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Tag: personal

  • Praized is Now Live!

    Yes! Praized Media, our Hub, Facebook application and other current integration options (API, plugins, etc) are now all live to the public and in full production gears. 🙂

    Now Web publishers can easily write about local places while growing traffic and ad revenue. Praized is the first free local search platform designed specifically for social media sites like blogs, social networks and other online communities.

    I said, back in January, how happy I was about joining the Praized team, and how much potential I was seeing in the company. Suffice to say, I’m just as ecstatic as I was back then, kicked up a notch or two.

    Hey, maybe now I can reach inbox zero and start blogging again. 😉

    Edit: we’re getting some pretty good reviews so far. Crossing our fingers. Still work to do.

  • Change o' Plans. Joining the Praized Team!

    Funny the pace plans can change at, isn’t it? I was all organized and looking forward to formally announce my return to the world of independent consulting when things started to take an even more interesting turn instead.

    I am in fact very happy to announce that I have now officially joined the ranks of the Praized Media team.

    Praized Media is a startup company working on a web-based application that will enable you to find and discover local places and merchants with help from people you can trust. It’s also a tool that will structure local conversations within blogs and a new platform for local search providers to generate leads from the untapped social media market.

    I’ve been following Praized since mid-2007, when they really started to show up on my radar as a serious[ly fun] and innovative venture, oozing with potential, and backed by a winning trio of entrepreneurs: Sebastien Provencher, Sylvain Carle and Harry Wakefield. A fact which was only reinforced when Garage Technology Ventures decided to fund the company last September.

    I’ve been given the opportunity to increasingly involve myself in the company as a consultant since last December. The way things were evolving, I could not longer deny the clear fact that this is a project I want to be an integral part of. Something I can unequivocally see myself focusing on, even providing segues into some of involvements in the web and open source communities.

    Luckily for me, the feeling seemed to be mutual and today marked my first day on staff. Suffice to say, I’m sporting a mile long smile about it all.

    Praized is currently in stealth-mode, so although I can’t say much more, I can definitely hint that great things are coming! And with the people already on board, I’m in for a fun ride, striving to keep up with and help them in their efforts.

    Thanks for the opportunity, team! But shame on you though. Now I’ll have to can that site I worked on for my consulting biz’… ;-p

  • What's a Technology Generalist After All?

    From “Reengineering MIS: Aligning Information Technology and Business Operations – Page 42“:

    Technology Generalist

    Role:
    The role of the technology generalist is to provide the reengineering project participants with a high level understanding of what technology is available, a perspective on emerging technologies, and the benefits and drawbacks of the specific technologies.

    Responsibility:
    The technology generalist is responsible for ensuring that the redesigns are technically feasible, and that all areas of emerging technologies that can be leveraged to increase thru-put and efficiency are explored. In additions, this individual works closely with the MIS Generalist to gain an understanding of how and why the existing systems are designed and architected.

    Being a niche book from the mid-nineties, there is some specific terminology that could be modernized and adapted to my particular skills (web), but in spirit, this is the best definition I have ever found of what I am really all about, from a professional point of view.

    For the HG2G fans out there, do note the above page number.

    This will all become clearer on Monday, January 28th, 2008, but saying that I enjoy my trade would be an understatement of rather massive proportion, and I am very much looking forward to what’s to come.

    🙂

  • Plank: PHP/MySQL Developer Needed

    As Stevey points out, Plank is looking for a creative and motivated LAMP developer to join the team. See below for the full cross-posted skinny, and pass the word if you know someone who might be interested.

    Want to work in our growing Web agency with great people, great clients, and a great working environment? Of course you do!

    Plank is actively looking to add to our Montreal-based team. Whether you’re completely self-taught or have multiple degrees in Computer Science, we’re only concerned that you have the skills needed to perform the job. We need someone who is interested in working on exciting Web projects, generally in the fields of entertainment, technology and social action.

    Your tasks will include:

    1. Development of website back-ends and interesting Web applications;
    2. Building on and working with our existing code base.

