https://johnnyrodgers.is Johnny Rodgers Wed, 07 Feb 2024 22:20:18 +0000 https://johnnyrodgers.is en http://johnnyrodgers.is/from-kintore Wed, 07 Feb 2024 22:20:18 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 451544  index KintoreRecollections from a small childhood village The crossroads of Kintore was the nearest settlement where I grew up. A tiny village of a few dozen people. One of many interchangeable dots decorating the agricultural grid of southern Ontario. Flat cornfields lay in all directions under a wide blue sky, interspersed with pastures for dairy cattle. If you dropped a marble in the middle of the intersection it wouldn’t roll anywhere. If someone asked where you were from, it was polite to start with a larger town or city first. This was done in order to save the gentle embarrassment of a fellow Ontarian not knowing the name of your particular hamlet. “Near London” you’d say. This was met with either a vague “Oh yes right” indicating that was specific enough, or an eager nod and listing of nearby towns. “Thorndale?” “Yes yes” “Oh well actually Kintore” “Right! Just down from Uniondale.” We’d smile, content with our shared geographical culture, such as it was. Though we lived on a gravel road a few miles away, I spent a lot of time in Kintore at my friend Kevin’s house. My parents would drop me off on their way to work, or pick me up on the way home after teaching night classes. Kevin and I would go to the corner store after school, split a banana popsicle, then wander back to his house a mile down the road. To the west of town a cemetery was populated with rose quartz headstones and the deceased residents of previous generations. We would creep through the rows, finding the family names of our schoolmates or silently reading the birth and death dates of children gone a century earlier. “Dorothy Peterson, 1895-1902”. We’d imagine the little girl below our feet. They’d just dig a hole and drop you in there and you’d never go anywhere again. To the east of town was an even older cemetery, but the rock on those headstones had crumbled and you couldn’t read them, except perhaps to make out a date from the early 1800s. We pondered why a town with so few people had two full cemeteries to its name. In the winter we liked to entertain ourselves by throwing snowballs at the transport trucks on the highway in front of Kevin’s house. We’d miss or score unnoticed hits on the big trailers. Once I nailed a car with an icy snowball on a cold night. It screeched to a halt as we crouched in the ditch, me holding my breath with the hot-eared knowledge that I’d done something Very Bad. He drove on without incident a minute later. “Don’t tell my Mom,” Kevin said in a whisper as we accepted the reprieve and scampered down the driveway to the warmth of the living room and the hockey game that was always on. The elementary school was on the road south, the church on the road north. Everyone seemed to go to church except our family. It made an alluring but faintly sinister impression on me that I didn’t know how to articulate at the time. None of the kids in my class seemed to enjoy it, and they all had to go to extra school on Sundays. We’d play British Bulldog every recess and lunch hour, with elaborate rules and modifications that made the simple game of tag endlessly compelling. Once in a while there would be a fight, but all the biggest boys were gentle farm kids and lacked any sort of mean streak. We had a québécoise French teacher join the school when we were in grade three. She was aghast at our lack of fluency and quickly devolved to playing us old episodes of Téléfrançais. She was very lonely and would often cry quietly while we did our work or watched the television. I didn’t know how to comfort her except to try my best in class. Once each spring the old janitor at the school would get out an enormous two-storey ladder and creakily climb to the roof of the gym. We’d all gather around shouting while he collected all the balls that had ended up there over the year. He’d laugh and boot them as far as he could out onto the playing field as we screamed and ran after them. Each one a vaguely remembered comet returning to our orbit. One year he slipped off that ladder on the way down and shattered his hip and femur. He walked with a limp after that. The summers were lazy and slow. Roadside stands sold corn and peaches so good you’d look forward to them all year. We’d play baseball in the long evenings and then get ice cream at the store before driving home. I got one home run in my little league career, twisting my tiny frame to unleash as much fury as I could with my ridiculously oversized bat and finally making that sweet connection that launched it far into the outfield. Kevin hit a homer every other game, but he still made a big deal of mine after I rounded the bases. After grade eight half of the class went to high school in St. Marys and the other half to Ingersoll. Kevin was on the Ingersoll side. I never saw him again after that final summer, though we still lived just a few miles apart. Eventually my family moved away from the area. I’ve never been back since, but the place is still there deep in me. My earliest remembered impressions of this good Earth.  index KintoreRecollections from a small childhood village The crossroads of Kintore was the nearest settlement where I grew up. A tiny village of a few dozen... http://johnnyrodgers.is/privacy-policy Mon, 11 Dec 2023 20:37:44 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 450351 Privacy PolicyLast updated December 01, 2023This privacy notice for Math Magic ('we', 'us', or 'our'), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share ('process') your information when you use our services ('Services'), such as when you:Download and use our mobile application (Math Magic), or any other application of ours that links to this privacy notice Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events Questions or concerns?&nbsp;Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com.SUMMARY OF KEY POINTSThis summary provides key points from our privacy notice, but you can find out more details about any of these topics by clicking the link following each key point or by using our&nbsp;table of contents&nbsp;below to find the section you are looking for.What personal information do we process? When you visit, use, or navigate our Services, we may process personal information depending on how you interact with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. Learn more about&nbsp;personal information you disclose to us.Do we process any sensitive personal information? We do not process sensitive personal information.Do we receive any information from third parties? We do not receive any information from third parties.How do we process your information? We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. Learn more about&nbsp;how we process your information.In what situations and with which parties do we share personal information? We may share information in specific situations and with specific third parties. Learn more about&nbsp;when and with whom we share your personal information.How do we keep your information safe? We have organisational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorised third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Learn more about&nbsp;how we keep your information safe.What are your rights? Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you have certain rights regarding your personal information. Learn more about&nbsp;your privacy rights.How do you exercise your rights? The easiest way to exercise your rights is by submitting a&nbsp;data subject access request, or by contacting us. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.Want to learn more about what we do with any information we collect?&nbsp;Review the privacy notice in full.TABLE OF CONTENTS1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?3. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?4. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?7. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?8. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES9. DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?10. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?11. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?12. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?Personal information you disclose to usIn Short:&nbsp;We collect personal information that you provide to us.We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us.Sensitive Information. We do not process sensitive information.Application Data. If you use our application(s), we also may collect the following information if you choose to provide us with access or permission:Mobile Device Access. We may request access or permission to certain features from your mobile device, including your mobile device's microphone, speech recognition, and other features. If you wish to change our access or permissions, you may do so in your device's settings.This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our application(s), for troubleshooting, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?In Short:&nbsp;We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent.We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including: To save or protect an individual's vital interest. We may process your information when necessary to save or protect an individual’s vital interest, such as to prevent harm.3. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?In Short:&nbsp;We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (i.e. legal basis) to do so under applicable law, like with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services to enter into or fulfil our contractual obligations, to protect your rights, or to fulfil our legitimate business interests.If you are located in the EU or UK, this section applies to you.The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we may rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information:Consent.&nbsp;We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e. consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Learn more about&nbsp;withdrawing your consent. Legal Obligations. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.Vital Interests. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party, such as situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person.If you are located in Canada, this section applies to you.We may process your information if you have given us specific permission (i.e. express consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose, or in situations where your permission can be inferred (i.e. implied consent). You can&nbsp;withdraw your consent&nbsp;at any time.In some exceptional cases, we may be legally permitted under applicable law to process your information without your consent, including, for example:If collection is clearly in the interests of an individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely wayFor investigations and fraud detection and preventionFor business transactions provided certain conditions are metIf it is contained in a witness statement and the collection is necessary to assess, process, or settle an insurance claimFor identifying injured, ill, or deceased persons and communicating with next of kinIf we have reasonable grounds to believe an individual has been, is, or may be victim of financial abuseIf it is reasonable to expect collection and use with consent would compromise the availability or the accuracy of the information and the collection is reasonable for purposes related to investigating a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a provinceIf disclosure is required to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order, or rules of the court relating to the production of recordsIf it was produced by an individual in the course of their employment, business, or profession and the collection is consistent with the purposes for which the information was producedIf the collection is solely for journalistic, artistic, or literary purposesIf the information is publicly available and is specified by the regulations4. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?In Short:&nbsp;We may share information in specific situations described in this section and/or with the following third parties.We may need to share your personal information in the following situations:Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?In Short:&nbsp;We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements).When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymise such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?In Short:&nbsp;We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organisational and technical security measures.We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorised third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment.7. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?In Short:&nbsp;In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland, and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information.&nbsp;You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.In some regions (like the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; (iv) if applicable, to data portability; and (v) not to be subject to automated decision-making. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section 'HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?' below.We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.&nbsp;If you are located in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your Member State data protection authority or&nbsp;UK data protection authority.If you are located in Switzerland, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section 'HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?' below.However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com.8. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURESMost web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ('DNT') feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognising and implementing DNT signals has been finalised. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.9. DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?In Short:&nbsp;If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah or Virginia, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.What categories of personal information do we collect?We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve (12) months:CategoryExamplesCollectedA. IdentifiersContact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile contact number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, and account nameNOB. Personal information as defined in the California Customer Records statuteName, contact information, education, employment, employment history, and financial informationNOC. Protected classification characteristics under state or federal lawGender and date of birthNOD. Commercial informationTransaction information, purchase history, financial details, and payment informationNOE. Biometric informationFingerprints and voiceprintsNOF. Internet or other similar network activityBrowsing history, search history, online behaviour, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems, and advertisementsNOG. Geolocation dataDevice locationNOH. Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar informationImages and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activitiesNOI. Professional or employment-related informationBusiness contact details in order to provide you our Services at a business level or job title, work history, and professional qualifications if you apply for a job with usNOJ. Education InformationStudent records and directory informationNOK. Inferences drawn from collected personal informationInferences drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a profile or summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristicsNOL. Sensitive personal InformationNOWe may also collect other personal information outside of these categories through instances where you interact with us in person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of:Receiving help through our customer support channels;Participation in customer surveys or contests; andFacilitation in the delivery of our Services and to respond to your inquiries.How do we use and share your personal information?Learn about how we use your personal information in the section, 'HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?'Will your information be shared with anyone else?We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider. Learn more about how we disclose personal information to in the section, 'WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?'We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be 'selling' of your personal information.We have not disclosed, sold, or shared any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months. We&nbsp;will not sell or share personal information in the future belonging to website visitors, users, and other consumers.California ResidentsCalifornia Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the 'Shine The Light' law permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Services, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Services. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Services, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.).CCPA Privacy NoticeThis section applies only to California residents. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you have the rights listed below.The California Code of Regulations defines a 'residents' as:(1) every individual who is in the State of California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose and(2) every individual who is domiciled in the State of California who is outside the State of California for a temporary or transitory purposeAll other individuals are defined as 'non-residents'.If this definition of 'resident' applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal information.Your rights with respect to your personal dataRight to request deletion of the data — Request to deleteYou can ask for the deletion of your personal information. If you ask us to delete your personal information, we will respect your request and delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions provided by law, such as (but not limited to) the exercise by another consumer of his or her right to free speech, our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation, or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities.Right to be informed — Request to knowDepending on the circumstances, you have a right to know:whether we collect and use your personal information;the categories of personal information that we collect;the purposes for which the collected personal information is used;whether we sell or share personal information to third parties;the categories of personal information that we sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose;the categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose;the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information; andthe specific pieces of personal information we collected about you.In accordance with applicable law, we are not obligated to provide or delete consumer information that is de-identified in response to a consumer request or to re-identify individual data to verify a consumer request.Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer’s Privacy RightsWe will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal InformationWe do not process consumer's sensitive personal information.Verification processUpon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with information you have previously provided us. For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match the information you provide with the information we already have on file, or we may contact you through a communication method (e.g. phone or email) that you have previously provided to us. We may also use other verification methods as the circumstances dictate.We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purposes of verification. However, if we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity and for security or fraud-prevention purposes. We will delete such additionally provided information as soon as we finish verifying you.Other privacy rightsYou may object to the processing of your personal information.You may request correction of your personal data if it is incorrect or no longer relevant, or ask to restrict the processing of the information.You can designate an authorised agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorised agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorised to act on your behalf in accordance with the CCPA.You may request to opt out from future selling or sharing of your personal information to third parties. Upon receiving an opt-out request, we will act upon the request as soon as feasibly possible, but no later than fifteen (15) days from the date of the request submission.To exercise these rights, you can contact us by submitting a&nbsp;data subject access request, by email at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com, or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you.Colorado ResidentsThis section applies only to Colorado residents. Under the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal dataRight to access your personal dataRight to correct inaccuracies in your personal dataRight to request deletion of your personal dataRight to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with usRight to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ('profiling')To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email johnny.rodgers@gmail.com&nbsp;or&nbsp;submit a&nbsp;data subject access request.If we decline to take action regarding your request and you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com. Within forty-five (45) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions.Connecticut ResidentsThis section applies only to Connecticut residents. Under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal dataRight to access your personal dataRight to correct inaccuracies in your personal dataRight to request deletion of your personal dataRight to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with usRight to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ('profiling')To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email johnny.rodgers@gmail.com or submit a data subject access request.If we decline to take action regarding your request and you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com. Within sixty (60) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions.Utah ResidentsThis section applies only to Utah residents. Under the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal dataRight to access your personal dataRight to request deletion of your personal dataRight to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with usRight to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising or the sale of personal dataTo submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email johnny.rodgers@gmail.com or submit a data subject access request.Virginia ResidentsUnder the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA):'Consumer' means a natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth acting only in an individual or household context. It does not include a natural person acting in a commercial or employment context.'Personal data' means any information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable natural person. 