Facebook isn't the enemy, Ignorance still is

Ignorance_bliss_lrg

The following post is a response to an anonymous comment directed to myself over on Clr. Buck's blog which you can read here:  http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4506868496663273256&postID=4065880529041429331

25 MAY, 2012 7:34 PM
Welcome, Christopher.
It is always good, for us and for you, when you drop in. I think you are getting more comfortable about being with us, that elusive ' we ' thing you used to reject. I read your material regularly but am still computer-ignorant so there is no way to really thank you for your work. Love the inspirations and the wicked satirical sketches. Much of the rest is over my head but the launch of the Facebook IPO has filtered through the haze. Fascinating world you live in.

Given that the poster claims to be a regular visitor of my site I offer them the following response:

I'm glad that you visit my site and find value enough to return regularly even if it is only for selectively consuming the elements of satire and inspiration.  

If everything else goes over your head that's okay with me. 

A key differentiator of what you'll find here from some other local blogs, Clr. Ballard's in particular, is that I blog to express not impress.

I'm not trying to be all things to all people.

I'm also glad that you found my comment posted on Clr. Buck's blog to be "good", however I'm not entirely sure how it is you believe to be in any position to speak to what is "good" for me, or how exactly how you go about gauging my "comfort level".

As for your construct of an "elusive we thing" that I "used to reject", if you are referring to the gelatinous cowardly mass that is Anonymous than you are correct about one thing: it is elusive. 

You claim that you are computer ignorant yet were able to post a comment directed at me on Clr. Buck's blog but not on my site. This leads me to believe your motivations for doing so have less to do with computer ignorance and more to do with a desire to remain Anonymous.  Commenting on Clr. Buck's blog requires the same computer skills to remain anonymous, enter your name, or even a pseudonym into the comment box.  Whatever choice is made is deliberate.

As is the fact that your comment has nothing to do with that subject, or the content of my response.

I'm unsure what part of the the recent media craze surrounding the Facebook IPO filtered through your haze. 

Here is what I have made of it.  

Facebook, an innovative company not much older than 8 years, is an industry game changer.
Facebook has changed the way the world connects, communicates and evaluates its connectivity and communication.  

Facebook has successfully shifted the web from being one of "links" (think Google) to one of "likes".  An evaluation of the value of this was established exceeding $100Billion, which quickly settled carving off 10% or so of that.  Wrinkling out it's IPO launch will prove to have little impact on displacing Facebook as a prime destination for Canadians on the web as reported in this CBC piece: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/03/02/canadians-more-time-online.html

Innovation in business that shape and reflect cultural shifts, like we see in Facebook, is happening at a blinding speed.  
We're talking shifts of decades down to years down to months and even weeks.

Not all of these shifts, or the pace at which they approach us are comfortable.  

Those that continue to see themselves as "computer ignorant" will no doubt feel uncomfortable, but no less than those that eschew social media in favor of a form of social ignorance, or more simply put through an Aurora lens : fuddyduddy contentment.

Shifting from a position of comfort is one of if not the great enabler change, and it's that change that makes the fascinating world we all live in. 

Whether you recognize or want to admit it the Anonymous slime affords you a comfort zone, one that also acts as a barrier against strengthening connectivity and community.

If anything, Anonymity is the great enabler of ignorance.

Stepping out of it and engaging the community would be something that I consider being, as you phrased it "good for you and us".

The opportunity to learn what it is that you don't know about what you don't know is before you.

The facinating world welcomes you.

Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Weekly Inspiration : plant in direct spotlight

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Given that this weekend is the kick-off to the planting season it seemed more than appropriate to draw inspiration from Urban Plant Tags, a recent project by the Carmichael Collective.

Urban Plant Tags explain the care, placement, and proper feeding of inanimate objects like benches, streetlights, and fire hydrants.

There is a high level of creativity showcased in everything from the Latin name down to the care instructions, which for the bench featured above include: "Apply Real Estate Ads Annually — Occasionally Wipe Clean — Keep Warm With Butt."

The Collective is an offshoot of Carmichael Lynch which is a creative company based in Minneapolis, MN.  You can view more pieces of the Urban Plant Tags project on their site here:  http://www.carmichaelcollective.com/Urban-Plant-Tags

I'm inspired.

if the shoe fits.... you probably stole it?

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Copyright reform in Canada under the absence of leadership of our corrupt conservative government has been the subject of a couple  past posts, the most recent ones can be found here:

At the last Federal All-candidates meeting hosted at Aurora Town Hall all of the candidates responded to my question regarding copyright legislation by stating their belief that there is a need to increase it.

