Entries Tagged 'montreal' ↓

Evan’s latest initiative is identi.ca. Edd Dumbill describes the importance of the new twitter clone: it’s open source, open data and federated.

Another advantage of being good is that it makes other people want to help you.
Paul Graham, Be Good

Identi.ca’s design philosophy could not be better designed to appeal to its early adopters. A project so open only makes geeks want to help, sign up and spread the word. The idea of federation alone is so long-overdue and powerful that it is probably unstoppable.

Like wikitravel and librivox, Identi.ca is going to be yet another local success story.

It may be too early and too few actors, but it seems Montreal could become a magnet for idealistic startups. Every new idealistic startup helps inspire us, and creates real, sustainable value.

Mulling Patrick’s proposed “bunsen burner fund” and the answer it provoked, it’s clear that there’s a core of community-minded people that would like to make that kind of thing happen.

If you haven’t done so yet, go sign up on identi.ca with either openid or a regular username / password. I can be your first friend: http://identi.ca/daniel.

I got another email about how to make the switch from Java to Ruby work. I’m lazy and I like recycling advice, hence this entry.

There will be no mention of how to write cover letters or resumes: that’s boring and already well known. What’s needed is an approach that will get you recommended for jobs or contracts. Networks are how most jobs are filled right? That’s what I want to optimize.

For the desperate employer’s perspective, see Tips For Hiring Ruby Developers and How not to apply for a job.

While employers are clearly having a really hard time hiring developers, some people can’t get jobs.

Having done the technical interviews for several candidates, I can say it is because most simply can’t write code. Thinking it would be easier to refactor code, we modified the interview format. Much to our amazement, candidates couldn’t propose simple refactorings or even identify code smells.

Since most unemployed developers are mediocre, if you’re looking for a job or contract, you’re immediately suspect. While this is sad and unfair, breaking out of that stereotype is easy: you need connections that can vouch for your talent.

Getting the connections is easy:

• Search people through facebook, linkedin, workingwithrails, and note your interest in your own profile
• Go to meetups and barcamps or organize one
• Blog so you can be part of the local conversation
• Family, friends, ex-colleagues, etc…

In my area, I know several colleagues that use github, which is now a de facto social network for hackers. After a friend received an important patch for one of his projects, he offered the contributor an interview. A good patch is the most efficient way to get someone to vouch for you.

If you can’t yet contribute to an existing project, scratch your itch and build a web application for something you care about. One caveat: unless you have a unique twist on it, avoid yet another lame todo list, issue tracking tool or ‘me-too’ app. That’s evidence of not only needing a job, but a life too. I’d much sooner see several small applications or trivially simple proofs of concept.

In any case, release your code. Afraid of how ugly it is? Comment the most offensive sections with a # TODO. Ask some of the people you’ve met if they would critique it. For a less intimidating foray into code reviews, use refactormycode.com. Read through past refactorings to get an idea of commonly accepted idioms (e.g. in Ruby), and post your own code to see it torn to shreds. I’ve often been pleasantly surprised by the solutions to my dilemmas.

Following this advice, you are in effect building a portfolio and professional network. It will vary depending on the technology and region: github and refactormycode may not exist in 10 years, and maybe barcamps, facebook and linkedin won’t be sexy anymore. However, the general approach of meeting your peers and engaging in the conversation will still work. More importantly, the investment you make today may still bear fruit in 10 years while the fussing you did on your resume will have been a time sink.

The grapefruit tasted like a delicious, sweet, juicy orange. Balsamic vinegar had strong hints of blackstrap molasses. Lemon and lime were candy. Banana was unchanged; dark chocolate was sickly sweet.

I just finished testing the first batch of freeze-dried miracle fruit extract. Now I need a scale to portion out 50 49 1 gram doses, and the only place that comes to mind are pot paraphernalia shops. They even sell the little baggies!

Unlike the fruit, the extract is stable in the refrigerator for months, so I have some time to plan this party.

“Lifestyle Businesses”: The topic came up at yesterday’s Montreal Tech Entrepreneurs Breakfast after the Montreal Start Up crew joined Darrel and I.

Lifestyle Businesses are businesses that are set up and run by their founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more; or to provide a foundation from which to enjoy a particular lifestyle. (wp: Lifestyle Business)

Why wait until an IPO, after you are already addicted to the 80 hour weeks? Freelancing already affords me the opportunity to make a healthy income and pursue other interests - dancing, community building and more.

When I got home, there was an Amazon parcel waiting for me with two books:

• Paul Hawken’s Growing a Business
• Stephen T Beckett’s The Science of Chocolate

I actually bought a chocolate maker, beans and chocolate. Just for fun. It’s the kind of lifestyle I would want after a successful start-up, only I get to have it now. If you are waiting until you’re a millionaire to enjoy the life you can have now, you are crazy.

