NorthGeek

“With Glowing Hearts”: True North Media House and the 2010 Olympics

“With Glowing Hearts” is a documentary by Andrew Lavigne about social media and its part in the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In the following episode, Kris Krug, Dave Olson, and Rebecca Bollwitt talk about their story and the emergence of the True North Media House, an independent media project to cover the Games.

According to Dave, “What you see on TV is very different from what happens on the ground… We’ve reached the point where grassroots has boiled up and leveled with mainstream media.” Watch the video below:

How to Experience the Vancouver 2010 Olympics like a Local

Vancouver is hosting the big ‘ole Olympics this February 12-28. It is actually the biggest city to ever host the Winter Olympics, so you can be sure there’s going to be a lot going on. Here’s a taste of what to do while you’re visiting Vancouver and how to connect with and discover local secrets. If you’re not coming to Vancouver, this could be the magical ways you can experience a very intimate and local Olympics experience through the eyes of a bunch of dedicated and internet-vocal Vancouver locals.

You need to be prepared for a few things:

• Vancouver is going to be a 24/7 party
• It can rain (a whole lot) in February
• You really have no idea what to expect, and neither do the locals

Not everyone in Vancouver is so excited to have the Olympics, mainly because of the IOC’s and VANOC’s shenanigans. However, you can’t resist the remarkable stories to come from athletic inspired achievements. You also won’t be able to resist seeing a stunning and photogenic Vancouver — hopefully you will give back, with your time and money, to the people and businesses that make this world-class city thrive.

ABOUT VANCOUVER
Pick up some local newspapers and weeklies and have a look at Georgia Straight (one of the best weeklies in Vancouver) Best of Vancouver for ideas where to eat, hang, and do. Check out some Google Maps of certain celebrities’ favourite spots in the city. Drink Vancouver’s delicious tap water, and find fountains around the city using this map. Read Vancouver authors, subscribe to some Vancouver bloggers, Twitterers, photographers, videographers, and designers. Vancouver is a social media savvy city, and they are beautifully eloquent. Read about what’s going directly from the people (contact me if I’ve missed you!).

• Miss604
• Doug Copeland
• Kris Krug
• Techvibes
• Vancity Buzz
• John Biehler
• Ecstaticist

FOOD
Vancouver doesn’t just have top sushi, ramen, and pho. Try elsewhere on Yelp etc. for other local favourites, including ‘Gourmand’ Gastown. Or crowd source some ideas, Mitch Joel style. And please try to avoid McDonald’s, unless you’re trying to track down athletes at the McDonald’s next to the athlete’s village, bound to be full of athletes seeking familiar (though likely performance un-enhancing) fares. For available water fountains around town, check out this great mashup map.

FOLLOW TNMH
True North Media House, or TNMH, @tnmh, or #tnmh, is likely to be an exciting Olympics source to follow. They’ll (we’ll) be organizing many planned and impromptu meetups, photowalks, parties, and events around town. They’re both local, knowledgeable semi-pro journalists, bloggers, photographers, but also an extension to anyone visiting Vancouver who wants to be part of the future of Olympics coverage through citizen journalism.

We at NorthGeek have assembled three key Twitter lists to follow:

• @NorthGeek/van2010: a great collection of Olympics-interested Twitterers worth following
• @NorthGeek/tnmh: True North Media House fellas
• @NorthGeek/olympic-athletes: Olympics athletes

ESCAPE IN THE CITY
Some of the best things to do in Vancouver aren’t in Vancouver. Escape the downtown core for some breathtaking adventures:

• Head up to Grouse Mountain, home of the NBC armchair commentators and 24 hour a day skiing and skating. And it’s just 15 minutes from downtown.
• Will anyone be up skiing on Mt Seymour? It’s beautiful up there and you might have some peace and quiet on the slopes.
• Museum of Anthropology out at University of British Columbia
• Explore Stanley Park, adjacent to the downtown core, by rental bike or foot, along its myriad of trials, hidden gems, and surrounding paved seawall
• Take a day trip to Bowen Island or the Sunshine Coast
• Hop in a seaplane for a tour the mountain-meet-ocean city: Harbour Air, West Coast Air, Saltspring Air

GET THE BLOOD PUMPING
Run the False Creek Seawall, UBC Endowment Lands, Stanley Park Seawall, or any of the many green spaces around the city. Hop in the 50m pool at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre. Enjoy Yoga like pretty much every other Vancouverite. Y Yoga is having a great promo during the Olympics: free yoga classes for all!