That of course is complete bullshit as Michael Geist pointed out in a post today that the Business Software Alliance released its annual global software piracy report this week with new data that not only shows that Canada hit yet another all-time low but has experienced the biggest percentage decline in the world over the past five years.

You can read the full post over on his blog here:

Yet that is not what is being considered in the innovation and economic crippling bill C-11.

To better understand how conservative MPs conceive of copyright you need to listen to MP Dean Del Mastro compare format shifting to purchasing socks:

WTF?

So anyone that transfers music to their ipod/iphone or mp3 player is as guilty as this shoe thief caught in Korea:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/world/asia/07shoe.html

I particularly like the way this one commenter framed it:

"Actually, it's like buying a pair of socks and saying that some days you want to wear them on your feet, and other days you want to use them as gloves. Or as ear-warmers. Or as a cat toy.
And what you need to understand is that, no, you don't own those socks. Although we've said that all you get is a license to use those socks, it's actually a bit more specific than that. All you really have is a license to wear the socks. On your feet. If you want to wear them as gloves, or roll them into a ball and let the cat chase them around the room, or use them to stuff your underwear, then we need you to buy another pair of socks.
Because when you slip your hands into those socks without a license, you're taking money out of the mouths of hard-working sock manufacturers everywhere. And it's time this government took a stand against these sock-eared bandits, and said enough is enough, no more cheating honest tradesmen with your extra-sockular activities."

Expecting conservative ass-hats like Del Mastro to approach issues like copyright rationally is unrealistic given that conservative colleague James Moore has made countless poorly informed statements when talking on copyright bills, such as calling all opponents of C-32 (c-11′s predecessor) ‘radical extremists‘:  http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5137/125/

Radical Extremism seems to be a more apt label for Moore, Del Mastro and all the supporters of Bill C-11 including Aurora's own M.P. Lois Brown.

Perhaps a better analogy for the often fashion, and rationally challenged conservative M.P.s, like Brown, to understand the concept of format shifting is to incorporate the reason they buy socks:  It's like an M.P. who buys socks deciding they're going to use them for sock puppets.  But instead being told that they need to buy sock puppet socks in order to do that.

The laws our M.P. endorses with respect to copyright sound both radical and extreme, because they are.

They are less Conservative and more Draconian.

But did you really expect anything different from a party that steal their policies from our neighbours to the south?

Hot or Not?

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Included in the coreesepondance received at the May 14th Heritage Advisory committee was an insulting letter put forth by an entity that seems to be struggling with its own identity.

Better known by their all too appropriate acronym H.E.A.T. The "Heritage East Aurora Taxpayers" has apparently morphed into a larger gelatinous mass expanding their new name to "Wells Street Neighbours - Heritage East Aurora Taxpayers".

Complete with a nonsensical small red heart as part of their letter head, this makeover creates unnecessary confusion for those receving their communications and makes one question if this new entity of "W.S.N.H.E.A.T." serves the previous boundaries of H.E.A.T. or now just those that neighbour Wells St? 

Whatever the motivation behind this re-branding effort it certainly seems to prove the cliché "If you can't stand the H.E.A.T. get out of the kitchen", or in this case out of their own name.

The letter from "W.S.N.H.E.A.T.", which illustrates how porely this rate payers group does in the area of communication, is available through the town's website.   I have extracted it and provided it here for ease of viewing:

Click here to download:
heat.pdf (220 KB)
(download)

The following letter is one I have forwarded to the Heritage Advisory Committe in response:

This letter is in response to a letter the committee received at it's May 14th meeting from an organization referring to itself as the "Wells Street Neighbours - Heritage East Aurora Taxpayers".   The letter was dated April 30th and was included in the agenda and was pulled and discussed at the May 14th meeting.
 The letter starts inexplicably by congratulating Clr. Gartner for running a Friday night youth gathering some years ago.   If Clr. Gaertner was the authority on youth programming that is purported in this letter no doubt the organization would not only still exist, it would have seen an adoption rate that reflected growth.
  
What is conspicuously absent from the is that the HotSpot operation Clr. Gaertner is credited for running was unsustainable and ultimately closed.  From what I gathered it failed due to either an unwillingness or inability to innovate, which to me reflects on poor leadership acumen.

The letter also fails to mention the much larger, more successful, sustainable and ongoing youth programming that is done throughout the town by countless service groups and town run initiatives.  
Failing to include this wider appreciation of youth programming illustrates this organizations collective ignorance or selective editing.  Either way it is insulting as a resident and taxpayer to read.

The letter then goes on to remark how Wells St. neighbours "with children" appreciate the town providing youth programming.  This leaves a reader to wonder if it is the assertion of this organization that conversely Wells St. neighbours not having or not presently raising children do not appreciate the town providing youth programming.

