C'est la vie!

I amsterdam

2012-01-02T13:18:00.009-05:00

Four days is probably all you need to see Amsterdam, the capital city of The Netherland. Also, Amsterdam is a good place to start an European tour, as many European cities, Brussels, Frankfurt, are accessible via train from Amsterdam.
I arrived in Amsterdam on December 31, remember buses and trains run until 20:00 on the last day of the year; the service resumes at 2:00 on January 1.
As I had to catch a flight to my final destination, I decided to avoid dragging my luggage to the city center; so I booked a room at the Sheraton Hotel, easily accessible from the arrival halls of the Amsterdam city airport, Schiphol. As a Starwood Preferred Guest, the two bed room cost me 127 euro per night.

Not only transportation to city center was easy and cheap, 3.70 euro + .50 handling charges, but also I could get to Amsterdam Metropolitan or anywhere in Netherlands from the airport hotel. I visited Haarlem, 4.80 + .50, a serene city with a beautiful train station. Obtaining the ticket is possible from the ticket machines as well as ticket offices. Either way there is an extra charge of .50 added to the price. It's important to know the final destination of the train, for example trains traveling to Hoofdrop stop in Schiphol, so on the train Hoofdrop is displayed. Also, it is good to pay attention to the station names, as some trains don't have stop announcements! The ticket operators usually issue a second class ticket, by default if you want a first class train ticket, better seats, ask! The class written in big letters in the train box.

How to get around Amsterdam? There are many fun and exciting options to explore this city: bike-boat (you pedal your way around the canals, seats max four people), canal-buses, on foot/public transit, with a bicycle or hop-on-hop-off buses. Prices vary. I tried on-foot/public transit and the canal-buses. The Tourist Office across from the Amsterdam Central Train station is the one-stop shop to get information about transportation, obtain a map for 2.50 euro, purchase canal bus tickets, and/or iamsterdam city card.

Touring Amsterdam: Perfect starting point as a Tourist Information Center is located right across the station. I got my free map from the hotel to avoid paying for it. At the tourist center the city maps cost 2.50 euro.

To make the best out of the four days stay prioritizing was key. I like walking the streets of the city the first day to get a feel of the city streets and sights whereabouts. I walked along the best-known shopping streets: Leidsestraat, Hiligeweg, Klaverstraat, and Nieuwendijk. I stopped at Dam Square to take pictures, and visit the Royal Palace. I also ventured in Bijankorf (which means the beehive) and is Netherland's most famous department store. My final station and the goal of this walking tour was Van Gogh Museum.

The museum was home to many of the artist's early days work, works of his collaborators, as well as works of those artists that Ted Van Gogh, Vincent's brother purchased and added to the family collection. In the "Potato Eaters" Vincent depicts a family of five sitting at table in a very dark room eating. The artist, according to the caption made a mistake in showing both the side and back of the chair.

The Help

2011-11-19T20:16:00.002-05:00

A page turner. Although, I am as concerned as Ms. Stockett herself is to read a story about the "people of color" from the perspective of a white woman, but my worry soon is replaced by a great sense of curiosity. I meet Hilly Hollbrook, Eugene Skeeter Phelan, Elizabeth Leeflot, Aibleen, Minny Jackson, Celia Foot and learn about their lives, goals, intentions, personalities and each sure has a big story to tell one that keeps you absorbed and flipping the pages quickly. The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, during a highly conservative time of American history, where the integration of white people with people of color was violently frowned upon. Yet, I don't believe it is the intention of the author to depict history through this story. She is a storyteller. A very good one as a matter of fact. She keeps it interesting by adding enough suspense to each of these characters. And I like that she is an optimist and ends on a high note.

Upscale Rustic Cuisine

2011-10-23T17:22:00.006-04:00

Eating out is one of the pleasures of life. I always read the restaurant reviews with so much interest; coincidentally, most are good. I have yet to see a review that blasts a restaurant. My review of "Upscale Rustic Cuisine" is no exception.

We dined there on a gorgeous, sunny, warm Fall day, early October, the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. We were a bit inconvenienced to dine in a dim, dark restaurant on such a beautiful day, but hey we were there to eat not to sun bath. :)

Our waiter arrived, wearing a big smile, menu in hand. We took a quick glance and couldn't find the typical brunch dishes: omelet, sausage, bacon, and french toast, on the menu. I often accept these sort of situations, like when you are let down because you get something other than what you expect. I think expectations are merely barriers to taking risks, trying out new things. But my company was not too pleased. In any case the waiter was there smiling expectantly at us, so we had to get the ball rolling.

I picked "BENEDICT" OF THE WEEK. The food arrived late, but only to give us time to savor the variety of freshly baked, hot out of the oven breads with handmade butter. There were three different types of breads and scones. Each garnished with garlic and a different herb.

One word of advice if you dine at Upscale Rustic expect to get garlic in all your food and take a pack of gum with you, it comes handy. :)
The main course arrived shortly after the empty bread basked was removed from our table. Describing my "Benedict" as delicious is an understatement. The egg was simply flavor perfect. It was creamy, it was soft, it melted. I couldn't distinguish between egg white or yolk. I had some pulled pork on the side, which was equally yum.
I definitely recommend this restaurant. But, better to go on a rainy, gloomy day to feel cozy in this dark rustic restaurant.

Garlic’s of London - Upscale Rustic
481 Richmond Street
London, ON
N6A 3E4
P- 519-432-4092
F- 519-432-2918
Email: dine@garlicsoflondon.com

The Possessed - Adventures with Russian Books and the People who Read them

2011-08-28T10:14:00.005-04:00

This morning I finished reading Elif graduate studies and research memoirs; I am talking about "The Possessed" by Elif Batuman. Admittedly, this book is different than other books I've read. I liked and learned from it.

Her stories about life in Samarkand was sweet and witty, duck-soup, Satan in belly, Habib the janitor, Gulya and her greed for material life, Dilorom (age of maturity is between 45-60 :)), Muzaffar and his marriage obsessed family. These stories were intertwined with stories about Uzbek language and culture. I really enjoyed reading about Navoi's work, Leili and Majnun, Shrin and Farhad, and The Logic of Birds by Farid al-Din Attar, a Sufi of Nishapur, Iran. It was absolute pleasure to read Dilorom's interpretation of Shirin and Farhad: "the eternal problem of social inequality" and "crop irrigation". The latter refers to the sixty-kilometer canal Farhad carved to prove his love for Princess of Persia Shirin; it is called Farhad-Tarash in local language and located in Province of Kermanshah in Iran.

