Recent  Stories

Slow Lane: Canadian consumers are paying a premium price for the dubious privilege of being stuck in the slow lanes of the information highway. Figures provided by global telecommunications analysts TeleGeography Research shows international Internet speeds – the rate at which data moves to and from a computer – Canada may not be the slowest, but we’re far from the nimble speeds offered in Japan and Europe.

Plans go electrnonic: An Ontario-wide Electronic Plans Room is set to roll out in the New Year. John Mollenhauer, president of the Toronto Construction Association (TCA), said things are on track for an agreement between the 11 Ontario construction associations by Christmas.

Black Gold: Where most people see obsolete computers and electronics, Alfred Hambsch sees more than gold, he sees black gold. As the president of the largest eWaste recycling company on the planet, Mr. Hambsch has built not just a business but a calling, taking obsolete electronics and processing them back into useable raw materials including gold and diesel fuel.

Take Charge of Your Website: In the beginning there was the Webmaster and he was God. And the Webmaster said, let there be a domain for this business and there was; Then the Webmaster said let the home page be divided from the other pages, and it was. And then the Webmaster said: If you need to make any more changes, I bill by the hour and I don’t work nights or weekends.”  Ouch.

Videoconferencing: Dennis Sandow chuckles recalling his “Halo moment” – the illusion created by the videoconferencing system that a colleague was in intimate proximity even though they were thousands of miles apart.

Party Favours: If you’re going to crash a party, it’s best to bring something along to smooth your entry, like a keg of beer, or risk a humiliation and rejection. It’s a strategy businesses should consider as they seek to leverage the virtual block parties evolving from virtual communities and social media.

Silicon Valley, Calif – Imagine picking up your Toronto Star and seeing the headlines  update before your eyes. Science fiction? Don’t bet against it. ePaper as it’s often called, is a quest being funded with millions of dollars in research and development by some of the biggest names like Hewlett-Packard, Phillips Electronics and Xerox.

Social Media: Andy Warhol was half right: Fifteen minutes is just the beginning. Social media – the collective of blogs, forums, e-mail, Instant Messaging and text messaging – makes us all celebrities, all the time.

Getting there half the fun: “Kate” is not happy.“In 500 metres, make a U-turn,” she insists, the Irish lilt in her voice clear on the “ur” of the word “turn.” “Kate” as I’ve nicknamed her, is my newest traveling companion, a Ground Position Satellite guided navigation program running on my mobile phone.

You have questions? I've got some answers. FAQs.

Who built this website for you? Why bother?

Thanks, that’s a great question. I built this website using Microsoft Frontpage 2003.

Now, I can hear some of you hissing and Microsoft does build an awful lot of products which aren’t liked, I know. Personally, I’ve always been a Mac fan but expediency made me switch to a PC.

I looked at using Dreamweaver and Flash to build a site but in the end opted for FrontPage. It’s a little simpler and I found a guy who could teach me in hands-on, one on one sessions. Blake Nancarrow of Computer Ease.

It took three books and six hours to teach me the ins and outs of FrontPage and I should point out I already knew and understood basic HTML and web concepts.

I built it for three reasons:

1) To showcase my work and services.

2) As a vanity project – we writers have huge egos.

 3) After launching two major commercial web sites and a smaller one and teaching online writing and information design for a year, it was about time I built my own. Just to say I could.

What’s with the name: Pitbull Media? Aren’t Pitbulls vicious, fighting dogs, banned in Ontario? Why would you associate yourself with something so disgusting?

I called my business Pitbull Media in 2001 when I first found myself freelancing for a living.

There were several reasons:

1) I had toyed with the idea of Bulldog Communications as a name long before I became self-employed.

2) I liked the idea of tenacity and loyalty, both attributes strong in most dogs, but especially bulldogs and Staffordshire Terriers.

 3) As a street reporter I had a reputation for dogged determination and stubbornness, both great traits in any journalist.

4) I’m a dog guy so piss off.

5) I tell people that dealing with the Media is like herding Pit Bulls. Some days it goes great; Some days you get bit.

