Holy smokes. It's been 5 years since we started TIG. A lot has happened in that time. A LOT! It all started in Jen's basement, with Mike, Martin, Aaron, Vittoria, Jen, Jarra, Andy, Myself, and occasionally various members of Jen's family :) We'd work on ideas about what TIG should and shouldn't be. We'd sit for hours typing stuff into the databases of opportunities, and events (although Vittoria did a lot of it herself).

What did *I* do at TIG? Mostly I was an ideas guy. I tried to come up with new features, and to keep the organization focussed on what it was, exactly, that we wanted to be doing. I pushed for us to have an 'elevator pitch', which is just a short way of telling someone what the organization did, in a very easy to understand way. I communicated with many members (Alex Stanley, Alexis, Taikod, and many more). I learned how to have fun again.

I made The Workshop Kit, which I understand more than 5000 of you have downloaded! w00t!

I helped hire Maria Lanza and Vanessa Currie who were/are both awesome! I believe Maria is now teaching sign language, and Vanessa is on the coast of India doing tsunami relief work.

I also got us funding to visit the TIG Slovakia office, in Kremnica, Slovakia, which was operated by Maya Lackova and Petra Machacova.

It was my first time overseas, and the trip of a lifetime. Thanks to Georg & Branislav, we spoke at a conference called "Global Networks" in Bratislava, promoting TIG and "Hope Networks", which is essentially what TIG has always been.

I actually blogged all about the trip on this very blog, which at the time was called an "Update", because blogging hadn't been invented yet. Incidentally, TIG Updates was half my idea and half Mike's idea. I proposed a tool that would allow users to post their thoughts and pictures, so that we (the 5 or 6 official TIG employees) could better keep up with what our members were doing. Mike had the awesome idea of making those posts public instead of having them only available to TIG Staff. Peanut butter + Jelly = Awesome :)

Anyway, I'm ranting...

At TIG we always tried to think of ways to connect with one another, across the world, and without spending much money -- because we didn't have any. Part of our mantra in those early days was "You don't need money to create something worthwhile".

Unfortunately for me, I did need money to pay my rent, and to start paying off my student loans. Consequently, I had to leave my job at TIG after just a year and a half. I'm glad that I was there for that time, though. It was one of the best times of my life. I met so many great people! TIG is a magnet for great people, like you!

Luckily for me, I didn't give up my dream of changing the world, or helping make it better, when I left TIG -- and believe you me, TIG has been with me every step of the way.

After my fulltime work at TIG, I became an instructor of web development at Humber College, where I got to influence over a thousand young people. I told them all about TIG. I know that some of them joined, and a few of my students even got super involved in TIG! I was super happy about that, and still am.

After Humber I worked for myself for a bit, doing freelance web development... It wasn't very fulfilling though, so when I got the chance to do a 6 month contract with Human Rights Internet through NetCorps, I jumped at the chance!

They sent me to Croatia!

Guess what I did as soon as I got to Croatia? I logged on to TIG and found Croatia's Most Active TIG Member, at the time. Her name was Irena Curin, and the pic attached to this post is of us at the Bosko Petrovic Jazz (Djez) Club near the main square (trg) in Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia. We got to be great friends while I was there, and spent many an evening drinking coffee and talking about the position of youth in the world.

My time in Croatia was THE best time I've ever had.

I'm so thankful for all the people there who made my stay enjoyable (Irena Curin, Dinko Cindric, Emina, Cvijeta, Danijela Babic, Tanja Rukavina, Darko Ljubic, Sandra Oskorus, Marko Strpic, Igor, Vesna, Branimir Sloser, Sonnet, The Rachels, Cassie, everyone at Mama Club, and many more).

When I got back from Croatia, the first thing I did was visit the new TIG office, just to say hello. Happily, I arrived just as Mike and Jen were announcing their engagement. What great timing! I was so happy to have been there for that.

Then I got a job doing web development downtown. Lucky me. Then I went to 4 of my best friends weddings. Then I broke my ankle and both bones in my lower right leg. Then I joined a choir, started taking boxing lessons, and learning guitar. Then my grandfather died.