Her research about Russian literature and history, which side tracked in many different directions, Empress Anna Romanov's lavishes, Babel, Tolstoy and Chekhov, Dostoevsky was very informative. But fell short of the expectation built around the title. Afterall, the title suggests adventures with Russian books.

The last chapter was a shocker! It made me wonder about her real intention of writing this book. Are we reading a mad woman's or a woman madly in love and heartbroken memoirs. Is she ok? In search for an answer, I found this review of the book on slate.com very helpful. Here is an excerpt from the review that answers my question:

She even argues that theory can help us navigate our own lives. When Matej, a charismatic grad student, wreaks emotional havoc on Batuman and her female colleagues (and some of the males, too), she makes sense of him by invoking Rene Girard's theory of "mimetic desire." Beyond all the jokes, this may be the most important contribution Batuman has to make in The Possessed. By fusing memoir and criticism, she shows how the life of literary scholarship is really lived—at its most ridiculous, and at its most unexpectedly sublime.

Overall I found this to be a good, informative, funny book about many different things! It would look better if it were published as a collection of essays or named differently. :)

Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger

2011-07-20T16:26:00.009-04:00

The Time Traveller's Wife, by the same author is an international best seller therefore readers expect a repeat of a similar experience reading this book.
I had not read Audrey Niffenegger's: "The Time Traveler's Wife", in addition I am a novice in the supernatural, paranormal book genre.
When twin sisters Valentina and Julia Pools are told that their aunt Elspeth, who they have never seen, has left them her estate on the condition that they stay in her flat in London, England, close to Highgate Cemetery, for one year, they think this will be a nice change in their aimless lives.
At the age of 20, the twins are still living with their parents, Edwina and Jack, in Chicago. They have pursued higher education only to drop out, claiming that they want to find the subject they both like and more importantly guarantees they can be together all time. Julia, the stronger of the two, is making decision for both of them, unaware that Valentina, the subordinate twin is unhappy with her life in Julia's shadow.
The sisters, each for different reason, welcome the opportunity to live in London on their own for one year. Their mother, Edwina, however is quite worried about the prospects of the twins living on their own in Elspeth's, her twin sister's, flat.
Edwina is keeping a dark secret from her family. The secret explains why Elspeth and Edwina have not been talking, visiting, and writing to each other after Edwina got married to Jack and moved to USA. The only other person who is carrying the dark family secret is Robert, Elspeth's lover, who inherited Elspeth's diaries after her death.
Elspeth's death is an opportunity for this dark secret to be revealed, except for Elspeth is not entirely dead. Her soul is lingering around her flat waiting to be discovered by the twins, Valentina and Julia, and restless to communicate with her lover, Robert.
How and when the secret is revealed to those who don't know it and are most affected by it? Who gets what she/he wants? Who gets what he/she deserves?
There is a lot of twist and turn to the story and the events leading to secret being revealed become really bizarre and unrealistic. The main point of the story, I think, is love: love between the twins, and between the couples, when alive and after they die. Although about love the language is hardly romantic; and the events showing the love is built on trickery.

Random Hacks of Kindess #3, Toronto

2011-06-05T07:49:00.015-04:00

We live in a fast paced world. But every once in a while we get to stop and smell the roses. For me attending RHoK#3 Toronto was like "smelling the roses".
This was my first RHoK, (pronounced rock). I went to the event not knowing what to expect and came out of it expecting to attend every future RHoK organized, (next one is in October, check it out!).

It was a surreal experience and I tell you why. Firstly, the event was well crafted and get this by a group of volunteers who had taken care of everything: from finding a good location to host the event, OISE UofT, to sponsors who provided food, and snacks, (loved the Kinder Eggs, thanks!), to freebies, even to live streaming of the Stanley Cup Finals, (hacking while watching hockey, cool!). Secondly, the individuals who attended the event, I must add: from all walks of life, had one common goal/interest: to be part of a solution. Thirdly, and this impresses the most, the teams made of these individuals were able to design, develop a solution for a problem definition in a day.

Let me tell you my story attending RHok#3. I joined the Wound Classification Application team. The problem, suggested by Yaser Alyounes, was to design a prototype for an application that will be used in refugee camps or in areas troubled by war to streamline the process of classifying war wounds by taking pictures of the wounds. The benefits triaging the wounded far from qualified doctors and facilities quickly and efficiently.

We had very talented individuals on our team who quickly dissected the problem, analyzed each piece, and constructed the decision tree. By 12:20 pm we had a flowchart and owners/developers for each section. Some dived deep in the areas of their expertise and others researched, downloaded, and mocked around with software and source that were unfamiliar with.

I worked on the FrontlineSMS, an application that allows user mass communication via text
messaging. FrontlineSMS is an open source project that has been used in disaster relief situations. By connecting a mobile device, or a GSM modem with a SIM card to the computer where FrontlineSMS is installed you can send and receive messages to other devices that accept text messaging. I had some problems with the software, but I was able to test its send and receive capability, literally at the eleventh hour. By that time the team had decided to replace FrontlineSMS with a phone application that would let the volunteer to identify the four coordinates of the picture taken of wound. :) The coordinates of those four points will be sent from the app to the database. Once they are in the database, the algorithm calculates the dimensions of the wound based on those coordinates.

All in all this was great fun. Events like RHoK makes solving problems that our world is struggling with so much easier.

A big shout out to all those behind RHoK!

What's next for Canada in the next four years? 2011 - 2014

2011-05-06T16:47:00.013-04:00

This will be the last post on politics, at least for a while. the past election was an opportunity to dive into an unfamiliar area of knowledge; I gathered information about policies and understood less, because one contradicted the other. How could we cut deficit when we want to spend billion dollars on, unfortunately, stuff that in no way and shape boost our GDP?! How could we cut deficit when we intend to reduce corporate taxes?! Where is the revenue going to come to balance the spending?

I am befuddled!

Rick Mercer, Canadian political satirist, encouraged all of us to vote; his vote rant to, specially, encourage the young demographic was quoted in newspaper, on Facebook and other places. Here is a quote from the rant:

So please, if you're between the age of 18 and 25 and you want to scare the hell out of the people that run this country, this time around do the unexpected. Take 20 minutes out of your day and do what young people all around the world are dying to do.

Quite true. There are people who are giving up their lives to earn the right to vote for the future generation of their country. Voting has been the symbol of democracy.

I voted!

Once all votes were counted and results were announced, I felt no one heard or cared about what I voted for. My one vote had very little effect on the outcome.

