New Media

Several douche-bag members of Critical Mass stopped my wife and I from making a turn on the street today on our way home from work. We weren’t attempting to drive through their bike rally, mind you. We were just driving near them (They were actually blocking traffic in all four directions). That was enough to prompt several of their moronic contingent to put hands on our vehicle and grin at us like coked-out chimps.

When I got out of the car to get them to stand aside, they only leaned in closer to stop us from proceeding. Then one pushed me.

I have no intention of charging him with assault. But I do charge him with the offense of being a bullying loser who wouldn’t have the guts to try the same thing if he didn’t have a contingent of his friends to back him up.

Critical Mass is not traffic. It’s a collection of selfish jerks. And in case you think I’m just an isolated crank, here are a few other opinions I’ve gathered quite easily from Critical Mass’ own Facebook page:

Kasia

I’m all for bikes, I think bikes are sweet, I have a bunch myself. I’m all for going green, that’s awesome too. But blocking off Stanley Park and the bridge is the dumbest, stupidest thing ever. It just makes motorists hate cyclists more, not to mention half the city is trapped in traffic. People can’t get home to pick up their children from school, make dinner for their families, or just get to whever they were going without having to sit in traffic for 2 hours. And what’s worse, you don’t represent the real roadies: the ones who wear helmets, abide by the law, and yet still get treated like crap because all you people have lost all respect for cyclists in Vancouver. So do everyone a favour, and display your movement in such a way that yields positive results and does not make the whole city angry.

And this one from a guy who I like because he has the same name as me (different spelling, though)…

Jonathan

If Critical Mass does not stop doing the Lions Gate Bridge I will never attend again.
Shutting down the bridge for over an hour is the most stupid obnoxious and cruel thing it could ever do.
Making hard working people suffer in traffic for that amount of time so that douche with a bullhorn can yell about no blood for oil is an insult to the human race. I hate cars and carbon emissions and the fact that we as a species are about to go extinct, but there is no reason to make people suffer in the mean time.
Consider the effects of your actions! Since that is exactly what the mass is supposed to be all about.

And for full disclosure, I ride a bike too. And when I do so, I obey the traffic laws, just like all the car traffic around me.

I’m traffic. You’re not, Critical Mass.

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about how 2009 will be the year when people focus on needs as opposed to wants. Tough times will do that. But will the rules really apply in the consumer tech sector? For instance, how many of us actually “need” an iPhone? (Full disclosure: I plan on getting an iPhone just as soon as my current cellphone contract expires in March).

I sat in on a presentation hosted by the BCTIA where some of BC’s most promising tech companies talked about the possibilities for success through creating solutions that people actually need, not just want. They also talked about how tech companies can cope with the overall economic trends, which ain’t good. Get the story in Techvibes.

But it’s been a busy week, and I haven’t just been focusing on tech for profit. A little follow up to my previous Fearless City post, you can see how Phones for Fearless is helping bridge the digital divide in Vancouver’s downtown eastside in my contribution to the Vancouver Observer. Will the experiment in social media for social change be emulated in other North American cities? I’m curious to see what happens.

Vancouver’s downtown eastside is better known for being the poorest urban area code in Canada. Whenever I visit the neighborhood, I’m astonished at the stark transition from the hip, gentrifying Gastown neighborhood that seemed until recent years to be an extension of the worst parts of the ghetto, and the worst intersections where drug dealers and sex trade workers are reflected by pawn shop storefronts and in the dusty window panes of businesses that long ago closed their doors.

But there is an interesting experiment going on in the downtown eastside, Fearless City, bringing new technology and media tools to energize the neighborhood’s artists and other residents. Empowered with donated camera cell phones, other mobile devices, and peer training, the people of the downtown eastside get to tell their own stories and have a greater voice in our fast-changing city. With a camera phoneThe Vancouver blog Raincoaster provides some details on phase 2 of Phones for Fearless.

Excellent overview of what Fearless City is all about on Global TV. If you want to donate a cell phone or get involved, here’s how to contact them.

There’s tough times all over and in Vancouver, the poor and marginalized are suffering even worse than usual under an Arctic freeze-up. Kudos to Vancouver’s bloggers, twitterers and other geeks for stepping in to save the day.

Gillian Shaw reports today on a Twitter flash mob assembling in the downtown eastside to distribute warm clothing (Vancouver Sun). An excerpt:

“Here’s a coat,” said Steve Jagger, a Vancouver tech entrepreneur on Twitter as @sjagger, rooting around in the bottom of a bag to come up with something for a homeless man looking to warm up. “No, take this one instead, it’s a better fit and it’s cool.”

Kudos also to John Chow, who has raised over $12,000 for the Union Gospel Mission at a time when Vancouver’s hungry and homeless appear to need our help the most. John is better known for being better known – with 44,203 registered subscribers, his “Make Money Online“-themed site probably beats the readership of most Canadian print publications. Way to give back.

Miss604‘s Best of 604 Awards raised $1,800 for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society (which included my donation as well).

Meanwhile, Beautynight stuffed 500 Christmas stockings for their clients hoping to make positive lifestyle changes.

I often blather on about social media and Web 2.0 stuff, so for all you out there who were wondering about whether Twitter and social media really matter, here are some great examples of instant successes that have brought about positive change in the community. It actually works. If anyone else has come upon other examples of this kind of social-media making a difference locally in the last while, go ahead and leave a comment with the details.

At the corner of Broadway Avenue and Manitoba, in the heart of Vancouver, there was a little cafe where no one ever came.

Well, not exactly no one. I went in a few times just to check out the place, since it was about two steps away from my building. I try to support local businesses. But it was always dark in there and either too hot or too cold. And no newspapers for me to read. The coffee was fine (really, it’s hard to mess up plain old coffee), but in Vancouver, the beverage is almost always a secondary concern for cafe patrons. I didn’t become a regular, even though it was so close.

I hardly ever saw anyone else go in there, either. I think it lasted about two years. Then it closed its doors for good sometime at the end of summer — I’m not really sure when. I’m sure not too many others were paying attention, either.

But my wife noticed a Starbucks sign on the empty building perhaps a month ago. The place re-opened yesterday. I haven’t gone in yet, but lots of people from my neighborhood clearly have. The brightly-lit place is absolutely packed whenever we go by, in the morning or the evening.

I’m not a big fan of Starbucks coffee, but I could see myself holding the odd meeting with one of my freelance clients in there. Which goes to show that being a local business will only take you so far when it comes to winning customer loyalty. If local businesses want MY business, that sometimes means their taking a cue from the big players. The big ones weren’t always big — they got successful because they were doing something right.

It pays to look at what the busy guy on the corner is up to.