 6) I own a pitbull. Her name is Rusty. We didn’t start out to get a pitbull. We simply went to the Toronto Humane Society in October 1999 to get a dog. Now, I’d had three German shepherds and they were great dogs. But the last one, Bear, was so big and so hairy at 100 lbs I was ready for a mid-size dog and a short-hair breed. We found this little bag of wrinkles and fell in love. I swear I thought she was a shar-pei mix for a while. They told us she was an American Staffordshire Terrier and I believed them. Then, we started getting stopped in the street while walking her or driving in the car. “Great looking red nose,” some white trash scuzball would say. “D’ja wanna breed her?” Despite protestations – and explanations that as part of getting a dog from the pound they’re spayed – they insisted we had a pitbull. A Google of “Texas Red Nose” or “Red Devil” turned up pictures of my dog. Okay, she’s a pitbull, but I’ve never had a more loyal, tenacious, loving pet, nor have I had a dog with such a great personality and the ability to vocalize.

7) Vicious? Get over it. Ban the Deed  Not the Breed.

What is Pitbill Media. Do you actually have employees?

No, Pitbull Media is an idea.

We’re as big or small as the job requires.

Lately we’ve been small. One person small. Me.

But we have produced jobs requiring designers, artists, editors, writers and more. See what we offer.

The beauty of Pitbull Media is that it’s a virtual company. It means that I, as the producer, can pull together a team of freelancers from a variety of disciplines regardless of how big or small the job is.

In the 30 plus years I’ve worked in media, I know still and video camera folks, voice over specialists, editors, web developers, artists, writers and even the odd marketer.

But most of what I do is simply me working on my own as a freelance journalist

What's with the byline: Is it Ian Harvey or I John Harvey? Do you have an identity crisis?

Both actually.

My full name is Ian John Harvey.

Yes, my parents had a twisted sense of humour, Ian being Gaelic for John and all.

I always wrote under the byline of Ian Harvey while I was at the Toronto Sun. When I went to Loyalty and wrote for the Air Miles Website and Magazine I changed it to I John Harvey to differentiate myself from the byline which had appeared in newspapers.

I thought that the editorial control exercised by marketing organizations should not be confused with real editorial products.

(Though I suppose we could have a conversation around what level of control is acceptable since both groups exercise control and influence over final products.)

In any event when I started freelancing I used I John for the Toronto Star and Ian for other publications. At the time I was paranoid because there used to be an unwritten rule you could only write for one paper even as a freelancer.

With the massive downsizing in the industry, that's changed somewhat but I wasn't taking any chances.

Your stuff is all over the place. What exactly do you write about? Why don't you concentrate on one subject and forget the rest?

Hmmm, couple of reasons. Money and ADD.

I get bored writing about one thing all the time. I have diverse interests and that's reflected in the subjects I write about.

I've renovated my own home, so I've learned a bit about design and construction so I write for the Star's New Homes, Your Homes and Condo Living sections when I can flog an idea.

That brings up the second reason: Money.

Making a living as a freelancer in Canada is tough. It's feast or famine. During slow times I work out towards the fringes of my core expertise, trying to develop new clients. Or building a website!

By having lots of areas I can keep generating income. I try to recycle my stories and build on my idea file to keep things going.

Once day, maybe, I'll settle into one theme. Until then, I'll try and develop crime and justice stories for Readers Digest Canada and mobile technology stories - how the mobile phone is changing our culture - for anyone who'll buy them from me.

For the Post I usually try and focus on quirky people and places in and around Toronto and general features, again, when I can flog them.

Or maybe I'll win the lottery and retire.

When do you update your content?

As soon as the story I've sold is published, I try to put it up on the site. Sometimes I've written and filed the story months before it gets published. In fairness to the client who has first print rights and electronic rights (usually) I can't put my work up before they do and thus steal the thunder, so to speak.

I own the secondary print and also retain electronic rights as well, so once it's published, it's fair game for me.

Incidentally, if you want to use my work, you need to talk to me about licensing fees. My work is intellectual property.

Didn't answer your question? Email me.