It’s been a much better morning than yesterday when I thought with the sun shining that nothing could go wrong. Well apparently when you get knocked down by a man barreling past you on the bus trying to get out the back door (3 blocks before his stop) it’s your fault, which he had time to tell me because he reached the back doors with plenty of time before his actual stop. Enough time to look at the path of destruction he left behind him in the aisles and make a snarky comment. That’s the end of my mini rant, now onto the link fest…

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- WordCamp Fraser Valley preparations are in full swing. Please remember to sign up through the event website. There is no charge but we’d like to keep track of the numbers. Did I say “we”? Yes, Gary has allowed me to spread the word about WordCamp as the media sponsor. Not only will I be getting the word out, I’ll be liveblogging and speaking as well.

- Ross over at SimpleHelp.net (a great source for quick techie tips) invited me to do a guest post. I busted out the screencasting gear to talk about, well, screencasting [see: video]. I’ll have another post up there tomorrow morning as well.

- Today is the 50th anniversary of the collapse of the Second Narrows, aptly renamed the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

- The Stanley Park shuttle is running once again, “offering a free alternative to a car to get through the park.” [News1130]

- If you’re keeping score like I am, June is East Van Halen month in Bev Davies‘ punk rock calendar.

- Where would I be without quoting clips from other sources and sending them link love on my blog? I don’t know but the Associated Press doesn’t really care anyway.

- I was interviewed by the 24 Hours last week with regards to Stats Can concluding that BC has the highest number of internet users within a specific demographic. Ya Techcouver! Also, Rochelle Grayson (power tech woman at Donat who also created Twemes) was interviewed in the Province this past weekend.

- Tourism Vancouver offers half-price day-of ticket sales to events through their Tickets Tonight service (for things like Bard on the Beach). They just launched a Facebook group and each day they will be posting the following day’s half-price theatre and performing arts tickets. They also have a booth at 200 Burrard St and they just opened up a kiosk in the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza. It’s a great low-dough option for entertainment in the city.

As for my ticket giveaway, I’ll be going through the list of entries this afternoon and will notify the winners. You still have time to enter, simply link back to my post about the movie tickets on your blog and include the name of the movie you would like to attend on Wednesday. Good luck!

Photo credit: SqueakyMarmot on Flickr

Sapperton Days are back again this year, celebrating a great little heritage neighbourhood in New Westminster.

When: Saturday June 21st – Sidewalk Sale, 10am to 4pm and Sunday June 22nd – Street Festival, 11am to 4pm.

Where: Between Braid & Sherbrooke Streets on East Columbia, New Westminster

How to get there: You could drive or simply take the Millenium Line Skytrain to Sapperton and walk up the hill beside Royal Columbian Hospital until you get to Columbia Street. The fair starts one block after you hang a right.

More info: ShopSapperton

A few years ago I met up with Fin, the Vancouver Canucks mascot, over in Sapperton Park. We giggled, posed for a photo, and he blew steam out of his blow hole (okay I’m not too sure the significance of that) but it was all a part of a really fun day out.

Update: With the help of my lovely assistant pulling numbers from a virtual hat, this entry wins tickets to Love Guru, and this one wins the Get Smart passes. Thanks to everyone who entered! Emails will now be going out to the winners.

Who is free Wednesday night? We certainly aren’t. Having quadruple booked ourselves all across town my wonderful husband has decided that I can give away four of our movie passes on my site.

What: The Love Guru (special premiere screening) The new Mike Myer’s flick – double pass
Where: Tinseltown (at International Village, Pender and Abbott)
When: 7:00pm Wednesday June 18th

Photo credit: Steve Rhodes on Flickr

What: Get Smart (special premiere screening) Updated version of the TV classic with Steve Carell and gang – double pass
Where: Tinseltown (at International Village, Pender and Abbott)
When: 7:30pm Wednesday June 18th

To win the passes write a blog post on your blog (or post a Facebook note if you don’t have a blog) and include the title of the movie you would like to see and a link back here. That’s it! Make sure to leave me a comment with the link to your post in case trackbacks don’t work. Contest will close Tuesday evening.

Example of Kris Krug‘s
Photos on Flickr

I’m all about supporting a good cause through my site especially when it also involves supporting friends in the Vancouver techosphere.

Kris Krug founder of Static Photography, President of Raincity Studios, organizer of PhotoCamps and giver of playful nicknames will have five of his photos on display at an artshow next week.

Where: Orb Clothing, 2028 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
When: Thursday June 26th, 6:30pm

I’m so thankful to be included in this cool event and hope you all can come out and join me on the 26th for the opening and auction. This is only my third time showing my work publicly in this way. You know… Prints. Hung. On walls… and I’m totally excited. [KrisKrug.com]

The Art of Giving exhibit will be at Orb Clothing and will also feature works from Rick Haywood, Zoe Pawlak, Judy Schallar, and Stephanie Wightman. Admission is free and 20% of proceeds will go to the non-profit of the buyer’s choice.

I managed to stay away from my blog all weekend, which is funny since I was away last weekend but still had timed posts published in my absence. I guess this is what happens when it’s actually sunny in Vancouver and you spend time out in Surrey with your family.

Photo credit: Paul Hillsdon on Flickr

Regardless, here’s your Monday morning dose of news, happenings, and things I would like to share.

- Tomorrow is Third Tuesday at The Network Hub, Joe Solomon will be speaking about “Social Media for Change” and I’ll be liveblogging as the media sponsor and also offering up a prize. Stop by and drop off your card to enter or leave a comment on the liveblog to win.

