og design

Japan Relief Effort

2011-03-15T14:21:00.001-07:00

News & info on how you can help w/ relief efforts in Japan:
cbc.ca/japanrelief/

Connecting two dots: iPhone in Space, Objectified

2010-11-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

I recently found out about a dad & his son who put an iphone in space through the vimeo website. Later on, while researching an unrelated topic, specifically the documentary about the Helvetica font, I found out that the film's cinematographer is also the 'geeky dad' behind the whole 'iphone in space' thing:

Helvetica/Objectified/Urbanized cinematographer Luke Geissbühler is really a science geek at heart. He and his 5-year-old son Max, along with a few friends, made a homemade spacecraft out of a Thai food takeout container, outfitted it with an HD video camera and an iPhone, and a few weeks ago used a weather balloon to launch it into the stratosphere.

It's a small world. I guess that's especially true when viewing it from space.

-og

The Calendar Did Flip

2010-08-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

So there hasn't been a whole lot up here lately. All of a sudden I realized that, and so I made some sudden jarring changes to the design of this blog. And, I was testing out Google's new Template Design feature... which some might not classify as "new" anymore, given that the internet ages 2 years every single day.

I am thinking I will start using this again. So stay tuned, or not. Depending on your particular level of interest.

God speed.

Noelogy: Christmas EP

2009-12-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

<a href="http://oweng.bandcamp.com/album/noelogy-ep">O Come Emmanuel by owen goward</a>

Noelogy is an instrumental ep/album of my re-interpretations of a handful of well known carols.

The EP is availalbe for download at oweng.bandcamp.com and consists of 7 HQ sound files + 1 bonus track (aiff format).

Paragraph Spacing in Word

2009-09-03T12:51:00.001-07:00

Do you ever work on word files? Once in a while I have to. I don't know about you, but sometimes I find that the typeface I am using is getting consistently cut off at the beginning of the paragraph.

I solved this little annoyance by selecting the paragraph (or entire style if you prefer), and selecting the 'paragraph' menu item. Adding "1" space or even "0.5" of a space 'before' said paragraph should be enough to allow the top of your typeface to become visible.

Preying on the Wannabe Rockstar

2009-02-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

I just read a description of an open mic night from a local restaurant that presented an inadvertent glimpse into the mind of all of us who at one point had rose-coloured visions of the all-expense-paid lifestyle of the certified rockstar:

"Grab your axe and come on down. Maybe you'll be discovered and get rich - big fat contracts, appearances all over the world, a car worth more than just the gas in the tank. It can all happen - and it could all start right on our stage!"

One part funny and one part sad. And yes, at one point in my life, I actually thought I was going to become the next Bono. I could pretty much Karaoke every song in the U2 library, much to my mom's dismay.

I'm now in my 3rd decade of life, and I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not the world's best singer, songwriter, or guitarist. But, once in a while, when the moon is full, you can hear me belting out my tunes from my basement studio.

Javascript Drum Machine

2008-11-21T13:02:00.003-08:00

Cool drum machine interface built with Javascript. Impressive.
Click here to get down.

Homer Simpson: drawn with CSS Code

2008-11-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

One day I hope to be this proficient in my CSS skills...

Thank You For Being A Friend

2008-11-05T10:54:00.001-08:00

It's just too golden to keep to myself.

Dead Turkey Fight

2008-10-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, Thanksgiving can be a lot of work. I think I would definitely be a customer of the ready-made turkey market if it was up to me to prepare the beast.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2008-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I went and watched "Expelled" by Ben Stein at the movie theatre in Westbank.

I have to say I found the movie quite compelling - it's a documentary about a kind of witch-hunt in the scientific community that occurs when someone mentions the term Intelligent Design. The destruction reportedly occurs through scientists losing their tenure, their research grants, contracts are not renewed, and they are ostracized by their peers.

The movie's purpose seems to mainly be to point out that this is actually happening, as there are many scientists, particularly in the upper registers of the system, who are in denial. But he interviews enough high profile scientists who have found themselves ousted from their once prestigious positions who assert that the only reason for their loss was their position on ID.

Interestingly, the movie was supposed to come out last year, but didn't end up coming out because of a lawsuit coming from one Yoko Ono. I guess she thought that the song was being misused in parts, and had to try and sue. She didn't end up winning, although the release of the film was delayed.

Overall this was a very intellectually stimulating movie with lots of well thought out discussions and points of view examined. I enjoyed it, although my one criticism is that, although humorous, the use of 50's style science-fiction footage may reflect on the movie producers as a kind of demonization of the scientific institutions in question.

