lolcat, lolcat...where have I been?

The past few months have been totally crazy. Last fall, I applied and got accepted to take part in a charity cycle ride across Canada - the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride, backed by the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation. Most rides of this magnitude take between 8 and 12 weeks - some as long as 16. We're doing ours in 19 days.

Suffice to say, I've been training my ass off and focusing on work. Not too much time left for anything else. I'm writing a separate ride blog over here - be sure to check it out. We're raising funds for childhood cancer wellness and research programs. 100% of the funds we raise will go directly to sending kids with cancer to summer camps, cancer research and a ton of other worthwhile initiatives.

If you would like to make a financial contribution, please visit my fundraising link: http://2008.snkcr.com/ross/donate.html

While I would totally appreciate your financial support, that's not the purpose of this post. The real reason I'm dusting off the blog is because we are looking for a chief blogger/podcaster/vidcaster type of person to come with us on the trip. This is a volunteer position, but Depending on the commitment you can make, this could be a paid position and all expenses are paid and I'd have to say that if I wasn't going to be fastened to my bike, I'd definitely consider doing this myself.

Essentially, we need someone that can own all aspects of the online activity while we are riding - this means daily blog posts, interviews with riders, celebs, politicians and other luminaries along the way, spearheading our relationship with the blogosphere, helping us get some better traction with our facebook initiatives and that sort of thing. Basically, we need you to do what Scoble is doing for FastCompany, what Doc does for Open Source and Marketing, what Dave does for RSS, and what Arrington does for web 2.0 startups - be our champion and help us shine. Because the ride is happening in a huge country with lots of empty spaces in it, most of the more interesting stuff will be happening without the benefit of spectators. To overcome this, we want to bring the ride to the web and you will be a huge part of making that happen.

If are interested, or know of someone that might be interested, please drop me a note at ross -at- tucows daht com. Even if you don't know someone directly, it would also help us greatly if you could put the word out to your network.

While I'm at it, we're also looking for experienced bike mechanics and a few other types of volunteers. If you think you'd like to pitch in to make a difference, be sure to let me know and I'll put you in touch with the right people.

Antony Van Couvering has posted a brilliant photoset of his recent trip to Antarctica over on Flickr. See "victorcharlie's slideshow" on Flickr

I love this quote. It really sums up a lot of my approach to business.

"...there is no bullshit factor due to the inherent tangibility of their medium; unlike a glossy PowerPoint deck, a milled piece of aluminum is either it, or is not."

- from "MetaCool"

My biggest challenge lies with staying focused on the important things. There are so many details to worry about and I often find myself worrying about the wrong things. I'm getting better at it, which should help me ensure that more things are "it".

Microsoft Responds to Google Apps with Office Live Workspace:
There's a memorable scene in Crocodile Dundee where a would-be mugger pulls a switchblade on the hero Mick and his girlfriend Sue:

Sue: Mick, give him your wallet.
Mick: What for?
Sue: He's got a knife.
Mick: [chuckling] That's not a knife.
Mick: [draws a large Bowie knife]
Mick: That's a knife.
A similar scene is playing itself out between Google, Microsoft, and the Web 2.0 pundits:

Pundits: Microsoft, give Google your users.
Microsoft: What for?
Pundits: They've got an Internet-enabled office suite.
Microsoft: [chuckling] That's not an Internet-enabled office suite.
Microsoft: [pulls out Office and Office Live Workspace]
Microsoft: That's an Internet-enabled office suite.

Matt Cutts Goes Catty for Halloween: Doesn't he know that Catmus was four weeks ago?

Neat-o costume. I got stuck in a hotel for Halloween this year, but this video sort of makes up for missing it.

- via college humor...

Man who had sex with bike in court - Telegraph:

A man has been placed on the sex offenders’ register after being caught trying to have sex with a bicycle. "The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex." Both witnesses, who were extremely shocked, notified the hotel manager, who in turn alerted the police. Mr. Stewart was placed on the sex offenders register but his sentence was deferred until next month.

I really don't quite know what to say about this. I mean, I like my bike and all, but...

The really big celebration is over at catmas.com.

Did you know that Tucows.com is older than Netscape, Yahoo and many of the other original internet heavyweights?

Since 1993 Tucows.com has been a popular directory of shareware, freeware, and demo software packages available to download.

- Tucows Gets Social

Tucows.com launched in 1993, I started with the company about six months before the site launched. Our original homepage was actually a Gopher page, not a Web page.

Good thing we went live with the Web version and not the Gopher version, although there might be something to be said for getting out in front of Gopher 2.0 - aka "Gopher-space for the People, by the People". I'm not sure that we could cram enough ajax-y goodness into it to get people excited though.

I think Greg and his guys did a great job of the redesign. If you are interested in the evolution of Tucows.com over the years, check out Tucows.com circa 1996 over at archive.org. Ouch.