Categories
Geek It Happened to Me

“Coffee and Code” Today in Toronto

Coffee and CodeCoffee and Code is an idea I’ve been meaning to try out for some time. Every so often – perhaps once a week – I plan to work somewhere other than my home office or Microsoft’s offices but instead spend the day working in one of Toronto’s wifi-equipped cafe.

The idea is to make myself available to you, to answer your questions and talk about Microsoft, programming, the tech job market, games, accordions or whatever topic strikes your fancy. I’ll be pretty easy to spot: just look for the guy with both a laptop and an accordion.

For this inaugural Coffee and Code session, I’ll be at Urbana Coffee (1033 Bay Street, a couple of blocks north of Wellesley, at St. Joseph) from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. I’ve picked the place for a number of reasons: a central location near parking and transit, friendly staff, free wifi, power outlets aplenty, recommendations from friends and a glowing review from Torontoist. If you’re in the neighbourhood, please drop by!

Since I live and work in Toronto, I’ll be holding most of my Coffee and Code days there. However, my job does involve a fair bit of travel, and it’s quite likely that I’ll hold Coffee and Code days in other cities. Some of my coworkers are also thinking about holding their own Coffee and Code days in their own cities as well.

If you’d like to know more about upcoming Coffee and Code days, keep reading this blog, or check out Coffee and Code’s site at coffeeandcode.org.

Categories
Uncategorized

“Coffee and Code” Tomorrow!

This article was originally published in Canadian Developer Connection.

coffee_and_code

I’m announcing the start of Coffee and Code, a regular event where I’ll spend the day working at a wifi-equipped cafe somewhere in Toronto. It’s not just an excuse to get out of the home office, but a way of making myself available to you, to answer your questions about Microsoft, our tools and technology, development and tech in general – or anything else. If you’re in the neighbourhood, I invite you to drop by for a chat!

The first Coffee and Code will take place tomorrow, Friday, February 20th, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Urbana Coffee (1033 Bay Street, a couple of blocks north of Wellesley, at St. Joseph). I’ve picked the place for a number of reasons: a central location near parking and transit, friendly staff, free wifi, power outlets aplenty, recommendations from friends and a glowing review from Torontoist. It looks like a promising place to “set up shop”.

Feel free to drop by! I look forward to talking with you.

Categories
Uncategorized

Make Your Own “Snowballed by Obama” Comic

In honour of President Obama’s visit to Canada today, I’m pointing you to the Presidential Snowball Generator, where you make your own “Snowballed by Obama” photo comic like the one below:

Photo-comic of Obama hitting a cat with a snowball

Categories
Uncategorized

Baby’s Choice: Marketing vs. Safety

Eric Grant pointed me to his article at DRIVEN magazine, where he shows us the packaging for Baby’s Choice brand bathtub toys:

Packaging for "Baby's Choice" bathtub toys: "Free from Bisphenol A" and "Warning: choking hazard - small parts / For children 3 and up"

The text in the sunburst dutifully informs you that the plastic from which the toys are made are free of bisphenol-A, while the warning tells you that the toys’ small parts make them a choking hazard and that children under 3 – the kind we like to classify under “baby” — should avoid them.

The proud declaration that the toys don’t have a chemical declared unsafe and banned in some places is more of a marketing statement than a safety declaration. As for part about the possibility that your kids might choke on them, well, didn’t you read the warning on the package?

Thanks to Eric for the heads-up!

Categories
Uncategorized

One More Valentine’s Day Image

Air crew pulling a bow and arrow out of a blood-stained US Airways jet engine: "I don't care if it was playing the accordion. As far as you me and the FAA is concerned, if it has wings then it's a 'bird strike'. Capiche?"

Categories
Uncategorized

Seattle Travel Diary: Pike Place Market

I’ve got a couple of photosets from my recent trip to Seattle on Flickr. One of them is of the great signs I saw at Pike Place Market:

"Fresh" neon sign at Pike Place Market
Click the photo to see the full photoset.

…and the other is devoted to some of the other sights around the market:

A very neat arrangement of green onions at Pike Place Market
Click the photo to see the full photoset.

Categories
Uncategorized

Happy Valentine’s Day, Skywalker Style!

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

Even though it’s been almost four months since I’ve joined Microsoft, I’m still asked the question “Joey, why did you join the Dark Side?”

There are many reasons for joining the Dark Side. One of them is that the Rebels are sick, sick puppies:

Valentine card with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia kissing: "If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right"
Card courtesy of Ben Congdon.

Happy Valentine’s Day. my fellow nerds!