I happen to agree with Stein that there is a problem there, but I'm not sure that mockery is going to make the problem go away. It might just make them more angry. But then again, maybe that is what is needed.

The Enemy

2008-09-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

I have thought sometimes to myself that we live in a society where there is precious little room to foster understanding, and hopefully someday, forgiveness between people who are becoming increasingly segmented and categorized. We tend to want to settle for quick labels and scapegoats instead of developing a wholistic understanding into the people behind the situations.

I was moved this morning when I happened upon this article by someone I don't know, about a neighbour who he dubs "The Enemy". In my opinion, it is worth reading.
http://tinyurl.com/6l2v8d

Deciphering Phone Numbers From Words...

2008-09-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

I got a cell phone number from one of my friends, and I have called it a couple of times, but unfortunately the letters on my BBerry don't correspond with the way that numbers correspond on a typical north american phone's keypad.

This presents a problem for a guy with only so much memory to spare such as myself. So I thought I would either search out or create an image of a phone keypad. Here's what I came up with:

Also, another useful resource for deciphering words/numbers if you need to decipher a word in an international setting:
http://www.dialabc.com/motion/keypads.html

Career Path Trajectory

2008-09-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

My career as a web designer has been put temporarily on the shelf, as I have been reassigned to the position of chief engineer of lego and kinex operations at Goward HQ. I always wanted to be an astronaut as a kid. Or maybe a police officer. At least something where I got to operate a vehicle with flashing lights.

Well, now I get to help my kids build vehicles with (imaginary) flashing lights. One of the recent faves was this Lego(TM) City helicopter.

Summertime

2008-07-16T16:17:00.001-07:00

Ok, admittedly I am definitely in vacation mode. It's a relief to see that the Okanagan heat has finally hit. We went to the beach today and aside from the wind, it was beautiful and hot, and the lake felt swimmable. (My word checker is telling me that's not a word)

I am looking forward to more days at the beach such as this... and basically floating on my back in the refreshing pseudo-tropical waters of the 'sunny' okanagan - I can finally believe it's worthy to be called that again!

Hello.

2008-07-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes its a little weird posting my thoughts via these plastic keys, watching the characters fill the screen as I click away.

What am I really doing? I hope to connect with people, ultimately. So even as I do this, I am hoping to begin to reach out and be more in touch and not so much glued to a computer screen all the time.

Can Mass Production Be Elegant?

2008-04-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

So they're building a Walmart about 2 streets away from where I live. And it's supposedly going to be the biggest Walmart in Canada.

There's something disheartening about that. I know that there's probably tons of people who are chomping at the bit to go racing up and down the aisles of the brand new megastore, filling up their carts with cheap everyday low-priced retail goods.

In light of how expensive life is becoming, I'm sure the low prices in close proximity will be a welcome occurence to young families (like mine). I'm sure I will join the ranks of those on opening week who swarm through the gaping automatic doors and wander around with open jaws for the sheer size of the place.

Revised July 4, 2008.

Addictive (But Fun) Game

2008-03-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, who has time to find this stuff? Not me. Except by accident, while doing client work.

http://www.wholewheatweb.com/

You say Web site, I say website

2008-02-09T13:51:00.000-08:00

It all started when my company embarked on a web redesign. I mean, a web site redesign. Or, was that a Website re-design?

It's crazy how so many words can be spelled different ways, and there's no real standard or authority that says "this is right" or "this is wrong". Determining whether or not something is the correct usage of words is entirely dependent on who you ask.
Webster's online dictionary clearly states that the correct spelling is "web site" and goes so far as to redirect enquiries of the term "website" to the 'proper' spelling of the term.

I then checked the term at Dictionary.com and Wikipedia.com and both sites have allowances for both "web site" and "website". I also checked Oxford's online english dictionary site, and although I couldn't directly search their dictionary itself, it includes numerous references to the term 'website'. Interestingly enough, Oxford(oed.com) also purports itself to be 'the definitive record of the English language'.

Finally, I began checking some of the higher profile companies on the web, and what they do with the term. I found the following companies in the 'website' camp:

Apple
Adobe
Harvard
Barack Obama
Hilton Hotels
Rambo
US Social Security
Al Gore
The Dixie Chicks
Wikipedia
Dictionary.com
Jacob Nielsen, usability expert

Sites that distinctly use the term 'Web site':

Webster's Online Dictionary
White house
Microsoft
The British Monarchy
Holiday Inn Express
Washington Post
Jacob Nielsen, usability expert (ironically enough, uses both terms on his site)

Other web design terms that continually change spelling:

Email (can be spelled email, or e-mail)
Ecommerce (ecommerce, e-commerce)
Site map (site-map, site map, sitemap)
Web design (web design, web-design)

In conclusion, I think it's safe to say that no one really can say one way or another what the standard really is, and as long as you have all the right letters in your words, people will be able to read them. In other words, who cares?