'Personal data' does not include de-identified data or publicly available information.'Sale of personal data' means the exchange of personal data for monetary consideration.If this definition of 'consumer' applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal data.Your rights with respect to your personal dataRight to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal dataRight to access your personal dataRight to correct inaccuracies in your personal dataRight to request deletion of your personal dataRight to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with usRight to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ('profiling')Exercise your rights provided under the Virginia VCDPAYou may contact us by email at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com or submit a data subject access request.If you are using an authorised agent to exercise your rights, we may deny a request if the authorised agent does not submit proof that they have been validly authorised to act on your behalf.Verification processWe may request that you provide additional information reasonably necessary to verify you and your consumer's request. If you submit the request through an authorised agent, we may need to collect additional information to verify your identity before processing your request.Upon receiving your request, we will respond without undue delay, but in all cases, within forty-five (45) days of receipt. The response period may be extended once by forty-five (45) additional days when reasonably necessary. We will inform you of any such extension within the initial 45-day response period, together with the reason for the extension.Right to appealIf we decline to take action regarding your request, we will inform you of our decision and reasoning behind it. If you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com. Within sixty (60) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If your appeal is denied, you may contact the Attorney General to submit a complaint.10. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?In Short:&nbsp;Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated 'Revised' date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.11. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at johnny.rodgers@gmail.com or&nbsp;contact us by post at:Math Magic1816 West 14th AvenueVancouver, British Columbia V6J 2J9Canada12. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?You have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please fill out and submit a&nbsp;data subject access request. Privacy PolicyLast updated December 01, 2023This privacy notice for Math Magic ('we', 'us', or 'our'), describes how and why we might collect, store, use,... http://johnnyrodgers.is/making-software Mon, 20 Nov 2023 21:14:23 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 449944  index Making SoftwareI’m best known for being a founding employee and Principal Engineer at Slack, which I left in 2023 after eleven great years. I helped grow the product from 0 to 10s of millions of users, and the company from 8 to over 4,000 people, committing about 1 million lines of code along the way.I’m an investor in The Browser Company and am open to new seed investment opportunities. <img width="918" height="1193" width_o="918" height_o="1193" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/4670402e66d1b7913317e78f88848a2ea0701067e8c61fb8326641c15a22e95d/tumblr_eac8d91a917f6e3ba56a0d930eeb4bac_022f9bb1_1280.png" data-mid="1331264" border="0" />Erich Dieckmann – Design development of a metal tube chair Right now I’m writing Building Slack with my friend Ali Rayl. Stories of building Slack — the company, the product, the business, and the culture — told by two employees who were around for the entire journey.<img width="1190" height="256" width_o="1190" height_o="256" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/ae8d22d53f05d2af8ae488f50018777dcec2b3302dc0bf3adfd5400e2e2703f9/wide.png" data-mid="1350610" border="0" /> Some posts I’ve written as an engineer &amp; product designer: How big technical changes happen at Slack A framework for making technical investments on a large engineering team. With Keith Adams.When a rewrite isn’t: rebuilding Slack on the desktop The Ship of Theseus as software migration metaphor. With Mark Christian. The story of Slack Clips A case study of our iterative, prototype-oriented design process. With Anna Niess and Pedro Carmo. A faster, smarter Quick SwitcherMaking Slack’s best navigation method smarter and quicker. With Dio Brito, Patrick Kane, and Kyle Stetz. Some popular Twitter threads I’ve posted about Slack:  Slack’s secret menu (tips and tricks)  Slack’s notification workflow diagram  Introducing “Later” 7 year anniversary threadAnd a short story about pivoting from a failed game to a unicorn startup:&nbsp;The death of Glitch, the birth of Slack. <img width="1118" height="1040" width_o="1118" height_o="1040" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/c3abd2260bdbaa58b7fe02b4714c76bc57df7e8f5f8fa1c929eab8e2ffad1277/tumblr_ox812vYOhw1qz9c5bo1_1280-1.jpg" data-mid="1331265" border="0" /> A program, we must remember, is both a programmer’s series of instructions to the computer, and the resulting program’s series of instructions to its users. &nbsp;The instructions to the computer are defined by syntax, while the instructions to the users are defined by user interfaces. In well-designed software, the instructions to the user tell a clear story of the world the programmer is trying to achieve, though the best ones tend to maintain some ambiguity. &nbsp;They tell a user to communicate publicly in 140 characters, or to edit an encyclopedia entry, but they don’t specify which characters or which entry. The magic happens when a well-told story meets an imaginative set of users. And so, the art of software becomes the art of coming up with a beautiful story of a world that could exist, and then telling that story in code (half of the story anyway) to the right set of users.To such people there is tremendous power, for programs are more direct than poetry. &nbsp;They act on the world. &nbsp;They give a framework not just for human thought, but for human behavior. The stories that these programmers tell, if they tell them well, are likely to become realities. Sep Kamvar  index Making SoftwareI’m best known for being a founding employee and Principal Engineer at Slack, which I left in 2023 after eleven great years. I helped... http://johnnyrodgers.is/home Mon, 20 Nov 2023 20:32:07 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 449941  index <img width="3266" height="4897" width_o="3266" height_o="4897" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/d1f610a9664b29df41432c33543e5b957378e2d898a010f5edda5a704782cac5/Ema-Peters-Camera-House.jpg" data-mid="1331260" border="0" /> <img width="3265" height="4898" width_o="3265" height_o="4898" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/5c4639019cee4e7624a220a833116a38fa2e482f657859a37c8cc75e4f1a84db/Ema-Peters-House-Photo.jpg" data-mid="1331261" border="0" /> Photographs by Ema PeterHome My wife and I built a modern home near Pemberton, BC. We worked with Leckie Studio and Western Craft. Building a modern home in the woodsThe process of building our home, from choosing the site to residency. To build our home A blog kept during the design and construction process. Project video by Dolf Vermeulen for Western Craft Drone footage taken by Topo Films before construction began.  index Photographs by Ema PeterHome My wife and I built a modern home near Pemberton, BC. We worked with Leckie Studio and Western Craft. Building a... http://johnnyrodgers.is/an-environmental-advocate Mon, 20 Nov 2023 20:17:08 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 449940  index Environmental AdvocacyI’m the chair of the Vancouver chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.<img width="4280" height="2071" width_o="4280" height_o="2071" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/8def8fd4eae5b5c7d917f7dda1014eea6367580dc9ba17595d278d8104c37d83/Vancouver-Chapter-Logo-Blue.png" data-mid="1350614" border="0" /> I’m involved in old-growth forest and ecosystem protection in British Columbia in support of the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Nature Based Solutions Foundation. I’m a supporter of The Narwhal – the best independent Canadian environmental journalism going. Posts about campaigns I’ve run and supported:  A new model for old forest protection &nbsp;Investing in our planet &nbsp;The word for world is forest &nbsp;On Earth A short film produced by the Nature Based Solutions Foundation about their approach to conservation financing. <img width="1949" height="1263" width_o="1949" height_o="1263" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/0cde187d1d45926d1ee9e873ed96fc4599b4a0489e34f091301aebed0cdafdc7/LayersOfTime-simplNEW-1.jpg" data-mid="1331247" border="0" />The layers of time – The Long Now Foundation  index Environmental AdvocacyI’m the chair of the Vancouver chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. I’m involved in old-growth forest and ecosystem... http://johnnyrodgers.is/writing Mon, 20 Nov 2023 20:04:38 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 449939  index Writing Right now I’m writing Building Slack with my friend Ali Rayl.&nbsp;Stories of building Slack — the company, the product, the business, and the culture — told by two employees who were around for the entire journey. <img width="1190" height="256" width_o="1190" height_o="256" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/2cda811383551e6f174a41933c46e319e5e6b31b063e509a2e7fed499ae27bd4/wide.png" data-mid="1350609" border="0" /> Some personal posts I’ve written when I had something I needed to say.Fulcrum Reflections on turning forty. Burnout Lessons learned from professional burnout. The death of Glitch Pivoting from a failed game to a unicorn startup. Kintore Memories from growing up in rural Ontario. A man on fireThe experience of being a first responder at a car accident. At home on the internetGetting online, going abroad, and coming back to where I started. Who belongs here A short story about a man, an alpaca, and a bear in the Canadian wilderness. So what is this mind of ours: what are these atoms with consciousness? Last week’s potatoes! They now can remember what was going on in my mind a year ago—a mind which has long ago been replaced. To note that the thing I call my individuality is only a pattern or dance, that is what it means when one discovers how long it takes for the atoms of the brain to be replaced by other atoms. The atoms come into my brain, dance a dance, and then go out—there are always new atoms, but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday. Richard Feynman <img width="500" height="500" width_o="500" height_o="500" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/b04949914b14a5f7ad24596144c081e0a63798cf148c7b00547fc60177bc750b/tumblr_n8z5n7pIXy1r2geqjo1_500-1.gif" data-mid="1331266" border="0" />  index Writing Right now I’m writing Building Slack with my friend Ali Rayl.&nbsp;Stories of building Slack — the company, the product, the business, and... http://johnnyrodgers.is/fulcrum Fri, 09 Jun 2023 05:51:49 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 444142  index Fulcrum No crises in sight – June 2023 I turn forty in a few months. Forty is an interesting one. It’s a reasonable checkpoint – call it halfway between birth and death. Hopefully not quite halfway, but you never know. Strangely (perhaps?) this doesn’t strike me as a scary thought.Coincidentally, I just left the job that has formed the core professional experience of my life so far. After riding the rapids of the tech industry for the past two decades, I’m taking this chance to “eddy out” for a while. <img width="3400" height="1819" width_o="3400" height_o="1819" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/583b2706b0d347b007574aa413754949fc56c704b1e8b0b52dbc7889b40ffc35/time-spent-with-relationships-by-age-us.png" data-mid="1293571" border="0" /> Who do we spend time with across our lifetime? My wife and I talk about “The Script.” Both children of the (early) 80s, we were taught the script by heart through popular culture and the conventions of our parents’ generation. Go to schoolFind a mateGet a jobGet marriedHave kidsBuy a houseSave for retirement...We were lucky – the script worked for us. Many of the main plot points in the script were accessible and desirable. But the script only takes you to a certain point before it runs out. After a while you have to start making up your own script. Reading your own meaning into the spaces between those plot points, or the ones you pencil in along the way.