CONNECT
There are many ways to avoid data roaming on your cell phone. Consider picking up a prepaid SIM card (if your phone is of the unlocked GSM variety) from a company you don’t see sponsoring the Games: Fido, Rogers, or Telus. Sure, Bell and Virgin Mobile (which they own) are fine, but I think enough people will be drawn by their ‘official carrier’ status.

Vancouver also has tons of free WiFi hotspots. Check out this map for hotpots. Pretty much every coffee shop in Vancouver has it. Also some friendly (or unknowing) residents have unlocked access points, often with the names ‘default,’ ‘netgear,’ ‘linksys,’ etc. so just stick those to auto connect and thank someone! The Vancouver City Libraries also all have free WiFi. Sign up online or in person to get an access code. Or pick up an application for your smartphone that keeps track of WiFi hotspots (JiWire for the iPhone, etc).

GETTING AROUND
Vancouver has an excellent network of public transportation and walkable routes. And the Olympics sure are going to try to keep you from driving. Check out the Skytrain (connecting with East Vancouver and further east), Canada Line (to the airport and Richmond), the temporary Olympic Line light-rail along False Creek South between Granville Island and the Athlete’s Village, and the False Creek ferry tugboats. Here’s a great link with transportation info.

SOUVENIRS
Leave Vancouver with some souvenirs of the city: art, photography, clothes, beer, and wine from locals. Check out small galleries around town and local artists. Pick up some stunning city photographs from Picture Listen. If you can’t find what you want, hire a local photographer and do your own shoot. Buy locally brewed beer and BC wine. Check out all the great clothing lines (in Gastown and small boutiques scattered along Robson). If you’re going with the big retailers, try the big Canadian vendors pushed out of the Olympics like Roots or Lululemon. Check out the Canamade market, promoting locally produced goods.

HOMELESS IN VANCOUVER
Unfortunately, homelessness is a major problem in Vancouver and has been at the center of many arguments against hosting the Olympics here and spending the dollars required for the Games. If you’re visiting Vancouver this February, do consider helping someone out, with some change or some food.

BEST WAY TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON OLYMPICS
Even better than supporting the Olympics through merchandise and tickets, considering supporting your countries’ athletes. In Canada, you can donate directly to CAN Fund, or have your eye on independent funds like B2ten which will be on the rise as long as Canadian athletes continue not receiving the support they need from the government (or as provided in other countries).

CULTURAL EVENTS
The Cultural Olympiad is organizing many free concerts and cultural events. Find more information from Miss604 and this guide for music.

YOUR COMMENTS
Hope you found some useful info here. Stay tuned by subscribing to NorthGeek blog or Twitter. Feel free to @reply NorthGeek or comment below with your thoughts!

Sneak peak at Vancouver Olympics sites

There is less than 1 month until the Vancouver Winter Games. Here’s a peak through my iPhone lens at some of the sites and pavilions around False Creek in Vancouver. (All photos link to Flickr source.)

Maison Quebec at Concord Pacific site between BC Place & Sochi House (Science World) #poutine #tnmh #van2010 :

Science World Station for Olympic Line streetcar. Just a tease! Line ends @ Athlete Village (for now) #tnmh #van2010 :

Epicenter of #van2010 athletes? Golden arches next to Athletes Village. Closest some will come to gold #BigMac #tnmh :

Olympic Line streetcar "testing" running for free btw Athlete Village & Granville Island Jan21-Mar21 #tnmh #van2010. More from Miss604: www.miss604.com/2010/01/olympic-line-free-public-streetca… :

Molson Canadian 2010 Mural Project. Very very slowly filling out small fan photos. What’s it say? #tnmh #van2010
"Soar in on the Games" ?? More info: blog.molson.com/community/tag/molson-canadian-2010-mural-… :

Horrible Burrard Bridge billboard: Have you signed the petition against it? Lots of #van2010 trucks below #tnmh
It was approved by the federal gov’t and erected by the Squamish First Nation
www.kitsilano.ca/2009/12/22/have-you-signed-the-petition-…

Brown Fizzy Sugar Drink Pavillion at David Lam Park (LiveCity Yaletown) #van2010 #CocaCola #tnmh

False Creek Ferry and Switzerland House #van2010

iPhone, Nexus One 3G Frequencies

Also known as, why you can’t use the new Google phone in Canada… yet.

