I take that as a compliment, and it’s probably pretty easily explained by the algorithm. I tend to write short, active-tense sentences with not many long words. The readability test doesn’t take the actual content into account, just the lengths of words, sentences and paragraphs. And, if there are any elementary school kids reading this blog, I apologize for the potty mouth in the last post. Actually, the blog is probably filtered in your school, so no worries…

ps. if you take the test and post the results on your blog, beware the sneaky, sneaky person who runs the service. The HTML snippet they provide includes a spam ad hyperlink. Not cool. So just be sure to remove that before posting. Play safe, kids. And knowing is half the battle.

85%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Definitely skewed low. Some MySpacers are probably blowing the curve. Good thing they didn’t include Twitter and Flickr. I’d be in the triple digits easily…

1. I once “flew” a 747 when I was about 6 years old. The Captain invited me up to the cockpit, stuck some wings on me, and handed me the controls. He told me not to crash the plane, and the co-pilot was also on his controls, but to a 6 year old, that was pretty cool. Of course, now they’d have a sniper take me down if I got close to the cabin door, and TSA would accuse me of trying to bring the plane down with a BoogerBomb or something. The times, they are a’changin’.
2. I once shared a plane with an intoxicated Leslie Nielsen. Stop calling me Shirley!
3. I watched the Simpsons Movie, and laughed so hard I nearly sprayed coke all over the guy in front of me. My face hurt from laughing. OK, so I’m rather juvenile…

I’m not tagging anyone. This branch dies with me.

Which Programming Language are You?

Ouch? Sorry if I’ve objectifed anyone. Better than being rigidly cast, though… Now, if only Smalltalk helped at parties, I’d be ok…

(via Enterprise-Class Alan)

So, five little-known things about me. Without feeding identity thieves, hopefully…

1. I’m not a programmer. I suck as a programmer. I’m a total hack. I know just enough to let me get into trouble, but I’m too stubborn to give up until something kinda sorta almost works. potaytoe, potahtoe…
2. I’m a huge introvert. Is that an oxymoron? I get uncomfortable in crowds. I hate talking on the phone. And yet, I can get in front of a group and give presentations and participate in discussions etc… For some reason, I seem to be much more coherent in group settings (including writing on my blog) than I am normally. wtf?
3. First job – “fabric folder” at Angel Distributing, the company that provided fabric to all of the Fanny’s fabric stores. Got to work with the reams of fabric, splitting and rolling into the little bundles that get trucked to the stores for scrapbookers and crafty folks to make all kinds of crappy stuff. Got to see all kinds of nice foreign bugs that hitchhiked into Canada along with the fabric…
4. I still haven’t finished my MSc. Actually, it’s been so long that all of my coursework has expired. I’ll get to start from scratch once someone convinces me it’s worth doing. It’s not very high on my list at the moment.
5. Met my wife while we were both working at Heritage Park 16 years ago as a summer job. She’s still putting up with me… Who says workplace relationships are a bad idea? We worked together for 3 years.

I guess I should tag a few more folks. If I had to do this, I’m bringing y’all down with me! Alan, Brian, Cole, Paul and Josh.

Which got me thinking about my experience with CC. I'm a firm believer in it. All of my stuff is licensed using a simple CC-Attribution license. Anyone is free to use any of my blog posts, any of my Flickr photos, however they wish. As long as they provide attribution to say that I created it. My photos don't even have a non-commercial clause, and as a result they've been included in a board game, books, travel guides, and (soon) the cover of a magazine. Sure, I'm not getting paid for any of that, but it's not like I'm losing out by contributing to the pool. Karma's a good thing, and if I want to use items in the CC pool, it's only fair that I contribute what I can.

I've tried mentioning Creative Commons in some workshops, and it seems like many (most?) people have a vague awareness of some strange subversive counter-culture movement called "Creative Commons" – but it doesn't seem to apply to them, and certainly not to their own creative works.

At which point I'm often left stumped, scratching my head and wondering what else I can do to show how CC applies to everyone. I model it, walking the walk every day. I show samples of works that couldn't have been created without CC. But then clients ask me how to ensure their content is locked down so nobody can even see it without their approval, never mind reusing and remixing.

People get confused about the difference between CC and Public Domain. They're quite different. Under CC, you retain "ownership" of the thing, and people are free to use it only as long as they abide by the clauses you select for the CC license. Under PD, everybody owns it, so nobody controls it. Subtle difference.

Also, people worry that if they release a work under CC, they won't be able to later sell it. Release it under a CC-NonCommercial license, and you're covered. You're free to later release your work however you like (commercially, or under a different license, as you deem fit).

Perhaps this is a side effect (intentional or otherwise) of the huge blitzes by the MPAA, RIAA, Disney, etc… in protecting copyright at all costs by suing 3-year-olds and grandmas. People are (rightly) scared of accidentally violating copyright and incurring the wrath of a well funded team of legal beagles.

I dunno. I strongly believe that CC is one of those things that has the power to change the nature of the game. It's not about gathering the most intellectual property, and staunchly protecting it through threats of litigation in the microscopic chance that you might make a buck off it. It's about freely sharing, contributing to the greater good, and all that jazz.

