Today marked the launch of Strutta, a local company that has been working hard to create a unique gaming experience. I had the opportunity to check out their product about six weeks ago and play with an early alpha. I think these guys have some great things in store for them, so make sure you head on over and check them out. So on behalf of everyone here at duanestorey.com (yah I know, it's only me), I want to congratulate Maura, Danny, Alexa, Jordan, Lyal, and the rest of the Strutta team, on their accomplishments. Best of luck guys. ...

I live in this weird apartment complex with a bunch of dictators who seem to enjoy flexing their muscles and causing trouble every few weeks. The entire building is managed by some local company, and there's a strata council which presumably some of the people in the building are part of. The thing is, our building isn't very ship-shape: the elevators haven't been working for nearly two years now, the security guards spend more time collecting bottles from the recycling area than they do securing the building, and there's always someone giving you flack for something. The one thing I hate are ...

I love stories like this. Starbucks has just been ordered to pay $100 million worth of cash that was taken out of their employees' tip jars and given to managers and shift supervisors. It always boggles my mind how establishments like that routinely try and screw their employees, many of which are making minimum wage. My teen years were pretty much filled with an endless string of shitty jobs. First, there was Bonanza, an interesting establishment that tried to cross fast-food with grilled steak, the result of which probably kept the local hospital busy with food poisoning cases. Like Starbucks, ...

My birthday is fast approaching, and the only real event I'm looking forward to is having a plate of nachos somewhere in the city with a friend or two. So, my question to all of you is: where are the best nachos in this city? My favourites so far are probably the ones down at Smiley O'Neils on Pender, but I'm open to suggestions. Drop a comment if you've had nachos somewhere in the city and let everyone know how they were (if they sucked, say so). I had nachos last night down at the Atlantic Trap and Gill, and the beef on them was actually a cut-up hamburger patty -- not cool people. Not cool. ...

I actually took this shot about a year ago, but I felt like posting a photo today and stumbled across this one. I took it from my patio first thing one spring morning. It's a three shot HDR with a bit of post processing. Enjoy. ...

I'm a big believer in corporate responsibility. That is, I think big corporations should reach out and do more for people in their communities, or use whatever means they have to contribute positively towards society. Surprisingly, the Vancouver technology scene is fairly active in this area, and I've witnessed many technology-driven events in this city geared towards feeding people in the Lower East Side, helping acquire clothing, etc. So today, I was rather pleased to see an announcement from one of the largest technology companies around. Google has just announced that they are going to give ...

It's here, Northern Voice 2008. Tonight is the big social down at the Tiki Lounge in East Vancouver. I'll be heading down with Rebecca, John, and Keira for some drinks and a full roast-pig. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to say at PhotoCamp, but I'll spend some time thinking about it during the day and see what I can come up with. Photo by Gary on Flickr Every camera in my house is currently dead, so I'm frantically bouncing between doing laundry and charging equipment. I went to the mall to pick out some new clothes tonight, but turns out I'm just way too picky. I've decided that ...

I've decided to head back home for the weekend. I haven't been back to Chilliwack since Christmas time, so I figure I'm long overdue. A whole whack of conferences start soon, and I'm going to by fairly swamped up until mid April. So, I'm going to grab a book and curl up on the couch back home this weekend to relax a bit. Also, for those of you that have been patiently waiting for more information about what was previously called "Startup Weekend Vancouver" or "Beer Camp" -- the wait is nearly over. Stand by for the unveiling of the website along with more information. ...

DemoCamp Vancouver is officially starting right now. Rebecca Bollwitt, aka miss604, will be doing live coverage of the event. You can check it out by clicking here. ...

You know, there was a time when I actually sort of considered my blog a photo blog. Truth is I haven't really posted many photos lately. Here's one I took with my little Powershot camera a few days ago: ...

This Thursday, I'll be photographing a charity fundraiser down at the Sanafir Restaurant & Lounge in Vancouver. The event is put on by local fashion designer Roberta Cheema from Tush, and will consist of swimwear and lingeree. Lingerie by Tush, photographed during Vancouver Fashion Week I've spent a bit of time hanging out and getting to know Roberta, and she's really a dedicated person with a real passion for design. It's what underneath that counts - hot spot's upscale swimwear and undergarment fashion show fundraiser - February 7 Join host MC Musician and Funny Man Rick Baker at the sophisticated ...

