Almost time to get in a plane. Tomorrow night I'll pack everything up and get ready for a trip down to the states on Friday. Definitely looking forward to the weekend, and also being on the other side of it since it's the last real event of the summer before I can downshift a few gears and take things a bit slower again. I probably won't post again until WordCamp, but who knows. ...

I'm trying to include some stats in my WordCamp Portland presentation. I was hoping everyone who reads this might be able to answer a few questions (please only vote for the topics that are relevant to you): [poll id="16"] [poll id="17"] [poll id="18"] [poll id="19"] [poll id="20"] Based on the results from this, I might ask a few more questions. Thanks everyone. ...

I tweeted about some rather recent banking problems I've been having, so I thought I'd tell the whole story. About five years ago (probably longer to be honest), I opened a business account at TD bank on Broadway in Vancouver. I was going to start doing a little consulting on the side while doing my master's degree, so I thought having a business account would be a good idea. At the time, I also got a small mastercard as well. I never really ended up having time for the consulting, so the account kind of just sat there for a few months. Eventually I ended up cancelling that mastercard and (my ...

Yes, I realize Christmas is still a long time away. But truthfully, it'll be here in no time. This will be my first Christmas a resident of Chilliwack since I was 18, and I think it'll be pretty cool. The tree in my photo is my little Christmas tree from Vancouver. I've had him up a few years now, and he always makes me happy. Truthfully, I kept him up until almost July last year, simply because I didn't have the heart to take it down. I mean, I'd come home from work, and there'd he'd be, all lit up and happy. How could I take him down? I know, I'm strange. I get it. This year I'll take him down ...

You know, there was a time when celebrities held themselves to a higher standard than the rest of us -- that with the spotlight came additional responsibilities, especially for musicians or actors who appealed to younger audiences. I'm not saying that they should be held to unrealistic expectations -- everyone falters from time to time. But when you have the limelight, your ability to do both good and bad is amplified, and while some celebrities choose to do the former, many ultimately opt for the latter. I don't normally blog about celebrities or other Hollywood gossip. The truth is, I really ...

I posted this a long time ago on another site, but stumbled across it tonight and thought I'd post it again. It's a short film that was based on a recording of John Lennon made by 14 year old Jerry Levitan in Toronto. Jerry was a huge fan of the Beatles, particularly Lennon, and managed to sneak into the hotel to interview him about world issues. Since being released in 2007, it has been nominated for several awards, including an Oscar. ...

It's official - vacation is booked. I'll be leaving Vancouver on the 19th of November, and heading to the Dominican Republic for two weeks. I've never really been anywhere on vacation for two weeks, so it'll be an interesting experience. I'm heading to the Bahia Principe Punta Cana with Dale and Sara for a few weeks. I've been told that the beaches in Punta Cana are fairly amazing, so I'm looking forward to that. Plus, we're staying in the Golden Club section which means we should hopefully be near the beach. Anyways, should be a great time. ...

Some random thoughts of mine from a coffee shop. Thou shalt know thy order before approaching the counter Thou shalt not hog the cream station for extended periods of time Thou shalt wipe up thy coffee mess after a spill Thou shalt not prefix thy coffee order with more than three descriptive words Thou shalt not setup a laptop on a table for six when drinking alone Thou shalt not order any item that cannot be reliably pronounced Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's coffee barista Thou shalt not order the devil's brew - "non fat, no-foam, extra hot latte" Thou shalt not put 5 cent syrup ...

I was originally going to spend my day at home researching some stats for my upcoming presentation. Since it's such a nice day though I decided to come up to the lake and casually drink a bit of rum while working on it instead. I suspect that this is one of the last weekends where it'll be this warm, so might as well take advantage of it while it's here. I just got confirmation about a pretty cool little video clip I'll hopefully be able to include in my WordCamp PDX presentation, so that should be fun. Other than that, I'm just gonna keep plugging away at everything. I'm hoping most of it will ...

I'm currently sitting in the Starbucks near my place, slowly hacking together what will eventually be my slideshow for WordCamp Portland. Truthfully, I'm a bit nervous about this presentation. While I've spoken at a few conferences here and there, most of my presentations were around the 20 - 30 minute mark. This time around, I have a full hour slot to fill, and crafting an hour-long presentation that doesn't completely suck is a rather delicate procedure. I'll be talking mostly about mobile blogging, both from a content producer and a content consumer perspective. The good news is that apparently ...

