A relatively recent addition my already somewhat ridiculous amount of reading is TechRepublic’s Digest. As suggested by the name, it comes to me via e-mail, pre-chewed and ready for consumption. I got on at TR about 6 years ago and dropped it after a while before being turned back onto it by my dad, of all people. Anyway a Friday staple of the digest is something they call Geekend. I won’t quibble about the originality or cleverness of the name, since the salient point is that they usually have something worthy of looking at that swings more toward the geeky/amusing/intriguing end of the tech spectrum.

One of this week’s items is Everything I need to know about my boss I learned from Star Trek which redirects to a post over at io9, The 7 Types Of Bad Bosses According To Star Trek (And How To Survive Them). io9 is a site I’m marginally familiar with, but has always satisfied whenever it’s come up. This post is no exception.

“There is no way we are possibly going to trade technology with the Gherkins,” seemingly attributed to Janeway. I could totally hear her saying that.

Being a blog, I suppose there’s an obligation to opine on bosses, and while this article does make me look at my current and previous bosses, I have to say I’m more inclined to speculate on the sort of boss I would be in that unfortunate alternate universe where I had underlings. I think I can save you the speculation and state that, if I were to characterize myself as an all-bad boss using this dichotomy I would probably be equal parts Father Figure, Cold Fish and Blamer. Of course, there was no entry for forgetful and disorganized, but what Star Trek boss would possess those traits? Hm. I’ll have to give that some thought. I’ve always kind of identified with Reg Barclay…

I had a fun Fourth with some friends. Arguably, the highlight for me, and possibly the lowlight for my friends was my wobbly, warbly rendition of… O Canada. Now, true, there is a bit of a running gag among Canadians that no one knows the words to the national anthem, but I actually do. When I moved here, I sort of felt it became mandatory. It’s not like I studied or anything, but I did practice a bit. Over the last couple of years, my singing the the national anthem on command has become a something of a parlour trick. I’m looking for something to post to YouTube. That might be it.

The notion of not knowing the words to the national anthem is amusing, even to the mostly ironically-oriented crowd I’m normally drawn to. Everyone here knows the words to The Star Spangled Banner, even if they don’t always want to show it. So do I, but I guess that’s subject matter for another post. The idea, even if it’s supposed to be a joke, that people of a particular nationality don’t know the words to their own national anthem, seems to draw a consistently incredulous reaction. Maybe I’m mistaken, but that joke about not knowing the national anthem always seems to elicit a hint of disbelief (along with the expected amusment) among friends and acquaintances here.

I don’t know. I’m sure there are those at home, meaning Canada, who find that whole idea a bit distasteful, if not outright insulting. A wild hunch says many of them are angling for some sort of political office or appointment, or they’re in the same camp as the “love it or leave it” contingent here in the States. In other words, not likely to be inviting me to many parties. Politics is a strange bird in Canada. This so-called joke is but the tip of the ice berg and is a good example of Canadian humour if ever anyone asks.

Night, night, eh? Gotta go blow up the leftover fireworks.

(I was going to Twitter this, but I run into that 140 character limit awful quick. D’ya think?)

Sure, they took the original, gave him a budget, buffed it up and turned it into a gum commercial, but this is one of those videos I can’t help smiling when I watch. Sap alert? Hey! Don’t make me drag out the laughing baby.

A few favourite moments:
0:52 transition to the dancing
1:40 His reaction to trying to dance in room full of kids
1:53 DMZ in N Korea
2:24 Doused by a wave in Tonga
2:37 Joining the dance
3:50 Montreal in the rain (there’s a few memories)
3:53 Vomit Comet

Assuming that hasn’t sufficiently offended any post-modern sense of irony you may possess, check out the outtakes. Actually, depending on your particular bent, you may like them better. The editorial comments are great, but I especially like the “bad dancing, big shark” comment at 1:48. That and the one about dancing at the Parthenon at 3:46. Oh, and the 1000 m drop at the end.

I thought this was cute.

That and I haven’t had the opportunity or inclination to embed a YouTube video anywhere. Enjoy! I did.

In the “good things come in small packages” vein, and in case you’re not already familiar, please direct your attention over to xkcd for some too-clever geek-tech humor. He/she/they just finished up an anthology of sorts on their pre-eminent soccer mom/haxxor. I’m still new, mostly, but they had me at “bobby tables”. It’s even up in my cube at work. Funny that only the DBA got it. Go figure.