NorthGeek

When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom

This is a beautiful, inspirational song written and originally performed by K’naan, a Somalian-born Torontonian musician. This rendition showcases an incredibly impressive roster of Canadian talent, making up Young Artists for Haiti. Have a look and listen, it gave me the “proud to be Canadian” shivers…

Special thanks to our boy, Alfredo.

The Phantom HD camera, high-speed filmography, music, & Stephen Hawking – all very cool things.

This is a very cool clip of some high-speed footage captured with the impressive Phantom HD camera (in my opinion, a RED with uber-cool high-speed capabilities), and interesting music which I am assuming is taking either actual audio from, or at least quotes from acclaimed theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking. Enjoy!

[UPDATE 03/09/10] — For those of you interested in purchasing this beast of an HD cam to capture your home videos, you’ll have to prioritize your purchases… If you’re into nice cars, don’t buy one, you’ll need your $118K for this Phantom HD camera. If you want some kick-ass HD capabilities in a smaller form factor and smaller budget, I would check out the RED Scarlet – here.

For those interested in high-speed filmography, check this video out, too – also shot with the Phantom:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Zedmo secures substantial investment from local business

(digg this story!)

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – February 4th 2009
John Stapleton, Business Tech, AP

“Thursday was a huge, huge day for us” exclaimed Noah Bloom, co-founder of Zedmo, a Vancouver-based startup developing the universe’s greatest location-based mobile social community.

“I was just going about my day as I normally would – checking my email, browsing the news stories on my America Online portal, and updating my eHarmony profile, when I received a phone call from an angel, who claimed his name was Mike” continues Bloom. “I didn’t believe Mike for a second, so I quickly looked around the room of 2010 cohort enemies – uh, I mean companies – to see who could be playing this evil trick on me. Anthony was sitting in his chair not on the phone, Jamie was busy tweeting his next publishable masterpiece, Mack was under his desk wearing a hood, and Team Romania was hard at work shining their Google pens. Daniel, my co-founder, was busy complaining about his recent ski accident, so it surely wasn’t him pranking me.”

What happened next, forever changed the face of Zedmo. A struggling startup duo of Bloom and Daniel Wolfe, who dropped everything to join the 2010 Bootup Labs Cohort, were, until yesterday, surviving off leftover sandwiches found in dumps around the city, and the occasional “fresh” peanut butter and tuna sandwich.

“Being a startup is very tough,” says Wolfe. “It’s not like in the movies where you can rub a lamp and a naked woman comes out of it. It’s tougher than that.”

As you can tell by now, the Associated Press mandates us writers to write our stories in such a way that the reader needs to read all the way to the end of a story to find out what the story is actually about. But, because I know my audience is fairly small, I will cut to the chase here.

Nester’s, a top-notch grocer (according to some, but not all… ANTHONY NICALO…) located just steps from the Bootup Labs office in one direction, and steps from Zedmo’s underground home lair in the other, has made a significant investment in Zedmo. Without acquiring any equity in Zedmo, Nester’s has injected $5,200 worth of groceries into the startup. Terms of the deal are still a bit shady, but a spokesperson for Nesters, Mr. Michael Grocerman, has told the Associated Press that, “…the orange juice cannot be diluted.”

So, how did Daniel Wolfe ever score such a great co-founder, with the ability to close investments so early in the game? We asked, and he explained.

“I have what’s called a silver tongue. That’s it.”

And you thought the Olympics were the biggest story out of Vancouver.

When asked what Zedmo plans to do with this influx of food, they were quick to point us in the direction of their appointed PR agency, for reasons of secrecy and not giving too much away to the competition:

“First, they supplied the 2010 Cohort with Odwalla juices, so as not to cause any unfriendly conflict or envy around the office. Further to this, Zedmo hopes to build on this investment by purchasing fancy foods and supplies, such as turkey, cheese and crackers, and non-generic cling wrap. No further comments, my clients are very tired from the celebrations last night.”

Although this recent investment has placed Zedmo founders Noah and Daniel in the spotlight among “everybody who’s anybody” from the Valley up to Vancouver, the dynamic duo promises to remain down to earth, although sources tell the AP that Daniel was spotted drinking Tropicana orange juice, while Noah was seen washing his hands with a bar of Lever 2000 – for all his 2,000 body parts (including hands).

For more information on Zedmo and their location-based mobile application, please contact info@zedmo.com

PLEASE NOTE: Zedmo is still accepting further investment, so don’t be shy.

How to give a great wedding speech

This post is re-published with permission from TheWordShow.com.

Here’s a speech I gave at my good friend’s wedding party a short time ago. Names have been changed to protect their identities, if you really want to know who’s who, I’ll probably tell you.