Strangely enough, most people in Vancouver probably don't remember me as ever being super skinny. For whatever reason, I've always had a bit of meat on my bones. You can chalk it up to a slow metabolism, or crappy genes or whatever, but there are not many times in my life where I've been rail thin. The first time I came close though was probably around grade 11. I was playing three sports at the same time, getting lots of rest, and for the most part, lived a pretty stress free life. I couldn't tell you what I weighed during that period, but looking at old photos I definitely think I looked fairly ...

Despite being tired, I dragged my ass down to the gym tonight. Without a doubt, it was probably one of history's most pathetic workout sessions, but I managed to get through it. I also score fairly low on the whole "coordinated gym-goer" scale, mostly because I don't have any shoes that are really gym worthy. I have a pair of running shoes, but they're not really meant for going to the gym, and they hurt my feet. So instead, I usually wear a pair of vans or something else to make sure there's a clear separation between the cool people and me from a fashion perspective. Upon leaving, ...

I'm heading to a friend's wedding in Seattle in November. I'm actually pretty excited about the trip because it'll be my first real weekend there since 2007. Seattle's one of those cities I always expected to fall in love with, but for whatever reason, just haven't managed to yet. I suspect it's because I don't really know where to go when I'm in the city, but I'll do a bit more research this time around. The last time I was there I stayed at the relatively trendy Hotel Max, which was fairly central and had a decent little lounge. I was talking to the people at the Alexis Hotel in Seattle about ...

The tendency for a body at rest to stay at rest, and for a body in motion to stay in motion. Two important states, to be sure. For me, I find myself bouncing between those two states from time to time, often as a result of some cycle I'm trying to break. Most of the time, that cycle for me starts with lack of sleep, and progresses into this weird state of limbo where I'm constantly feeling unhealthy. The last time I felt I totally got away from it was back in May, back when I was going to the gym routinely and eating meals at home the majority of the time. I'm close to getting back there, but ...

One of the things we've done with WPtouch for a while is to include a Friends and Family page for all the people who have donated to the project. To that end, I wanted to start recognizing companies that have helped me out for travel and events by either comping me items or giving me great deals on things like meals, drinks and/or accommodations. With that in mind, I've started putting together a duanestorey.com Friends and Family section that will permanently be on this site. I'm sure I still have lots of entries to add, but I've added the first few to that page. Big thanks for all the help from ...

Does anyone know of any really cool mobile sites on the web? Not just apps, but actually web pages? If so, drop a comment. Thanks. ...

Ahh yes, the end of a long weekend. And not just any long weekend, the last long weekend of the summer. So long summer of 2009, it was nice to know you. My niece and nephew head back to school tomorrow, which is sort of exciting for them. I always liked going back to school for some reason. Maybe it was buying a whole new batch of school supplies, or seeing some of your friends again after a summer apart. Granted, after about a week I was sick of the new year, but that first week was usually fun. As for me, I took it pretty easy this weekend. I was originally supposed to go camping, but opted ...

About a year ago, I decided to slowly migrate away from Media Temple and move to something a bit better. Truthfully, Media Temple's service was one of the worst I've experienced, especially since it's priced at more than double what comparable packages are charging. I still think there's lots of promise with their grid service, but I don't think their paying cliental should be used as guinea pigs on technology. Unfortunately, I never completely got away from Media Temple, mainly because I have a few things there that need to be moved carefully, and I just haven't had the inclination to do it. ...

Other than the two days I spent down in Oregon a while ago, I really haven't taken any time off this summer. Truthfully, I'm a bit bagged to be honest. We had a couple big projects on the go there, and thankfully they're pretty much done at this point. I'll be doing up a posting on BraveNewCode next week talking a bit about some of the recent things we've been involved in. In the meantime though I'm shutting everything off that beeps or glows and going to enjoy this weekend reading books and watching movies. Anything that doesn't involve typing. ...

I've been asked to write an article for a European magazine about Vancouver. I'm keeping my particular angle under wraps until everything is completely done, but I'd like to solicit some help from my readers. In fact, I'm hoping I can use a few of these quotations in the article, along with possibly a photo or two of some of the people who quoted them. So, in one or two sentences, please feel free to answer any of the following: What do you like the most about Vancouver? What is your least favourite thing about this city? What is your best memory from living in the city? Do you think Vancouver ...