I woke up to my phone ringing basically non-stop thanks to Hesty and Sean at work. There's a big career fair out at UBC today, and I guess they are all going and wanted me to go too. I woke up with a nasty sore throat though, so I'm going to leave the recruiting to those guys. I'm going to pass around a bit of link-juice this morning. First, we have Rebecca and Keira, who are packing up and heading to the island for some licking and snowboarding. That means John is currently wifeless, so I think him and I are going to figure out something fun to do this weekend. Judging by the weather, I'm guessing ...

Well, well. Lookie what we have here.. Somehow, Google is in a state of flux. My top #1 position has indeed been usurped, but thankfully I still have a few weeks to get it back. I'm not going to get too excited about daily changes, but I definitely don't want to lose out, especially after all my trash talking. So, I'll see if I can pull a few aces out of my sleeve in the next week or so. At the very least, this is a pretty neat exercise in the realm of search engine optimization. You can read about my last post about the Vancouver Blogger War here, and more about the Vancouver Blogger challenge ...

Ok, seriously. The things I would do if I had a few million bucks. I'm amazed to no end how many things about the internet kind of suck. Things that you'd think would be easy to fix, but for whatever reason nobody gets around to fixing them. First company that I need to bash is YouTube. Seriously, Google buys you for 1.6 BILLION dollars and what's the first thing you do? Stick your head in the sand. How come there aren't any cool features, or you know, like standard features coming your way. Why do you always screw up the audio/video sync on EVERY video I upload? Another prime example -- they ...

Last Friday I met a pile of people from the Vancouver technology scene down at the Lamplighter pub in Gastown. Apparently that location is surrounded in controversy, since the Lamplighter has recently changed hands and has been transformed into a more "modern" establishment. I can't say that I ever hung out in it before, but it seemed like a pretty cool place on Friday. I would have shown up and mingled regardless, but on Friday I volunteered to drop by and take some photos of the Vancouver Technology Women for this year. That list was put together by none other than blogger-extraordinaire, ...

This is a rather interesting move made by Facebook. Apparently on Friday they announced a new javascript library that would let you put Facebook applications on your own web page. Facebook announced Friday a new JavaScript client library that will allow Facebook apps to be displayed on any website. The client library allows users to make Facebook API calls from any web site and create Ajax Facebook applications on that website. Wei Zhu from Facebook explains the benefits: Since the library does not require any server-side code on your server, you can now create a Facebook application that can ...

I'm currently at the internet cafe on Davie street killing some time waiting for a Dr's appointment next door. I've been waiting for some test results from that whole stupid bacterial infection thing I got in the hospital last year. Not really sure what's going to happen there. Tonight I'm also the official photographer for the Facebook Developer Meetup down at the Vancouver Film School. Rebecca (aka Miss604) will be down there doing the official live-blog, so make sure you check it out if you want to follow remotely. I'm looking forward to taking it easy next weekend. One of the things I'm historically ...

Well, it's almost the weekend again. I awoke this morning to some major construction going on in one of the units around me, and I sure hope it's done before Saturday morning rolls around. Last night I hit Wings on Granville with Rebecca, Keira and John. For those of you who haven't been, it's a quaint little spot next to the Howard Johnson hotel on Granville Street that has cheap wings from 2-6pm daily. Rebecca and Keira, photo by Keira The girls basically did two pitchers of beer by themselves, so I imagine they were feeling pretty tipsy by the time they left. This weekend is already shaping ...

I'm pretty much the least star-struck person I know. I met the Barenaked Ladies a long time ago, ran into David Duchovny at UBC during the X-Files, and last year ended up sitting beside Aaron Eckhart at the Vancouver Airport bar for a while. So when I heard that Jennifer Aniston was filming a block from where I work, I didn't really think anything of it. On my way home tonight as I was passing the Hyatt on Burrard Street I decided to stop for a sec and see if I could watch anything being filmed or check out the lighting and stuff. Right when I was about to keep moving I heard a voice nearby which ...

For the last few months, we've all been hearing Clay complain about being out of breath and not being able to walk very far around the office. His general doctor did some tests on him and said there wasn't anything wrong and that he should just move past it. Eventually Clay got referred to a specialist since things just kept getting worse for him. Turns out he has a blockage in his heart which is why he's having problems. Tomorrow Clay is heading down for an angiogram, and will probably have to get a stent in his heart. My dad had something similar last year, and while the procedure is relatively ...