Plagiarism

2007-08-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's everywhere. The company I work for is fairly well known, and just this morning I discovered yet another copycat site. Even when I was looking through news articles on google, I discovered several articles that had different titles, different sources, but the same content.

The cranberries song called "Copycat" fits our information heavy culture perfectly - we're overloaded with recycled/reused information that's been repackaged.

By the way, I didn't just copy/paste the above paragraph from some other source. I actually wrote it! crazy hey?

In other news: yep, I'm still alive and kicking, I've just been really super busy.

Virb is a Word

2007-06-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

I think I've finally found a web based service to call home. *Sigh* I really like Virb.com for its simplicity and easy to use customization interface. I also like the fact that you can straight up change/edit the html/css if you prefer.

Taken directly from the site:

A place that lets you put all of the things that make you you – photos, videos, blogs – in one place. So you can find friends (and friends can find you).

Definitely worth a checkout.

Anyone Need A Guitar? SOLD

2007-06-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hey, I don't mean to be a salesman, but... I am selling my acoustic guitar - trying to fund the purchase of my new guitar, and can't afford to have two!

So, if you're interested at all, here's the details:

Fender La Brea steel string acoustic w/ cutaway and electrical pickup. This guitar line was manufactured between 1987 and 1992, and retailed for over $400 originally.(*Note added June 15* I'm asking about $200) The guitar I'm selling is in great shape and comes with a padded black guitar bag and capo. Reason I'm selling: to fund the purchase of another guitar. If I didn't have to sell it, I would keep this one.

It's been awhile... I'm a penguin.

2007-05-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

So ya, I'm settling into life as a waddler. You know, a penguin.

If you don't know what I'm talking about you can always email me. Anyway, have you seen march of the penguins? It's a pretty awesome movie - I have so much respect for the way these penguins walk so far, every year, back and forth, and then just hang out for months and months doing basically nothing.

That aside, its way nicer to be a penguin in Kelowna. The hot, sunny, traffic-jammed okanagan. I was excited to figure out a new system for getting to work using partial car and partial bike transportation - I drive my car with bike loaded on, to Mac's on the westside and then park there for the day, carry on to work by bike. Reverse that for getting home.

I tried it today, and it worked beautifully for getting across the bridge coming home. Traffic was brutal, so I was thankful for the excercise, as well as the ability to keep moving!

Jesus Just Sent Me An Email

2007-04-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

Seriously. At least his name was in the sender field. And he kindly let me know the following information:

"Did you know? You can refinance up to 1 time per year.
Stop fighting for lenders let them fight for you! Make them work for your business by giving you the lowest rates around! Please fill out 30 second insta-quote and monthly savings calculation"

My life will never be the same ;-).

In other news, I have found evidence of another Owen Goward, who lives in Australia, and when he was in grade 1, he played bass in the school orchestra.

More on this story later.

Please, Anything But "Sir Bono"

2007-03-30T08:35:00.001-07:00

So, Bono has been awarded Knighthood. I guess this shows that you can't be a famous rockstar campaigning for humanitarian causes for too long before the british monarchy takes notice, wink-wink.

Bono, 46, was named a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in an informal, laugh-filled ceremony in the Dublin home of British Ambassador David Reddaway.

I think it's cool how Bono doesn't take himself too seriously. My favourite part of the story is that his 5 year old son John was disappointed because he wasn't presented with a light sabre at the end (he thought he was becoming a jedi).

A Breath Of Freedom

2007-03-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

I am learning to let go, in the precise moments I feel most tempted to scream out - the kids just won't settle in bed, realizing I've been sick for the last 3 months almost consecutively, and feeling like the days always demand a little more than I've got to give. Further to that, iTunes just can't seem to randomly pick the right song for the moment.

It's strange to me how it's the little jabs, not the massive explosions, that threaten to take me down the most. The constant grating of things that seem to know I don't want them there. Maybe that's what Jon Foreman of Switchfoot meant in the song "Erosion":

Rain is a bad reminder of everything I don't wanna know
Rain is a backseat driver that takes me where I don't wanna go
And it looks like the sky is caving in again

- Album: Learning To Breathe, 2000

Learning to Breathe. That's a good name for an album, and possibly a good way of describing what I'm learning right now.

Chillin' With The Club

2007-03-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been too busy to attend to my outdated 'blog'. Busy with my new post at Club something or other which officially started in February, and I've been hanging out with my little wee family wherever possible.