What now? Well, Mr. Mercer we need a follow on rant to tell us what is the next step for us "in the country with one of the greatest democracies on earth." :)

Mr. Stronach suggests “people representatives” that will work alongside the elected parliamentarians to vote on the legislation proposed. This is a start to thinking beyond the once in a four years chance of influencing the future of the country. It high lights the need to understand how democracy can lead to prosperity and security. This proposal is made by a man who has built a company of $25 billion a year in sales which started its humble beginning in Toronto forty years ago.

I hope some one is listening; especially the educators. It's important to build a knowledgeable body who understand business in the context of policy making. And it's important to encourage this body of knowledge to then proceed into policy making jobs in government. This will, hopefully, put an end to making conflicting promises just for the sake of being re-elected.

What's next for Canada in the next four years is, what we want it to be. And this is not an idealistic rhetoric. There are many grass roots movements in this country that tackle the real issues.

Democracy is definitely NOT what this cartoon says!

Should a candidate earn my trust before earning my vote?

2011-04-22T11:53:00.007-04:00

Living in a country with a voting and multi-party systems one bears a great responsibility and that is "NOT to take democracy for GRANTED!"

I love this quote by Joe Wilson.

The responsibility of a country is not in the hands of a privileged few. We are strong, and we are free from tyranny as long as each one of us remembers his or her duty as a citizen. Whether it's to report a pothole at the top of your street or lies in a State of the Union address, speak out! Ask those questions. Demand that truth. Democracy is not a free ride, man. I'm here to tell you. But, this is where we live. And if we do our job, this is where our children will live.

I heard this quote for the first time in the movie Fair Game, based on the true story of a secret CIA agent, Valerie Plame, whose identity is revealed by the U.S. authorities as way of silencing her husband Joe Wilson, who wrote an article for New York Times criticizing the Bush administration move to attack Iraq based on alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction.

With a federal election looming, I feel more than any time else under pressure to realize my duty as a citizen. To cast a well-informed vote.

There is abundant of information available. The information is only as good as the people who provide it. I refuse to trust one without trusting the other. Therefore, I have a dilemma. None of the candidates, and or the party leaders have done anything to earn my trust.

Promise: Tax Cut Test ... A thumbs ....

2011-04-10T09:58:00.009-04:00

I spent the last two hours researching tax cuts. Before, I share the "new found knowledge", I have to write the motivation behind seeking the knowledge. I have to vote on May 2!

The phrase tax cuts is frequently used in a non-fact based rhetoric by politicians as a way of promoting the partisan agenda of the party. Although there is nothing offered in the promise to substantiate what tax cut means, the term has a very powerful effect on non-interested voters, who will give you five minutes to make your pitch, and casual voters, who will skim literature, read headlines and can be seduced by a meaningful phrase.

I skim literature and read headlines, but I am a skeptic and do my own research and find my facts before believing what I read, or hear.

Here is what I found out around and about the world wide web on this topic.

The tax cut increases disposable income and encourages consumer spending. The increase in consumer spending increases the GNP, Growth National Product, which is an economic indicator of nation's wealth. At the same time the tax cut decreases government revenue which may create a budget deficit, or prompt cut on many government funded or subsidized programs to avoid the deficit.

Taxes are a percentage of a value, where percentage is 1, 2, 16% and the value is income, price of goods or any other item or category that is taxed. Clearly the larger the value the higher the tax therefore lowering the tax rate is equal to higher savings. For example lowering sales tax by 1% will save ~$150 on the purchase of Honda Fit ($14,480 CAD) and ~$400 on the purchase of a Mercedes C 250 ($38,800 CAD).

Bottom line the major benefactor of tax cuts are those who are well-off and don't rely on any federally funded program.

Canada has the lowest Corporate Tax in the Group of G7, 16.5%. The government is going to decrease this rate further by 1.5% to 15% (effective Jan 2012). The budget deficit is $5.93 billion. Government needs to think strategically and prioritize according to what is needed for the majority of the citizens not a select few.

My verdict for the platform who is committed to lowering the corporate taxes further before the federal budget deficit is handled is a big thumbs down.

Can one make a "project" out of "happiness"?

2011-03-05T08:52:00.010-05:00

I turn everything into a project. I have projects tackling career, relationship, and house chores. I break each project into smaller projects and then assign each a date. I track my progress diligently. If I procrastinate I start making notes to myself. The notes are supposed to serve as reminders; but they become source of frustration. Source of frustration because I dislike clutter. When I see one of these notes, I become more motivated to complete the task jotted on it so I can get rid of the note itself.

I am so comfortable with "projectizing"!

However, I have to admit the title of the book I recently read, "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, made me uncomfortable at first. I couldn't imagine an end date for such project, in fact nothing about it fit the definition of a project.

A project, by definition, is a temporary activity with a starting date, specific goals and conditions, defined responsibilities, a budget, a planning, a fixed end date and multiple parties involved.
Source: http://www.softwareprojects.org/project_intake_reasons22.htm

I have always been curious about the topic. Is happiness a "what" or a "how"?
What makes me happy?
OR
How do I become happy?

Is it one or the other, or both? Does it matter? Should we think about it? Probably, yes! Somewhere in the book, Rubin asks this question on her blog , "When is the right time to think about happiness? Before or after catastrophe strikes?" . Some of the high lights of the comments are in the book. One person's comment stood out for me.

money, you can't save for when you get laid off, after you get laid off; rather, you have to save while you have a job and the money is still coming in. Life is like that, you have to DO while you are able to think of what you want, what you like, what needs it will fill, how it will enhance your life, how it will help you to maintain you, so that you have some reserves when cruch time comes.

Rubin's approach in finding happiness is very "systematic". Hence the name "project" is appropriate, (I found this out after reading the first two chapters.) She has been honest. Honest, because she doesn't imply that her book is a one hat for all, example: those who look for a philosophical way of discussing, what is happiness, or how to be happy know what not to expect from the book right away.

Honesty is the trait that Rubin demonstrates frequently in her writing. She builds her stories around facts, her former profession, related to Law, is probably the reason she is diligent about not coming across as phony or pretentious. I liked that about her writing.

Rubin's message is: I have to be happy. It sounds selfish, but if I am not, I will make people in my life unhappy. To become happy could be as simple as taking a look at my day to day movements, existence and identifying areas for improvement. This is something I can relate to. Once I have less clutter in my life, or I am more on top of my to-do-list, or I am more in touch with people I love and care about; I am happier. If I am happier, I am more productive, become better at what I do, and the world becomes my oyster!

