Stephe's Random Thoughts

I’m on vacation right now on a road trip through eastern Ontario and Quebec. Won’t be posting much.

First post from Windows Live writer. Love the way it downloads your blog’s stylesheet for WSIWYG editing. I’ve tried it with Spaces and Blogger and it seems to work well with either. Download it here.

 Of the new crop of Canadian bands, one of my favourites is Metric. Check out the exclusive video live from Metropolis on the Sympatico / MSN Music channel.

Great video on Techcrunch featuring a bunch of “Web 2.0” folks.

Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Web 2.0: The 24 Minute Documentary

abhishekkant has a list of Microsoft’s acquisitions so far in 2006. Pretty impressive list of technologies, including some key elements of the Online Services business like Massive, Geotango, Onfolio and Vexcel.

I’m a big fan of David Allen‘s book "Getting Things Done". I first picked it up about a year ago, and following the process outlined in his book greatly improved my workflow management and productivity. One of the challenges I’ve faced is being consistent in following the system, and having the discipline not to revert to productivity sapping bad habits. Once a month or so I find I have to go back to basics and reboot my adherence to the GTD process.

Serendipitously, 43 Folders is running a series of posts called "Back to GTD", with tips for lapsed GTD fans: 43F Series: “Back to GTD”. Highly recommended.

I’ve been meaning to blog about Windows Live Local, Microsoft’s free mapping and directories tool, for a while now. I’m really proud of the work the local team has done in this space. This is an area where Microsoft is showing some leadership, and providing unique features relative to our competitors. Here is a list of some of the things you can do with it:

• get driving directions and maps
• get satellite views of your destination
• find directory listings that are synched up with Canadian maps
• view “Bird’s Eye” imagery that shows detailed, 45-degree angle views of most major U.S. cities – and coming soon for Canadian cities
• annotate maps, mark points of interest with pushpins, and share your customized maps with friends.
• group your customized maps into “collections” you can share with the world or keep private
• create custom “pushpins” that let you notate specific locations
• use the scratch pad to make notes and share your discoveries
• cruise around and zoom in on areas of the Canada you want to explore in detail
• get results that display both Web sites and physical locations
• auto-refresh your search results – updated as you move around the map
• find yourself using the “Locate Me” feature that can show you where you are on a map

One of my favourite features is collections. Collections are groups of locations that you create and can share with your friends online. Here’s a collection of some Canadian landmarks for you to check out. Check out the satellite imagery. We recently update our image database for many Canadian cities so you can zoom right in on these sites. Also, check out the Bird’s eye views of Niagara falls. Very cool.

As always, tell us what you think.