- Speaking of a Meetup.com event, Commoncraft recently made a client video for Meetup, check it out.

- I am the new wrangler of event listings over on Techvibes where every Sunday evening you can get your roundup of tech events in Vancouver for the coming week. I’m like those chicks on TV that cruise around town for the station in an SUV covered in ads… only with fewer hand gestures.

- Quick reminder that Canada Day Celebrations are taking place in Cloverdale featuring concerts and bouncy castles galore. There also will be an event downtown on July 1st a well at Canada Place, even with fireworks, but no Bob Rock.

- I will not be able to attend BlogHer in San Francisco this summer and as they do not offer refunds I’m willing to sell mine off (at $300 instead of $348) or work something out at a lower price in exchange for guest blog posts on Miss604.com (ie. $200 + a guest post or lower for more) WetCoastWomen was kind enough to put the word out for me as well.

- Finally, I’m not getting rid of my first gen iPhone any time soon.

More info to come throughout the week about a few more events but those will be getting their very own post.

A few years ago I was encouraged to use FeedBurner for all my website RSS feed needs. The benefits being when I switched from Blogger to WordPress in 2006, my feed was then “portable” and I simply inputted the new source feed generated by WP, not having to lose a single subscriber or switch anyone over.

A while back I decided to offer three types of feed for my site. The first being a full blog plus Flickr photo feed, the second is for comments, and the third is truncated blog posts only. Every now and then I get a request for the post-only feed, which is listed on my sidebar since the main blog feed (if you click in the address bar at the top) you get posts plus photos.

I checked out my feed this morning only to find that where my Flickr photos were posted, there was a media box with a “download” link. I went on to double check my Flickr Privacy and Permissions and I clearly have it check that “Who can download your stuff,” is set as “only you”. So I signed out of Flickr and checked my feed again – download option was still available.

Wanting to alert FeedBurner of the photo download situation I headed to their site to find some help. Unfortunately the only two options you get on their contact form are a) Someone is using my content without my permission b) I want to transfer feeds from one account to another.

It’s never fun to find out something isn’t working the way you would like, or that features that ignore your policies in place have been added without your knowledge. Still, I prefer using FeedBurner so here are here are some tools and tips to try out regarding licensing of content in your feed.

FeedEntryHeader WordPress Plugin: Very useful if there are aggregator sites out there scooping and republishing your content based on your feed. This makes sure that there is a link back to your site at the top of every post.

FeedBurner’s Creative Commons License: I have made sure to include my license in my feed as well. To do so go to My Feeds > Publicize tab > Creative Commons > and select the options that apply to your site.

As I am unable to reach FeedBurner about the “download” issue I’m going to remove my Flickr photos from my main RSS feed until further notice. If anyone misses the photos in the feed I’ll gladly bring this feature back once I hear from them or learn how to disable that function.

The Park Series is growing all the time, which I think is pretty fantastic. There are so many great green spaces around Metro Vancouver that are ideal for walks, hikes, picnics, and simply relaxing on the grass or sand. Crescent Park in South Surrey is another great suggestion that comes to us from Barbara of the Love Blog.

How to get there: You can take the 351 Crescent Beach bus (same one you’d take to get to Crescent Beach or Blackie Spit) or driving along Highway 99 turn off on King George Highway heading South. From KGH turn onto Crescent Road and it’s between 132nd and 128th.

Photo credit: Barbara Doduk on Flickr

Features: Barbara pretty much sums it all up, “there is a wonderful duck pond in the middle of this lush park. Playgrounds for kids. Big fields for soccer & baseball on each side. Picnic areas. Big trails for walking in the trees. It is a very lovely park. My family live just a block away and we walk there a lot when I visit. The pond has some turtles now, which I hope to get some pics of next time.”

Photo credit: Barbara Doduk on Flickr

Notes: I have only been to the park once and that was during a high school cross country meet. The best thing about being in cross country in high school is that instead of running around a track you’re outdoors with fresh air, the smell of cedar trees, soft mulch to run on and mud to cake on your shoes – it’s always worth it though.

John and I are planning a trip down to Kansas City this summer to attend a birthday party which will more than likely be a giant family reunion. When shopping around for hotels in a city with which I’m not that familiar I rely heavily on the internet and its opinions. Frankly, TripAdvisor is a downer… everything has mildew in the showers, stains, and a missing TV remote. I started looking on Hotels.com, Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, and almost everywhere else. I sorted by location (close to landmarks I knew of like the Plaza), by price, and by star rating.

Photo credit: Kansas City Royalty on Flickr

After searching for quite a while I finally came across The Q Hotel formerly The Quarterage Hotel which was renovated as recently as December 2007. It’s found in Westport, which is home to some of the oldest buildings in the city (19th century) made of brick and filled with bars, shops, and live music venues. Aside from location, it had everything else I was looking for… and most importantly free wifi.

According to their website The Q Hotel is Kansas City’s first GREEN hotel. It has an eco-plan that helped them earn this responsible and prestigious title from Energy Star appliances, bio-friendly cleaning products, water conservation, organic foods and wines, to sending leftovers to local farmers for composting. They also have a courtesy shuttle that’s a hybrid and offer up bikes so that guests can get around town. I’m pretty surprised there aren’t more initiatives like this with hotels around Vancouver.

I’d love to be able to stay here and blog about our experience at a green hotel. If anything, I would also like to be able to contribute a TripAdvisor entry that actually shines a positive light on hotel stays.