    Our Expectations
    We’re looking for someone fun! But seriously, you should have the following:

    • 2+ years of related experience;
    • Strong background in PHP and MySQL;
    • Experience in AJAX, DHTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, will be an asset;
    • Knowledge of open-source CMS’s such as Drupal and WordPress will be an asset;
    • Knowledge of open-source PHP frameworks such as CodeIgniter will be an asset;
    • Willingness to work locally in our Montreal office.

    We are a close-knit company that continues to grow, and we need your skills. We want you to be part of our team for a long time to come. We offer a competitive salary, normal business hours, a comprehensive health and dental plan, and a great work environment.

    If you think you would like to be part of the Plank team, please email your CV and cover letter to warren@plankdesign.com. If you would like to learn more about us, please surf around http://www.plankdesign.com.

    We hope you’ll join us.

    Hours: Full-Time
    This job is salaried.

    You can also check out Warren’s video for a previously posted position if you’d like to get a feel for what Plank is all about.

  • I Can Hear My Own Echo… Echo… Echo…

    Nothing’s like having our three kids spending the week at my mom’s to make the house feel eerily huge and empty. That’s quite a parenting catch 22: you’re glad to have a semblance of peace and quiet for the first few hours, then you start missing them like crazy. 🙂

  • PHP Québec CodeFest 2.0

    I will be attending the CodeFest2008 hosted in Montreal on January 5th and 6th. This year’s theme will be all about microformats. Here is a link to the Facebook event, if you’re having trouble reaching the official wiki.

    I will be vying to address an hreview project I am getting involved with, unless I’m already done with it by then, in which case I’ll find something Diso related to tackle (if not both).

    Note: the event is not limited to PHP by any stretch, and anyone is welcomed. Join us, it’ll be fun. And as always, it will also be a great opportunity to network with your tech-peers.

  • Happy Holidays to You and Yours

    Since the next couple of days will be entirely devoted to my family and friends, I will be brief and wish you all the merriest of Christmas, as well as the very best to you and yours.

    Turn off that computer, and go spend time with the ones you love. I know I am.  🙂

  • Last Sprint to the Holidays

    It sure has been one busy quarter! Between switching jobs and my many other projects, I need this break like a fish needs water.

    A time for family, [hopefully] rest, reflecting on the past year and deep thoughts on what I’d like to achieve in the soon to be new year, and how to best make it happen.

    Two more days to try and complete as many tasks as possible to finish my business year on highlights, then I’ll wind down for what I think will be a well deserved break.

  • The Corporate Art of Concept Bastardization

    From GigaOM: AT&T, Verizon…We Are All Open:

    Ever since Verizon announced that it was going “open,” OPEN has become the new buzzword. For instance, this morning USA Today ran a story on AT&T being open, with extensive commentary from AT&T Wireless CEO & President Ralph de la Vega.

    It really pains me to see such hypocritical behemoths jump on concepts that are dear to me, such as “open” or “green“, and turn them to their advantage when in reality, they are amongst their most vile opponents.

    Between Microsoft’s Open Initiative, GE’s greenwashing campaign and so many others, it’s an ever rising trend, even if far from a new one. Turns out they can’t even be original in their dishonesty: “Hey, me too! I’m cool too! Look at me!“.

    But one way or another, analysts and consumers see right through their… uh, spin?

  • Filling Up the Break

    I’ll be focusing on Plank until the holidays, but I’m already finding myself filling up my wish list for what I want to tackle during the break. Family first, but there’s always a few hours of the day (err, night) to geek it out.

    So far, here’s what I have down. Posting it here will give me a push to get it done. 🙂

    • New features for WPhone: Viper007Bond, Doug and I are in planning stage for a few nice features we’re trying to deck the upcoming 1.5 version with.
    • Setting myself up with an OpenLDAP sandbox for wpDirAuth: when I left McGill, I also left behind the AD install that was providing me with a testbed for my WordPress/LDAP authentication plugin. I don’t mind flying blind with the code, but it’ll help with support.
    • Write an app with Symfony: I have a small toy project I want to get to, and I’m planning on using this PHP5 framework as a RAD environment.
    • And a few floaters that I haven’t quite officially added to the list yet, like upgrading my site’s theme visually and with data portability in mind, etc.

    Bah, with three kids, it’s not like it was going to be a relaxing vacation anyway.
    Might as well just add to the fun. 😉