The authors of this letter proclaim to be "the" present stewards of the Wells. St. neighbourhood, a statement that should be discarded as of nothing more than grandiose posturing.

The corporation of the town of Aurora, it's citizens, council, staff particularly the Heritage Advisory Committee are all the stewards of our entire town and is committed to preserving heritage buildings, street-scapes and natural spaces in our community.  The role of stewardship is one that is accomplished regardless of imaginary boundaries that observed by one particular ratepayers association.

After bypassing the hyperbole and obfuscation the purpose of the letter seems to be to assert a position that no demolition should be considered until the South East Heritage Heritage District is complete.Adhering to such a position appears to me as putting the cart before the horses mouth, and then muzzling said horse.
 
As members of the Heritage Advisory Committee are no doubt aware, and certainly need no lecturing from any ratepayers association about, the South East Heritage Heritage District is being conducted in accordance with a process that requires public consultation, staff and council input.   The boundaries of which are in a draft stage, and have no impact until they are formally agreed upon and adopted.  

I fail to see how "discussions" surrounding the re-purpose and use of buildings in the area should be in any way discouraged in the community at large, or by members of committee, council or staff.

As for the old library and fire hall, I fail to see how they are considered "significant structures" being neither designated or listed.  As identified buildings surplus to the town's needs the authors of this letter do nothing to reinforce any significance they believe these structures to have, and it makes one question their inclusion in this letter.

The "Promenade Study" that is referenced in the letter is viewed by a section of the community as a rushed through and incomplete urban design document that needs to be revisited along with a more realistic work plan if it is expected to accomplish even a small percentage of its goals.

Just because said Promenade Study didn't specifically recommend a "youth", not exclusively "sports", facility doesn't mean it shouldn't be discussed by the community at large, and discouraging such discussions certainly isn't in the interest of the democratic process or the community as a whole.

It is unfortunate that the "Wells Street Neighbours - Heritage East Aurora Taxpayers" have chosen to place their desires above and beyond those of the entire town's.

I trust the members of the Heritage Advisory Committee can appreciate the entire town's concerns, including those found in the local newspapers and other media outlets, some made by members of council with respect to discussions of the town's much needed Youth Centre.

If the committee is going to recommend anything to council it should be that the entire community, not just this so called "Wells St. community", be involved in future decision making.

Just as it was inappropriate for a single neighbourhood in the North East to decide that they could close off streets and install chicanes because safety was some how reserved for their particular neighbourhood and the rest of the entire town had no business in arriving at that decision, it is equally inappropriate for this identity stunted ratepayers group to determine what type of urban planning discussions can be had that involve public lands that happen to be in their neighbourhoods.

It's fine to be part of a ratepayer group.  It's fine to be proud of your neighbourhood.

Just not at the expense of the rest of the town.

We are all Auroran's, and this is "our town".

Just because you believe you're more special than the rest of us doesn't make it so.

Aurora Farmers Market and Artisan Un-Fair

Sozqc

An issue of great concern for the Executive Committee of the Aurora Farmers Market (& Artisan Fair) seems to be less of how to work cohesively and keep the peace as much as maintaining authority and control at all cost through acts of political interference.

Carly Lewis is a graduate of the Department of Political Science at University of Victoria.  In 2010 she submitted her Masters thesis on the subject of Farmers Markets as political spaces.  You can read it here:  http://dspace.library.uvic.ca:8080/bitstream/handle/1828/3727/Lewis_Carly_MA_2011.pdf?sequence=1

Lewis thesis on political engagement suggests that Farmers Markets can be seen as political both in the motivations of participants and the associated values of broader political movements.  After conducting a series of interviews with local Market managers Lewis sees Farmers Markets as political spaces, where certain values are expressed, identities are constituted, and norms are challenged.

Interestingly enough back in 2009 I recognized that the Aurora Farmers Market was being co-opted politically and made a post about it, which you can read here: http://christopherwatts.posterous.com/post-to-the-aurora-citizen-keep-politics-out

That was before the (& Artisan Fair)
Less than 3 years later and Aurorans are witnessing a whole new low with the current Aurora Farmers Market (& Artisan Fair) Executive Committee running a power play over their vendors, that will ultimately impact on market goers.

A portion of the code has been posted for viewing here:

The following are some very interesting clauses:

Section 3 prohibits vendors interaction with the public, press or other entities may not speak on behalf of the Executive Committee or its members.

Section 4 d. states that vendors will endorse the Executive Committee’s decisions.

Section 5 states that vendors who have complaints regarding the Executive Committee, its’ decisions, Vendors or other Market matters, may submit their complaint to the Chair, Vice-chair or the Executive Committee as a whole, to be dealt with in a confidential, professional, timely manner. 