<img width="1550" height="1950" width_o="1550" height_o="1950" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/4228e03b0d708e5a48d490b9bde40dee1e658b49b42e1433dbd1a822a5c43476/Weeks-block-LIFE1.png" data-mid="1293574" border="0" /> Your life in weeks – Tim Urban Will you spend that time wisely? Who will you spend it with? Will you enjoy it? Will you challenge yourself? Will you continue to grow and change, and love the people in your life as they grow and change?How will you leave your mark on the world? How will you show up in your community? Who will you teach? Who will you follow? Will you be part of the cure or part of the disease?<img width="900" height="784" width_o="900" height_o="784" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/a944d601438377a751bb74d8106c5bde2f43fb9d804165af8ed878bbaa7fc111/251-2511746_inverted-parabola-svg-curve-line-clip-art.png" data-mid="1293577" border="0" /> I find myself poised between two generations. Ahead – my parents. In good physical and mental health, thankfully. But still: how many more years? A decade is planned for. Two decades would be wonderful. Three decades? Implausible at best. No matter how you cut it – less time ahead than behind for us to spend together.Behind – our children. Our two amazing boys, swiftly maturing into young men. Wrapped up with all of our hopes and fears. Still nestled in the cocoon of our home and constant attention. Our eldest will move out in a decade, and his little brother shortly thereafter. This period when they’re little – where they’re safe in our bubble – has an implacable countdown attached to it.In the middle: me. Caring for both and being cared for in return. One link on the infinite chain that extends back into deep time. In some ways I feel like I’m just getting started. In others I’m starting to recognize a decline for the first time. My eyes are certainly not getting any sharper. My beard is getting saltier by the day.The next ten years<img width="2080" height="1552" width_o="2080" height_o="1552" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/eb9610cd0f994cf760ad661f8232e3dbffce6c22a9f7278e9f12eb8c1ee0d762/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-11.41.23-PM.png" data-mid="1293578" border="0" /> I wrote this down on my last birthday, sitting at one of my favourite lunch places in Vancouver on a quiet sunny afternoon. I happened to open this notebook again last week. I couldn’t help but read into the fact that this was written at the midpoint of this particular notebook, the staples showing through. The next ten years... are the start of Act 2might be the last with Dadare the last with kids at homeare a chance to enjoy our luckwill renew a relationship to last a lifetime Creativelywrite and publishlearn to play music – I can play a little guitar and piano, but not well enough to meaningfully play music with and for others10,000 hours of woodworking – this is 20hrs/week for a decade Personallyfoster deeper friendshipssupport and grow with Jessbe a best friend to the boys Physicallybuild and maintainlive like you’re going to live to 100keep up to the kids Explorethe wild places: great American parks, the far North, Japan by foot –this is certainly only a narrow slice of the long list in my headbeauty: Costa Rica, New Zealand – some of the places I love besta year abroad Professionallybuild skills and follow interestsreturn to school?That seems like a lot, but 10 years is a long time after all. The common thread seems to be a lot of Type II fun. A lot of deepening. And an emphasis on presence in the slow now.It also doesn’t have much of anything to do with a next job. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a next job, but I really have no idea what it will be yet. One thing I do know is that it will emerge when it’s time. <img width="800" height="1137" width_o="800" height_o="1137" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/c46e18844b947d74eff5ad7a2d6ce8f2bcb3fb00461d2d14186fed1a68fbe9f9/Fisk-Meandering-Mississippi-River-Map-2-s.jpg" data-mid="1297195" border="0" /> The Mississippi meander map by Harold Fisk The primary feeling I have in this moment of suspension between childhood and old age, birth and death, is one of wonderment. Of beginning again.I’m here – alive, healthy, and happy. With enough experience to know how rare and valuable that is. On this one planet that implausibly exists in the cosmic void. With decades more in which to explore and learn. What more could you ask for? <img width="1151" height="1698" width_o="1151" height_o="1698" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/23f757cb82c35c07fa45dc5c4d852bd2f391566c59fca7bd6f23732608c20056/Screen-Shot-2023-06-26-at-9.11.41-AM.png" data-mid="1297199" border="0" /> <img width="1200" height="1762" width_o="1200" height_o="1762" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/3e121dda107729602c37a6c597c62db0392d771144d742e241cc956db45cc0b6/0V9A4071.jpg" data-mid="1297201" border="0" />  index Fulcrum No crises in sight – June 2023 I turn forty in a few months. Forty is an interesting one. It’s a reasonable checkpoint – call it halfway... http://johnnyrodgers.is/who-belongs-here Wed, 04 Jan 2023 05:39:44 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 436044  index <img width="697" height="1000" width_o="697" height_o="1000" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/86fcde492a47baef1952203f586f70e896908348836bafd332b603812f376a5d/JR_2.png" data-mid="1253661" border="0" data-scale="100"/> This is inspired by a true story a neighbour told me about a bear encounter. I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I decided to try to bring it to life with a short ficitonalized story. I hope you enjoy it. Painting by Jammie Mountz. Thank you to Geoffrey Cole and Dom Prevost for their feedback. – JR, January 2022 Who belongs here? To make a thief, make an owner; to create crime, create laws.Ursula K. Le Guin Robert Olsson had been awake for several hours. &nbsp; &nbsp; He rose well before dawn most days. He found he needed less sleep as he aged. Now nearing eighty, five or six hours was often enough – though these came broken throughout the night as he oscillated between wakefulness and shallow sleep. &nbsp; &nbsp; Rising from his bed, he left Elke sleeping under the duvet and padded barefoot into the hall. He ran his calloused hand along the beams of their log house as he found and descended the staircase in the dim light. The treads creaked under his familiar weight, echoed by his protesting joints. &nbsp; &nbsp; In the kitchen he rekindled the wood stove, its coals quiet but still warm. He added a few sticks of fir from the neat pile beside the firebox, then a split log of birch. A single long breath blown over the coals, and the fire sparked back into existence. He scooped grounds into the coffee maker and started the machine burbling. He sat, the cast iron doors of the stove open. The reborn fire gently warmed his feet. &nbsp; &nbsp; Outside, a clear April morning dawned. Long shadows draped across the low forest and small patches of cultivated land, clinging to the night's cool moisture. &nbsp; &nbsp; The dawn light warmed the imposing vertical face of the ridge looming over the valley, slowly turning it from grey-blue to peach, then ivory. As the sun climbed, the rolling contours of the farm revealed themselves. Songs of robins and the clarion calls of thrushes welcomed the new day. *** &nbsp; &nbsp; The Olssons had purchased the acreage four decades ago. A modest plot of heavily forested slope between the ridge and the river, efficiently logged and cleared for farming. Stables and tidy drive sheds were scattered among the small rectangular fields, housing animals and the machines used to maintain the property. &nbsp; &nbsp; Two log homes stood in commanding positions upslope from the farm at the treeline. One for Robert and Elke, the other for their children and grandchildren to share. They built the homes with the logs of the cedars they cleared from the land. Robert was rarely without a chainsaw, axe, or chisel and hammer in his hands in those days.&nbsp; &nbsp; Robert bought the land from a pair of men named Davis and Diekstra, who in turn bought the land from the Crown. The Crown stole the land from the indigenous Lil̓wat7úl people, who had lived there for longer than anyone knew how to count. The Crown quickly set down lines on maps so that they could convert nature into territory and territory into property.&nbsp; &nbsp; A fast-moving glacial river crossed these lines, wending through the valley of mixed forest and wetland. Douglas fir columns towered over tangled groves of cedar, in turn kept company by slow-growing hemlocks. Where the shallow-rooted firs had blown down, tight clusters of birch and alder sprang up and just as rapidly began to die from the top down, making inviting apartment blocks for woodpeckers and the insects they ate. &nbsp; &nbsp; Ravens surveilled the premises from their lofty position in the treetops, coasting on the air currents that flowed in the sky above the river below. Lichen and fungi reclaimed everything that fell to the forest floor. *** That spring of ‘98, the Olssons were occupied with a new endeavour: alpaca farming. The crown jewel of their enterprise had just arrived – a beautiful young herd sire named Hot Shot. &nbsp; &nbsp; Hot Shot had been awarded First Overall at the Northwest Alpaca Showcase. The judges remarked upon the exceptional fineness, uniformity, and density of his rich red-brown coat. Particular attention was paid to the consistency of the crimp. His fleece was rated Superior and given a perfect score. This result, combined with Hot Shot's excellent lineage, set a high price for the juvenile stud. He would fetch $15,000 at auction. &nbsp; &nbsp; By the time he arrived at the farm that price had grown by a third to include the cost of import permits into Canada, veterinary assessments and certifications, transport fees, and the necessary documentation of his lineage and award showing. &nbsp; &nbsp; He joined the Olssons’ small flock of five female alpacas: Cloud, Chestnut, Coral, Candy, and Chipmunk. He would be tasked with passing his consistently-crimped mahogany fur down to the next generation of the herd.*** The family welcomed the new animal as the snows were melting in the valley.