********************
Everyone, if I could please have your attention, my name is Dan Reitman. You may remember me as one of Richard’s groomsmen. If you attended the wedding but don’t remember me as a groomsman, you may remember me as the lanky guy at the party attempting to breakdance at 1am. I know what you’re going to ask, and the answer is, no, I’m not a professional dancer, it’s just talent I like to share.
For those of you who could not make it to Aberdeen, rest assured the wedding in Scotland was spectacular. It was a wonderful melding of Canadian and Scottish families and culture, Francine was a beautiful bride, and Richard looked amazingly presentable.

My official responsibility, as groomsman # 3, was, as Richard and Francine told me, to hold on to this set of keys [hold up plain set of keys], and make sure they did not leave my sight. I’m still not sure what these keys are supposed to open, and I have the distinct impression that Richard and Francine gave me this task because they didn’t want me to feel left out. That’s the mark of true friends.
Anyhow, I’m thrilled to be able to stand before you today, on this, the one-month anniversary of their wedding – I’m not sure if they’re planning on having one of these every month, but you guys should know you are only getting one gift from me.

I’m going to say a few words about Richard and Francine; why I think they’re good people, and then I’m going to wrap it up, because I probably will have been rambling for quite a while, In fact I’m probably already doing that now.

I’m honoured to call myself a close friend of both Richard and Francine. Richard and I have known each other since grade 7, and I like to think I know him pretty well. Richard is a great friend. His enthusiasm and motivation in all things is infectious, and he brings out the best in people. He is also a man of contradictions. On the one hand, he’s a competitive athlete who loves sports, especially football and hockey, but this aggressiveness is nowhere to be found when he is confronted with, say, the common pigeon. It’s true, he is absolutely terrified of birds. Francine, on the other hand is a lover of animals. Especially cats. And unicorns. Try to explain to Francine that unicorns do not actually exist, and it’s your funeral, my friend.

Anyhow Richard and I have had some great times together with our crew of idiots. We had it all figured out in our mid-20’s, and then one day Richard realized that he needed to take some time off from the busy rat race – so he moved to Australia. We got e-mails from him detailing his exploits, about meeting Francine and their travels together in their rusty Toyota jeep with the funny name.

When Richard came back from Australia, it was clear that the unforgiving Outback and all the kangaroo meat he had ingested had changed him. He had fallen in love with two things: Australian slang, and [point to Francine] surfing. Richard would strain to work Australian words into his sentences, saying things like “arvo” instead of “afternoon”, or “chuffed” instead of “excited”. Luckily that wore off. But in all seriousness, while the surfing and aussie-speak were new interests, it was Francine that occupied most of Richard‘s thoughts.
When Richard returned from his Australian odyssey, he and Francine then endured a tough year of long distance phone calls, and then Francine decided to bravely make the voyage across the Atlantic to come live with Richard in Montreal, where she would live with us in our apartment on Terrasse St. Denis. It was an unbelievably gutsy move, and I could just imagine what questions were swirling in Francine’s mind as her plane crossed the Atlantic: how cold was Canada going to be? Will things work out with Richard? Are Richard’s roommates crazy? Do they have unicorns and kittens in Canada?

Francine had nothing to fear, though, because it was clear right from the get-go that Francine, whether she liked it or not, fit right in. She was, for lack of a better term, an instant hit with our group. Francine is an incredibly thoughtful, sensitive, caring person, with a wicked sense of humour, but then anyone who has spoken with her for even a few minutes can tell that right away. Possibly my favourite thing about Francine is that she laughs at all my jokes. Even better than that is how much this aggravates Richard.

And it was clear that they were truly great together. Francine has absolutely changed Richard for the better: where previously, Richard was known to saunter around our apartment in nothing but a skimpy bath towel for hours on end, clapping his hands enthusiastically at the TV in order to rally his beloved Habs, with Francine around, he did less of this. That was a good thing. There are probably more profound ways Francine has improved Richard that I can’t see, but they aren’t as embarrassing and satisfying to describe as Mr. claps-his-hands-loudly-in-a-bath-towel. But in all seriousness Richard and Francine are true complements to each other, and it’s wonderful to be able to celebrate their marriage.

I thought I might end my little speech with a quote. Because I’ve heard quotations make people sound smart, even if they aren’t. I wanted the quote to encapsulate how I feel about my two close friends, Richard and Francine, tying the knot, and how excited I am for their new life together. I thought it would be appropriate to use a hockey quote, so I spent about 3 hours online, looking for some interesting stuff, and I found it, but then I realized that I had gotten seriously sidetracked, and they were asking me for my credit card #, so I spent another hour, and I found this, and if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to read this, a recent quote from Hockey Legend Don Cherry :

“When you skate along to the blue line, and you’re about to take your shot, first you need to stare down the goalie. Get a read on his mind. Then look at the penalty box, it’s empty, that represents the risks in your life, where all your mistakes will be visible. You look up at the score board and the scores have been replaced by Scottish flag overlapping a Canadian one. Then look over at your bench, and your team is composed of one person; uour life partner. Francine . You take the shot, you score, and the crowd goes wild.”