Sometimes its a hard enough job to just maintain sanity and stay on top of the loudest demands in the hectic non-stop rush of life, let alone post to a blog.

Today Sim and I went for a walk in Kalamoir Park, a little sanctuary untouched by the construction industry close to the waterfront. It was a beautiful walk - he said to me when we finally got back to the car "I really enjoyed that walk. I had a great time!"

Ok, I gotta go play.

Just A Quick Question

2007-01-14T21:31:00.000-08:00

I have been on leave for almost 3 months already...

Where does the time go?

Tonight I decided to find out. I put a little "Where does time go?" inquiry into the world's no.1 search engine, and I found this little calculator, which helps somewhat to determine where the time actually goes.

Time Calculator - Click to View

So there you have it. Punch in a few numbers, and it all adds up. Literally. The only thing is, does anyone know of a calculator to help determine the perceived rate of time passing? That might be a little more interesting.

Desktop Wallpaper

2007-01-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

I always like putting a new wallpaper on my desktop to start off the new year, cheezy as that may sound. That being said, if you feel so inclined, here is a wallpaper I designed; inspired by the idea of having fresh vision for a new beginning in a new year... yadayadayada.

January 2007 - 1024x768

And sorry, I only did it in one size at the moment.

If I Was Going To Get A PDA It Would Taste Like An Apple

2007-01-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I logged onto Apple.com last night, completely unaware that they were launching the product of months of secrecy and development with the intent to revolutionize the cell phone industry... It's called the iPhone.

Up until now, I haven't been able to justify the cost of an mp3 player, a cellphone, or an expensive camera phone - but now that there is this device which purports to do all three of those things and more - and do them well - they may have hit the target.

Unfortunately, it won't be available in the US even until June. So who knows what that means for us Canucks.

Related Links:
Apple's web site

Some real-life photos of the iphone

Article from the Globe

In The Year A.D. 2007

2007-01-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

Happy 2007 to all. We had ourselves a merry little Christmas and enjoyed sharing the occasion with our two families complete with little cousins etc., telling our little kids the story of Jesus' birth with fisher-price little people on Christmas day, watching our 2 and 3 yr olds open up their presents with excitement and wonder, and eating just a little bit too much.

I am very much enjoying being on leave and not being subject to the daily rat race across the floating bridge. It's 'knice'. Not a long time to go, but as so many of my friends told me before I took this time, I will never regret it.

Peace out.

We Huffed, And We Puffed... Playing Indoor Soccer

2006-12-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

Last night I got the privelege of playing indoor soccer on a team with two of my brothers - Tim and Ben. I knew it was going to be a challenge, as I have hardly run at all, let alone exercised, since the summertime! (Sad, but true)

It was a tough game against a fast, aggressive team - they sometimes leaned a little too hard on the dirty side to win challenges and get their goals. We only lost by one goal, primarily because of how awesome of a goal keeper Ben was - otherwise our deficit would have been much greater. There were so many breakaways for the other team. Probably because I was playing defense and they regularly blasted past me on their merry way to the goal.

Next time I think I'll play forward? The funny thing is: the coach wanted to sign us all up on the spot after the game. I kept thinking to myself - was he actually watching me play? And if he was, is he in his right mind?

Oh well... at least it looks like a good exercise option for the next three months. Hope my bro's join up as well. Hint Hint.

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To...

2006-12-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about how me and my brothers used to play road hockey growing up on the street where we lived - I also remember breaking a few sticks in my day. So it was interesting to me to see this article in the globe the other day that talks about a 150 yr old hockey stick - that's some pretty durable construction.

So back to playing road hockey growing up when I was a kid, I was actually pretty good. No really. For a musical/artsy type guy I could hold my own in a game of 'shinny', as they call it. Although I had a reputation for having a short fuse - which perhaps contributed to the broken stick syndrome. I had the nickname "Owen Around" for my tricky wraparound technique which netted me quite a few goals, back in the day. Ok, so I'm starting to sound like a real dad.

Oh, and my favourite team was the Dynasty Days Edmonton Oilers, back when hockey hair was cool. Actually I think it might be coming back someday.

Getting restarted

2006-12-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Last night it rained. Hard.

All the snow is gone. I'm a bit sad to see it leave our neighborhood - I like the snow. I like the way it seems to redeem the dark bleakness of winter. It's just brown and gray and cold when it's gone.

Oh well. I can still see it in yonder mountains.

So, in other news, I'm restarting this blog in beta -hence the title of the post- the new beta version blogger just seems to work a little quicker. I thought I would get rid of all my old posts as well, just because. It's a nice idea to start fresh.