1. Music that changed my life
   • Beatles' Red and Blue albums. The first vinyl I owned. Still have them somewhere.
   • The Police: Synchronicity. First cassette I ever owned. Who is Miss Gradenko, anyway?
2. Music I can listen to on repeat – this comes from my iTunes most-played playlist
   • The Police: Synchronicity (still!)
   • The Tragically Hip – Day For Night
   • Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk
   • Smashing Pumpkins – Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
   • Moby – Play
   • Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend
   • Nirvana – In Utero
   • Weezer – Green Album
   • Battlestar Galactica soundtrack (seriously – it's really good)
   • Billy Talent
3. An album I'd take to a deserted island – album? really? I'd have to take my iPod, fully loaded with CBC Radio 3 .
4. Music that makes me smile
1. Bedouin Soundclash
2. Bob Marley & The Wailers
3. Mel Blanc – D.O.G. Spells Dog
4. Pointer Sisters – Pinball Number Count (Songs from the Street). 123 FOUR FIVE 678 NINE TEN. ELEVEN TWELVE.
5. Music that makes me cry
1. cry? really? music doesn't make me cry. next track.
6. Music that I wish had been made
1. not sure. what an obscure question. what kind of tree would I be?
7. Music that I wish hadn't been made
1. Hanson. Mmmmblech.
2. NKOTB. Baby Jebus cried.
8. Music I'm currently into
1. New Pornographers
2. Broken Social Scene
3. Bedouin Soundclash
4. The White Stripes
5. Weezer
6. Wynton Marsalis
7. Miles Davis
9. Music I've been meaning to explore
1. More Canadian indy bands (getting more of this, thanks to CBC Radio 3)
2. More non-touristy Caribbean music
10. Tag
1. Joshua Archer
2. Paul Pival
3. Stephen Downes
4. Sami Khan
5. Brian Lamb

I wasn't going to tag anyone, but screw banality – it's summer.

• Four jobs I’ve had
  • Fabric product packager? The guy that takes the big rolls of fabric and splits it down into the little rolls you see at the fabric stores. Summer job, first year of university.
  • Housekeeper, Heritage Park. Explains a lot, no?
  • Midway Operator, Heritage Park. Yes, I was an old-fashioned carnie.
  • Programmer at a defunct company that Shall Not Be Named.
• Four movies I can (and do) watch over and over
  • Die Hard
  • LoTR (all three volumes)
  • Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. KHAAAANNNN!!!! KHAAAANNNNN!!!! ah, Superchannel…
  • Adventures in Babysitting. Elizabeth Shue is hot…
• Four places I’ve lived
  • Calgary.
  • The south end of Calgary.
  • The southwest end of Calgary.
  • The northwest end of Calgary.
• Four TV shows I love
  • Battlestar Galactica. Best. Sci Fi. Evar. (the new one, not the old campy one)
  • Lost (airdrop me onto any tropical island, please)
  • House (I identify with the cantankerous bastard)
  • Gray’s Anatomy (I know it’s a soap, but it works for some reason)
• Four places I’ve vacationed
  • St. Thomas, USVI (got married there)
  • Georgetown, Grand Cayman Islands
  • Vegas. Yeah, I know. But we don’t gamble.
  • Hawaii. 2 weeks in Honolulu
• Four of my favorite dishes
  • the big green one from Italy
  • that big salsa bowl. wait. is this asking about the dish, or the contents? Ok, the salsa, then. Or quacamole.
  • Pretty much anything Janice makes. If forced to decide? Perhaps the lasagna. mmmmm….
  • The chicken with mole sauce at Salt and Pepper. yum.
• Four sites I visit daily
  • The Goog
  • Sitemeter (I’m a stat whore. sue me)
  • /.
  • Versiontracker
• Four places I would rather be right now
  • St. Thomas, USVI
  • Georgetown, Grand Caymans
  • San Francisco
  • Vancouver
• Four books (or series) I love
  • Asimov’s Robot series
  • Starship Troopers (awesome book, horrible movie – I read it in the ’90s, looong before it got movified)
  • Tolkein’s stuff (pick any)
  • Anything Arthur C. Clark. Again, grew up with it.
• Four video games I can (and do or did) play over and over
  • Pitfall
  • Omega Force
  • Marathon
  • Quake 3:Arena
• Four bloggers I am tagging
  I was going to let this one die on the vine, but now I’m kind of curious…
  • Brian
  • Alan
  • Scott
  • Sami

Ouch. I was sure I’d be a geek or dweeb or something like that. I did spend a few minutes to slightly clean up the painfully bad HTML generated by the quiz… (finally resorted to a screenshot of the tweaked output, because even that hurt to paste into my blog)

John Sheridan

An experienced survivor who has maneuvered around many obstacles, you are looked up to by those who rely on your good judgment.

I suppose I should be flattered. John Sheridan was pretty cool. A bit too straight-laced, though, but cool. At least I wasn’t that green dancing chick from Star Trek (or worse)…

I know… This blog is quickly degenerating into a meme-farm…