&nbsp; &nbsp; Robert's granddaughter Josie pulled on his collar and leaned eagerly toward Hot Shot with her stubby fingers. Robert sidled along the fence to give her better access to the animal from her perch in his arms. She promptly gripped a fistful of the alpaca's densely curled fur. She squealed exuberantly, making her grandfather wince and smile with the special indulgence he reserved for his youngest daughter's youngest daughter. &nbsp; &nbsp; Fortunately for Josie, alpacas are tolerant of small fingers and the children that wield them. Hot Shot sniffed patiently at her and awaited more raisins. Robert scooped another handful from the pocket of his jacket and eased them into the toddler's unoccupied hand. &nbsp; &nbsp; She released her claim on Hot Shot's neck and gravely offered the sweets to him, her round eyes intent and serious. The animal gently accepted her offering, snuffling the food from her tiny palm. This elicited another ear-piercing squeal of delight from the girl. Little puffs of her excited breath hung in the chill air, illuminated by sunlight. &nbsp; &nbsp; Upon Hot Shot's arrival, the farm also invested in a guard llama. Larger and rather more surly than their furry cousins, llamas have a reputation as unpleasant obstacles to anything that might consider making a meal of an alpaca. The older Olsson grandchildren named him Falcor. His bushy white-grey brow hooded his expressive eyes, lending him a dignity only slightly diminished by his ridiculous protruding jaw. He had cost the farm an additional $4,000. &nbsp; &nbsp; While Hot Shot endeavoured to grow the family herd, Falcor and Yeti – the family's beloved Great Pyrenees – would keep watch. The wilderness surrounding the farm was home to many creatures, particularly black-tailed deer and the wolves, cougars, and bears who hunted them. *** The coffee machine mumbled and sputtered to the conclusion of its morning routine. Robert put on his wool sweater, battered work jacket, heavy socks and boots. He poured his coffee – black with brown sugar – and took his mug out to survey the fields. &nbsp; &nbsp; Yeti was right outside the door in the enclosed veranda. He whined and wove his bulky body around Robert's legs, jostling his coffee and almost knocking him down. He shooed the old dog away with one boot and maneuvered through the door. Robert usually found the huge dog dozing in one of the wicker chairs at this time of the morning, his masses of fluffy white fur making him look like a pile of sheepskins or perhaps a warm snow drift. Yeti was perturbed. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert shook the dog off and went through the outer door down toward the driveway and the pasture gate. As he neared the stable he understood Yeti's mood. Part of the fence was askew, two posts lying on the ground with the adjoining wire mesh slumping down between them. The stable door was open. He stepped in and found the female alpacas huddled in a corner, Falcor beside them. &nbsp; &nbsp; Hot Shot was nowhere to be seen. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert searched the stable once more, then returned to the pasture. He scanned the field, one hand raised against the rising sun. He cursed under his breath. He must not have secured the door properly last night. Returning to the stable, he looked at the llama with a silent accusation. The llama returned his glare placidly, chewing his cud in a sedate rhythm. Yeti wagged his tail weakly and whined. &nbsp; &nbsp; Shaking his head, Robert set out to search the fields. The morning dew lay heavy on the spring grass as it pushed through the brown remains of last year's pasture. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, Robert returned to the downed fence. He lifted one of the posts, grunting with the effort, then let it fall. He stood staring at the disordered edge of his property, feet now heavy and cold in his field-muddied boots. &nbsp; &nbsp; He gazed at the edge of the dark forest, where the bright open field of his neat pasture shifted abruptly to a dense tangle of undergrowth. Heavy conifers and spindly cottonwoods swayed in the light breeze above the forest floor. &nbsp; &nbsp; Just beyond the fence he spotted a tuft of red-brown wool on a snag of wood. Yeti sniffed the ground and barked with excitement, looking toward the forest and back to Robert. There was blood on the grass. The blood of his $20,000 herd sire with perfectly crimped fur. &nbsp; &nbsp; Gritting his teeth, Robert closed his eyes and cursed again. He called for Yeti to heel and set off back to the house. *** Robert banged open the kitchen door and entered, muddy boots still on. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Robert?" Elke called down the stairs, her voice groggy. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Something's taken the new animal," he said, voice pitched to carry up to her. &nbsp; &nbsp; He heard her questioning response, but didn't stop as he proceeded to the den where he kept his shotgun. He unlocked the case, retrieved the Winchester and a handful of buckshot shells, and turned back to the kitchen. Elke stood there in her nightgown, her still-long grey hair braided over her shoulder. &nbsp; &nbsp; "What's happened?" She asked. "Why do you have that?" She retained a slight accent of her Swedish heritage, mellowed by her many decades in Canada. She was swiftly shedding the confusion of sleep and mounting her usual matter-of-fact manner. She arched her eyebrows suspiciously at her husband. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Something's taken Hot Shot," he said. &nbsp; &nbsp; "What do you mean?" &nbsp; &nbsp; "Into the forest." &nbsp; &nbsp; "He's not in the fields?" &nbsp; &nbsp; "No. I'm going to find him." &nbsp; &nbsp; "Let me call William." &nbsp; &nbsp; William was their daughter Johanna's husband. He lived with Jo and their granddaughter Josie in the second house on the farm. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Don't bother William." Robert said, turning toward the door. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Robert, you haven't fired that gun in years." Elke said, trying another tack as he walked by her. "Calm down, for heaven's sake." &nbsp; &nbsp; He continued out the door and back toward the stable, Yeti close behind. Elke looked skyward and reached for the telephone on the kitchen wall. *** Robert entered the forest beyond the broken fence and followed a trail of disturbance through the woods. Broken branches, disturbed leaf litter, and scrapes in the moss beds and occasional lingering patches of snow led up the slope toward the cliff face. Yeti's nose, close to the forest floor, confirmed what was obvious to see: the alpaca had been dragged across the ground. &nbsp; &nbsp; As Robert got farther into the woods, he lost sight of the sunny pasture behind him. The sounds of birdsong and breeze from the valley receded and fell silent. He stopped in a clearing ringed by young cedar trees and listened. &nbsp; &nbsp; A long moment passed. Yeti let out a keening whine, then a series of sharp barks.&nbsp; &nbsp; For the first time Robert reconsidered the wisdom of his wife's arguments. He loaded a shell into his single-barrel shotgun and aimed at the patch of sky in the tree canopy above him. He fired, startling a nearby pair of Steller's Jays. They cawed in irritation and flew swiftly to a distant perch. The sound of the shot echoed back from the ridge, and again from across the valley. &nbsp; &nbsp; He reloaded and carried on. *** Yeti sniffed and circled, his nose to the ground. Robert, breathing heavily, reached the dog and saw a series of large tracks. Wider than they were long, with five pointed claw marks&nbsp; in the snow. A bear had taken Hot Shot. Black bear. No grizzlies in this range of mountains. &nbsp; &nbsp; Most people in the area dismissed black bears as a nuisance. They broke fruit trees and alarmed the neighbourhood pets. But every few years someone would lose livestock. Often to a cougar, but sometimes to an aggressive bear. A bear large enough to drag a 150 pound alpaca over a fence and half a kilometre uphill through the woods. &nbsp; &nbsp; They reached another small clearing after following the trail for some time, and found Hot Shot &nbsp; &nbsp; It had been a bad night for the young alpaca. The prize animal was partially eaten, his organs devoured. His neck and hindquarters were brutally mauled. What remained of the animal was an ugly mess of fur, blood, and bone. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert looked up from the gruesome remains, his face a rictus of anger and disbelief. &nbsp; &nbsp; He felt the creeping tension in his forearms and the wideness in his eyes, cold fear awakening to replace the heat of his anger. The primal recognition of wild violence. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert's breathing was ragged from the uphill climb, the discovery of Hot Shot, and the weight of his many decades. He could feel his pulse heavy in his ears and fingers as he gripped the gun. Yeti was anxious, his tongue lolling and eyes rolling. &nbsp; &nbsp; Turning slowly in a circle, Robert watched and listened in tightly controlled fear. The bear could not be far away. The woods dilated giddily with the possibility of the predator's presence. &nbsp; &nbsp; A sudden movement overhead made both man and dog snap their heads upward. The same Jays, flickering between the high boughs, scolded the intruders with their strident caws. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert waited a long moment, then turned to head back down the slope. As he arrived at the fence, he met William walking toward him down the driveway. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Elke called," William said. "Did you find anything?" &nbsp; &nbsp; "Come help me clean it up and you'll see," Robert said. &nbsp; &nbsp; The two men and the dog walked back to the house. They passed Falcor and the female alpacas munching their breakfast in the pasture, bathed in morning sun. They appeared to have gotten over their shock. *** "We can call the Conservation Office," William said. "They'll destroy the bear." William sat at the kitchen table with the coffee Elke had poured him. &nbsp; &nbsp; "They'll come in a few days,” William continued. “I can take care of it if you like, Bob." Elke nodded briskly in agreement. &nbsp; &nbsp; "In a few days we won't have any alpacas left." Robert replied after fixing William with a grim look. He liked his son-in-law well enough, but disliked his reliance on others to solve problems. When a tractor broke down on the farm, William would call a mechanic before trying to fix it. When the woodshed got low, William would call for a delivery rather than start the chainsaw. Elke said he was practical. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Dad, what else are you going to do? Go bear hunting?" Johanna asked in exasperation. She bumped Josie on her knee, scooping porridge toward her. The toddler fended off the spoon, successfully avoiding the bite. Jo persevered and managed to get most of the next spoonful in. The little girl wiped the rest into her curly hair and babbled. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert furrowed his brow and said nothing, turning to look out the kitchen window toward the fields. Jo looked at her mother, who gently shook her head, then at William. He spread his hands in a silent shrug. Josie pounded the table with her tiny fists and grinned. &nbsp; &nbsp; "The bear will come back," Robert said. "He will want another meal." Robert was certain of this. He would make sure no other members of his flock were dragged into the woods.*** They buried Hot Shot at the western edge of the farm. Robert and William dragged the remains out of the woods on a tarp, loaded it into a wheelbarrow, and dug the grave with spades from the drive shed. &nbsp; &nbsp; Each shovel of dirt taken out of the earth felt heavy with defeat to Robert. He looked at the poor alpaca's remains and saw the months of effort and thousands of dollars they'd invested to bring him to the farm. Each shovelful thrown back on the animal's body stung like salt in the wound. He said nothing as they finished and William returned the tools to the shed. His back ached. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Do you think you'll replace him?" William asked as they repaired the downed fence later that afternoon. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "We've missed the season for this spring," Robert said. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Maybe next year," William ventured. Robert nodded, though without much conviction. William finished hammering the post down into the hole they had dug in the earth. The fence was no worse for wear and back in its place. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Coffee?" William suggested. "Beer," Robert replied. They walked back to the house. *** That night Robert set watch. Down the pasture from the stable a small earthen-floored shed sat at the juncture of two fences. It was used to store tools, feed troughs, bits of fencing and wood, baling twine, and the many other sundries that accumulated on the farm. It smelled of hay, soil, and animals. It had a view of both the stable and the forest beyond. &nbsp; &nbsp; It was cold. The golden promise of that morning's dawn was long gone, chased by the shadows of the valley and the chill night air. It would likely frost tonight. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert was dressed head to toe in woollen layers. His long johns, insulated winter boots, fisherman's sweater and quilted jacket had felt warm inside the house. He had dressed while Elke tried to reason with him. &nbsp; &nbsp; "Robert, it's freezing out there. Lock the stable and come to bed." She was dressed in her own warm clothes, her arms crossed. "This isn't the frontier any more and you can't just shoot any animal you like." &nbsp; &nbsp; "I'll be fine, Elke. It's only a little cold." He said as he pulled on a second wool sweater. He could see that his efforts to placate her were not working. &nbsp; &nbsp; "But you do not need to do it yourself. We can call the conservation office, like William said, and be done with it. You are not so young now." She was right, but he could not explain to her that such reasons would not change his mind. &nbsp; &nbsp; The bulky clothes felt heavy on his frame now. His thick toque was pulled down to his eyebrows. His breath curled in the air before his face. &nbsp; &nbsp; He gazed across the pasture toward the dark shadow of the forest. Yeti dozed at his feet. The stable was closed and locked. Robert sat with his gun, loaded and leaning against the corner of the shed, looking out the top half of the building’s Dutch door. &nbsp; &nbsp; The night was clear and windless. Before midnight a half moon rose, faintly illuminating the valley with its serene glow. It climbed in a graceful arc across the southern sky. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert shifted on his stool. It grew colder. He sipped from the dented thermos of coffee he had brought to keep himself warm and alert. His knees throbbed. &nbsp; &nbsp; He dimly remembered stories his grandfather had told him. Of awaiting the wolves to come at night in the snowy expanse of the taiga in Sweden. Stories told by the fire when Robert was a small child. Of watching and waiting to protect his family's herd of cattle. In his mind's eye his grandfather sat alone on a mountaintop, gun aimed and ready, peering down the barrel at a lone wolf on a frozen lake. But there were no mountains where his grandfather was from. And Sweden had few wolves these days. &nbsp; &nbsp; He drifted near the edge of sleep, then shivered awake. The moon finished its traverse of the stars and sank swiftly behind the mountains at the western edge of the valley. &nbsp; &nbsp; The bear did not appear. Whether aware of his presence, or simply full from devouring Hot Shot, he wasn't sure. As the sky imperceptibly lightened and the birds began their dawn chorus, Robert returned to the house. He unloaded his gun, pocketing the shells, then laid it and his jacket down beside the door, barely able to stay upright as he removed his stiff boots. He climbed the stairs slowly, fell into bed, and slept. *** "You know you don't have to do everything yourself, Dad." Johanna said as they walked slowly down the gravel road behind Josie and Yeti that afternoon. The huge dog waited patiently as the meandering toddler investigated mud puddles, panting in the sunshine under his heavy winter coat. The trees remained bare along the roadside, their spring buds just beginning to show. &nbsp; &nbsp; "And besides, the bear is just hungry and following its nature, right?" She looked at Robert, a slight challenge in her eyes. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert shook his head, though not to refute what his daughter said. "Yes, and it's my right to protect my investment," he answered. &nbsp; &nbsp; "It's not the bear's fault that people bring helpless livestock into the mountains," she said, ignoring his argument. "And then are surprised when they get eaten." Johanna sighed and coaxed Josie out of a puddle which was threatening to reach the tops of her boots. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert didn't answer. They walked another few minutes in silence. &nbsp; &nbsp; "William called the Conservation Officer this morning." Johanna said. "He said they've had a few reports of livestock being taken, as they usually do this time of year. He'll come tomorrow." His daughter didn't meet Robert's eye as she told him of his son-in-law's mutiny. &nbsp; &nbsp; "I wish you and your mother would just let me handle it." Robert scowled, knowing after a lifetime of experience that this was among the more foolish wishes he might make. Johanna picked up her daughter and turned to her father. &nbsp; &nbsp; "It's okay, Dad. They'll take care of it and we'll be back to normal. We can find another alpaca." She squeezed his arm and continued down the road. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert hunched his shoulders and followed, reflecting as he often had that his youngest daughter had inherited a double helping of stubbornness from her parents. *** Robert resumed his watch that evening. Gravid clouds obscured the moon, which showed only in brief glimmers. Robert stood and paced to warm himself. Tonight he had replaced the coffee thermos with a hip flask. He took a nip of whiskey, bracing himself and warming his throat and belly.&nbsp; &nbsp; A barred owl hooted its distinctive unearthly call. It repeated several times, then quieted. Yeti sniffed at the shed door and resettled himself, wrapping the fluff of his long tail across his nose. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert gripped his gun and grimaced at the dark field before him. He didn't want the conservation officer here. He could take care of the problem. The officers he'd encountered over the years never seemed to make situations better, with their flat expressions and idling trucks.&nbsp; &nbsp; He thought again of his wife and daughter. He didn't feel any different than he had when he and Elke had bought the land all those years ago. They had been young and ignorant of what they were getting into, and completely captivated by the idea of converting a piece of land into a farm and a home. Of living surrounded by this magnificent wilderness.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; What did his age have to do with a bear taking his alpaca? And who could argue that he shouldn't protect what was his? There were plenty more bears in the woods. *** It began to snow. The heavy flakes silently filled the valley, obscuring the ridge and blurring the forest. Robert peered into the flurry and listened to the far-off rush of the river. All other sounds were muted. &nbsp; &nbsp; Within half an hour the field was lightly carpeted, turning the grassy hummocks from mottled shadow into a blank canvas reflecting the glow of the broken moonlight. The yellow porch light from the farm house glowed dimly far up the hill, beckoning him back to a place of warmth and safety. He took another sip from his flask. &nbsp; &nbsp; The sky began to lighten softly, the black shroud of clouds overhead becoming faintly visible with the first hints of dawn. The world slowly expanded to encompass a wide grey landscape, gauzy with the snowfall. &nbsp; &nbsp; A movement at the forest's edge made Robert sit upright. A low bulky shadow separated from the larger deepness of the woods and made its way out onto the blanket of snow. It snuffled at the ground near the fence. The bear stood and began to climb a post unhurriedly. On its rear legs it stood a full head above the fence. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert froze. He clutched his gun and watched. Now the bear was here he found his certainty had evaporated. The bear easily scaled and descended the fence, nimbly easing itself down into the field. It moved out into the open expanse of snow. &nbsp; &nbsp; The animal was heavily built. Its long head ranged from side to side on its powerful neck as it moved forward. On stocky legs it took shambling strides across the uneven ground. Its broad, thickly furred back swayed with the motion of its black body. Small plumes of steam rose from its nose as it puffed and smelled the air in the dim light. A large, solitary male, hungry from a long winter. &nbsp; &nbsp; The bear stopped halfway across the field. It raised its head and looked toward the shed. Robert held his breath and cursed silently, suddenly remembering the sensitivity of a bear's sense of smell. Of course it knew he was there. He had chosen his vantage point for the perspective it offered him, not thinking about what the bear would see and smell.&nbsp; &nbsp; The sting of foolishness almost overcame his fear. What was he doing here? Why wasn't he in his warm bed beside his warm wife? Why did he think himself a match for this animal? Yeti stood still and alert at Robert’s side. No doubt he could smell the bear as well. &nbsp; &nbsp; The snow fell silently. The bear remained still. It peered his way, seeming not to feel the same uncertainty churning his own thoughts. Instead it waited, patient and unbothered, its nose flexing at the end of its brown-furred nose, its head tipped up slightly. Even while still the mass of its body conveyed its strength. Robert stayed rigid, facing the bear across the field. It looked at ease in the gentle pre-dawn snow. An ancient resident of the land. &nbsp; &nbsp; After a long moment, the bear appeared to dismiss him – or at least the smell of him. Robert could not tell if it could see him, shrouded as he was in the shadows of the shed. It turned to move up the hill toward the stable. Toward Robert's herd. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert gathered his nerve and aimed his gun. He sighted along the barrel in the dim light and put his cold gloveless finger on the trigger. The bear was drawing closer to the stable, tracking uphill. Robert held his breath and fired. &nbsp; &nbsp; He missed.&nbsp; &nbsp; The bear flinched at the sound and hunched down, then veered back toward him, dipping its head and taking several quick strides in an abbreviated charge. It huffed and blew a stream of hot breath from its muzzle, stopping in a small cloud of snow and steam. It looked in his direction, seeming to gauge the effect of its bluff. &nbsp; &nbsp;Yeti barked wildly and charged past Robert. The dog forced the shed door open with his massive body and bolted across the field toward the bear.&nbsp; &nbsp; “Yeti! Get back here!” Robert yelled. &nbsp; &nbsp; The bear growled and slapped its front paws on the ground as the dog reached it. Yeti barked and circled the bear, who half-reared on its hind legs in response to the sudden appearance of the dog. &nbsp; &nbsp;Robert fumbled to reload his shotgun, still yelling at Yeti to come. The shell slipped from his cold hand into the snow. Robert grasped another shell from his pocket as he stepped out into the field. This time he managed to load it into the barrel. &nbsp; &nbsp; The bear paced and puffed from side to side as Yeti harrassed it, ignoring Robert’s cries. Robert approached the skirmishing animals, shouting as he got closer.&nbsp; &nbsp;Yeti closed with the bear, lunging at its hindquarters. The bear retreated, then turned as Yeti circled again and landed a swipe that knocked the huge dog on its side. Another swipe opened savage claw marks across the dog’s belly. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert raised the gun to his shoulder, his heart beating swiftly. He felt the sting of tears in his eyes. &nbsp; &nbsp; He held his breath, aimed, and fired. The bear bellowed and twisted away, retreating quickly back across the field. It stumbled slightly as it approached the fence, favouring its front leg, then scrambled over it in one awkward leap and was gone. Yeti lay still. &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert let out a shuddering breath. He waited several moments, then walked across the field. He knelt beside Yeti and stroked his mighty head. The dog whined and licked Robert’s hand gently.