Musings & Meanderings

Dusty Cohl died yesterday, and much of my day has been suffused with memories of him. Of the many people I rarely see any more, largely isolated as I am by physical disability, Dusty was one of the few I have often and truly missed.

I see him on the terrace in Cannes, where the inspiration for the Toronto Film Festival was born and nurtured. He’s wearing the hat, and toying with one of the beloved cigars he missed so much in later years. His magnetic and magical charm is irrepressible, infusing the gathering with whispers and waves of inspiration. This charm lives on, flowing like a pure mountain spring from an elemental source. Its sound deepens occasionally, heavy with a lifetime of experiences, but it is never poisoned or blocked.

I see him with Joan, the strong and beautiful woman he loved and shared his life with. Their dynamic could fill volumes, deeper and richer than an entire festival of the films they both loved. My arms ache to give Joan a hug, even knowing that it could barely acknowledge her loss or provide much solace, but still wishing to pay tribute to both of them, to their certain knowledge that every expression of caring matters.

It is a weekday morning, several years ago, and I’m meeting Dusty for breakfast in the deli where he held court for so many years. The day has dawned gloriously, with a crisp morning chill being gradually dispersed by a vigorous sun in a perfect azure sky. It is the closest approximation possible in Toronto of a perfect Cote D’Azur morning. We meet, both look outside, and without discussion Dusty asks for service on the empty patio. The morning chill is still resisting the powerful sunshine, making the brilliant light sparkle like diamonds. The sparkle matches the wit and intelligence in Dusty’s eyes, even as we catch up and he tells me about a life that’s slower, about rhythms of aging. His words melt away in the gathering warmth, evaporating like the dew, and what remains throughout our meal is the vitality and joy that was Dusty, brimming with pleasure at the astonishing panoply of life and ideas which surrounds us.

Of the many splendid things with which you gifted our lives, Dusty, I have most valued your honesty and integrity. Au revoir, mon ami.

I cast my vote today, as I always do, and we wait here in Ontario this evening to find out who our Premier will be. Toronto is my first home, and the effects on it from lack of leadership both here and in Queens Park are something all Torontonians should be concerned about. Watching the political landscape increasingly reduces my hope that small and responsible government can ever be a reality here again.

Getting out when you are physically disabled and in pain isn’t easy, and I haven’t done it enough since the major physical setback last December. Attending my first Geek Girl Dinner yesterday evening was great for me in more ways than one.

This was the first time I’ve been in a room full of mostly women with whom I shared work interests and even passions. After a couple of decades in a business where I worked exclusively with men, meeting mostly men in technology hasn’t fazed me much, but I also happen to like being a woman and am always thirsty for more powerful female energy in my life. Combining that with being able to talk about internet and web development topics was perfect.

A few of the people at my table were Sylvia, Director of Client Services at Broadview Software, a company that makes software for the television industry, Heather, who’s with Tucows and who has the coolest tattoo, and Shelley, a web designer with a lots of experience in accessibility. There were many more geek girls to meet… I look forward to being able to attend again.

The highlight of the evening was entrepreneur Leila Boujnane’s talk, followed by an open question session. Leila told her story, of how she traveled halfway round the world and chose technology over medicine, with sassy wit, revealing both a delightful sense of humor and an indomitable will to succeed. Bravo.

The central concept underlying Idée, Inc. is the identification of every digital image to a level of detail comparable in uniqueness to a fingerprint. This concept is, imo, an extremely valuable contribution to the core application processes we need more focus on in harnessing and benefiting from the full and barely apprehended power of the internet. Applications such as Idee’s visual search technology have the potential to support and enable many rich cultural activities beyond traditional media.

One of the things that intrigued me last night was that this gathering represented a truly wide political and ideological spectrum, yet these differences were of no issue in the face of common interests and dreams for the future. This is one of the ways in which women as a group have more power than they realize, in their natural ability to care and connect.

Thank you sponsor Tucows and to my fellow attendees, for an enjoyable evening.

Has anyone posted pictures?

One of my first posts on this blog last year included a link to Idee Inc, an exciting image recognition and visual search technology company here in Toronto. Leila Boujnane is CEO, and co-founder with CTO Paul Bloore, of.

Here’s an intro that explains the things you can do, such as tagging …and you can also just go directly here to play in their Visual Search Lab.

I’m not a techie …my experience is entrepreneurial and also in business strategy and problem solving. Discovering the internet, for both business and personal use (and despite the urging of my kids), didn’t happen for me until 2000. About a year ago, I began a search for a tech partner for a larger project. That search has been on hold since last fall while I deal with some major health issues, although I continue to refine the plans as the landscape here evolves. I’ve been waylaid by health problems before, but this is the first time that business of any sort has been interrupted by it. It’s why I always have to work with at least one partner.

So out I ventured last summer, and met David Crow.

David is a devilishly charming and downright irresistible force of nature in the Toronto tech scene. He’s been instrumental in bringing TorCamp (Barcamps and Democamps) here, involved in Mesh (which I was heartbroken to miss), together with many other active community members including everyone’s favorite lawyer Rob Hyndman, and much more.

His blog post yesterday is titled Army Tournament of Champions and it’s about a new contest for Canadian bloggers in four categories:

- Digital/tech/online
- Media/social media/PR
- Marketing/communications/design/research
- Quebec division

which has been conceived and set up by Sean Moffit at Buzz Canuck.

The contest looks very well conceived. As I read it, bloggers can submit either their own or others’ blogs for entry. The self-submission makes a lot of sense, since it calls for identifying one’s best posts. The qualification criteria are spelled out in the Buzz Canuck post linked to above.

The entries are to be judged formally, rather than via populist voting, another idea I applaud, although it doesn’t appear the judges have been named yet. The idea of going outside Canada sounds exactly right. It would seem that the ideal would be to have the top bloggers in the four categories form the panel, as in a jury of peers, although the quality and popularity aren’t always equal issue seems an important one here. They’ve asked for recommendations, and I’ve a couple of individuals in mind to email, and hope that you do also.

I’ve already discovered several great bloggers that I didn’t know about via David’s post. Thanks David.

Go Toronto.

*****

I’ve always loved my home town. Toronto is small enough to be human scaled, yet large enough to qualify as world-class. It’s immensely rich in culture and diversity for a North American city of its size. It was no surprise to discover that, in addition to everything else, we have a wonderful tech community as well.

Come visit us whenever you can, and hang out with our bloggers, too.

*****

Oh, and check out this Note on the Ancestral Toronto Home of Social Network Analysis by Linton Freeman and Barry Wellman.