VC’s naturally dislike these businesses. Investing in Daniel Haran simply won’t scale. Once I can charge more per hour, I’m more likely to work fewer hours. I could hire sub-contractors and grow but the margins are small - if there is growth, it will be organic.

If you ask a VC to invest in your lifestyle business, you will just annoy them and waste everyone’s time. As Daniel (from MSU) pointed out, there’s probably some way to make money at it - however the structure of a VC fund isn’t appropriate (they have to return the money to their investors at the end of a fund, usually around 7 years).

Around this time, Aran Rasmussen joined the conversation: Would micro-finance or another type of fund structure help us get some sustainable lifestyle businesses? More than a handful of high-profile successes (like RIM), Montreal could have a vibrant tech business scene if we could figure out a funding model for these companies. Fortunately, people like Daniel are thinking about it.

I may one day decide I want to start a company. Working at a small business should hopefully increase my odds of success - I’ve built relationships and learned valuable lessons already.

The motivation would be different. I believe the lottery ticket approach to startups is a personal and spiritual dead end. I already have enough money to afford a comfortable lifestyle, a few millions will not make me happier. Well, not for very long.

Hopefully the discussions at these breakfasts will bear fruit. The most potent one could be a vision of entrepreneurship that did not sacrifice community, family or sleep. As the Silicon Valley prophets of greed and workaholism continue blogging their tired message, we could be using the web the way it was intended and creating lasting wealth.

Swish this berry around in your mouth for a minute, and for the next 30 minutes to 2 hours, bitter and acid foods taste sweet. After the NY Times reported on this “Miracle Fruit”, I knew I had to try it:

Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!”

Given antics such as those, it’s no wonder they call it flavor-tripping.

I’ve ordered miracle fruit and extract (aka ‘miraculin’) from two different suppliers and am anxiously waiting for deliveries. As soon as I get some, there will be a flavour-tripping party right here in Montreal. I’ve never been so excited about eating sauerkraut and Umeboshi.

For more information on synsepalum dulcificum, you can check out the wikipedia page for miracle fruit, information about its history and my del.icio.us bookmarks.

The terms of service used to forbid linking:

  You are prohibited from creating links in other Web sites leading to this Web site without prior express authorization from the Site Owner. (To obtain an authorization, contact our Web site administrator at info@tourisme-montreal.org) — retrieved May 21st

Today I checked again, and lo! the terms have changed:

  The Site Owner reserves the right to request, at any time, that any link to this Web site created from a third party’s website be deleted if, in Site Owner’s sole discretion, such link causes the Site Owner a prejudice.

We can assume some clueless nitwit insisted on keeping the provision, no matter how often it was explained to them that it was ridiculous and unenforceable.

I’m no longer an employee at Standout Jobs; They will be my first freelance client.

Going freelance will let me work fewer hours, spend most of my time learning about the ‘next big thing’ and contribute to open source in the process. Here are a few things that are on my radar:

• IM as command line: Jabber + twitter
• Semantic web: micro-formats and freebase
• Collaborative filtering
• API design
• Authentication

These are interesting times for net heads, with many simultaneous inflection points, lots of freely usable data and ridiculously cheap on-demand computing.

Rails was that ‘next big thing’ about two years ago. I fell in love. After traveling across Canada and South to California, I spent months learning and prototyping. My parents thought I was crazy, spending months without a job. Maybe they’re right, and going freelance certainly won’t dispel that notion.

I fell in love a few times this past year. I’m willing to bet heavily that one of those muses is going to be the ‘next big thing’. Going freelance will afford me the time to pursue them that I just couldn’t have in a startup. It’s exciting, even if I’ll miss working as closely with the world-class team back at Standout Jobs headquarters.

“A man, working in a laundromat?” It wasn’t really a question, nor a rhetorical device. She was just floored I’d ask why the help wanted sign on the window explicitly said “Woman wanted for 3 evening shifts per week”.

When I indicated the laundromat on Duluth St. had 2 men working there, she told me that when they hired a man at their previous location, they lost a lot of customers.

See also a blog entry from a year ago: Women can’t lift heavy weights.

What should I do? Report, boycott, ignore or try and cajole?

It’s official: Standout Jobs is launching at DEMO.

We have a 3 week sprint to finish any promised functionality and deal with bug reports from beta customers. It’s an exciting way to start the year; see you in late January.

I was told Bell sucks so much that I have to go with Videotron. After I ordered a package online, they said they would call within 24 hours.

A call came from Synergy, one of their subcontractors known to call with dead air and hang up. I called back, gave some info to a person who could not speak clearly. They put me on hold 4 minutes, and disconnected me. The next person also disconnected me, after a total of 20 minutes spent on the phone.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Before agreeing to pay $136 deposits, I’d like to know when a company will deign connecting their service. Is that really too much to ask?

Recommendations of ISPs that don’t suck - or just suck less - would be heartily appreciated.