Archive for May, 2009
MJ Lecture: Buying Money
Posted by gordonmcdowell in startups on 2009-05-26
Shortly after the economy tanked, when people lost the spring in their step and life’s soundtrack became an endless loop of O Fortuna… MJ gave a lecture.
“Your landlord doesn’t want your stock, Safeway doesn’t want your stock. They like cash.” -MJ
I used CastingWords.com to transcribe this video. They’re quite excellent.
Calgary iPhone Developer’s CRUSH FACTOR
Posted by gordonmcdowell in Calgary, iPhone on 2009-05-08
A couple weeks ago I created a commercial for MJ’s (Michael Sikorsky’s) iPhone application, “CRUSH FACTOR“. Today the app is available on iTunes, and I can finally show off the video!
Friends of Michael and Camille also submitted witty compatibly appraisals for couples. As a testament to high editorial standards applied to the game, none of my suggestions were used.
One shot in the video I must give credit to is Chris Hartigan, who created a BMX video in the 90s. He’s let me use that shot in… oh 3 videos now. Which shot, you ask? Go on… guess.
The commercial was created with the scientific genius of Nelson Adams. While Nelson does not have a scientific diploma per se, he’s forgotten more about science than Carl Sagan ever knew. Did Stephen Hawking help craft the dialog in this commercial? Did Richard Dawkins sit on a really uncomfortable stool and recite dialog that I kept changing on him with every delivery?
No they didn’t. And that is why Nelson is Dr. Science.
May 30th and 31st MJ is offering a lecture on iPhone Development at University of Calgary. The CRUSH FACTOR back-end is hosted on Google App Engine, which is the exact combination of technologies I’m pursuing for my own iPhone app.
Having bought a MacBook for the sake of programming my iPhone, I’m a newcomer to iPhone development. The Xcode experience regularly presents me with showstoppers. While decent books are mandatory, in many cases only watching a video or witnessing someone navigate the environment has helped me understand how to accomplish a particular task.
The fact that MJ is a Canadian iPhone developer is particularly useful to any Calgarians wanting to sell their iPhone app via iTunes. There’s lots of paperwork. MJ can help you get that ball rolling ASAP.
If you attend MJ’s iPhone dev school, I’ll be seeing you there!
DemoCampCalgary14 Coverage
Posted by gordonmcdowell in Calgary on 2009-05-01
DemoCampCalgary is a get together for those crafting new software in Calgary, and anyone looking to support upcoming Calgarian businesses.
I performed a video capture and summarized the event, which is available in full at Calgary’s BarCamp / DemoCamp blog. Below is a copy of the full video, with shortcuts to my favorite moments.
David Gluzman let me use his photos of DemoCampCalgary14 in the video, which is released under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license.
If you think you’d enjoy DemoCamp, then you will. I’ve been to just about all of them in Calgary, and there’s always been at least one presentation which surprises me.