The impact of pervasive computing on the education system

2011-01-31T20:05:00.007-05:00

Here is an interesting fact: the term pervasive computing was introduced by IBM in 1999. What it means is: technology is available anywhere at anytime. This vision for the future of technology continues to change the way we live, socialize, have fun, and learn.
I am curious about the impact it has had in the way we learn, more specifically in the classroom; on the education system.

Today a plethora of computing solutions are available to students from a early age.
From tool based applications such as word processor and spreadsheets, modeling soft- wares to emails, podcasts, blogs, and much more. What impact has technology had in facilitating education?

The most famous study done in this area is ACOT, Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow. Since 1985, the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT)SM research project has provided teachers and students at five public school sites in five states in the US with individual computers for use at school and at home. Students and teachers also have access to video, printer, scanner, CD-Rom drives and hundreds of software packages.

On an on going basis the changes of the behavior of students in the classroom has been observed and documented in this research project.

In the report ACOT teachers rave about the positive impact introducing technology has had in the process of learning. Here are three examples:

access to modeling software has made the learning of math more attractive to the students
ACOT students' grades were marginally better or neutral relative to the grades of students who don't use technology in the classroom. This implies that what teachers indicate as "attractive" has more to do with the students' reaction to math and not necessarily their understanding of it. In other words the technology has not been able to facilitate learning of math concepts.

access to technology has improved the spirit of team work and collaboration; the usual example in this space is access to the world wide web, pod casts, emails and blogs. these tools have opened up a world of opportunities for both students and teachers to learn and share experience.
Collaboration and team work has always been at core of education. The interaction students have with each other is the only reason they learn. The time students spend on the world wide web, and listening to podcasts can only reduce the time they spend with each other. In fact in another section of the report we read: students reluctantly leave their classroom during the recess.
access to tool based applications such as word processor and spreadsheets improves students organization skills
An essay written on paper using a pen and pencil is many times richer in content than a word processed one, where half of the productivity time is spent on undoing and redoing the cosmetic changes. Similarly a statistic problem done without using the spreadsheet allows students to learn and reinforce their learning of math operations.

As you see, I am a skeptic!

What I am afraid is happening is education system is becoming a market place for computing companies. The research projects funded by them is biased; of course from their point of view the impact of technology in the classroom is positive and improves the process of learning. The educators, however, need to think more critically. Instead of glorifying all that technology has provided to the classroom, they should think about what it has taken away from our learning process. Only in this way we can discover the best use of technology in our education system.

Little Bee, Chris Cleave, A novel

2011-01-04T20:38:00.019-05:00

This book has received great reviews and the status of New York Times Bestseller. I started reading it the day I got it from the library not knowing what to expect. The picture on the cover shows a girl with curly hair; the book title, "Little Bee", doesn't provide much of a clue to the reader about the story content.

I soon found out that Little Bee is the name of one of the two protagonists, and I am guessing the drawing on the cover is her, although, as I read more about her, I pictured her differently.

Little Bee is a sixteen year old Nigerian refugee, she is the last member of her family. Everyone else is dead. With all she had to witness, one wonders if she is better off dead or alive. She travels thousands of miles to escape death but she is always ready to take her own life when the "men come".

The other protagonist is a well off journalist, Sarah Summers-O'Rourke, who lives in the posh suburbs of Kingston upon Thames, with her husband, Andrew O'Rourke, also a journalist. They have a four year-old Batman-costume-wearing son, Charlie. Sarah although a caring mother but she is an unfaithful wife.

These two strangers whose vastly different lives would make it highly unlikely to cross path are both in search of a new beginning, when a horrific event on a Nigerian beach connect their lives for good.

I think Mr. Chris Cleave's true intention of crafting the story of Sarah and Little Bee is to bring to our attention the murder, torture and unfair treatment of thousands of innocent people living on oil rich lands in Nigeria and the mass exodus of the survivors (of these attacks) who sought refuge from countries such as Britain, only to find themselves in inhuman, harsh and painful situations at the refugee detention centers of these countries.

It's a good read!

A National Bestseller...A New York Times Bestseller...Shortlisted for Costa Novel Award, Commonwealth Writers' prize....Best Book Europe and Asia.	Praise for Little Bee comes from all over!
The Guardian UK calls the Book, "Ambitious and Fearless"	The Globe and Mail Canada refers to it as, "Enthralling"

I am a zipster now

2010-12-26T19:17:00.011-05:00

I lost all the motivation to buy a car, when I moved to the city with a reliable and well connected public transit. I was not able in any shape or form justify the cost of a car and car insurance especially when my residence is close to subway station, one connecting me to North and South of the city and the other connecting me to the East of the city. But still there were days, winter, windy, rainy, shopping days, that I wished I could have the convenience of the car without the "inconvenience" of the monthly cost.

I learned about the rental companies in my neighborhood and started using them on an on demand basis. Around the same time, I learned about zipcar. I decided to prefer renting to car sharing, because I was convinced that the North American mind set will never give a chance to car sharing to grow and flourish.

I stand corrected! Car renting is becoming a thing of a past.

I became a zipster and have been enjoying the ease of use, the efficiency of service and the low cost --all at the same time.

zipcars are readily available in the neighborhood*. They can be booked any time, even minutes before the time of pick-up (upon availability)**. The price includes gas and insurance***. They can be booked for one hour or for one day; the booking can be extended****. The entire process is green; everything from booking to billing is done on-line (e-mail and/or text); which means no more receipts to carry around.

Companies have rules; if broken there are fines and penalties! Those who read the rules will never get burnt, for the rest there is learn by experience (a.k.a the hard way!)

Zipcar is no exception. Consider the following as an introduction to the Zipcar rules:

*Although they are all over, (50+ cities in US, Canada and UK and 100+ university campuses in North America), but coverage may be sparse in the neighborhood you work, play or live. The locations are decided based on the demand. They are good about showing you the zipcars in your city.

**You can change or cancel your reservation with no penalty:
-for reservations less than 8 hours long, you've got until 3 hours before the start of your reservation.
-for reservations 8 hours or longer, you've got to do it at least 24 hours in advance.
Since you can book minutes before your planned departure this should not be a problem, unless you like advance booking but change your plan haphazardly.

***Yes, the price does include insurance, but they charge you $750 damage fee, unless you sign up for a waiver which costs $5 per month.
I don't quite understand the logic behind this rule; if insurance is included in the price then what's the $750 damage fee? Let me know if you have this figured out, will you?

****Half an hour before the end of the reservation they send a text to remind you that time is almost up and you've got to return the car or extend your reservation. They value punctuality, so much that they charge you a late fee if you run late. And don't you think that they will not find out --after all there is no one there to check you in or out you may think. The smart technology built in your zipcard will let them know. Intriguing, eh?
Well, if you are good in managing your time then this is not something you need to worry about. And for the rest of us, this is a great way to develop and practice the essential time management skill. Value your time, dude!