Somewhere in those past 4 years I also dated a few lovely girls/women, and they know who they are.

That pretty much brings us up to date.
I'm still in physio therapy for my leg, which is coming along nicely. I enjoy being able to walk again, even though I now have a bit of a limp. Walking is awesome. I love walking (now I do -- before it was just kind of ok).

I'm sure the future holds a lot of cool stuff for all of us, so into the future we go!

Long Live TIG!

Well, today was Buddha's 2546th birthday celebration at the Zen Temple, and a good time was had by all. I officially "took the precepts" and became a buddhist -- along with this I received my own meditation beads, and the Korean Buddhist name "Nahan" (Arhat in Sanskrit) -- which everyone at the Temple will now call me.

Historically, an Arhat was an enlightened disciple of the Buddha. In fact, the name literally translates to "holy person" or "saint". While Master Sunim gave lengthy reasons for giving other people their names, with deep existential meaning and all that, he gave me me this name because apparently, to him, I simply look like an Arhat :)Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, I suppose ;) I kind of like it too, cause I tend not to read into things anyway, so in a way, calling it as he sees it is perhaps the most zen name I could have received :)

Anywhooo... attached is an image of an Arhat that I found online...

fun day!

Wheeeeeeeee! Today my latest article on Shift.com was slashdotted! Oh boy! Now, I feel cool :)

Check out the debate on slashdot here

Other good things from today:
I received confirmation of more teaching hours next term! Yay!
Also, I danced for a little while at the bus stop. Got all mixed up in the "Bust a Move" that was playin' on my mp3 player :) hehe....

l8r,
d

I was writing an email to my friend Jen, and decided to copy and paste some of the good parts here.

---

Poetry gardening is the cultivation of the self which results in the perennial blossoms of wisdom, happiness, and insight.

---

I was at DigiFest for a bit the other night, for a debate "Can Technology Save Us?". Well, the debate started rolling and 1 guy said we should actually be asking "can WE save technology, cause it's getting out of hand... It drags us along and not the other way around"... Another person said "we can't do anything good for the world until we prevent people from being greedy, but people like being greedy so that won't happen"... And anotehr lady said "technology can't save us, only people can... Social movements for change... But they won't happen because people are greedy and lazy"....

Sooooooo, when I got up to the mic I said:
"I believe we can save technology, and we can be greedy and socially conscious at the SAME time. The reason things are so bad is because things are poorly designed, and people aren't picky about what they buy. We CAN save technology by being greedy and buying things... We just have to purchase with our minds and buy the best designed things. If we all did that, the things that didn't work well and the technology that pollutes or isn't cost-effective would get phased out quickly. No profits for the company means the technology goes away -- it's evolutionary capitalism. Plus, if people purchased mindfully like that, that basically IS a social movement... A movement not to sit back and take the crap that is dished out to us"... Or something like that.... :)

---

Smiles are good for bringing the inner to the outer, because usually if someone sees you smiling, they also start to smile. A person at the temple asked the Zen master, Sunim, Why is there a buddha statue? I like buddhism because we're not worshipping idols, so why is there a statue of Buddha? I thought he was just a man. Sunim replied "yes, he was just a man, but he was a great man and a great example -- he is not there for us to worship, but human beings have this tendency to look outside themselves for answers instead of inside themselves, so we have the statue there, outside, to remind them that we are all good, and that they should sit quietly like Buddha and find the answers within -- so it is not about worshipping the statue, but being mindful of what the statue represents"

Ten new things in my life:

1. Yesterday I bought a keychain that is a hard drive and can hold 32 floppy disks worth of information :)
2. I bought a "CD" called Shakuhachi -- sounds of the ancient japanese flute
3. I got my level 1 certification as a Reiki natural healer
4. I got a phone call from a collection agency saying they need $3000 by early April to pay off a student loan
5. I got a web design contract for $3000 that's to be done by April first, so that I can pay off my loan. Problem is I only have ten days to do it, and it's a 100 hour contract. Wheeee.
6. I'm teaching 66 Chinese exchange students how to use microsoft access, and when they all handed in their final assignments, I realized that not a damn one of them understood the assignment, and none of them asked me questions. Sooo, now I have to fail them all, or think up something ingenius to fix it.
7. Mark bought a Playstation2, so now I have one to play with :)
8. I also bought an ugly refurbished telephone that doesn't require batteries. I went for the ugliest one, because when you're already buying a refurbished phone, face it... It's gonna be kinda ugly... So I just went with Reeeally ugly. My old one has been dying in the middle of conversations.
9. I spent last night at a cool party sponsored by Shift magazine which was part of DigiFest in toronto... it was at an old warehouse and had a multimedia show by some of the experts in the field. It was great!
10. I have started dating a girl I went to university with. She is AWESOME. She's super-spiritual and actually shows some interest in how my tech stuff works (which is rare & great)... Only problem is that she lives in London. This is why I need a car...

Ten new things in my life:

1. Yesterday I bought a keychain that is a hard drive and can hold 32 floppy disks worth of information :)
2. I bought a "CD" called Shakuhachi -- sounds of the ancient japanese flute
3. I got my level 1 certification as a Reiki natural healer
4. I got a phone call from a collection agency saying they need $3000 by early April to pay off a student loan
5. I got a web design contract for $3000 that's to be done by April first, so that I can pay off my loan. Problem is I only have ten days to do it, and it's a 100 hour contract. Wheeee.
6. I'm teaching 66 Chinese exchange students how to use microsoft access, and when they all handed in their final assignments, I realized that not a damn one of them understood the assignment, and none of them asked me questions. Sooo, now I have to fail them all, or think up something ingenius to fix it.
7. Mark bought a Playstation2, so now I have one to play with :)
8. I also bought an ugly refurbished telephone that doesn't require batteries. I went for the ugliest one, because when you're already buying a refurbished phone, face it... It's gonna be kinda ugly... So I just went with Reeeally ugly. My old one has been dying in the middle of conversations.
9. I spent last night at a cool party sponsored by Shift magazine which was part of DigiFest in toronto... it was at an old warehouse and had a multimedia show by some of the experts in the field. It was great!
10. I have started dating a girl I went to university with. She's super-spiritual and not techie at all... Only problem is that she lives in London. This is why I need a car...

Working on manual...
Still need:
revised text from Jen.
1 pager on volunteers - Vanessa
1 pager on workshops -- Maria

Reviewed several documents for Vanessa.

Made great contact re: Media students for co-ops. Ask Amanda about this. Basically, we might be able to get some FREEEE Director peeps to create a CDROM for us for their course. OR to do various graphic design stuff (though they're not very webby)

Met with Vanessa & Jen separately to review manual so far.
Was deined a small business bank account due to bad credit :(

Backed-up all my Outlook & documents & stuff to home computer, so that I can pass the laptop on to a fellow Tigger soon... hopefully just after I get a pocket pc (around feb 22? I could give it back sooner though)

Plan to see Dalai Lama talk in late April (on Vanessa's birthday), and to 'take the precepts' to become a full-fledged Buddhist & get a Buddhist name in July.

SuperGreg! Numba One!!!
Check out the original SuperGreg site here: SuperGreg

SuperGreg.com was shut down, so this is a mirror of the original. Be sure to view the video "Da Number One" near the bottom of the page, or you just won't understand the phenomenon.

The other day, my housemate was at work and someone upstairs yelled "SuperGreg", and someone downstairs replied "Numba One!"

Mark was like "WTF??" and they were like "You don't know about SuperGreg? Oh my...." It's like "All Your Base" all over again. Wheeeeeeeeee

but also... iSkip

That is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the paths of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with the duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
that the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be born,
May all beings be at ease.

Let none decieve another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The purehearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

Ok, i went to my friend steve's place tonight, and played xbox for 2 hours or so BUT THEN we went to Ray's birthday which was at "Echo". We had a big private karaoke room rented just for our group of 17-20 people... it was frickin' awesome! I'd never done it before, but it was 4 hours of solid fun. Just finished and got home now @ 3:30am... wheeeeeeee