WTF?

The clauses mentioned point to a governance model that is heavily totalitarian.  
Whoever drafted this document obviously does not recognize what century or what nation they are residing.  

It certainly does not appear that it was drafted with any consideration given to best practices of other markets.

Famers Market Ontario as an organization has not arrived at a code of conduct.  They are currently in a RFP phase as evidenced by their website here:  http://www.farmersmarketsontario.com/Upload/files/RFP-FMO.pdf

Why the Executive Committee of the Aurora Farmers Market (& Artisan Fair) would go to such lengths to draft and rush to implement something without seeking direction from Farmers Market Ontario adds to suspicions behind the motives to implement such a code. 

I was only able to find 2 other Ontario Farmers Markets that have code of conducts and it is worthwhile to compare them to to the pathetic one put forth by the Executive Committee and its chair.

Instead of a code of conduct Brockville has code of ethical practices, which is posted on their website here:

The entire code is succinct, containing only 5 points.  The verbiage does not showcase overt controls, but instead respects its vendors and provides a framework of understanding.

Both the Hariston and Palmerston Farmers Markets are covered by a vendor's handbook of rules and regulations.  The 2011 season version can be downloaded here:  http://www.town.minto.on.ca/content/pdf/market_rules.pdf

The section titled Code of Conduct is barely 4 lines long, compact enough to include here in full:

Vendors must remain in their own booths/stalls when selling. Sales must be conducted in an orderly and business-like way, and no shouting or other objectionable means of soliciting trade are permitted. Vendors should be respectful to customers, vendors and committee members. No alcoholic beverages are permitted at the market.  Smoking is not permitted at the market.  

Both of these contrast significantly from the code of conduct being circulated to vendors of the Aurora Farmers Market (& Artisan Fair), wondering exactly how the document was conceived. 

When Meredian Township, located in the U.S., adopted their code of conduct, they outlined exactly how it would be enforced, you can read it here:

There is no understanding of the enforcement of the code that vendors of the Aurora Farmers Market (& Artisan Fair) have been asked to sign.

The very document looks to be ethically void.

Dr Lynn Tanner, Founder and CEO of TEC Canada posted on April 5th an article titled "WHAT BUSINESS LEADERS SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT: ETHICS, CITIZENSHIP AND PUBLIC RESPONSIBILITY" : http://teccanada.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/what-business-leaders-should-be-thinking-about-ethics-citizenship-and-public-responsibility/

In it she speaks to behaviors and conducts that strengthen organizations and ultimately economic growth and social development:

In an environment where trust is hard to find, and harder to win –  how do we create relationships that are strong and beneficial for all citizens? As that trust framework builds, people share a lot of things, personally and organisationally, creating the environment to enable the behaviour that supports economic growth and social development. The behaviour that creates and supports good citizenship.

The code of conduct imposed upon the vendors of the Aurora Farmers Market looks to do the exact opposite.

The fact that it was not drafted with input from the vendors or the town through its liaison, and then rushed to sign with an understanding that failure to sign would result in being removed from the market reeks of political interference, and an overriding desire to circumvent vendors freedom of speech.

As far as a code of conduct the entire exercise is one drenched in hypocrisy that is summed up nicely in this Dilbert cartoon:

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100 Watts : The Social Imagination

My column this week had to do with the connections between free speech to language and literature as brought forward by the late Northrop Frye.

You can read it here:
Click here to download:
V12N27P04.pdf (833 KB)
(download)

I recently re-read Frye's book "The Educated Imagination" which is a collection of 6 lectures Frye did as part of the 1962 CBC Massey series.

You can listen to the lectures on the CBC website here:

Page 64 zeros in on the subject of Free speech, and the quote I selected for my column seemed appropriate given the overtly restrictive code of conduct that was unleashed at the Aurora Farmers Market (& Artisan Fair).

Frye offers the following observation on free speech as a component of being Canadian:

"For most of us, free speech is cultivated speech, but cultivating speech is not just a skill, like playing chess.  You can't cultivate speech, beyond a certain point, unless you have something to say, and the basis of what you have to say is your vision of society.  So while free speech may be, at least at present, important only to a very small minority, that very small minority is what makes the difference between living in Canada and living in East Berlin or South Africa."

Is the Aurora Farmers Market (& Artisan Fair) Executive Comittee poised to eliminate that difference through mob control?

Certainly appears so after reading comments in the Auroran and over on The AuroraCitizen blog. 

AuroraClicks (& Grunts) .com

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In a recent post I commented on some absurd comments made by resident, and local business owner Bruce Cuthbert with respect to the subject of blogging.  

As promised this post will expand on Mr. Cuthbert's site AuroraClicks ( www.auroraclicks.com ) which apparently launched last summer.  

