This past weekend, when I was in Montreal I used the new bixi bike sharing service and it was amazing.  On monday, when I left work I realized that I can ride a bixi bike from my office to where I park my car for free since the first 1/2 is free.  Since then I am been riding a bixi almost everyday.  The bikes are surprisingly comfortable and ride really well even though they look a little geeky.   Give one  a try….

Thanks to La Belle Province for the pic.

For the past six months I’ve been working on a new software company called SWIX and like all startups it’s hard to get off the ground but once things start to happen it gets really busy fast!

So right now SWIX is looking to hire another software developer to join our team.

What is SWIX?  It’s only the best thing to hit the social media space since, well, ever.  See, the business world has figured out that social media sites (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) are a great way to stay engaged with their communities and get their word out but they don’t really know how to track the stuff.

But we do.  We are just about to launch one of the first, if not THE first, social media analytics products aimed at helping businesses figure out this social media thing.

It’s a hot product, a hot space, and well, we’re all hot too.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

-  Someone with experience building web apps using:  python, django & mysql – professional or hobby, don’t care, so long as you can produce

-  Must have all the basic Web skillz:  HTML/CSS/JS

-  Someone who’s eager, thinks “good enough isn’t” and wants to not only develop software, but push the envelope with what’ possible on the Web.

-  Knowledge of SVN, SQL, linux/BSD are bonuses

This is a fantastic opportunity.  We’ll help make you into a rock star if you’re not already.  Not just a job, but the chance to really make a splash.

If you’re interested in learning more, please tell us about your background, what you have to offer and why you’d like in.  Resume’s are optional – just tell me why you think you’d be a good fit and what skills you bring.

Get in contact with – craig(at)swixhq.com

Thanks,

Scott

(Cue AC/DC soundtrack)

]]> http://www.scottica.com/?feed=rss2&p=1455 1 http://www.scottica.com/?p=1451 http://www.scottica.com/?p=1451#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:05:29 +0000 Scott http://www.scottica.com/?p=1451

Last weekend, we played in our Ultimate leagues playoffs in the pouring rain.  It poured all game long.  I’m posting this pic because the team in question is Waffle which is having its 10th anniversary as a team this year.  10 years on the same Ultimate team has been great and Jody (kneeling on left) has been a great captain throughout.

Tara Hunt is great and she is coming to the next Social Media Breakfast on Sept 16th in Ottawa.

She is the author of one of the best books ever written on how to build your business using social media: The Whuffie Factor.

She will also be in town on Sept 15th for a Girl Geek Dinner. If you are interested in meeting a true trailblazer in the space then sign up for one of these two events.

The second campaign was more of an awareness campaign by Peta with their “Love me dont club me” seal mascot.  He was cute, people smiled at him but interestingly enough he looked equally lame standing on his own outside of Parliament Hill waving his flipper and passing motorists.

Maybe its me but I seem to have less tolerance for IRL marketing. There is just so much of it that to get anyone to notice you have to reduce your message to something as banal as what’s shown above. I suppose both are interesting but  neither is very clever.

I was chatting with a friend Annie at my ultimate game last night and she showed me the above picture that she recently posted for Wordless Wednesday on her blog PhD in Parenting. Its such a great pic that I had to share it.  The pic is of her son and he looks like a child super hero flying over Toronto.  Awesome!

Here is a link to a great article that explains how 10 companies picked the names of some really influencial products including the iPod, Twitter and Firefox.  Here is a short excerpt:

When cofounder Biz Stone saw the application that Jack Dorsey created in 2006 he was reminded of the way birds communicate: “Short bursts of information…Everyone is chirping, having a good time.” In response, Stone came up with “twttr,” and the group eventually added some vowels. It’s hard to think of a more evocative name in the tech world than twitter, but what began as what Stone described as “trivial” bursts of communication developed into a powerful means of networking, breaking news, and a forum for the 44th U.S. president’s campaign.

You can read the entire article here.

Thanks to Peter Fillmore at e2 for pointing this one out..

]]> http://www.scottica.com/?feed=rss2&p=1191 1 http://www.scottica.com/?p=1190 http://www.scottica.com/?p=1190#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 13:39:31 +0000 Scott http://www.startupottawa.com/?p=1151

Here is a cool invention and video by Darcy Whyte.  He has completely reinvented the rubber power model plane so that it is accessible for younger children as well as adults with less time. Here are some links if you are interested in finding out it is done…

http://www.Rubber-Power.com
http://www.rubber-power.com/How-to-fly-a-rubber-band-poweredl-airplane.htm

Kelly Rusk just posted the following info about the next Social Media Book Club:

Spring is a busy time of year! That’s why I hope you can appreciate this month’s pick–the Cluetrain Manifesto. The book has been out for quite a while (11 years!!) So my hunch is many of us have already read it. If you have not, the good news is the entire text is available online for free, so no need to go out and buy the book if you don’t want to.

You have a little over a month to read the book, and we’ll get together on Tuesday, June 16 at the Fox and Feather Pub – 283 Elgin Street at 6pm.

Here is the Meetup Info

I work at the University of Guelph in Teaching Support Services, managing a team that works with course instructors to add technology into their courses.  The UofG is migrating from Blackboard to Desire2Learn as an LMS.  Also doing a fair amount of work with social media, presentation tools, ePortfolios, RSS widgets, accessibility, documentation and training, and other stuff.  I’ll be in the Ottawa from midday Tuesday to midday Thursday and could would like to meet up with other edtech folks a coffee or whatever & chat. 