You've got questions and/or concerns that are available 24/7 year round to answer and/or address them. Call them up. The prompts quickly connects you to the right person or panel (if you choose to DIY). The agent, I spoke with, Sunday morning 8:17 AM, was able to give an answer to my question very quickly.

So, what's the cost to become a zipster in T.O.?
-a one-time non-refundable application processing fee, $35 + HST
-a non-refundable annual fee, $65 + HST (refundable within the first 30 days of signing for the service)
-pay per use of ~$8/hour the week and ~$11.75/hour the weekend, plus good deals M-Th after 6PM

Whereas with rental cars, I paid for the whole day and used it for maybe 3 hours, with zipcars, I pay for 3 hours and use it for 3 hours.

Live long car sharing!!

Olive Kitteridge

2010-11-08T07:03:00.005-05:00

Olive Kitteridge is a novel by Elizabeth Strout. The novel takes place in Crosby, Main, where Olive lives with her husband, Henry, and her son, Christopher and teaches math to 7th Grades. In this town there is one church, one supermarket and a hardware store. Strout takes us through the lives of the Crosby residents through mini-stories. It's the presence of Olive in these stories that gives one the feeling of reading a novel.

Strout says, it is through our most intimate relationship that we are revealed. She does a brilliant job in doing just that in this book. It is through her well crafted relationships that each character is introduced to the reader. She is one of those authors that leaves making the conclusion to the reader. Readers' imagination can go wild, to make the ending of some of the characters. I felt the stories ended with ... rather than a . :)

The characters in this book are more middle aged women, and men. Their quest is to adjust to children moving away, to not having to show up to work everyday, to having to spend time with their significant other who may or may not understand them.

Olive's experience is no different than others. Except for her grand presence. She is physically a big woman; and through her actions, she is present through out the book. She is a wife who never realized her husband's true worth, and genuine love for her a mother who loved her only son dearly a feeling that for valid reasons was not mutual, and a teacher who was feared but respected by her students. Sometimes one needs a jolt to realize all the good things she is surrounded with in her life. And for Olive, unfortunately, it had to be Henry's stroke.

There is a lot to be learned about compromise, kindness and forgiveness through the stories in this book.

It's a great book!

Comedians hold rally in Washington D.C.

2010-10-31T09:13:00.006-04:00

I should have laughed, but I didn't. Instead, as I read more about the recent rally in Washington D.C. organised by eminent comedians, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert, I became more worried about the state USA is in today!

On the surface, this appears as a harmless, let's-poke-fun-at-ourselves type of event, but beyond the surface, I find that this event highlights a disturbing fact; The United States of America's domestic and foreign policies are failing!

This event is the 21st century's, a century overloaded with redundant information, "amplified" by media, way of dealing with looming "Depression" in the U.S.

The event has a noble message, let's compromise! If we cannot agree on "Peace Train" or "Crazy Train", let's come together for the sake of "Love". This is the strongest, non-partisan, call to action I have heard from United States of America in such a long time!

The question is: can those thousands gathered in Washington D.C.'s National Mall, cheering for this rally deliver on this message.

Can America's divide to conquer foreign policy, intrusion in developing and third world countries' domestic affairs to gain access to natural resources or to strengthen strategic power in the area, take a turn for "Love"?

Can America's out of control greed, paying billions of dollars in compensation to the top executives on Wall Street, take a turn for creating equal opportunities for all Americans?

I can only HOPE!

How did I spend 8 days in Italy?

2010-09-19T09:54:00.008-04:00

I spent eight days in September visiting three cities in Italy. Despite the fact that September is high season in Italy, thanks to the availability of many resources on the Internet, I was able to make my trip as cost efficient as possible; without too much giving up on comfort. I spent $250.0 CAD per day. This includes: round trip air travel, train tickets to three cities, hotel, sight seeing, food, post cards, mail, souvenier and a couple of personal items.

I spent 3 days in Florence, 2 days in Venice, and 3 days in Rome. This gave me enough time to visit the most significant sights, enjoy a bit of culture and cuisine without spending a lot of money on hotel. Hotels are very expensive, especially during the high season, in Italy.

Restaurants, bars, and cafes add a service charge, 1 to 2 euro, to the price of the each order if served. Take out price does not include this service charge. Therefore, tipping is not necessary, unless the service is impressive!

Rome Fiumicino airport is connected to Roma Termini, main bus and train station of Rome. Trains depart every 10 minutes. The trip takes 30 minutes. One way ticket is 14 euro, available at the ticket counter during the business hours, or self service machines out of the business hours.

All tickets, bus, metro, train, water taxi (Venice), should be validated prior to embarking on the trip. The validating machines are located at the train station or water taxi stations or in the case of the buses, they are located in the bus. Validate your ticket to avoid the fine!

Major Italian cities are serviced by the TrenItalia regional train. On line booking is available. The website offers an English version for those unfamiliar with Italian language. There are two types of discounts suitable for tourists, meno30 and meno15, giving travelers who book at least 15 days in advance 30% discount an those booking at least 7 days in advance 15% discount respectively. Trains are either class 1 or 2. meno30 class 1 ticket from Rome to Florence 26 euro. Trip takes about 3 hours. Class 2 ticket from Florence to Venice 19 euro. Trip takes 2 hours. The fewer stops the train makes on the way to its destination the more expensive the ticket price is.

There are two train stations in Florence, Santa Monica Novella, and Rifredi. They are 15 minutes apart by the city bus, number 28. The bus ticket is 1.20 euro and can be purchased from any tabacco stand. Validate your tickets on the bus. If you arrive in one station and depart from the other on the same day, you can catch the connecting train using the same ticket. I arrived in Rifredi from Venice, and I had a ticket the same day from S.M. Novella to Rome, so I used my Florence-Rome ticket to travel from Rifredi to S.M. Novella.

Finding a decent hotel, in a location close to all city sights is very difficult. Websites like TripAdvisor help in the search process. Most hotels provide breakfast and some have free wi-fi. Of the three hotels I stayed in, only one provided computer and Internet access. The other two had free wi-fi; which was useless, because I was not travelling with my laptop.

In Florence I stayed at Hotel Waldorf Suites located in Piazza del Stazione. The hotel was walking distance from Santa Monica Novella train station. Given that I travelled by train, the proximity of the hotel to the station was a plus. The hotel was furnished with contemporary style furniture. The room sizes were generous. We had two rooms, two washrooms, two LCD TVs, and a kitchentte in our room. For 351 euro for two nights, this was a great find!