I’m going to be honest with you, that was not from Don Cherry, I made that up 2 hours ago. What’s worse is I don’t know anything about hockey. But I do know that I’m so thrilled and excited for Richard and Francine, and I want you guys to know I love you both and wish for you a lifetime of happiness together. Thanks very much.

The fun theory – people do things when it’s fun!

Not much needs to be said here, check out this video – what a great idea!

Race across the sky

New York City Marathon. Hawaii Ironman. Badwater Ultramarathon. Tour de France. Atlantic Rowing Race.

These are known as some of the greatest tests out there for what you’re made of.

A new event rising to the ranks is the Leadville 100, a mountain bike journey through Colorado. Want to be inspired? Check out this HD trailer for a recently released film called Race Across the Sky covering the people and some of the limits of human capability. Wow.

Travel the world on a $20 million lottery win

What would you do if you won the lottery?

You hear stories about lottery winners squandering all their winnings, never feeling comfortable in new social circles, becoming depressed from the paranoia and misunderstanding of the amount of money, etc.

This guy won $20M and traveled the world. He is trying visit every single country. He seems to have taken the right steps to ensure his sanity and have a good time. He helped out family and friends, entertained many company investment opportunities, and bought some quirky decorations of course. He also set up multiple teams to manage his money (you don’t trust anyone with that kind of cash).

Some interesting bits from the Reddit conversation:

Relationships: “No, we were just not right for each other. Winning does make me paranoid when I meet someone interesting. It translates into nervousness, something I wasn’t with women before.”

Dating: “Yes, I mostly date trust fund babies now.”

Arriving in a new country: “Hostel for first night, look into renting a place for a month if it is interesting to me. Once bored, start looking into neighboring countries to repeat.”

Craziest travel stories: “Craziest travel story: I was hiking through Nepal and suffering from oxygen deprivation (I didn’t realize it at the time). By the middle of the week I was hallucinating and thought I saw a yeti, Jesus, and Elvis. Reading through my travel diary for that month scares me. I was shot at in Somalia by a child carrying a pistol that should have been too big for him to carry. The bullet passed through our windshield and missed us by a few inches.”

Words of advice for other people aspiring to win the lottery: “It is dumb luck. I was buying ramen at 4 AM at a gas station and didn’t want change back, so I asked for a lottery ticket since it was a buck. I didn’t even check the numbers until a week had passed and was cleaning out my pockets to do laundry.”

Happiness: “An unfortunate consequence of living in a hardcore capitalist/consumer society is that most problems end up becoming money related. “I have to pay off this student loan, I have to pay for medical bills, etc.” It freed me from that stress in life and has given me the opportunity to travel without much restrictions, so in that sense I am happier.”

How to ensure you don’t squander it: “I moved most of the money into a trust that doesn’t allow me to withdraw over a certain amount every year ($95k). Even if I don’t make any interest on the investment that withdrawal amount is enough to keep me happy and won’t run out in my lifetime.”

What things did you buy: “Comics, action figures, video games, and Porsches.”

Supporting tech: “I’m a Linux user so I support open source. I contacted a few developers on sourceforge who created programs I couldn’t live without and offered them money for their hard work. Most declined.”

Satisfying donation: “I gave money to a school near one of my properties in Brazil, it felt good to see them using books that were more updated than the ones I used in grade school.”

Porsches: “I have a collection of Porsches: 550, 944, GT2, GT3, 964, and a Cayman. All but the 550 are regularly driven.”

N.B. NorthGeek does not endorse playing the lottery. Of course we all know it’s just a tax on the mathematically challenged.

The fastest men in the world

Nearly anyone can run. And if they can, they can run 100m. But these eight are the only ones fast enough to get to the start of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Still, seven of them didn’t have a chance. This was a race where very good just wasn’t enough, because there is a young 22 year old lanky Jamaican, who is rewriting this event and writing himself into the circle of the greatest athletes of all time. And flying at over 37 kilometres an hour down the track.

Consider the second place performance, which is truly stellar but just doesn’t matter anymore. So if you had aspirations to be a world-class sprinter within the next decade, you better try something else instead.

Watch it for yourself:

Read Ross’ analysis at The Science of Sport.

The greatest rock climber of all time?

Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali.

These are, without a doubt, some of the greatest athletes of all time. You’ve seen them, and you may even play the sport they’ve (for all intensive purposes) mastered, so you can appreciate their mastery.

Consider Chris Sharma. Still at only 28 years of age, he is a master. His sport: rock climbing. He has garnered so much respect by his peers, but even if you have never tried rock climbing, seeing what he is capable of is breathtaking. He dances up rock faces, beyond vertical and without any hint of something to hold, with fluidity and ease.

Here he is attempting the first ascent of a route in Squamish, BC, Canada’s own climbing mecca. One watch, and you will see why he’s considered among the best ever… even if you know nothing about the sport. He’s got the right approach and respect for what he does, without risking his life, while pushing the bounds of what a human can do:

One of the most unique paintings in the world!

You’ve gotta see this: