Simon Law’s Journal

It’s Spring

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:18:27 GMT

Now that it’s spring time, Timin likes to go out on the balcony and enjoy the cool night air.

Last night, I found him under the barbecue. Now the barbecue has this little tarp that shelters it from the rain, which makes it very comfortable. So comfortable, that some pigeons had built a nest. Not long after he'd crawled in there, I heard some cooing and a fluttering of wings.

I lifted the tarp to see Timin looking at a lone pigeon egg in the nest. I asked him, “are you going to eat it?”

In response, he rolled the egg off the edge of the balcony. Then he peered over the edge to watch it splatter below. Finally, he looked up at me expectantly and meowed.

I couldn’t stop laughing.

Robbed!

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:25:56 GMT

Last evening, at around 17h, three apartments in my building got broken into.

Mine was one of them.

In fact, they were so good that I didn’t realize that something was amiss until I tried to pick up my computer and came up with thin air.

At first, I thought I was being absent minded, so I spent a while looking for my stuff. Then I thought that maybe I brought it to the office, or left it somewhere. But no, I bumped into the landlord as he went to fix someone's window.

As far as we can tell, this is what happened:

The thief got buzzed into our apartment building by someone. Since we have no intercom out front, this happens with alarming regularity. The thief unlocked the fire escape door, climbed up the fire escape and broke into #1, #8, and #9.

For the other two apartments, the thief had to smash in the window to get at the latch. For mine, the latch was broken anyway, so it was a simple matter of sliding it open.

When the thief got to my apartment, he or she emptied out my knapsack and stuffed my laptop inside. Then grabbed my camera bag and went back out the window. The other two apartments had laptops stolen too.

After getting the loot, the thief went down the fire escape and waltzed out the front door. Somewhere along the way, there must have been a scuffle with my cat, because Timin is now sporting a black eye.

I lost:

Thinkpad T60p laptop, model 200793U, serial L3KW212
Canon EOS 5D camera with a Canon EF 24-105L IS lens, model 0296B114[AA], serials (21)2621200591 and (21)00860552
Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash, unknown serial number

The police have the serial numbers and will be checking the pawn shops. If you guys want to help, please do a quick search on any online trading sites you use, like Craigslist, eBay, Kijiji, and LesPAC.

Thanks!

Crossposted to montreal and montrealforsale.

Ubuntu Hardy release party

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:22:03 GMT

The Ubuntu crew in Montréal can sure throw a party. We packed a room at Bar St-Sulpice with geeks, nerds, and other awesome characters who shared their love of beer and free software.

I caught up with Etienne and Fabian who were leading the celebrations. Good job, guys!

Geeks
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Nerds
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Users
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Montréal Python 2

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:07:59 GMT

The second edition of Montréal Python was held at the Standout Jobs office, upstairs from where I work.

It’s the first chance I’ve had to attend, but I’m glad I did. It’s awesome to see so many people interested in the Python programming language.

When Arach first talked to us about holding a regular gathering of people interested in the language, we were really enthusiatic. At the office, we were bemoaning the fact that it was quite difficult to get in touch with people in the city who really knew the technology we were using. So of course we wanted to help out.

I counted at least fifty people showing up. And I think we’re going to get many more.

Arach Tchoupani
Uploaded by sfllaw.
Cyril Robert
Uploaded by sfllaw.
Yannick Gingras
Uploaded by sfllaw.

Presenting
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Niagara Falls, ON

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:12:52 GMT

Niagara Falls
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Turbine
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Seagull on the falls
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Décadanse 2008

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:40:56 GMT

Every year, the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal holds a dance party to raise some funds.

This year, it was a masquerade. I couldn’t help but snap a few photos before we left for the party.

Pianist
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
By the piano
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Adoration
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Food in the United States

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:24:26 GMT

Two people, one heart
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Bagel with cream cheese and lox
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Oysters
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
鍋貼
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Pizza filetti
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
ส้มตำ (som tum)
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Boston, MA

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:25:52 GMT

Mailboxes
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
天下為公
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Boston Five Cents Savings
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Shark boat
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Orange line
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

New York, NY

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:47:12 GMT

Pigeons above skyscrapers
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

City Hall Station
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Life Underground
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Sweeping up
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Night in New York
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Washington, DC

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:33:38 GMT

Model train
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Washington Monument
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

United States Capitol
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Spacesuit
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Tornado Kitty and Katie
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Job: Unix Pipefitter

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:13:57 GMT

Tap
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

At Akoha, we have been very, very, very busy. So busy, in fact, that Éric and I have no time to take care of the growing number of computers that we are using. We must, it appears, get some help.

Now, we're looking for someone bright, energetic, and loving in their care of Ubuntu systems. We use a wide range of interesting technologies and you certainly will not be just a system administrator.

You'll be a Unix Pipefitter!
(en français)

Montréal Python 1 is tomorrow

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:00:55 GMT

Green Tree Python
Originally uploaded by nasmac.

Akoha’s sister company, Standout Jobs, has been hosting Montreal on Rails for quite a while. We figured we’d get into the act.

So we’re sponsoring the first Montréal Python gathering tomorrow. Sadly, we don’t really have enough space for everyone, so we’re commandeering the Standout Jobs offices upstairs. After all, what good are siblings if you can’t ask them for favours?

I will actually be on a train to Toronto, so I’m going to miss David Goodger talking about crazy awesome stuff he does in Python. But you should go!

Intimidated? Don't think that Python is for you? Worry not! Python programmers are friendly, charming, and helpful.

Montréal Python 1
Thursday, 7 February 2008
18:30 – 21:00
Standout Jobs
3981 boul. St-Laurent #615
Free admission

( Website | Facebook | Google Maps )

Akoha, or the office where I spend my days

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:40:24 GMT

I have been working all week and many long nights on Akoha’s new website and weblog.

Not that I didn’t get help from the amazing team of people I get to work with.

It’s pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself.

Check it out!

DemoCamp CUSEC 2

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:10:44 GMT

Audience
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written about our local unconferences, but a neat one coming up is DemoCamp CUSEC 2. It’s attached to the Canadian Undergraduate Software Engineering Conference, which is being held in Montréal again.

Last year, I did a demonstration on how to cook an omelette, with it being a metaphor for software engineering. This year, I’m going to do something more prosaic and run a round of Powerpoint karaoke, under the guise of getting people to practise their presentation skills.

Or it will be a convincing argument against its use.

Show up if you can! Present something you’ve been working on! (There are still some slots left.) It’ll be exciting.

DemoCamp CUSEC 2
Thursday, 17 January 2008
19:00 – 21:00
Centre Mont-Royal
2200 rue Mansfield
Free admission

( Sign up | Google Maps )

Family vacation

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:12:27 GMT

Attention people from Washington, New York, and Boston!

I will be in your fair country for the holidays and would love to see you. Let us go out, dance in the streets, and shovel delicious food in our faces while laughing heartily.

Road trip itinerary:

22 – 23 December: Washington, DC

24 – 28 December: New York, NY

29 – 30 December: Boston, MA

31 December: Montréal, QC

Send me an e-mail or an SMS or even call me up! For your stalking convenience, my cellphone number is +1-514-839-4887.

Late night laundry

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:14:28 GMT

I am sitting on the couch eating apples, clementines and curd cheese. Delicious, squeaky curd cheese. This is my final push to eat the rest of the food in the fridge.

There are numerous shirts on the drying rack, waving in the artificial breeze of a fan. They're whites that I'm furiously trying to dry out. This is, of course, because they have to be packed for my week-long trip to the States.

I have to catch the 6:55 train to Kingston tomorrow, so I'd better not get distracted too much. There is an absurd amount of packing to get done and quite a few things I must do. For instance, I've discovered that the blacks have not come cleanly out of the wash. They're going through again right now.

The rest of the family is driving up from Toronto, to meet me halfway. They'll be picking me up in an action-packed sequence where they drive alongside the tracks and I leap from the train on to the roof of the car. Then we'll careen down a hill, jump over a cliff, and end up on the highway to the nearest border crossing. Or something like that.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get the house in some semblance of order. I've stacked the books in piles in the living room, put away most of my tools, and am staring at a pile of dishes. I'll probably get to those after I've eaten. Then it's cleaning out the fridge as best I can and scrubbing the accumulated stains off the stove.

Timin is snoozing on the couch, blissfully unaware of my activity. I think he's gotten pretty used to my crazy late-night packing. The plan for this week is to have cloquewerk and angorian come by every other day and fill the food dish. I have left them little gifts on the table, to make them feel better about trudging through what looks to be bizarre weather. I suppose that cuddling with a cute cat might also be a good reward, but I can never tell how charming Timin is when I'm away.

I never seem to be able to pack light, but by George, I'm going to try this time. I've limited myself to a camera bag, a messenger bag, and a small luggage on wheels. How I'm ever going to get around in style, I have no idea, but we shall see if we can be inventive with the outfits.

As you can plainly see, my mind has started wandering quite a bit. I've had a nap this afternoon, but I can tell that my plan to stay up all night is going to be interesting. scjody is staying over, in the hopes that Aslan can benefit from the same attention as Timin. I have just realized that I've forgotten to tell my wonderful, beautiful, generous volunteers about the extra kitty they'll be feeding. So I hope they don't get too upset upon reading this.

I have been surfing the Internet to find places to eat while we're across the border. Thankfully, the lovely people at …an endless banquet have reviews of New York pizza joints, which I will have to try. But first I have to finish this absurd amount of fruit.

Oh look, that alarm has rung. I'd better go down and fetch the laundry.

Akoha off-site

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:19:53 GMT

Stables
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

We are back from a trip out in the country. This time, the Akoha developers were there for a crunch week, which involved hacking away like madmen to get crazy amounts of work done. Overall, I'm pretty happy about how we did.

Unfortunately for you, dear readers, what we did for work is all hush-hush.

Fortunately, you get to hear about other things. Like how I am sick as a dog. I woke up this morning, crawled downstairs, and managed to work only a couple hours before having to crawl back into bed. I have to admit, though, it was a sweet, sweet bed. I only wish I could have enjoyed it without a headache.

Now don't let me give you the wrong impression! We had a marvellous time out there. There were plenty of things to do during the day and after work!

I'd start the day by stoking the fire, to take the chill off the morning air. We might look at the birds as we munched on breakfast.

I caught the cat trying to catch a fat little squirrel who was nibbling on fallen birdseed. Sadly, it escaped.

One day, after lunch, we went snowshoeing up a hill. After fifty centimetres of snowfall, it was clean and crisp and just plain gorgeous up there.

Across the lake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

And then there was the food! Café Massawippi did an amazing job catering our trip. These have been the best off-site meals I have ever had. But photographs are far more convincing than words, I'd bet.

Foie gras
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Sponge cake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Chicken supreme
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

gamma 256 in 115,000 words

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:04:22 GMT

Words cannot describe how awesome gamma 256 was.

Instead, I only have pictures… Lots and lots of pictures…

Rayna
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Film crew
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Dive
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Bubblyfish
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Kill jet
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Tonight! gamma 256

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:39:55 GMT

gamma 256 is happening tonight!

Come to the Société des arts technologiques at 21:00. See a few bands, play a few video games, and have a good time.

I'll be there with my camera!

Montreal Girl Geek Dinner #1

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:24:40 GMT

Heather Kelley, of Kokoromi fame, was the speaker at the inaugural Montreal Girl Geek Dinner.

I showed up to La petite marche last week, armed with my trusty camera. I sat down, had a very decent meal, and then we heard Heather talk about her recent projects.

This included mention of gamma 256, which is best described as a giant party to showcase independently developed games. There will be electronica bands on stage, video games to play, and plenty of cool people to talk to. It's happening this Wednesday, at the SAT, from 21:00.

Many thanks to Tanya McGinnity for organizing the dinner!

Tanya
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Heather
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Kokoromi collective
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Lightsaber battle

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 02:23:21 GMT

The people at Newmindspace really have public parties down pat.

Last week, I was in Toronto on vacation, when I got invited to the lightsaber battle. How could I refuse to go?

We arrived at the ROM after everyone else had their florescent cardboard tubes handed out to them, so I only got to take photographs. But what fun it was!

Sunglasses
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Boba Fett
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Nunchucks
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

It’s so delicious and moist

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:18:33 GMT

The most adorable little bakery is just a few blocks from my place. Cocoa Locale bakes some of the best cupcakes and cakes I’ve ever tasted.

Just look at this! Doesn’t it make you want to go there right now?

Chocolate-mint cake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

BarCamp Montréal 3 — in photos

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:43:43 GMT

Here are some very belated photos from BarCamp Montréal 3.

If you weren't there, I'm sorry you missed it. We had a lot of fun!

Aleece Germano
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Two Julies
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Lake of dreams

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 01:48:11 GMT

Before it gets really dark and really cold and really full of last-minute tourists, I'd highly recommend going down to the Botanical Gardens and take a look at the lanterns.

There are more of them this year and they're done quite nicely. If you've picked up an Accès Montréal card, you can even get in gratis.

夢湖
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

And all that was there was some bored old dog

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 06:25:41 GMT

You know summer's over when Picnik stops running.

Where else am I going to get my fix of scenesters flirting shamelessly, DJs giving lessons, and dogs who want nothing but to play fetch?

Sad
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.