Month: September 2013

“Twerking” — remember when it was called pelvic thrusting? — may be something that the media seem to be going nuts over, which is strange, since it was featured in a Disney cartoon back in 1953, namely Peter Pan:

Image found via Debbie Smith. Click to see the source.

Quebec’s Charter of Values, when viewed on the surface, seems to be about separating church and state, with rules such as the one preventing government employees from wearing “ostentatious” religious symbols at work. However, if you look at its supporters, it seems to be more about preserving the pur laine (literally, “pure wool”, the closest English analogue is “dyed in the wool”) aspect of French-Canadian culture: that is, people who are descended from the original settlers of New France, or at least those who can fake it convincingly.

According to the Quebec Charter FAQ, a satire Tumblr, Quebec’s Charter of Values will unify the people of Quebec by doing the following:

From the Quebec Charter of Values Tumblr. Click to see the source.

We’ve seen hints of it in the case where a kid in Quebec with a turban was forbidden from playing soccer, and this “wonderfully enlightened” statement made by retired professor Claire Simard at a recent rally in support of the Charter:

“I would rather die than be treated by a woman wearing a full-face veil in an ER.”

By the way, Professor Simard — did you know what people wear in ERs? Face and hair coverings like this:

I know, I know, it’s about “trying to create a secular society”, right?

From the Quebec Charter of Values Tumblr. Click to see the source.

No, it’s not. It’s just not-so-secret code for “fit in or else”, or “separatism’s back, in 21st-Century form”. It may be coincidence that the French word for “charter” — charte — is pronounced roughly the same as the English slang word “shart”, but it’s very fitting.

Thanks to Ahmad Nassri, through whom I found out about the Quebec Charter of Values Tumblr.

…this establishment will explain it clearly and succinctly to you.

(Strictly speaking, they get naked as they dance.)

Photo by Karen Geier.

A pity these weren’t out in time for Ford Fest.

Need more background? Take a look at this earlier post of mine.

I was at the Toronto Mini Maker Faire earlier today, and managed to get a shot with this little fella, who was incredibly popular with the kids.

Also:

Shout out to @AccordionGuy – thanks for coming and playing a Star Wars theme. On an accordion. only at #MakerFaireTO 🙂

— Maker Faire Toronto (@MakerFaire_TO) September 22, 2013

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

BarCamp Tampa is back, and I’m going to be there! BarCamp Tampa 2013 takes place this Saturday, September 28th in Tampa at USF’s College of Business (4202 East Fowler Avenue), with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. and the first session starting at 9:00 a.m.. Admission is free, but if you’d like to help sponsor the event, there are options for you as well — see the registration site for the details. If you haven’t signed up yet, do so now, before all the ticket slots run out!

Here’s a video that gives a quick run-down of what BarCamp is all about:

BarCamp is an “unconference”, which means that it’s a gathering that looks like a conference to the casual observer, but actually turns some of the basics of a conference upside-down. For starters, there’s no agenda until the morning of BarCamp. At the very start of the day, the agenda is blank, and it’s up to attendees who want to do a presentation to fill it. By filling in a spot on the agenda, you claim a room and a time slot. Non-presenting attendees can look at the schedule and choose which sessions they want to attend, and they are encourage to actively participate in the session, with questions, comments and points of information. Many presenters come in with a prepared topic and presentation, but impromptu ondes are welcome, and some of the best BarCamp presentations I’ve seen have been off-the-cuff, freewheeling discussions fuelled by the presenter’s knowledge and passion. As the BarCamp Tampa folks say on their site, “the day is what you make it, by choosing presentations to attend and deciding whether or not to present a topic.”

BarCamp topics are all over the map, but they’re usually of interest to people with an interest in technology, the internet, and community. If you’re a designers, developer, marketer, copy writers, SEO specialist, sysadmins or run a business with a web presence, you’re likely to find something of interest to you.

“The endearing quality of the unconference format is that you have options all day,” says BarCamp Tampa’s site, and it’s right. One of the most important rules of BarCamp is the Rule of Two Feet. If you’re in a session and it isn’t doing it for you, you are free — and even encouraged — to leave and check out another session. Or hang out in the hallway or other common areas, or visit the sponsor booths, or do anything else that interests you.

I’ll let the site do the talking here: “Barcamp is a community event, both in participation and in funding. It is made possible by the time and money donated by the crew of people running the event, the attendees and companies that support us. Thank you to all of you! Each year we have some fantastic companies that sponsor by donating time, money, facilities and supplies for the day. We’re also very lucky to get great support from attendees making donations in order to attend. We hope that everyone takes the time to check out the companies and people that support us!”

Once again, the details are:

• When: Saturday, September 28th, 2013
  • Doors open/registration at 7:30 a.m.; first session starts at 9:00 a.m.
• Where: USF College of Business, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa
• How much: Free-as-in-beer. You can also pay if you’d like to help sponsor the event

See you there!

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.