People have been trying to revolutionize the way get our Translink bus schedules for a while now because, let’s face it, they weren’t exactly cooking anything up themselves until recently.
Yesterday they announced the new “Next Bus” service, where you can get instant schedule information for your bus stop, straight to your mobile phone by sms. Here’s how Translink explains it:
“They get the bus stop that is nearest to them, they find the five-digit code that’s there, and they can text that code to 3-3-3-3-3, and they will find out when the next six buses are due to arrive there.” [CKNW]
They also have a GPS system in the works where you’ll get actual next bus arrival times based on their locations.
Photo credit:
jmv on Flickr
Seems simple enough, eh. I’ll add it to my list of services to try out but still, it doesn’t help the buses arrive on time. Want to discuss applications, services rants and raves? Come on down to TransitCamp this weekend.
I had never been to the Republic, actually I stopped going to “clubs” on Granville years ago but this was one mighty fine lookin’ joint. Launch Party Vancouver took place on the upper level, with sponsor logos being projected onto the towering cement walls and on flat panel TVs throughout the bar.
In one corner there were demo tables setup, with each startup stationed with a sign for their company and a laptop. There was Handi Mobility, Sxipper, Something Simpler, Site Masher and Jiibe. How do I recall all these demos? Well Handi Mobility (of MyBus fame) is responsible for LiveVote.ca, which had a running poll for attendees to vote on their favourite demos of the night.
Basically I could put a poll on my site without using the fancy WordPress plugin that I have in the past and have my readers text to vote. It’s customizable and completely FREE – no charge for creating and operating the poll and no charge (aside from regular carrier charges) for text messaging. It’s pretty fancy and watching it update in real time is mesmerizing. I also met the Aaron from @CellMap, which seems kinda nifty as well.
Throughout the evening I got to mingle and chat with some familiar faces, but I also was able to spend more time with Maura. She is Strutta‘s co-founder and marketing guru who was responsible for us all being there in the first place. It was also nice to meet some of the Twiistup co-hosts from California.
The event was a huge success and I enjoyed running into folks sporting the now infamous Strutta stickers: “im in ur strutta kickn ur ass”, “To the extreme I rock a mic like a vandal,” “What, you think you’re better than me?” and something about being humble that Boris was proudly showing off.
Appies, a drink ticket, demos, schmoozing, networking, catching up and talking tech – what more could a girl ask for? Without further ado, here are some of Duane and Phillip’s photos from the evening.
Maura from Strutta getting interviewed – Photo credit:
Duane Storey on Flickr
Jordan and Lyal from Strutta – Photo credit:
tyfn on Flickr
I’m a Sxip girl in my new toque – Photo credit:
tyfn on Flickr
To find out more about Launch Party and startups in Vancouver, read the Launch Party Vancouver blog.
On a grey and rainy afternoon, the lovely Ms. Keira-Anne and I met up with DaveO at a steamy-windowed organic coffee shop. DaveO (the blogger, podcaster and social media evangelist) had a special mission just for us, and we were more than willing to accept. I swear the $100 cheque only had a little bit to do with it.
The terms? We shop at happyfrog businesses and write reviews of products, services, etc. But just what is happyfrog? I’m glad you asked.
happyfrog is a fresh and fun interactive web site designed to leverage the collective knowledge of our community to create an indispensable new resource for bringing about change – in our personal lives and across the planet.
Our vision for happyfrog is that it will become a home for a community of values-aligned members who happily enrich each other’s lives simply by sharing information about their favorite things. [happyfrog.ca – About]
It’s a website, a directory, a community, and a blog all focused on being eco-friendly. Since we’ve accepted this challenge, you can expect some Rebecca and Keira-Anne blog posts over on the frogblog and also more content over here. We’ll each be shopping for items and writing our own reviews so check out both of our blogs for the results.
I’m really looking forward to supporting local businesses, especially those that have chosen to be environmentally conscious.
You can also take part in spreading the happy frog word by adding a business to the directory or by entering their contest. All you need to do for the contest is write a review of a happyfrog listed company, business or service on the happyfrog.ca site (like what Alexa’s been doing). Shop. Login. Review. $500 could be yours to spend.
Last week an article popped up in my news feeds about BC students having one of the highest literacy levels in the world. Today, the Provincial Government reports that Grade 10 students in BC are again, at the head of the pack when it comes to reading, math and science.
B.C. students were in the top-performing range worldwide, with only Finland doing significantly better in the science category. In reading, only Finland and Korea were above B.C.’s range, while in mathematics, five jurisdictions were above B.C.’s range. When comparing average scores, B.C. ranked fourth in science, sixth in reading and thirteenth in math. Generally, the 2006 results for B.C. students show scores similar to the 2003 results. [GovBC]
The report by the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) states that certain social factors play a positive role in the education of a child. Things like immigrant status (we live in a region where 40% of the population is foreign-born), parental education and socio-economic status. However, it also says that students in BC also perform well despite their socio-economic status.
When I was in Kansas City I was asked if people in Vancouver move away from the city to find better schools for their children. I really didn’t know about schools being better or worse based on Geographical location. In this region, I would imagine people would want to be closer to the cities for better schools, unless you’re talking about privately run establishments. The further East you head in Metro Vancouver, you might find more private schools but then you also have the burbs (cue scary music).
Before anyone gets on the Jump to Conclusions mat, might I remind you that I went to West Whalley Junior High and despite all those horribly painful teenage years I don’t think I could complain about the level of education I received at the time. I graduated with honors, with AP credits, and went to SFU. Well that was until I got offered a job at a dotcom in October, 2000 – so I had to take it, I mean really. But I digress.
I’m pleased to see the results in the article, however I personally suck at math so I was probably no help in these studies back in the day.
Update:And now the BC Gov’t has just pledged $5 million to support student literacy.
I’ve noticed a lot of incoming links lately from sites that weren’t previously on my radar. What appears to be happening is something similar to “The Z List“.
This year, Troy Worman has started a meme to recognize outstanding bloggers. There are no awards, no accolades, simply a “pass it on” mentality surrounded by link love. Somewhere down the line, Miss604.com was added. The links started popping up in my stats when Servant of Chaos, Purple Wren, and Flooring the Consumer passed the list on. Regardless, it’s still pretty neat that someone thought to include me as an outstanding blog.
I noticed a few familiar names on there already but I’m going to add Yvonne and John since they’re usually the bloggers I tag in these sorts of things, and I’ve been reading their blogs for years. I’ll also add Douglas Karr and Darren Barefoot (cause I’m sure they love a good meme), and Tyler Ingram (cause he just entered my contest).
Read the list and perhaps add some new faves to your feed readers, after the jump Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