In Venice I stayed at Pension Guerrato, recommended by Rick Steves. The pension offers rooms with and without private bathrooms. I made reservation for room with private bathroom, but didnot take a shower there! The furniture is somewhat old; European style antique lovers would love browsing the second floor of this place. Rate for a double room if paid in cash is 135 euro per night. The rate includes breakfast: coffee, tea, fruit, yogurt, croissant, cereal, milk, honey, jam, butter, cheese and orange juice. The hotel is within walking distance of Rialto Mercato station. The water taxi one way costs 6.50 euro, needs to be validated prior to getting on the taxi. It is quite an experience to get on and off while the taxi is floating and the passengers are pushing each other to get off before the boat departs!

In Rome I stayed at Sonya hotel. The hotel is within walking distance of the Roma Termini; breakfast is included. Beware, the single rooms are very small in this hotel.

In general hotel web sites offer sigle, double rooms; single rooms are good for one person and double for two. Italian hotels give a better rate to guests who pay in cash.

In Florence I walked to all the sights with occassional gelato stops ;) it was easy to get to all the sights. In Venice except for the round trip on the water taxi to the pensione and to the train station, again I walked every where. Rome, however, is a big city. I took the sightseeing Rome double decker bus. They offer a two days hop on hop off tour of all of the Rome major sites for 18 euro per person. This was a considerably better price than the more popular 110 open tour. Their first bus leaves at 9 AM from close to Roma Termini and the last bus leaves at 8 PM. They cover all the major sites, including the Vatican City.

In Rome, I also used the bus Urbana H to Porta Portese, Rome Sunday Flea market. Metro and bus tickets are 1 euro for one trip. The tickets are valid for 75 minutes from the time you validate them. I was able to use the same ticket from Piazza dela Republica to Viale Trastevere and back from Trastevere to Piazza Venizia. There are day tickets for 4 euro a day for travelers who wish to see the sites using the public transit. We were told at the hotel that bus number 64 or 40 goes to Vatican City. The bus for either 40 and 60 stops at Via Nazionale close to Piazza della Republica.

Of all the sites that I saw, the most breathtaking, worth the endless time waiting in the line, and the expensive admission fee were:
... Michalangelo Sistine Chapel
... climbing to the top of the Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence)

Michalangelo Sistine Chapel is located inside Vatican Museum. I waited close to 2 hours in line and paid 15 euro admission fee. For Duomo the wait time was less, half an hour, and the admission fee was 8 euro.

Rome is famous for its beautiful piazzas, the ones unique are those adorned with Bernini fountains. The most gorgeous ones are:
... Piazza di Trevi, Fontana di Trevi
... Piazza Navona, Fontana Navona
... Piazza Barberini, Fontana del Tritone

Italians are somewhat slick in their dealings with tourists. Places you can experience this the most are restaurants. Make sure you ask for menue especially if you are just walking in a restaurant without advance research.

I ate at Ristorante La Giosta, 12 Borgo Pinit, near Duomo in Florence and had the most wonderful experience. The food was great. The staff were great. The decoration was unique. There were a drink and a platter of anti pasta offered on the house. The total of cost of appetetizer plus ravioli came to 30 euros.

On the contrary, I ate at the self service bar right across from museum vatican. I ate there because after 2 hours of waiting and 3 hours of walking inside of the museum I was famished and could not take one more step. The restaurant didnot appear expensive. I walked in had a small piece of lasagna, a coke and a piece of pizza and for this I also paid 30 euros! I should have known to be more careful when I was not offered a menu.

All, in all, I had a great experience in Italy. I learned a lot about the country, people and culture and am taking back great memories as souvenier.

Book review: Think of a Number

2010-08-01T21:42:00.012-04:00

It's a murder investigation, one that starts before the victim is killed. Mark Mellery a transformed man, from a-living-a-high-life stock broker to a spiritual guru, calls his buddy from twenty-five years ago, Dave Gurney, a retired NYPD detective to let him in on a personal problem.
Mellery has received a hand written note in red ink. The note reads, I know you well enough to know what you are thinking. Think of a number! And open the second envelope!
How could the author of the mail have known the number Mellery was thinking?
Shocked, baffled, scared Mellery, does as he is told. He sends him $289.87 check to X. Arybdis. That's how much it cost Arybdis to find him.
It gets more complicated when the second mail arrives; a poem:

How many bright angles
can dance on a pin?
How many hopes drown in a bottle of gin?
Did the thought ever come
that your glass was a gun
and one day you'd wonder,
God, what have I done?

What you took you will give
when you get what you gave.
I know what you think,
when you blink,
where you've been,
where you'll be.
You and I have a date,
Mr. 658.

And then Mellery is killed; stabbed in the throat with a bottle of Whisky. And within a few days two more murders, one in Flounder Beach, Bronx and the other one in ...

What's the connection between these geographically dispersed murders?

That's what Dave Gurney is so intrigued to find out. Except for, this puzzle has caught him at a turning point in his personal life. He and his wife have recently moved to the Catskill region, Upstate New York, to resolve memories of past horrible incident, to reconnect with nature and with each other.

If you are interested in deciphering human actions through psychology, this book is going to be a joy for you to read.

This is a great debut novel by John Verdon. I am looking forward to a sequel!

TM - Speech 5 - Your Body Speaks - False assumptions can get you in all sorts of trouble

2010-07-24T16:02:00.004-04:00

A couple of years ago an interesting thing happened to me. I was on my way to work. Like any other day, I was riding in the first car of the train, because I knew when I get off the train at Finch station there will be an escalator that takes me to the main level. I got on the escalator and started taking steps up. But, I noticed my steps were not bringing me closer to the top of the escalator. All of a sudden, I lost my balance and fell on all four. At this point in time I panicked, my brain logic system shut down and it started working in survival mode. I had to survive whatever was happening to me. So, I dropped my bag then I got rid of my lunch box. And took hold of the hand rail with both hands. My grip was so tight my knuckles turned white. I started literally climbing up the stairs. Finally, when I got to the top of the escalator, I looked down for my bag and lunch box; I noticed that the escalator that I assumed was going up, is going down.

Obviously, this assumption got me into trouble!

As human beings we usually make assumptions based on past experiences, cultural stereotypes and social stigmas. We see a tall guy we say, oh he must be a good basketball player, we see an Asian gal, we say she is definitely good in math, we are introduced to an Italian and we think he must like pasta. By way of assumption, we are taking a shortcut in our decision making process. We avoid fact gathering, analysis and deduction.

