I never knew

I think I was a slow witted moron twice in five minutes today. Great. I blame the cold, it’s the cold I tellsya, it froze me brain.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced that it intends to release the full Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.7 specification to AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association, for the purpose of publication by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).—Adobe to Release PDF for Industry Standardization

We havent’ had a good one of those in a while, a long thread of comments and back and forth between blogs. Julien started it with Montréal… Needs… Brains… then Hugh, Robin and Evan joined in.

I actually agree with something Julien said in the comments which is that we don’t get much visibility internationally (whether that’s important is something else). I think he’s wrong in placing the blame for that on local discussions being too limited, on people not collaborating enough, but it’s true that we don’t have much of a profile. Librivox got there, Île Sans Fil and Wifidog got there, Poly9 (Québec city though) got some. In podcasts and blogs Casey and Rudy have a good profile but (to my knowledge) it’s rarely mentioned where they are from and Mocoloco is very well known but, again, mostly “orphaned” in the coverage and neither is a “team building something” as much as my first examples, they are random successful self publishers, not example of collaboration or showcases of local technical knowhow.

I’m sure I’m missing a couple but compare that to Vancouver and we’re wayyy smaller on the web 2.0 visibility bandwagon (I can hear Boris and Karl cringing on that one :-p ). I should think about this for real instead of spewing a post in one go but if I had to point at a reason I’d go more for the “missing Flickr” than for communication.

I think when Flickr was bought they raised awareness and energy in that region and since then there’s been just enough of a rise in VC money to help a few more startups get noticed. Neither here nor there is anywhere near San Francisco but there’s a whole list of differences for that one. I think Austin (and friends) is trying to correct the situation on the Angel / VC front and we will hopefully have a lightning rod “à la Flickr” sometime in 2007.

Voyage en Irlande avec un parapluie

Un beau petit livre qui se lit d’un trait, tout simple et donne le goût de partir en vacances.

The Russian Debutante’s Handbook

AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ.jpg” alt=”” />































The Russian Debutante’s Handbook

It gets a little long about three quarters of the way through but everything else is excellent. The story of a Russian emigre, Vladimir Girshkin who, after feeling lost in NY and getting in trouble with some dangerous people, decides to take a job with even more dangerous people in the Prague of the early nineties. We follow him while he tries to strike it rich, praying on the expats flooding the city. Funny and well spun.

Tyrannosaur Canyon

SCTHUMBZZZ_V37867808.jpg” alt=”” />































Tyrannosaur Canyon

Preston’s exhilarating and absorbing science-based effort will thrill readers from the first page to the last. Michael Crichton wishes he could write half as well.—Library Journal

I’ve enjoyed every book by Douglas Preston and the ones he’s written with Lincoln Child, this one is no exception. If you’ve enjoyed some Crichtons or the science bits in CSI, Bones, etc. This is better.

Gary Benchley, Rock Star

SCTHUMBZZZ_V53955613_AA90.jpg” alt=”” />































Gary Benchley, Rock Star

I’ve been reading Paul Ford’s Ftrain for years, the guy’s brilliant both in writing and in coding, he’s also funny as hell and so is Benchley. A great ride along a wannabe rock star who moves to NY, finds an apartmen, a girlfriend, starts a band, record a demo, goes on tour and…

Sure, there was snubbing. Two attempts at conversation failed, and Oliver laughed. But that was just as well, because I needed to get the juices flowing. The charm I have is not like a light switch, but more like a vintage tube amp. You turn it on and let it warm up, and then it sings like an angel. And so it was with Alyssa Illeander, the most pure expression of the feminine in the place, who listened as I told her of my plans, my goals, my life, and who laughed at my excellent jokes and repeatedly poked my shoulder… Then she said, a little drunk, maybe even drooling slightly—but still beautiful—“You love the Postal Service? I have to kiss you” And I gave a secret prayer of thanks to the god of indie rock, which is Lou Reed.

The end of poverty

Man, I was supposed to talk about this soooo long ago. Fantastic book that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you’ve ever heard Bono’s schpiel about dropping the dept for african countries, the fight agains AIDS, etc. Jeffrey D. Sachs is the guy behind much of his thinking and his theories are based on real world experience through years of consulting with many developing countries.

Sachs has developed a framework for analyzing the needs of country holistically, in a way similar to diagnosing a person. Instead of uniform “solutions” offered by the World Banks and others, he believes in reviewing exactly where the country is in terms of development, what is their unique situation, what causes the problems they are facing and in finding appropriate solutions.

He believes that if we concentrate on helping third world countries reach the first rung in the ladder of economic development they can then help themselves and rapidly gain a much better foothold in the world economy. By focusing on the problems those countries face and offering well tailored solutions as well as by finally giving the money we’ve been promising for years (not giving more, just delivering on promises) we can end extreme poverty by 2015.

Sounds like an enormous challenge, and it is but by reviewing with us his experiences in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, China and India and by debunking misconceptions and putting a variety of numbers in context, he present a doable path to success. If we only start doing our part honestly in helping the less fortunate.