Unfortunately for AuroraClicks, either through poor traditional or social marketing, there seems to be little recognition of the site's existance or usage by the community as a whole.

Proporting to be a community website the tagline on the site reads "our neighbourhood online", which is awkward considering that Aurora isn't "a" neighbourhood at all.  Aurora is a series of neighbourhoods, I believe collectively we refer to these neighbourhoods as our town.

What's even more strange is that in the "About Us" section on the site it reads:  

"We are a community website catering to the needs of the communities within the Town of Aurora and Surrounding areas (Oak Ridges, King City and Kettleby)."

Neither focused on "a neighbourhood" or even the community of Aurora which it uses in its name, AuroraClicks underlying purpose is far from clear. 

In early April I met with Mr. Cuthbert to better understand the site's offerings.  Prior to this meeting I conducted a comprehensive review of the AuroraClicks.com site.  I also reviewed the "NaberNet" and the "BridgedIn" platform upon which it is built.

What I discovered I will share with you in this post which I have broken down into the areas that I evaluated the site on:

1.) Experience Design & Usability
Over on the UsabilityGeek.com website they have posted a small resource outlining "5 signs that indicate Website Usability Problems": http://usabilitygeek.com/5-signs-that-indicate-website-usability-problems/?goback=%2Egde_79272_member_90757643
They are as follows:

1. Bad First Impression
2. Poorly Structured Links
3. Excessive Website Text
4. Lack Of Consistency
5. Complicated Navigation

AuroraClicks.com suffers from all 5.

The site's primary navigtion includes a total of 9 links, two of which are dead.  Both the "Gallery" and "Specials" tabs are broken and do not connect to content.  

The button on the right pane that advertises "Specials" leads to the aformentioned "dead" link. This lowers the overall experience of the site, and one wonders why are they included in the navigation at all if there is no content built for them?

This is an inexcusable mistake and one that is the subject of the most elementry steps to building any web property.

Most, if not all, of the usability issues that plague the site are a direct result of the BridgeLIn platform upon which the site is built, or as a result of the implementation of the platform.

BridgeLin touts "Customizable Design and Navigation" as a feature of their platform.
As detailed on their site here:  http://bridgelin.com/page.php?id=1809 they report:  
"each site is designed to be 760 pixels wide. This addresses the fact that a large segment of the public are still viewing the Internet at 800 x 600 resolution. The website will always be fully in view with no need to scroll left or right."
Sounds good, except one small thing:  

A large segment of the public are not viewing the Internet at 800 x 600 resolution, and they haven't been since 2001.  If you want to understand trends in display resolution check out the following report:  http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp

Released on February 26, 2012, the new IAB Standard Ad Unit Portfolio includes a new range of formats designed to meet marketers’ communications needs across the purchase funnel.  The site format also takes into consideration the ad formats established by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) most notably the 120 x format used in the left and right columns: http://www.iab.net/guidelines/508676/508767/displayguidelines

What the BridgeLin platform lacks is what the entire Web 2.0 industry has already adopted and that is something called "Responsive Design".

As it stands AuroraClicks.com is not viewable from a mobile device which will eliminate a growing % of potential user base.

When brought to Mr. Cuthbert's attention he seemed unconcerned.

2.) Content

The content in the site's news feed is text, the majority of which is simply repurposed from other sources.  There is no breaking news from AuroraClicks.com. 

The national community of "Naberhoods" consists of a mere 7 sites, yet NaberNet claims:
"Our content is always up to date, because it is updated locally and verified by individuals who are local themselves."
How exactly does being local ensure that content is up to date?

I noticed both Aurora's M.P.P. and M.P. have columns in the Auroran and question what benefit they see to duplicating the content on this site?  

The Town of Aurora's Noticeboard is published in the EraBanner. It pays approx $70,000 for this, it also hosts the noticeboard on the town's corporate website.  What advantage is there for the town to have the noticeboard included on AuroraClicks.com?  What is the R.O.I?

The only other content the site offers are ads.

The mode in which they are infused in the site are outdated and the effectiveness of which is questionable.

Over on EditorandPublisher.com two local editors were interviewed and asked the question which one webside component they would focus on redesigning

Trenton Sperry, 22, editor-in-chief of The Daily O’Collegian, the student newspaper at Oklahoma State University had this to say:

"...media is an important part of content flow. Users don’t just want to read a story; they want to see it, watch it, and hear it. Slideshows, videos, and audio recordings should be sprinkled throughout the written story, allowing the visitor a short break to better envision what they’re reading.
 
Looking forward, however, websites may very well become unnecessary. In the college market, news is almost exclusively gathered and consumed via tablet and smartphone applications. These applications allow an audience to reach out and touch the news in front of them, a more personal experience than moving an arrow around on a screen."

