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
One of the zanier acts is Hanakengo. For the past two years, Hana has had quite the crush on Zack Winters, going to the “prom” with him and then marrying him. Don't they look so cute?
Demolished building
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
After all this excitement, I needed a brief respite. What better way than to hang out with my fellow Debian developers in Edinburgh? Scotland is a lovely, rainy place that loves their deep-fried cuisine, real ale, and peaty whiskies.
And what do you know? I did too. Well, except for all that fried food. I felt pretty horrible after a week of that.
I returned to Canada only to head off to another geek conference. At OLS, held in Ottawa, I finally got to interact with a real working OLPC.
It's really, really small. And really, really cute. Unfortunately, this one was pretty broken as it was being hacked on.
Viennoiseries
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
One of the finer points of the geek conferences that I attend is that I manage to attract geeks who are also into fun. This year, a group of us took a break from the various talks on virtualizing machines to enjoy a spot of tea.
I highly recommend it. The Château Laurier is simply gorgeous.
It's been such a long time since I've written anything to you, my faithful readers. Life became so hectic and hurried that I barely had time to use a computer. In fact, it's been about three months since I last wrote anything substantive on the Internet.
I think that a lot of this has been fall-out from working on computers too much. Really, I had a brief spat where I stopped using a computer completely. You should have seen the size of my inbox when I returned. As such, the writing bug has come less frequently and less passionately than before. I suspect a bit of my photography has suffered as well, but it's really starting to come back.
Since you all like looking at pictures, I think I'll pull out a bunch to show you.
Alexandre St-Onge
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
madamewoo and I went to see our friend Freida perform her experimental electronic musical composition.
I know nothing about electronic music but I do know something about pictures. Alexander, whom I don't know, put a distintegrating stuffed animal on his head, walked up to the front, and nodded so that stuffing fell all about him..
Whit Diffie and Bruce Schneier
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I did a small bit with this year's Computers Freedom and Privacy, held in Montréal. Mostly I did a little research on party planning and did a bit of the advertising. Since this was a privacy conference, there are no public pictures from our little soirée.
However, I am allowed to post photos of the fascinating open panel discussion.
This was actually a summer full of conferences, which is something I'm quite pleased about. Evan Prodromou helped organize RoCoCo Camp, which centres around wikis and other collaborate on-line spaces.
He also introduced me to OpenSpace, which was so successful I think the next BarCamp should employ it.
For ALL your glass needs
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Next, I flew to Edmonton to shoot a friend's wedding. My mom and I wandered the streets for the first few days, taking in the sights.
Downtown Edmonton is rather deserted for the May long weekend, we only saw the homeless walking around the deserted Chinatown district.
West Edmonton Mall fared a lot better. The shoppers were out in full force and couples were dragging each other into the various shops.
We snuck into the fairground and took some pictures of the rides. This rollercoaster seemed quite popular, though since I'm deathly afraid of heights, I knew better than to climb aboard.
Domed roof
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
After all that glitz and excitement, Mom decided that we should take in some of the cultural sights. The Alberta Legislature Building is actually quite gorgeous, with a surprising tropical garden at the top of its domed roof.
For the stag party, I tagged along with the bride and groom as they went on a whirlwind tour in a white limousine. We managed to end up at a bar where the guests got rather hammered. After a few rounds of pool, people were getting tired so I called the driver and dropped people off at their hotels.
I returned home to a forlorn kitty cat.
He ignored me for a few hours but then decided that he was far happier posing in front of the camera.
Destruction
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Sadly, we noticed that the bathroom sink had clogged up while I was away. My efforts to clear the clog were futile, so the landlord called the plumber. Who used a drain snake, then disassembled the sink, then tore out the wall, before asking “is this floor made of wood?”
Madamewoo looked at me with horror as the workman got out his hacksaw. Well, that's how we started the bathroom renovation project and were forced to find alternate bathrooms for about two weeks.
DemoCamp Montréal 3 is happening tomorrow. We're going to be at the SAT from 18:30 to 20:30, holding demonstrations on a whole range of different topics.
Why DemoCamp? Well, Montrealers are some of the most creative people I know and they've got plenty of things to show and tell. DemoCamp is like a big gathering of creative minds who get to watch fifteen-minute presentations on anything. And since all you can do is demo: no slides, no gimmicks, then you actually get to see real stuff doing real things.
I'm going to be there to show you how to make a counterclock. You know, the opposite of a clock that goes clockwise. Along the way, I'll do a little explaining of electricity, timekeeping, and motors. I just have to remember to buy a clock today. :P
Come on, it'll be fun!
DmoCamp Montréal 3
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
18:30 – 20:30
Societé des arts technologiques
1195 boul. St-Laurent
Free admission
( Sign up | Facebook | Upcoming | Google Maps )
Tomorrow is the beginning of RoCoCo Montréal 2007, a three-day unconference held right here in Montréal. It starts at 9:30 on Friday at the SAT and runs until Sunday evening. It's for all who are interested in wikis, weblogs, and creators interested in collaborating in on-line spaces.
RoCoCo is organized with OpenSpace Technology, where we collectively decide on an agenda where everybody has a chance to speak. There's no artificial divide between speakers and audience, so you can lead your own session if you have something to say. Think of RoCoCo as a real-life wiki, where anybody can contribute.
A detailed explaination of what RoCoCo is about can be found on this invitation. I'm inviting you because I'm flying out on Saturday and can't make the whole conference, but I really hope you come.
There will be discussions on:
- What projects people are doing around the world
- Development of collaborative tools like wikis, free wifi networks, content management systems, etc.
- Techniques for building collaborative communities
- Best practises for inspiring self-managment and self-policing
- Starting up new projects
- Plans for future collaborations
So how can you attend? I thought you'd never ask!
 |
RoCoCo Montréal 2007 ( Sign up | Upcoming | Google Maps ) |
See you there!
Tonight, I'm going to be attending an open panel discussion at Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2007. It's completely open to the public and will be a discussion on freedom on the Internet.
There are going to be a number of famous people there, including Whit Diffie, Peter Neumann, Anita Allen, Bruce Schneier, and Ed Viltz. I'm not sure exactly what they're going to be talking about, but I bet it'll be thought-provoking.
At around 20:30, I'll be down at the CFP Welcome Party, which is basically a big fundraiser for Creative Commons and EPIC. You've probably heard me mention Creative Commons a few times, because they're a big proponent of having a healthy body of creative work that artists can draw from. Almost all of the art I produce is available under a Creative Commons license, which I've chosen so that you can share, copy, and modify it. So I'm more than happy to socialize with interesting people and to support a good cause.
Sounds interesting? You bet!
How do you get there?
Well, the panel is at Hotel Bonaventure, and starts at 18:30. Details here.
Then the welcome party is at 20:30, at Austin's place. Details here. For directions to Austin's house, send me an e-mail. Austin's address is on this flyer. If you're leaving from the Hilton, try these directions.
Hope to see you there!
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