Let's take a look at one example together. How many of you think that the express lane of a supermarket is faster than other lanes?

I found this example on Dan Myer's weblog. Dan is a math teacher. He uses this example to teach his students math reasoning. The students, in order to find an answer for this question, go to a supermarket and observe how fast the lines at the registers are moving. They collect two piece of data, the number of items in a customer's baskets and the time it took for the customer to pay for these items. The graph, based on this data, looks like this.

When I looked at this graph, two things caught my eye.
1. there is a nominal time spent in front of a cash register even if you have no items to pay. Interesting? What may you be doing at the cash register if you have no items. Well you may ask the cashier where you can find soap.
2. the second thing were the outlier data. e.g. it look less for an individual with 26 items to pay for his items than it did for another individual to pay for 17 items in the express lane. How could this be? Well, we often overlook that methods of payment such as debit or credit can take longer than cash.

The point I am trying to make is assumptions may not yield the right answer. As we clearly see in this example.

I'd like to suggest that we become more aware of our thinking process. Realize when our decisions are based on assumptions. And ask ourselves what those assumptions are based.

FIFA: WC 2010 Viva Espana!!!

2010-07-11T18:04:00.006-04:00

Not necessarily a good game to watch, lots of fouls, but in the end, it was the great passing the ball, teamwork, that got the La Roja the golden cup.

The Netherlands team tried to build frustration amongst the Spanish players, however, this tactic only resulted in many yellow cards and one Dutch player, John HEITINGA, being expelled. There were a couple of opportunities for Arjen ROBBEN to score, but both times he was blocked by Spain's great defense duo, Carols PUYOL-Gerard PIQUE and the agile goal keeper, Iker CASILLAS.
Spain had many opportunities on the Dutch goal, Sergio RAMOS missed the net twice; Jesus NAVAS, and David VILLA both got very close to becoming heroes for their country, but didn't make it.
At the end it was Andres INIESTA who took the ball close to the goal and scored, undoubtedly, the most entertaining goal of the WC 2010!!

Well done! Well deserved!

FIFA: WC 2010 The Final

2010-07-10T14:43:00.007-04:00

It's 20 minutes into the final games of Fifa World Cup 2010. Germans are 1 goal ahead of the Uruguay team, scored by Muller. They both deserve the best. They have worked hard, trained well, and played an exceptional football to get to this point. Wow, as I am writing this, Cavani scored the equalizer for the Uruguay team!!

It has been an interesting, exciting and entertaining World Cup. The teams, France, Italy and England, came into the competition with high hopes, but they were ill fit, physically and mentally, for the task. They left early, making way for exceptional teams such as: Ghana, South Korea, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Slovakia, and others to keep playing. The games were extremely close. Players put in their best game. But, sometimes even the best of games is not enough to take you through, e.g. Brazil loss to the Netherlands.

I had my eye on one team from the beginning, Spain. I am so happy they have made it to the final. Let's see what they bring to the field in the last game of the Fifa World Cup 2010. Let's hope their tactics, game making, teaming and mental strength is enough to keep them cool for 90 minutes and push them to deliver goals and wining the trophy!

FIFA: WC 2010 Round of 16 is on its way

2010-06-27T09:48:00.005-04:00

The round of 16 started this weekend. Unlike the first round, in this round, the teams only get one chance of qualifying for the next round, the quarter final. Each game has to produce a winner, if not in the allotted 90 minutes then the teams have to play for two additional 15 minutes. If by then none of the teams scored a winning goal, the players proceed to penalty kicks. Games could become very long but exciting.

Yesterday, Uruguay and Ghana became the first teams to qualify for the quarter finals!!

Uruguay has been incredibly strong in this world cup. The team plays with eyes open, passing the ball to each other at the right moment. They have also shown creative ways of opening their opponent's goal. The first goal they scored against South Korea, yesterday is an example of such masterful game making. Forlan saw Suarez in the right spot, he passed a beautiful ball which reached Suarez with no blockage from South Korean defense. Suarez sent the ball in the goal with a right kick. Beautiful finish!

And so Uruguay has a rightful spot in the quarter finals. Its next game will be against Ghana.

Yesterday, Ghana and USA played a very intense game which produced a 1-1 result at the end of 90 minutes and many yellow cards for players of both sides. Prince produced the first goal for Ghana and Donovan from the USA squad shot the equalizer penalty kick for his team. "Gyan scored the winner with a classic front-runner's goal, outmusceling US captain Carlos Bocanegra - Gyan's friend and team-mate with French club Rennes - before crashing a shot past Tim Howard."

Ghana being the only African team left in the World Cup is considered the "Pride of Africa"!

Uruguay will play against Ghana in the quarter final.

Let the best team win!

FIFA: WC 2010 Day 4 Intensity as the defending World Champions nearly loose to Paraguay

2010-06-15T19:59:00.005-04:00

Blame it on rain, that the Italians were 1-0 behind at the end of the first half. Anyone who watched the game saw that Paraguay's defense was strong and Antolin Alcaraz first goal was beautiful. Here is what Gerardo Martino, Paraguay's coach had to say about the game: "We played this game equally against the current world champions," he said. "To play against a rival with such skills is a very good sign for us. It gives is a lot of confidence going ahead in this tournament."
In the second half the Italians took possession of the ball most of the time. They put a lot of pressure on the Paraguay team. Finally, Daniele De Rossi scored the first goal after 63 minutes to make it equal.

FIFA: WC 2010 Day 3 A hand ball followed by Solvenian dance

2010-06-13T17:39:00.007-04:00

Controlling the ball with hand is foul according to football rules. The likelihood of this type of foul increases in proportion with the competitiveness of the game. The outcome, however, should be the same. "...if the player touches the ball with his hand, he must be penalized with a direct free kick and a disciplinary sanction if required." quote from Law of the Game 2010.

World Cup 2010 has produced an anomaly: two hand balls with two different outcomes. In one case the referee ignores the foul and as a result sends the team to the World Cup, France vs Ireland, in the other the referee (correctly) sends the player who performs it out of the game and makes the way for the opponents to win the game, Algeria vs Slovenia. ha!

FIFA: WC 2010 Day 2 is all about Maradona

2010-06-12T11:02:00.006-04:00

Diego Maradona is the man of the hour, even more than Gabriel Heinz who scored the winning goal for the team in the game against Nigeria; he has shown extreme characteristics through out his sport career, as a player for Argentina's national team, to its captain leading the team to winning the FIFA World Cup 1986, and to its coach today.

