Mike Vardy

More Another Things: 120 and Linchpinnery

I’m going to do my darndest to post “weekdaily” here, but Fridays is pretty much going to serve as a Day of Recap for the week. So, to recap: Dyscultured #120 In another slightly rage-fueled edition of the weekly live stream/podcast wherein Anthony Marco, Andrew Currie, Shane Birley and I discuss pop culture and tech […]

Why I Signed the OpenMedia Petition

Earlier this week, Search Engine host Jesse Brown asked his listeners to connect with him and let him know why they signed the petition that was created by OpenMedia1 regarding usage-based billing in Canada. I thought I’d do one better and tell everyone why.

The Toxicity of Relentless Ambition

I’m all for the pursuit of ambition. In fact, I’m a pretty ambitious person myself. I’ve got a lot of projects that I’ve taken on in the past, and still have few on the burners as I write this. But there is definitely a problem with having too much ambition. Just ask MacBeth.1 While ambition can

Taking Time

After speaking gigs and travel, I need to take some time to reconnect with the family and household. I spend time with my kids and take part in some much-delayed household improvement tasks. During that time, I also give myself the time — and permission — to breathe. I catch up on some reading and often

Sunday Quickie: For Those Who Yearn to Learn

It’s been a crazy weekend here for me…WordCamp Victoria was fantastic and some of the talent I saw tonight at The Showdown was off the charts. But more on these events in posts to come… One of the things I always find is that these “camp-style” gatherings are attended by those with a thirst for

More Things: WordCamp Victoria and TWoD

This week was stellar, and should end on a high note as well. I’m speaking at WordCamp Victoria tomorrow in what promises to be a jam-packed day of information about my favourite blogging platform: WordPress. My session will revolve around how, through trial and error, I came to achieve modest blogging success. I will be

The Jerk on the Internet and Another Thing

As mentioned in my introductory post, I’m using iA Writer to write all of my posts over the next two weeks. Once I’ve given it a good test drive, I’ll offer my thoughts here at the site. That said, I have a ton of writing apps on my iPad and just as many available to

Why Everyone Should Spend Time at a College Radio Station

As I listen to the entire catalogue of They Might Be Giants, I get nostalgic for my days working in college (or in my case, campus, radio). I’m not saying that I hadn’t heard of TMBG beforehand, but they and many other artists wouldn’t have met my ears on such a regular basis — if

JoCo: A Thank You Letter to Jonathan Coulton

On my blogroll page, I mention several people who have had a positive impact on me over the past few years. I say this about Jonathan Coulton: Then, there’s Jonathan Coulton. He is a truly inspiring guy who responded to a letter I wrote to him when I was thinking “career shift” back in my Costco