&nbsp; &nbsp; The sky lightened toward morning. There was blood on the new-fallen snow. *** They buried Yeti beside Hot Shot. Little Josie laid a small posy of spring crocus and snowdrops on his grave. Robert held Elke and looked on, feeling immense weariness. Johanna patted her father’s arm and laid her head on his shoulder, tears seeping from her eyes. &nbsp; &nbsp; A week later the Conservation Officer returned to the farm. Robert and his son-in-law had tried to follow the bear, but did not find it after the small trail of blood disappeared into the forest. They had seen no sign of it since.&nbsp; &nbsp; The trap the officer laid had likewise failed to attract the bear. Robert watched him retrieve the trap, load it into his truck and drive slowly down the driveway. William waved to the officer as he passed. &nbsp; &nbsp; The two men returned to their work. A new electric fence for the pasture.  index This is inspired by a true story a neighbour told me about a bear encounter. I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I decided to try to bring it to... http://johnnyrodgers.is/The-death-of-Glitch-the-birth-of-Slack Thu, 17 Nov 2022 08:22:47 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 433761  index <img width="571" height="355" width_o="571" height_o="355" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/88b0402b9e319f66832463ebd4ad6f4a38d73e4dce768b56534076a592d13cef/sad_glitch_girl.v1520324239.jpg" data-mid="1240403" border="0" /> The death of Glitch, the birth of Slack November 2012 “We have to shut down the game.” Stewart Butterfield said to me. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked exhausted. The result of years of long days and short nights pouring all of his substantial creative energy into Tiny Speck and the game it was conceived to create: Glitch.&nbsp; He also looked resolved. He had tried every option he could think of to keep Glitch alive: alpha and beta releases, launches and unlaunches, new features, a completely overhauled new player experience, elaborate collaborative modes of play, invite campaigns, generous credits to existing players, and clever storytelling in the press.&nbsp; None of it was enough. The quirky game populated by a far-flung community of players had absorbed his time since 2009. The company had attracted a team of 40 artists, engineers, game designers, animators, musicians, writers and in-game guides to build and tend to the world we had collectively imagined. <img width="191" height="202" width_o="191" height_o="202" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/6800e2388f5cff5cf265c8421b59967eed56a567af17f6cccf30f259d6cbb26e/npc_forehorseman__x1_idle_quality10_positioned_loop_1354918064.gif" data-mid="1240407" border="0" /> It was now late 2012. On a chilly November morning, Stewart and I walked along the seawall in the politely trendy neighbourhood of Yaletown. I was surprised by his invitation when I arrived at work that morning – I had joined the company 8 months earlier and was not accustomed to walks with our charismatic CEO. He explained that despite all of our efforts, there just wasn’t a viable business for Glitch. It was expensive to build and keep online, and we had not attracted enough players to bear that expense. Moreover, with the rise of smartphones and the incompatibility of our Flash-based game with mobile, we didn’t have an easy way to meet new players where they were spending their casual gaming time. “If we keep going as we are, we’ll burn through the rest of our money in a few months and be left with nothing to show for it,” Stewart explained. We walked in silence for a few paces, the low clouds dull and drizzling overhead. I hunched into my rain jacket as I realized what this meant. My colleagues and I without a job. Tens of thousands of players abandoned. Hundreds of thousands of hours of collective creative work lost. Another failed startup. Fuck. “But if we stop now, we can use that money to build something else,” Stewart went on. “I think the tools we’ve built internally could be useful to other people.” “Our IRC server?” I asked, feeling a combination of skepticism and confusion. Why would a game company make chat software? And why would anyone pay for the unpolished conglomeration of tools we had glued together to solve our own problems? <img width="108" height="94" width_o="108" height_o="94" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/f91d5104a7c85b7b93a118841479f389768503e523bef1f1cbd63dcccd286164/npc_yoga_frog_box_none_variant_frogRed_x1_warriorPoseIn_x6_warriorPose_x1_warriorPoseOut_x2_idle_quality1_positioned_loop_1354991369.gif" data-mid="1240408" border="0" /> When I joined the company, I’d been given a crash course in how we worked together on my first day. No email. Everything happened in IRC: a chat protocol from the late 80s. We had a server set up with channels based on topics of discussion: #general for company-wide chat, #deploys for new code releases, #support-hose for inbound customer support requests, and so on. Alongside this we added a few other things we needed. A simple FTP server which posted uploads into the #files channel. A system that wrote our chat logs to a database so we could search them and read old archives. A set of integrations that posted updates from other systems into IRC: whenever a new user signed up for Glitch, or bought credits, or wrote in for support, it showed up in a channel. Whenever we deployed code, or got a new review on the App Store, or tweeted from our Twitter account, it showed up in a channel. Taken together, this allowed us to communicate in real-time, share files, find anything we’d ever talked about at the company, and keep track of everything happening with the business – all while avoiding the unique 21st-century hell of email reply chains and fragmented organizational knowledge. At first it felt awkward, but within a couple weeks I couldn’t imagine using anything else. It was a system only a nerd could love. It was quirky and technical. Most things didn’t have a GUI – instead displaying everything in text. You had to set up your own clients or bookmark webpages for each of the subsystems. It was held together with custom scripts and cron jobs and ugly SQL queries. It worked just well enough to serve our needs, but no more. Every ounce of energy we had was going into trying to make the game successful. These tools were a means to an end. Without missing a beat, Stewart launched into a reasonably well-rehearsed pitch. “It’s all your team’s communication in one place, synced, searchable, and available wherever you go.” With one system we would replace email and basic file hosting, and allow a single point of integration for all of a team’s messaging needs: both between humans and between people and computers. “We’ll get rid of all the stuff we’ve duct-taped together and start fresh, but keep everything we’ve learned,” he said. “I’m thinking of calling it Slack,” he added, making a gesture as though gently pulling and loosening a string between his thumbs and forefingers. “We can come up with a better name later.” <img width="58" height="71" width_o="58" height_o="71" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/08872de3412f62c7b6cf8f149f82aff5f3b4267c0a21da346838dfe524343584/npc_squid_variant_squidBlue_x1_move_quality10_loop_1355429392.gif" data-mid="1240411" border="0" /> Stewart and his co-founders Cal Henderson, Eric Costello, and Serguei Mourachov had made up their minds to close the game and embark on something entirely different. He had already pitched this idea to our investors and they were on board – a sign of their continued belief in his leadership and track record of correctly predicting trends. It sounded crazy to me. But I had also seen enough in my brief time working with the four of them to sense that if anyone could pull it off, it might be this group. “We’re asking a few people to stay on. I’d like you to join us.” Lacking anything insightful to say, or any other handy job offers, I accepted. “Good. But before that, let’s get a web page up so that we can get everybody another job.” <img width="155" height="211" width_o="155" height_o="211" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/8c862443f3f244ab1348285f5a5f985fe019cb6bf14a44f03a5f854e4ba78ddc/npc_cooking_vendor__x1_walk_right_quality10_loop_1355206864.gif" data-mid="1240404" border="0" /> Glitch was an unusual, clever, heartfelt game. Within the realm of Ur, dreamt by eleven magical Giants, players created playful new identities for themselves. They designed and clothed their avatars to their heart’s content, delighting in new hats and a rainbow of possible skin tones. They crafted working music boxes and decorated their architecturally-unlikely homes. They planted and grew gardens and milked the local butterflies. They collected pull-string dolls of modern philosophers – including plausible Nietzche and Wittgenstein quotations. They climbed into enormous dinosaurs, passing through their reptilian intestines and out of their helpfully sign-posted butts. It was, in a word, preposterous. It also meant a great deal to those who discovered and adopted it. It was an online place with a unique community. Glitch’s players identified with the game’s pervasive sense of humour, its gentle pace, and its weirdness. Mostly, they identified with each other and came to pass the time and make something new together. There was no way to win the game. And because of that, you couldn’t lose. <img width="105" height="110" width_o="105" height_o="110" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/cabad164a7ceaa8ed45ae46b4b2ba2a7d5da8efcef92c5a359f865c5dfcfee2d/npc_crab__x1_like_off_quality10_loop_1354830394.gif" data-mid="1240410" border="0" /> It was Butterfield’s second attempt to make an online game. In 2002, he and the co-founders of Ludicorp had launched Game Neverending, a similarly lighthearted game that allowed players to traverse a simple map, visiting obscure locations and leaving notes for others. It built on the mechanics of earlier eras of text-based networked games, but focused on the emerging possibilities of new spaces for social online play. Though Game Neverending and its esoteric goals were shelved after a couple years, an offshoot of the effort would lead to the team’s first major commercial success: Flickr. In the early aughts, the combination of growing availability of consumer-grade digital cameras and home internet connections provided an opportunity. Flickr was created to allow people to upload and share their photos on the web – something taken for granted today but novel at the time. This was an era before the dominance of social networks (Facebook had yet to hatch across American college campuses) and smartphones (three years before the iPhone, when most Blackberries had abysmal cameras and worse cellular bandwidth). Recognizing this opportunity and sensing the transformative potential of popular access to digital photography, Butterfield and the Ludicorp team launched Flickr in early 2004. Digital photographers flocked to the platform, rapidly making it one of the largest photo-sharing sites on the web. They built enduring communities around camera gear and common interests. People tagged their photos, added annotations, and – miraculously by today’s standards – had substantive and generally positive conversations in comment threads. For a while, Flickr became the de facto photo layer of the internet: powering blogs, institutional collections, and enabling pro photographers to share their work in full resolution. The combination of timeliness, superb user-centered product design, and the nurturing of a new community resulted in a hit. Flickr became an essential part of the “Web 2.0” renaissance in the wake of the dot-com bubble. Flickr’s success quickly attracted acquisition attention from other consumer Internet companies: Yahoo most of all. In 2005, Yahoo acquired Flickr for about $25 million