Heri does Ruby on Rails + Web Design

I’m trying my hand in photography, and got a Canon sytem. A few comments:

• The Canon 5D Mark II is awesome (although I suspect any full-frame camera is). A few cons (grip is not optimal, colors are a tad too processed in my taste, would have liked more dynamic range
• Going from a consumer camera to this kind of setup is challenging. Once you go in the game of getting highest IQ and great pictures, you beging to think about bringing a 10+ pound tripod, remote controls, checking sunsets times, etc.
• I thought a good camera would solve the “let’s get great pictures”: it’s not the case, once you get good gear, the limiting factor is the photographer (framing, focus, intent etc.)
• The Sigma 50mm f1.4 is my favorite lens, although the crop equivalent is (30/1.4) is better imho
• The 15mm canon fisheye is fun little lens. I like playing with it
• The 24-70mm F2.8L is over-rated in my taste, blurry, soft, and the pics are flat compared to the other lenses. It also has back-focus issue. I do not have time to send it to Canon Canada though.
• I have yet to push to its limits the 135mm f2.0
• Same for the extension tubes

Je viens de lire un article intitulé Becoming a Renewable Engineer (comment devenir un ingénieur en énergies renouvelables).

L’article est vraiment terre-à-terre dans son approche, avec des astuces et une recette précise pour la personne qui veut devenir opérer dans ce domaine, comme par exemple concevoir une génératrice à la fin du programme.

Ça laisse songeur. Si j’avais su à la fin de mes classes prépa, je serais devenu un génie (sans jeu de mots) en télécom, ou en électronique, ou en informatique. Au lieu de quoi, on a passé notre temps à philosopher, à apprécier la vie parisienne, et à discuter… comme tout bon étudiant français fraîchement arrivé en école d’ingénieur sait le faire. Tenez par exemple, voici la liste des cours que j’ai suivi, dans l’ordre, à l’école Telecom SudParis:

• Mathématiques
• Électronique
• Unix (Introduction)
• Télécom
• Probabilités 
• Finances 
• Analyse des Données
• Radiation et propagation des ondes
• Architecture matérielle et logicielle
• File d’Attente
• Signaux
• Économie
• Statistiques et Optimisation
• Optique & Télécommunications + Circuits Haute-Fréquences
• Programmation objet
• Réseaux 
• Théorie de l’Information
• Mathematique Statistique
• Processus Stochastiques
• Signal et Modélisation de l’information
• Codage de l’information
• Traitement Statistiques des Images
• Communications Numériques

• Program user interfaces with javascript
• Do user interfaces elements, and do an entire GUI
• Do a real C program
• Put a story on digg’s or reddit’s frontpage
• Build a SaaS service — or build a new kind of website that’s truly profitable, with no hacks
• Shoot videos — or to put it in other words, find awesome ideas to put on videos
• Use After Effects or Final Cut Studio
• Snowboarding
• Muay Thai
• Parkour
• Not being afraid to fail
• Not Tempted at all to act on how and what others expect you to do and behave
• Focus on simple things once (as in: get rid of everything apart from bare essentials)

Alors voici les choses que je fais ce mois-ci:
- Technologie à Montreal
- de la gestion de produits, et de l’évangelisation à iweb
- des évenements avec de l’alcool, et d’autres plus techniques
- des projets “stealth” avec des montréalais

Le mois prochain, sur la wish-list:
- bon, je cherche un appartement quelque part près du métro Laurier. Ne me demandez pas pourquoi,
- des concerts hip-hop sur le calendrier, avec les anciens du LDD 
- encore plus de choses à iweb
- la suite des projets “secrets”
- et puis j’ai trouvé un endroit pour refaire du kali. à suivre

Encore plus loin, sur la wish-list:
- j’ai une amie qui s’est corrigé les yeux au laser. c’est tentant mais je ne suis pas sûr si c’est sécuritaire
- l’idée de Montréal ou Québec sans voiture, c’est sympatique mais je pense que ca prend maintenant une voiture. à partir de là, reprendre alors le permis du kenya. ou repasser complètement le permis de conduire du Québec.
- faire de la vidéo. mais bon c’est aussi un terrain vague.
- apprendre un nouveau langage de programmation. Le C? le javascript?

Dans tout ça, je me rends compte que ce sera extrêmmement facile de continuer sur tout ce qui marche déjà, par contre, les nouvelles idées ca va pas être évident. C’est peut-être l’idée de cet article. Écrire publiquement pour avoir une pression supplémentaire.

I’m late on the news, but I’m now blogging at iWeb, with articles and posts about web development and web hosting issues. There is also a french version for each article.

It’s a new experience, although not totally different from Montreal Tech Watch. So far, there were articles on usability, CSS frameworks, accessibility, management of traffic peaks, even Halloween costumes etc.