Gregory Bryant, 55, online editor of the Cape Cod Times for the past 15 years and a central figure in several redesigns comments:

"If I could focus on one particular piece of the website redesign puzzle, I would free some of our commercial content from the frozen, windswept steppes of the website’s right column.
An unusual sentiment from a news guy, for sure.

But let’s face it: Online users are long inured to the right-column wall of commerce. Many don’t necessarily see it because they know it’s there. But advertising is good. It’s essential to the survival of all the other great stuff we do online, like our news. And to relegate it to a predictable slice of our websites doesn’t make sense.
 
Instead, why not grab some of those ad units — and those homes for sale, employment, cars, classifieds, and daily deals modules — from the right-column Siberia. Redistribute them by integrating them into the other two-thirds of the Web page on our section fronts.
 
Let’s mix it up a bit without tarnishing our journalistic souls. I am not advocating a stealthy ruse to disguise our commercial content as editorial news. But look at the print newspaper. Advertising has crept into formerly sacrosanct spots like the front page — and paid advertising “adheres” are now there too."

You can read the full piece here:

3.) Business

The "Directory", which I assume to be a cornerstone of the site, is incredibly difficult and time consuming to navigate.

It also contains empty and dead links,  "Mortgage Brokers" is one example.

Why would anyone chose to use the drill down format of directory implemented here over vastly superior ones? Or how 90% of web users do it: using a search engine.

Unfortunately the Directory is not Search Engine Optimized, meaning the site does not open itself up to the web.

4.) Audience

Attempting to better understand the user base of AuroraClicks.com I inquired as to any recent metrics that outline how many visitors, percentage new vs. returning, average time on the site...

Mr. Cuthbert flat out refused to share any metrics as to the audience of the site.  His evasiveness seems to be a curious given that the site is supposed to be community based.

5.) Platform

Where I read on both the Bridgelin and NaberNet site ( http://nabernet-ds4.com/page.php?id=1901 ) "The Bridgelin Platform can provide your organization or business with capabilities well beyond any traditional content management website." I see no evidense to support this.

Nor is there any evidense to support the statement:  "A Bridgelin website is the only solution you need to address all your online communication, revenue generation and administrative requirements."

A great deal of community interaction has lept over websites entirely and now exists in the realm of social media.  If there is a social media strategy at AuroraClicks.com, it is less than apparent and definitely not implemented. 

As for the platform being an "effective way to employ the web and related technologies" what "related technologies" exactly?

AuroraClicks.com, and any site using the BridgeLin platform does not embrace the dominant user interface to the Internet, that being mobile devices.

In a post over on the Flurry blog one large piece missing from AuroraClickscom puzzle falls into place, and that is that consumers now spend more time in mobile apps than they do online.  You can check out that post here:  http://blog.flurry.com/bid/84512/Social-Networking-Ends-Games-40-Month-Mobile-Reign

There has been a shift hapening over the past 2 years that has resulted in the production model to develop mobile first, web second and is accomplished through Responisve Design, which AuroraClicks has chosen not to implement.

6.) Competition

In drawing a comparison between AuroraClicks.com and Stouffville Connects ( http://www.stouffvilleconnects.com/ ) I see a significant gap in features.

The usability and design issues that I identified above with the BridgeLin platform indicate it was developed a long time ago and is not keeping up with other community platforms that have higher adoption rates.

In comparing it to the competition Bridgelin appears to be vastly inferior to more popular platforms like Ning http://ca.ning.com/

AuroraClicks.com may enjoy opeerating in somewhat of a Community website vacuum curently, but I don't see that being the case moving forwards.

Living in Aurora.com ( www.livinginaurora.com/ ) looks to be a much more attractive, usable, and overall engaging web property than AuroraClicks.com, and certainly uderstands what community focus entails.

The Aurora Citizen ( www.http://auroracitizen.ca/ ) offers a way for citizens to engage in discourse about the town's affairs and has been widely received.  There is much potential for this site to adapt and grow into areas that Mr. Cuthbert seems all to ready to dismiss.

7.) Security

I was not impressed to learn that the NaberNet platform was, or still is vulnerable to SQL injection, and the exploitability of which is rated extremely high.

This vulnerability was identified on the Net-Security site back in March of 2010:

To date SecurityFocus.com is not aware of any vendor patches to this exploit:

Additionaly IBM Internet Security Systems state "No remedy available as of May 1, 2012.":

In my meeting with Mr Cuthbert I brought this to his attention and was simply told that the issue had been resolved.

Given such a pas blunder I certainly have not received any assurances AuroraClicks.com offeres to either users or its  advertisers that their data is secure.