If you are involved in this space you can get in touch with Kyle here:

kmackie {at} uoguelph {dot} ca

Jamie Oastler, Chris Schmitt and others are putting on Ottawa’s first annual Geek BBQ this coming May 17th starting at 2pm.  This should be an amazing event and is a great opportunity for Ottawa’s geek community to get together and socialize.    Sign Up and get more info here.

Now that Mother Nature’s last gasp of winter has passed us by, it is time we spring forward and start a new social tradition. The goal of this event is to bring together all those Ottawa freelancers, twitterers, social mediaists and entrepreneurs who have been hermiting away the winter in a social setting. All significant others, families and friends are welcome so that they can put a face to all the names we tweet about.

Chris Schmitt (TeamCamp.ca) has graciously offered the use of his lovely 2.7 acre backyard in Cumberland Estates. Hopefully the distance won’t  inhibit anyone from attending – contact Jamie (jamie {at} idealienstudios {dot} com) if you need space / have space to help people join in the fun.

All proceeds from this event will be donated to the Startup Ottawa community to help make it easier to organize more awesome events in the future.

What do you need to do?

• Order preferred food / drink ticket option from EventBrite for you + any family / friends
• Spread the word about the event between now and May 16
• On Twitter, use hashcode #OttawaGeekBBQ

What do you need to bring on the day of the BBQ?

• You + any family / friends who you bought tickets for.
• Any family friendly outdoor games (frisbee, badminton, etc) welcome.
• Lawn chair(s)

Snacks, Pop and main course will be provided based on ticket purchase. If you have a favourite dessert or side dish that you love to share, feel free to bring it along with a list of any potential food allergy items that are ingredients.

Jamie is kindly donating all the proceeds from this event to the Startup Ottawa Community.  As with sponsorships all money donated goes to putting more and better events in Ottawa.

Lastly, the Ottawa Geek BBQ is sponsored by ExpertHost.com and LaBarge Weinstein:

ExpertHost.com is Ottawa’s number #1 Managed Services Web Host. They are also offering any Ottawa geeks who attend 3 months of free VPS hosting on any of the VPS hosting plans listed at http://www.experthost.com/ottawageekbbq.

LaBarge Weinstein is Canada’s premier tech startup law firm with offices in Ottawa, Toronto and Waterloo.

What: ChangeCamp Ottawa 2009
When: May 16, 2009 8:00 AM
Where: Click the link below to find out!

Meetup Description: ChangeCamp Ottawa is being organized by the Ottawa community to bring together citizens, technologists, designers, academics, policy makers, political players, change-makers and government employees to discuss participatory governance in a web-enabled world. The key theme of this event is:

How do we re-imagine government and citizenship in the age of participation?

ChangeCamp (http://www.changecamp.ca) is a free admission participatory web-enabled face-to-face event, which addresses the demand for a renewed relationship among citizens and government. The mission of ChangeCamp is to innovate how Canadian governments engage with citizens in an age of mass participation on the Internet. The event aims to develop action plans, for initiatives to improve participation in municipal governance utilizing web-technologies.

ChangeCamp is an interactive digital event, bring your:
- Laptop (free wireless)
- Digital Camera
- Video Camera

Bring donations to support the Ottawa Food Bank

Register now!
http://changecampottawa2009.eventbrite.com/

After-party starting at 7pm is at PUB.101 in the Byward Market (101 York on second floor)

ChangeCamp Facebook Group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=79040362749

Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/digitalOttawa/calendar/10237537/

Earlier this month Jamie Oastler started pitching around the idea of doing a Ottawa Geek BBQ.  This morning he followed through and sent me the following info on the BBQ event of the coming spring season…

Now that Mother Nature’s last gasp of winter has passed us by – I do believe that it is time we spring forward and start a new social tradition. How does "The 1st Annual Ottawa Web Geek BBQ" sound? The hope is to bring together all those Ottawa freelancers, twitterers, social mediaists and entrepreneurs who have been hermiting away the winter in a social setting. An event for significant others, families and friends to put a face to all the names we tweet about.

Are you interested? There are two core things we need to make this happen:

1. What date works best for most people? Vote at: http://www.polldaddy.com/p/1533558/
2. Someone having a big backyard that they would like to volunteer to host this event?

There are lots of other little things that enthusiastic individuals could orchestrate if they wanted to:

1. Any form of kid-friendly outdoor activities
2. Decide if a BYOB(ooze) / BYOM(eat) or potluck style is preferable
3. A mini-keg or two if sufficient people are interested in sharing the cost. (From my university daze, that last option meant $5 – $10 / person for drinks all day. )

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below or tweet about it with the hashtag #OttawaGeekBBQ or a reply tweet to me (@idealien). I first floated this idea a few weeks ago on Twitter and more than a few people felt the chance to hoist a pint and have a barbie was the right thing to do, including of @snookca, @thecodefactory, @scottica, @mste, @1G33K and @marquiscote   – Do you?

Here is an interesting site that I set up for a ThinkSM client.  It’s called WelcomeObama.ca and its a place where Canadians can submit messages or videos to Barack Obama prior to his visit to Canada on February 19th.  Everyone can vote on the messages and just before his visit the Rideau Institute will release a report outlining which issues are most important for Canadians.  It’s all good stuff. If you have a second it would be great if you made a submission, vote on some messages you like and invited some friends to participate.