dollars, incorporating it into their eclectic portfolio of web services and replacing the nascent Yahoo Photos product. For a period, Flickr continued to grow and thrive, rapidly expanding to tens of millions of users. The growing prominence of smartphone cameras brought a new type of mobile-first photography to the platform, and the continued investment in the community by pros using high-end gear cemented the site’s importance for serious photographers. The site’s “Interestingness” algorithm surfaced the most compelling content to draw in new users. <img width="84" height="63" width_o="84" height_o="63" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/aab50b83657f42775d351e785b94e07fc39fcae057f34240a94d41605f95c640/npc_piggy_explorer__x1_walk_quality10_loop_1355427334.gif" data-mid="1240406" border="0" /> But Butterfield was miserable. Yahoo’s idiosyncratic and sprawling set of online properties and incoherent response to changing trends left Flickr adrift. Yahoo’s search business was being decimated as Google’s engine redefined online search. Two enormous shifts in people’s online behaviour – to social media and mobile phones – were largely missed by Yahoo. Sharing and tagging photos on Facebook became one of its killer features, and the centerpiece of much of its early viral growth. Flickr’s position in the marketplace was reduced as these trends swept the Internet and drove people’s attention away from websites toward social networks and apps. As soon as his vesting period was up, Butterfield left Yahoo, penning a legendary resignation letter criticizing the company’s strategic disorganization with his signature sardonic wit. “I don’t know what you and the other executives have planned for this company, but I know that my ability to contribute has dwindled to near-nothing, and not entirely because of my advancing age,” Butterfield wrote. “I will be spending more time with my family, tending to my small but growing alpaca herd and, of course, getting back to working with tin, my first love.” Five years after launching Flickr, Butterfield found himself back in Vancouver. Shortly thereafter, his co-founders Cal Henderson, Eric Costello, and Serguei Mourachov would leave Yahoo to join him in his new venture: the humbly named Tiny Speck. This time, he thought, they would make the game work.<img width="1388" height="632" width_o="1388" height_o="632" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/2a849885af0ad0f34995b6aa66c7aac58ec0f39399225717efa27a9597898f6e/Screen-Shot-2022-11-17-at-1.06.37-AM.png" data-mid="1240413" border="0" /> When Stewart and I arrived back in the office that November morning in 2012, I looked around at my colleagues. As a gaming startup, hours were characteristically shifted. Many folks preferred to work late and sleep in, nursing productivity out of the creative hours after sunset. I hung my rain-beaded jacket beside the enormous amethyst geode that stood by the front door. Stewart bee-lined for his office to prepare himself for the announcement he was about to make. I went to the small kitchen for coffee, listening to chatter about the new user experience we’d recently released, and the upcoming features the team was working on. The office – cluttered with video game figurines and toys, art sketches on the walls, and a model of Glitch’s evil Rook hanging from the ceiling – felt surreal and sad. I thought about the people in our San Francisco office going about their day, and the same weight the company’s co-founder Cal Henderson would be carrying there. I sat at my desk and began to think about the task Stewart had set: he wanted to make sure everyone had a job. He had convinced dozens of people to join him in making Glitch – asking some of them to move around the world – and felt direct responsibility for their well-being now that we were shutting the game down. What he had in mind was simple: we’d call it “Hire a Genius” and list the photo, skillset, and contact information for everyone at the company. We would pair a link to this page with all of our closure announcements and press. I got to work building it out, dropping in my colleague’s photos and adding the info I had available. We’d fill in the rest later, once everyone knew they were now on the job market. <img width="76" height="56" width_o="76" height_o="56" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/041733c9564cf7e127b396677b671494c934bdf0c3ddc9404ecb7b9fcc3699a6/npc_dustbunny__x1_walk_quality10_loop_1355342894.gif" data-mid="1240412" border="0" /> It wasn’t long before Stewart called us together. The SF office dialed in to the big TV in the lounge, and co-founder Eric Costello called in from his home in New York. Forty or so faces turned expectantly to Butterfield. The emotion in his voice was apparent from his first words. “This is a horrible day, and I’m so sorry,” he said. Realization spread across people’s faces as they understood. Stewart explained why we had reached the end of the road, and what we had to do next. We would announce the closure of the game to our players, sharing a FAQ to answer their most urgent questions. We would refund all purchases in the game dating back over the past year. We would put up the hiring page for everyone interested, and make calls and introductions on their behalf to find new work. We would release all of the game’s assets – including code, artwork and music – into the public domain. The team’s response was emotional: shocked and sad, overwhelmed and confused. As the reality of the situation settled in, some degree of relief was also apparent. Many of Glitch’s staff had been pouring their heart and soul into the game for years without finding that magic alchemical combination that turned an idea into a success with its own momentum. Somebody got out a bottle of whiskey. We ordered pizza. Everybody stayed at the office. People hugged and cried and shared stories. Someone suggested releasing all of our half-baked experiments and unfinished features to our players. This idea took hold and the creative wheels started spinning. The afternoon and evening had the mood of a family wake for a lost loved one. We closed down Glitch a few weeks later. The End of the World party was well-attended by thousands of players, saying goodbye and exchanging contact information, taking snaps in their favourite locations, and mixing and mingling with Tiny Speck staff. On December 9th 2012 at 8pm, the game’s servers were shut down and Ur went offline. <img width="640" height="431" width_o="640" height_o="431" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/b033431caa2e7f00e4bb6f50cd9172a7cd87d1b1af70b06b21954b1528d9d4e4/994_01b251aab6_s.jpg" data-mid="1240414" border="0" />Our colleagues at Tiny Speck finished their jobs shortly thereafter. Our once-bustling offices were empty: chairs haphazardly pushed into corners. Dead batteries on desks. The few of us who remained put our heads down and started digging out of the hole we found ourselves in together. Within a month, we were living on our first prototype of Slack. A year later, we launched the product to the world. 5 years later, we took the company public.  index The death of Glitch, the birth of Slack November 2012 “We have to shut down the game.” Stewart Butterfield said to me. I looked at him out of the... http://johnnyrodgers.is/a-new-model-for-old-forest-protection Fri, 26 Aug 2022 23:06:34 +0000 Johnny Rodgers 429523  index A new model for old forest protectionAugust 26th, 2022<img width="1838" height="1222" width_o="1838" height_o="1222" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/1b2d109424b3741a75ab67b1f24b955d4573c0185c6773ab0ec354524eaef997/Screen-Shot-2022-08-26-at-4.09.17-PM.png" data-mid="1218796" border="0" /> Kwoiek Lake, Kanaka Bar Indian Band territory In the unprecedented heat dome of 2021, British Columbia and much of the Pacific Northwest was ravaged by extreme heat, wildfires, and crop failures. Rapid snowmelt subsequently lead to flooding.&nbsp; The highest temperature ever recorded in Canada – a searing 49.6°C (121.3 °F) – was measured in Lytton, BC during the heat wave. The town burned to the ground in a wildfire the day after that record was set. Lytton is 90km east of where I live. It is in Kanaka Bar Indian Band territory. The Kanaka Bar, part of the Nlaka’pamux First Nation, have resided in this area for 7,000 years. This nation has dealt with centuries of exploitation, the trauma of residential schools, and ongoing extraction of the natural resources on their land. Now they are dealing with some of the worst immediate impacts of climate change in the form of the heat, wildfires, droughts and floods like those of 2021.In response, the band has decided to pursue an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) in their territory. You can read more about this approach to indigenous-led conservation in the We Rise Together report prepared by the Indigenous Circle of Experts. This sets up a framework within which the band can protect the unique remaining old-growth stands in their territory while improving the climate resilience of their land. From the press release: A proposed Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area in the Kanaka Bar Band’s Territory includes some of the rarest and most endangered old-growth forests in BC. The Kanaka Bar Band, a Nlaka’pamux First Nation in the Fraser Canyon 14km south of Lytton, about a 3-hour drive from Vancouver, today publicly announced the vision to establish the 350km2 T'eqt'aqtn IPCA in their Traditional Territory. The proposed IPCA encompasses the Kwoiek and Four Barrel watersheds and adjacent parts of the Fraser Canyon, which will include roughly 125km2 of old-growth forests. <img width="1898" height="1128" width_o="1898" height_o="1128" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/8a11d28e80e253fb6c2bc7938f5390c17d0c450af7a0ef2cd78fefed0d1e904b/Screen-Shot-2022-08-26-at-4.08.41-PM.png" data-mid="1218794" border="0" /> Images from the Kanaka Bar Band press releaseThe proposal includes a large area of intact old-growth forest, as well as an initiative to restore and reforest areas previously logged by Teal-Jones. From Chief Patrick Michell: “What you do to the land (or allow others to do), you do to yourself,” states Chief Patrick Michell. “Kanaka Bar has been subjected to over a century and a half of colonization and greed, and we now face the global existential threat of climate change—but the damage can be reversed. Through this IPCA, we will rehabilitate Kanaka's Territory and heal not only our lands but our people.” Supporting this kind of indigenous-led progress on conservation and climate resilience is exactly why we have been supporting the Nature Based Solutions Foundation, which has helped the Kanaka Bar Band advance their proposal. I’ve written previously about this: Investing in our planet.Across BC more communities are rejecting the status quo of extractive industries and embracing a model that balances economic activity with conservation, land stewardship, and restoration.“Returning the Territory to Kanaka Bar will advance the entire Fraser Canyon’s climate resiliency,” said Sean O’Rourke, Lands Manager. “Functional, healthy ecosystems are our best defense against natural disasters. After more than a century of profit-driven management, it is time for a different set of values to guide land use. The wildfires and landslides of 2021 make this abundantly clear.” I am eager to see this model adopted and expanded to enable further old-growth protections and indigenous conservation initiatives across the province. <img width="1778" height="1186" width_o="1778" height_o="1186" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/27d179d52ef6a5934fb5a603e6f9dff1863ac9369afa2d6c7a6d44b0146b24b5/Screen-Shot-2022-08-26-at-4.09.09-PM.png" data-mid="1218795" border="0" />Images from the Kanaka Bar Band press release  index A new model for old forest protectionAugust 26th, 2022 Kwoiek Lake, Kanaka Bar Indian Band territory In the unprecedented heat dome of 2021, British...