Especially when full access to Nabernet's index of files is available here:

Because of the numerous operational deficiencies, including an unclear mission statement that speaks to community, the inadequate platform that NaberNet provides and a complete lack of differentiators from other community initiatives, I fail to see any value in AuroraClicks.com at this time.

I will not utilize, afilliate myself as either a content provider or business owner until such time the site evolves into a significantly more professional, engaging and usable resource.

As it exists AuroraClicks.com is such an outdated and entity that as far as web entities go it boarders on neanderthal, reminiding me of Phil Hartman's Saturday Night Live character Keyrock, the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer who often delivered the line "your world frightens and confuses me":

Weekly Inspiration : you are what you eat

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I touched on Frank Schirrmacher's term "informavore" in a previous post here: http://christopherwatts.posterous.com/auroras-mayors-not-smiling-shes-passing-gas

Recently at TED@SXSW interactive technologist JP Rangaswami gave a talk on the subject of information as food that ties into this analogy very well.

Be sure to check out the 8 minute video here:

Rangaswami asks the question :

"Are we going to start labeling information based on the fact percentage?"

Not exactly an easy question to answer given the media mix we are exposed to, compounded by copyright issues and other outdated business models that do not take into account our health in being exposed to their information products.

Imagine what a steady diet of watching FOX News would do to someone.

I'm inspired, and a little more concious of what I'm putting in my mind.

"Blogging is to writing what extreme sports are to athletics; more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive. It is in many ways, writing out loud."..

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Andrew Sullivan sums up my feelings about blogging perfectly, and he knows a thing or two about blogging.  As one of the first mainstream journalists to experiment with blogging and soon developed a large online readership with andrewsullivan.com's Daily Dish. Sullivan blogged independently and for Time.com and, in February 2007, moved his blog to TheAtlantic.com, where he was a senior editor for the magazine. In April 2010, Andrew moved to TheDailyBeast.com and you can find him here:  http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/

Over on the AuroraCitizen a topic has surfaced on the role of local blogs.  You can check it out here:

The post mentions Evelyn's blog and the AuroraCitizen itself but fails to mention any of the other local blogs found in its own blog roll.

It's almost been one year since I reviewed the local blog scene, which you can read that post here: 

It appears to me there is value in an updated review of the scene to maintain a sense of what has changed and where the town is as a whole.

Especially after reading some very ignorant comments from resident Bruce Cuthbert over on Clr. Buck's blog, which you can follow here:  http://evelynmbuck.blogspot.ca/2012/05/bruce-cuthbert-has-left-new-comment-on.html

Mr. Cuthbert states his aprehension towards reading or participating in local blogs as such:

"I don't read this blog often or any others. Mostly because this and many other blogs allow insulting, uninformed and biased 
comments cloaked by the cowardly cover of anonanymity."

A statement this absurd deserves a full on WTF?

Mr. Cuthbert is reducing the overall value of blogs based on their commenting policies?

One wonders if he extends this illogical approach to any of the local or even national news sites whose commenting policies allow for anonymous comments.

One Anonymous comment on that post that introduced a valid question was this:

"The man chose a bizarre way to introduce himself onto a forum he professes to despise"

Mr. Cuthbert obviously reads Evelyn's blog, perhaps more so than he would like to admit as evidensed in the effort he took to make a comment as to its value.

In a recent meeting with Mr. Cuthbert told me to my face that he reads, or had read my blog.  He also conceeded to reading the AuroraCitizen blog stating rather matter of fact that he doesn't like it.  

That's 3 local blogs that seem to have negatively influenced his opinon of blogs as a whole.

The pattern I see here is someone who has little intention on stepping out of their closed minded comfort zones and engaging the community as a whole.

It reeks of some desperate attempt to convince others, or most likely himself, that he is somehow above these nasty things called "blogs".

This wouldn't be an issue if Mr. Cuthbert was just a simple naive resident.

However Mr. Cuthbert's pet project happens to be an amateurish ad poluted quasi news site that he has the nerve to refer to as a "Community Webite".

When explored it is the strangest community entity as it encourages no diologue, effectively redering it the very antithesis of community.

A review of this site will be done in a forthcoming post.

Now understanding Mr. Cuthbert's aprehension towards recognizing and allowing the full gamut of community dialogue it is no surprise why it is absent from the questionable constructed website.

Websites have evolved a lot in the past 10 years.  Instead of becoming all encompasing websites are moving in the other direction.  Websites are complimented by a much larger social fabric woven in responsive design that enables the age of conversation we now inhabit.