The chart shows the 3G frequencies (different from 2G) supported by each of these two devices, as well as the 3G frequencies of four mobile carriers.

Rogers/Fido does also use 1900MHz but it seems only for 2G, not 3G. Bell and Telus’ new HSPA network uses 850MHz (possibly also 1900MHz — this is unclear but irrelevant here).

Can people run the Nexus One on Wind Mobile in Canada? It seems so. So why can’t you buy the Google phone in Canada yet? Or you could always bear with EDGE speeds from The Three Stooges. And considering that option, I still think it’s a terrible shame you can’t buy this shiny new toy in Canada yet!

We also want to know why Google decided to go with that spectrum selection? Either T-Mobile had a say, Google is in no rush to ship millions of devices to the mass market, or… price? Qualcomm pushback? (Other Android devices do have a different choice of frequencies.) Please share your thoughts below!

More info at Wikipedia. However, this info is surprisingly mysterious. Ok, maybe no one really cares about it? Prove us wrong!

Noah’s best albums of the decade

Very few things are as powerful as music to evoke feelings and bring people together. On that lofty note, here are my ten favourite albums from 2000-2009. The album as a cohesive entity might be dying in favour of single tunes and groupings of tunes into a single product. I’m hoping bands like these hang on to the concept of an album. (Do consider owning the whole thing instead of picking only a few tunes.)

1. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004). This Montreal made it big this decade. Still, this album only grows on you, and it’s even more powerful after seeing their unique live performance. The production of this album is also tremendous.

2. Beck – Guero (2005). I originally thought Beck was going to be a one hit wonder with Loser. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He is without a doubt one of the most innovative composers of the decade.

3. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008). I’m thrilled there are albums like this that you can listen to straight through. It’s full of frighteningly sweet vocal harmonies.

4. Eddie Vedder – Music for the Motion Picture Into the Wild (2007). I do love to see when soundtracks are more than licensed singles. Eddie Vedder wrote these tunes specifically for this movie, which happens to be a terrifying and majestic flick.

5. Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert (2005). I believe John Mayer is the most talented guitarist on tour right now. It’s a shame he continues to be pulled in the direction of pop, but this album is pure legendary blues chops and tonal exploration.

6. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007). I’m not sure what draws me more to put this album on the list: its revolutionary “pay whatever you want” sales model, or the fact that it’s just so damn good and a completely musical escape.

7. The Strokes – Room on Fire (2003). This is my favourite album from the The Strokes. It didn’t do as well commercially as their debut Is This It. Still, their simple guitar ditties somehow make a big rock sound.

8. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008). This album sounds like a change of pace: some East Coast preppy rock. Dig it.

9. The White Stripes – Elephant (2003). This was their major label debut, but still it was recorded over 2 weeks using a four-track covered in duct tape. Keep it simple stupid.

10. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002). Somehow Wilco is still off the beaten track, despite Jeff Tweedy’s solid songwriting. Check out their free concert at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

11. Bonus album is my very own. From my erstwhile Montreal rock band, here’s Far From Shore’s Wazo. There are still a few copies available online, or always from iTunes.

Some other (not huge) best discoveries of the decade: Bloc Party, Bon Iver, Cat Power, Danny Michel (Canadian), John Mayer (I still claim I discovered him as an opening act in a small bar in Cambridge, Mass), My Morning Jacket, Patrick Watson (I knew he was destined for musical greatness 15 years ago), Regina Spektor, The National, The Raveonettes, The Stills (another Montreal band), etc.

What are your favourite albums? Share them below.

The NorthGeek HowTo Series: Ice fish like a Canadian

Clearly, Canadians are a little insane.

What’s happening? Happy in Paraguay

Star Trek: The Next Generation, remixed.

The Muppets are Timeless

Who hasn’t seen them perform Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen yet? Follow The Muppets on Twitter.

Momma!

How to download an entire website

If you’re looking for a way to download all the files from a website without having FTP access, here is your solution!

Sitesucker:
“SiteSucker is a Macintosh application that automatically downloads Web sites from the Internet. It does this by asynchronously copying the site’s Web pages, images, backgrounds, movies, and other files to your local hard drive. Just enter a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), press return, and SiteSucker can download an entire Web site.”

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.