Welcome to the Swanky New G2D Design

Like most things, websites benefit from a little TLC every now and then. Most people don’t like learning their way around a completely new design, so the trick is finding how to improve what you have without removing what you liked about the old version. For the latest update to G2D (the second in about 5 years), I wanted to keep the general layout and functionality, but improve how it looked and functioned.

One of the most important elements for me in choosing a new theme was to make sure it was mobile-friendly and responsive across multiple […]

2016-11-17T15:47:52+00:00Thailand, Web Media|0 Comments

Back From the Dead! A Note on the G2D Redesign

Well that was a long downtime. I guess it’s been almost 6 months now that this here blog has been just sitting there sadly neglected. Originally I was hoping it’d only be a month or two, but that got delayed by various things over and over again, and BAM…6 months had flown by. Kind of like me learning Thai or losing weight, but more digital-y. At any rate, G2D is back up with a new design, a new platform, a few new banners and a new appreciation for how much I don’t know about website design. It’s nothing […]

2016-11-17T15:47:58+00:00Web Media|2 Comments

The Return of Bangkok Podcast!

My friend Tony and I had a lot of fun doing the Bangkok Podcast, but as I've written here before, it was a surprising amount of work to put together a weekly 1-hour show. Scheduling guests, booking studio time, lugging equimpment around, editing...it took its toll, especially when both of us had other full-time gigs to deal with. As they do, things change - Tony moved to Japan, I got married and started working on a handful of new projects - but now with the magic ot technology, we're both pretty happy to say that Bangkok Podcast has returned! Although in a slightly different format.

2016-11-17T15:48:01+00:00Audio, Bangkok, Web Media|0 Comments

Can Thais Laugh at Themselves?

Want to hear my favorite Canadian joke? Here it is: Two Canadians, let's call them Bob and Doug, are snowed in and bored. Bob says, "I'm bored, eh. Want to play a game?" "Doug says, "Sure, why not - how about 20 questions? I'll go first." So Doug thinks of something that Bob couldn't possible guess - moose cock. Bob says, "Okay, animal, vegetable or mineral...is it animal?" Ummm, yes it is." "Is it bigger than a bread box?" "No, smaller than a bread box." "Is it something you can eat?" "Hahaha, well, yes, I guess you could eat it if you had no other choice." "Is it moose cock?" (Pause for laughter) Okay, maybe it's not a great joke, but I like it for its pure stupidity, and it goes to show something interesting: us Canadians love making fun of ourselves. I was thinking about this over the past few days when a story a friend wrote blew up online, showing that Thais most definitely do not like people - even Thais - poking fun at Thailand.

Louis C.K. & the Success of Digital Distribution

As I often do, let me start this post with a disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer or a copyright specialist and probably couldn't argue with any reasonably talented devil's advocate on this topic for more than 15 minutes before they out-debated me. But - I'm really fascinated by watching how technology is redefining and even destroying traditional models of production, distribution and consumption. It'll suck for a few old-school organizations for a while, but I really think we're on the cusp of a digital verison of the industrial revolution, and we've only scratched the surface. One particular aspect that fascinates me is how digital distribution is cutting out the middle man and letting entertainers connect with their audiences directly. There have been a few notable events in this slow-but-sure transition, but the one that really connected with me was the release of Louis C.K's new standup special, Live at the Beacon Theater, which he did wrote, hosted, produced and edited entirely on his own and made available online for $5 (150 baht).

The End of Bangkok Podcast?

Wow, that was fast! It seems like only a few months ago that my buddy Tony Joh and I were sitting down to record the first Bangkok Podcast. Now, just over one year later, we’re wrapping things up. I’ve been happy to see the amount of support from listeners of the show who are surprised and saddened to see us shut down; it makes me feel really good to know that even a few people enjoyed our little production. I just wanted to scribble down a few thoughts on the show and the how and why we decided not to continue. It might get a bit long, but hey, it's for posterity.

The Fallout of the (sometimes)Truth

In the online war of words between representatives of Thailand’s various cultural groups (sexpats, expats, students, teachers, businessmen, hi-sos, etc), there’s never a shortage of interesting wordplay to read through. I’ve written about this before, but the one piece of advice I give to prospective expats is to be very selective when boning (heh) up on how Thailand works, simply because there’s so much crap out there that it’s easy to get a very distorted view of the country. The latest salvo in this ongoing battle was written for CNNGo by a friend of mine, and is causing quite a little uproar. Well, I’m here to defend him… sort of.

The Role of Twitter in the Bangkok Protests

Well, despite my vow to avoid writing about politics, here's another post about the situation in Bangkok. As the redshirts tear up the city, again, and the army tries to beat them into submission, again, it's like some sick version of Batman vs The Joker - neither side wins, everyone loses, wash, rinse repeat. I don't mean to crack wise - the situation is tense, deadly and will have long-term repercussions for the entire country. Being stuck amid events like these is not something that us North Americans are used to, and I've written before about how it changes your perceptions of reality. It also really opens your eyes into the machinery behind situations like this, most notably the machinery of how information is distributed and consumed. In this regard, it's been a salient - although deadly - crash course in the power of Twitter.

ExciTED, MotivaTED, ExhausTED: Anatomy of a TEDx Conference

Up until about 6 months ago, I only had a few basic tatters of information about TED Talks. I knew it was an annual conference, or... something. I'd seen a few talks on the website and thought it was an interesting concept, but it was only when I was invited to help organize Thailand's first TEDx event, TEDxBKK (the 'x' stands for an independently organized TED event under the main TED umbrella), did I truly get an understanding of what a powerful, important and tremendously enjoyable event they can be. The big day was February 13, 2010, and it went of superbly, thanks to a great team that really personified what TED is all about. Another reason I got a backstage view of the whole thing? I was asked to be the host.

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