Archives for 2005

I’m just back from

August 11, 2005 by Michael Boyle

I’m just back from

a vacation to BC and now I see that Powazek has written a very apt post: I suspect that I am part of a teaser campaign which will certainly be of interest to the families of the people whose marriage we went to help celebrate!

Tetra-pak wine

July 31, 2005 by Michael Boyle

Tetra-pak wine

Originally uploaded by mikel.

I snapped this picture yesterday as we were preparing dinner (that’s the salmon getting ready for the grill on a cedar plank on the counter) – in Ontario, they are now selling wine packaged in the same packaging they use for juice boxes. I don’t know if the trend is going to catch on, but the new format brings up a couple of thoughts.

First, they are touting the new format as an environmental thing. It’s hard to see laminated paper/plastic products as environmentally beneficial, but as they say in their marketing materials, wine in this package can be shipped much more efficiently as it weighs less (bottles are heavy) and can be packed more efficiently in trucks. I wonder if anyone can comment? It seems a bit like the disposable/cotton diaper issue in that both can be considered “environmentally friendlier” depending on your point of view.

Secondly, I noted that the wine comes from the Pays D’Oc in France, also home to Fat Bastard wines. These both identify the wine by the grape varietal that has gone into the package, something rare (and largely illegal) in France but the norm in most of the rest of the world.

I’ve been pretty quiet

July 31, 2005 by Michael Boyle

I’ve been pretty quiet

here in the last week, but before it gets too late I want to note that one of my many activities, last Wednesday’s first* Ottawa Bloggers get-together at the always fabulous Manx Pub was a pile of fun. Miss Vicky aka Vicky Smallman did most of the heavy lifting in terms of organization, and proved to be a delightful host. Also attending were Accidental Altruist, and both women brought their companions as well, who were also good company. It was a good start to what will likely come to be known as YOWblog or some such.

There’s a new feature

July 23, 2005 by Michael Boyle

There’s a new feature

at Google Maps: there is now a “Hybrid” view available. It’s a satellite photo but with roads labelled and highways and such colour-coded. Very slick – and it works again in Safari.

Boris suggests

July 22, 2005 by Michael Boyle

Boris suggests

that people promote awareness of Creative Commons licensing options in Flickr. I agree with him in principle – but there’s a problem. As far as I can tell, a US CC license on Canadian-origin content is probably invalid, in particular since there are CC Canada licenses available. Should Flickr (and Six Apart and others) not provide international customers with an equal opportunity to add such a license?
Update: Anil Dash commented that Six Apart has added such support to Movable Type 3.2.