"The Age of conversation" is a series a books that has expanded to 3 editions:  http://www.ageofconversation.com/about-us/   
The latest edition brings together over 300 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators and investigates the roles that community, conversation, experimentation, engagement, and collaboration play in shaping the 21st century’s economy of ideas. 

The commonality throughout the book is that blogging requires authority and passion, which leaves out people like Mr. Cuthbert.

Ashkan Karbasfrooshan's April 14th TechCrunch article titled "CEO Bloggers: To Blog or Not to Blog" provides 7 obvious 
reasons for leaders to blog, you can read that here:

When a blog resonates with an audience to the point that it is receiving comments then the comments weigh in as a factor of the blog's content.

It is in Mr. Cuthburt's following statement shows how little value he places on the value of freedom of speech in a democratic community:

"I could care less whether you posted this or not but would appreciate your rational in giving unidentified malcontents a forum."

Mathew Ingram's Apr. 10th Gigaom post provides the justifaction in an article titled "Why you should have comments, even when they are bad" you can read it here:  http://gigaom.com/2012/04/10/why-you-should-have-comments-even-when-they-are-bad/?
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One comment from that post is provided by Derek Powazek :

When I write, sometimes I want to engage in a conversation. Other times, I want the story to stand on its own. The point is, the writer (or publisher or editor) makes that call, not the reader. If the audience wants to respond, and the publisher doesn’t want to host it, well, that’s their decision to make, for good or ill. I just wouldn’t take the lack of a comment box as an insult. I find bad writing far more insulting.
I’m okay with it being up to the writer/publisher. You should be, too. After all, this here, now, is your house. You make the rules. Comments are go! But when you come over to my house, you wouldn’t expect to make the rules, right?
It’s the *expectation* of comments on all things that bothers me. The web is bigger than that.

Just like the web is bigger than the expectation that all blogs share a one-size fits all approach to commenting.

Comments can be a great source of enrichment for the web but it requires cultivating a community if you want to receive high quality comments. But not every single web presence is about building community.

Websites that are about building a community need to make serious decisons asto their commenting policies and they come down to issues surrounding Anonymous vs. Identifiable commenting.

Katherine Travers wrote a 2011 post over on The World Editors Forum on the subject here:

In summary Travers suggests how "losing anonymity may not stop every troll from harassing passing traffic - authors, readers, Billy goats gruff alike - but it may play an important role in protecting journalists from unwanted abuse and encouraging healthy debate and a strong online community."

Mr. Cuthbert has demonstarted in an series of exchanges that he has a lot to learn as to what constitues healthy debate, community and what it values.

Until he is so enlightened perhaps he should reconsider trying to build something in the same space that has little to no value proposition and simply exists with the mentality that we don’t care what you think. Just read and click our ads and then go away.

Devins (Test) Drive P.S.

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Today McAlpine Ford Lincoln in Aurora is partnering with Drive Public School in the "Drive One 4UR School" program.

The idea is that parents and residents sign up to test drive new FORD / Lincoln vehicles at no cost. In exchange for their time the dealership donates $20/ ride to the school to an upwards amount of $6000.

The school plans to use these funds to upgrade its playground, which strangely the YRDSB has decided not to support, even though it has ample $ to send staff from the school on needless trips to Europe.  I commented on that previously here: http://christopherwatts.posterous.com/finland-finland-finland-finland-has-it-all

I commend the dealership, volunteers and organizers for pulling together such a fundraiser.  That being said it's interesting that Devins Drive has chosen this particular initiative as a fundraiser given that their traffic safety committee has visited Aurora council twice citing several traffic concerns at the school.  Failed candidate for mayor, and Aurora's master of disguise: Roger Clowater continues to push for changes as outline in this Era Banner article here: http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1348093--father-not-satisfied-with-town-response

In the article Mr. Clowater is featured in his Michael Schumacher  wannabe garb leaving little doubt in my mind that he will be taking part in this event making race car noises the whole time.

I wonder if he recognizes the irony in an event that increases traffic in and around the school, and promotes driving when these are two of the issues that the traffic committee he sits on are trying to reverse. 

Thankfully one individual that won't be getting into a car is disgraced Newmarket Councilor Chris Emanuel.  Who after recently getting into an accident after drinking and driving after attending an event in his capacity as a representative of council is thankfully barred from driving, thus keeping the streets safer for the rest of us.

If you have time and want to help support the initiative Devins Drive P.S., and can also stomach driving sub par vehicles offered by FORD / Lincoln, I understand there are spots available throughout the day and you can sign up on site.

A Facebook group has been set up for the event at: https://www.facebook.com/events/364837820235228/

As you drive circles around the neighbourhood you can watch neighbours in real cars drive circles around you.

If nothing else driving a FORD / Lincoln will make driving your own vehicle feel great by comparison.