A few comments on this:

• The folks at iWeb are young and awesome to work with
• In many regards, it’s like a technology startup
• They are based in Montreal, with 3 data centers and still expanding thanks to lower costs of electricity in Quebec.
• blogging about web development forces me to organize my thoughts. And of course, it’s an opportunity to do deep research about a topic.

Hopefully, at one point, I’ll do also Research & Development and get the blog off the ground, to make it a reference in web development. I’m not sure about marketing tactics used by other websites such as the infamous Smashing Magazine, but will also give it a try.

I’ve been working on TechEntreprise for the past 4 months, and while it’s not official or launched yet, I still want to share the project on this blog.

In the technology world of Montreal, I am mostly known for having started MontrealTechWatch, a blog whose tagline is “Technology and Innovation”. The blog covered extensively technology events, new projects and ventures, entrepreneurship. It was especially exciting since it followed the birth of the technology community in Montreal. I was there for BarCamps, for Blitzweekend, or for any other *camp or technology event.

This has been a wonderful learning opportunity, since it was my 2nd blog, and was also started 2 months after I decided to try out the “blogging” thing.

The blog grew then from a little place on blogspot to a full-blown wordpress blog, with its own customized template and domain name. I especially have to thank every person in the Montreal Technology community for giving their time and offering the gift of reading and interacting with MTW.

After a while though, it stalled … or should I say, I saw more opportunities about the concept. With its mix of tech news, jobs, events, articles, and also user comments, I foresaw the possibility of having a public place where everyone could contribute.

Here is a screenshot of TechEntreprise, on the Montreal network:

Visitors can signup, have a profile, contribute to news and public forum section. There’s also dedicated sections for jobs, events, groups, and articles. I especially like the events page, where you can see who is going to an event, and then have a look at their profile in case you want to meet them at the event.

I’m planning to open up networks in Seattle, Cape Town, HK, and other places like Boulder and Boston. And yeah other cool places too.

Now, where does it lead us? Here’s a mission statement from the website:

… bet that any city can become a technology centre, and believe that TechEntreprise can be a key resource and platform for this to happen…

The sentence is for now a bit incomplete since the final mission goes much more beyond that, but it should be more than enough for now.

Now, before TechEntreprise officially launches, I want to use my blog to gather my thoughts and share the different aspects of the project to you, such as technology, product design, marketing and also monetization (drum rolling on this last one) That’s about 4 to 6 posts for the upcoming 2 weeks. Hope you’ll enjoy the ride!

I have just deleted 2 Twitter applications from my computer.

The is the end of an era, after seeing that 99% of my visible activity on the web was with Twitter. I played the Twitter game for more than a year, but it’s time to move on.

Instead, I should be able to add more meaningful contributions, with better thoughts, and more original and significant work.

In the same pattern, I am also about to reduce events I am attending. Tech events that is. Because at one point, you actually have to focus, work hard and produce results.

This is a short movie about a lighthouse keeper about to fail; but gets back beautifully on track thanks to fellow villagers and spontaneous help from his community.

A neat video that made me smile, and somehow struck a special chord, since I’m doing Montreal Tech Watch and its upcoming new community website.

(video from the Responsibility project)

Grand Corps Malade - Du Côté Chance

Je me rappelle avoir lu que les artistes nous rapprochaient de Dieu (ou des dieux). L’auteur de l’expression n’y mettait aucune signification religieuse; mais voulait dire ainsi que les meilleures oeuvres artistiques faisaient entrevoir un idéal perdu, ou une Vérité qui nous échappe que trop facilement dans la vie de tous les jours. Quelque part au fond de nous, quand on voit un chef d’oeuvre d’un artiste, on aperçoît ainsi dieu, à travers la quasi-perfection d’un trait, à travers des paroles dont on connaît d’avance la vérité, à travers l’élégance d’une expression.

Même si cette explication est complètement arbritraire, et d’une certaine façon futile, elle me vient en tête en écoutant Grand Corps Malade. Dans le clip vidéo par exemple, il y a une sincerité vraie, que l’on ne trouve nulle part ailleurs, ainsi que d’une voix qui touche. Des détracteurs diront que ce n’est pas de la musique, que ce n’est pas engagé, que c’est simpliste, que je suis bien impressionnable, que des fois il se répète, que c’est juste l’expression d’un temps et que ca va donc sûrement se démoder dans quelques années; ils ont peut-être raison, mais qu’empêche … vous comprendrez maintenant pourquoi j’écoute maintenant en boucle son album “Enfant de la Ville“.

I have discovered just recently that there was also another Heri in Montréal, who happens to be also a guy from Madagascar.

See, I have just spent the whole 2007 year getting introduced as ‘Heri’ to everyone I met, and nothing else, and the bet was that I was the only one wearing that name here in Montreal and possibly in Québec. Having another guy named Heri doesn’t make sense anymore then to call me to just use the first name.

Oh well. Expect an update of the blog soon, as I might just get a new design too.