Here's a post already!

Ok, so this is bad. I've had multiple complaints about my blogging frequency and lack of new material. Sorry, I've been busy.

Some thoughts. First, some time ago I decided to try out Twitter. There was a pretty good article in Fortune on it and back in the early summer, at the Search Engine Strategies conference here in Toronto, one of the sessions was dedicated to Twitter as a marketing tool.

My experiment with it has been limited. Like 6 posts. I follow 2 other twitterers and 2 follow me. Pretty pathetic. Despite that, I've had complaints!

Recently I quoted a post on Daily Kos about Sarah Palin. The post essentially suggests (you can read it) that focusing on anything other than her boobs would be a waste of time. Given all the noise about her at the time, it seemed like one of the most accurate observations on her I had seen. Ok it was a little crude. But, you have to admit, it's not like she has any other outstanding attributes.

However, apparently I offended at least one reader. Sorry. Maybe I should have said "focus on the fact that she's a boob"! (it's ok, I understand being offended :))

A while ago, someone said to me "who invented Republicans, anyways?". I don't have the answer. I just know that the past 8 years have been a disaster (who could foresee that electing people who don't believe in government AS the government would turn out bad?!) and how anyone in their right mind could put an idiot like her one step away from the Presidency is...dumb...unpatriotic....and good for funky glasses sales.

Ok, I'm on a roll. I have a comment on dog owner/walkers. You know those people with two (never one) of those crappy ass little yappy dogs...on those long leashes so they can go up and crap on your lawn? Did it ever dawn on any of you people that first of all, some of us aren't so enamoured with your crappy ass little dogs. We still wonder why you take better care of them than you do of your kids. Secondly, now that it's fall and gets dark early, walking your crappy ass little dogs all dressed in black is great f...ng way to get killed. Don't worry, your dogs will get out of the way...I know, I've tried. But you, walking with your back to me with your dogs strung all over the neighbourhood and me not seeing you til the last moment...you're done. At least get a white hat. And if I run you over, I'm letting your dogs off the leash so they can go play in traffic.

Now, on a more serious side. I've been telling everyone I know about the book 'Rise of the Creative Class" by Richard Florida. Very, very stimulating book. I'm hardly early to it, it was written a few years ago. Florida's studies show a compelling connection between the economic health of a city and the appeal of that city to creative people. His links between the gayness and ethnic diversity of a city and it's economic success are fascinating. Think San Francisco, Stanford and Silicon Valley. Now think Waterloo, Ontario.

University of Waterloo is one of the world's best math and sciences universities. It's one of the first places Microsoft goes for fresh talent. Walk it's halls and you will be overwhelmed, certainly by it's ethnic diversity, perhaps not so much it's gayness (although, I'm sure it's there).

Now go outside the University. Notice all the white people. Talk to those in the know about the success of the tech community in Waterloo outside of RIM. What the honest ones will tell you is 'don't believe the hype'. Waterloo is no Silicon Valley.

A friend of mine recently attended a well organized and very serious 'prosperity' event in Waterloo where the 'titans of Waterloo industry' (seriously, she said they called themselves that), pondered the options for attracting and retaining the best and the brightest to/in Waterloo. Two simple questions for my friend: first, of the large group that attended, how many weren't white? her answer: one; second, how many were gay?...her answer...gay?!

Maybe, I'm wrong and Florida should just stick to being the Sunshine State. But in my mind, until Waterloo crosses the diversity and openess chasm (and until RIM blows up and spins off a few hundred loaded and brilliant entrepreneurs), it will never achieve the magnet status it so craves.

But hey, I live in Toronto, what do I know?