Category: Culture

CBC is adopting Neo4j

jpindi

Probably one of the more popular meetups in the Toronto area is the Toronto Data Science Group which regularly boasts a few hundred members at its meetings. I usually don’t sign up quickly enough and have missed out because they are at capacity. Last week, they hosted a meetup at MaRS Discovery District and I managed to get a spot, which was doubly good because it was at my place of work and I could pop down to the auditorium without trekking outside in the cold. I’m really glad I…

Charlinarium 20 years later

jpindi
Charlinarium draft

I had a screen printing kit in our studio that was begging to be used, and coincidentally, I also needed to find some activity that competed with the kids tablets. Screenprinting was a good call because the kids had a great time at the Mini Maker Faire this year doing some seriography courtesy of Peach Beserk. So we spent the weekend learning about how to make prints, or in my case re-learning because it had been 20 years since I had done this. The kids made a Minecraft creeper shirt…

Metallic c-print photography

jpindi

In anticipation of the Maker Sale held at my house, I unearthed some metallic c-print photographs I had taken a few years ago before a family and ‘real’ life came along. The photographs are from interesting locations in and around Toronto, including the Distillery District (I had actually won an award at Pikto for ‘The Conversation’ at that time), the Don Valley Parkway trails, the Brickworks and finally my cottage (not in Toronto this time, but Six Mile Lake). Metallic c-print photography is a kind of printing on hyper-glossy photosensitive…

Rethinking 300

jpindi

In anticipation of the movie “300 – Rise of an Empire” I recently revisited the original 300 movie. There is little argument that it is one of the most artistic and gory takes of ancient Sparta ever made. It is an underdog story where the Spartans, led by King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) fight against impossible odds against the invading Persians, with only their ability as warriors and (spoiler alert) local geography to help them. The first time I saw this film, like most of the audience in the theatre I…