Watching him exhibit great emotion from the coach seat, Diego is holding a bracelet/rosary in his hand, which I think demonstrates some sort of superstitious belief. He is waving his hand in the air, and screaming something to his team, as if they can or should hear him.

As for the team itself, after watching 60 minutes of the game against Nigeria, I would be very surprised, if they make it beyond round 2. They are not that good.

FIFA: WC 2010 The magic of opening match

2010-06-11T07:12:00.004-04:00

Dear soccer/football fans around the world,
South Africa is playing against Mexico to kick the FIFA World Cup 2010 games to a start.
The odds are for the South African team, being the host country with no defeats in the past 13 games, they beam with confidence. The Mexican team on the other hand had to overcome many bumps in the road, lose against USA, and Honduras in the WC qualifying matches, to make it this far; they are ready.

So, who do you think will win this game?

We are set for an exciting opening match!

Discovery Walk - Don Valley Parkway Trail

2010-05-29T20:06:00.013-04:00

Exploring the city where we reside doesn't come naturally, because we often fall into the routine and as a result become oblivious to the fact that our cities can provide us with more than a place to go to work, school, etc.

I know this. I have first hand experience.

This Spring, however, as the nature was reborn, the non-existing snow melted (we had very little snow this winter) and the days grew longer, brighter and warmer, I took out a piece of paper and made a list of the places I had seen tourists virtually mark with a red cross --to indicate not to be missed-- on sites like tripadvisor.com.

Here are a few places I have been:

Edwards Garden	(http://www.toronto.ca/parks/parks_gardens/edwardsgdns.htm)
Botanical Garden	(http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/)
High Park	(http://www.highparktoronto.com/)

along with pictures I have taken and published on Picasa Web so far.

But besides encouraging you to explore the city you live in, I want to share with you my latest discovery of one of Toronto's finest multi-purpose trails. I only explored a small portion of it, from Broadview and Danforth to Lakeshore Blvd. The map, below, shows the trail and its connections to other parts of the city via the city roads. You can lose yourself in this lush forested area for hours. The occasional traffic noise speeding by or the down town skyscrapers peeking through the trees, are the only reminders that you are in the city!

Here is the map, courtesy of bikely.com.

TM: Speech 4 - How to Say it

2010-04-03T09:24:00.008-04:00

Project 3 for Competent Communication manual is a hard project to tackle. Some masterfully play with meanings, words and figures of speech to vivify an experience for their audience. I don't! I have notebooks of phrases that eloquently convey the meaning. I take them down as I come across them in written or spoken language. But, I rarely use them!

For this project, I consulted with family, my Toastmaster's mentor, and a friend on what topic to talk about. After many brainstorming discussions, talking about a Recipe got the most number of votes. I delivered the speech on April Fool's, Thursday April 1. So take the wrapper text around the cooking tips with a grain of salt. :)

Here is the text for my fourth TM project --How to Say it.

"Welcome to the Fool's edition of our Cooking Show. I am glad that you could join me today because today I have a rare opportunity to bring to you the international recipe for April Fool's day on the day it was discovered.

This one of a kind recipe originated in a small, cute town in France. The French man who first discovered it was a veterinarian called Jacques. On April 1, 1832 Jacques was performing an autopsy on a cow when he accidentally touched the meat around the back rib cage of the animal. It felt so smooth and soft. If it feels so tender when it is raw, imagine how succulent it tastes when it is cooked, he thought. He took a sharp knife cut a thick piece from the tail end of the loin and took it home with him. He stayed up all night, toiling away in his kitchen until he perfected his idea. Jacques discovered one of the most delicious, luxurious, expensive dishes in the world. He called it fool Mignon since it was on April's fool's day that this genius idea came to him. But later the French changed it to a more sophisticated name: fillet Mignon to literally mean thick slice of dainty.

Like flowers on Valentine day, this dish could be quite expensive when dining out on April fool's day, but it is much more reasonable if you make it at home. On that note I would like to share with you a few tips on cooking fillet Mignon at home.

When selecting tenderloin or fillet Mignon slices choose the lighter colored ones over the dark ones. The lighter the color the more marbling it has which makes the meat more tender.
Since the beef has little fat on its surface, it is often wrapped in a bacon or some sort of fat to make it more favorable.
Use a dry high heat method of cooking: such as broiling, roasting or grilling.
Avoid cutting into the meat to check doneness, because all the juice will ooze out. Use the touch method. Press the meat with two fingers, if it feels soft and mushy and leaves imprints, it is rare. If it is soft but slightly resilient, it is medium rare. The minute it begins to feel firm it is over-done start over again.
You can garnish fillet Mignon with garlic, salt, pepper and some rosemary.
To match a wine with fillet Mignon look for dry, red wines. The top matches are Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, or Shiraz. don't try all at the same time.

With these tips you can make a tasty fillet Mignon at home that is so tender you can cut it with a fork and so juicy that it will melt in your mouth. And since today is the day this recipe was discovered you have a strong motivation to make it today. Try this recipe out today!

Thank you for joining me. I hope you enjoyed this edition of our cooking show and you join me again next week when i make another world renowned, exotic dish simple enough for you to make it at home."

Earth hour 2010 in Toronto!

2010-03-22T19:59:00.009-04:00

Toronto is participating in Earth Hour 2010!
Toronto's family-friendly Earth Hour celebration will be hosted by Citytv personalities Kevin Frankish and Dina Pugliese, and feature performances by Chantal Kreviazuk, Jarvis Church and Justin Nozuka beginning at 7:30 p.m. Also enjoy aerial artists, fire-throwers, hip-hop dance crews and display your wish for the planet on an Earth Hour wishing tree.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
5:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Yonge-Dundas Square

Sunday, March 28:

Toronto, March 27, 2010... The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) tonight reported that compared to a typical Saturday in late March, demand for electricity in Ontario fell by approximately four per cent or 560 megawatts (MW) as a result of Earth Hour. This drop is equivalent to the average peak energy needs of a city the size of Brampton.

"More than anything, Earth Hour gives people a chance to think about their energy use," said Paul Murphy, President and CEO of the IESO. "Ontarians have become keenly aware of the need to conserve electricity - not just during Earth Hour, but at other times of the year as well."

I hope he is right!

It was a disappointing Earth Hour as lights in many commercial, residential buildings as well as restaurants in North York stayed on during the Earth Hour.

TM: Speech 3 - Get to the Point

2010-02-24T11:43:00.006-05:00

I am delivering my third Toastmaster speech in half an hour. For this speech I feel the butterflies as much if not more than the first time I stood in front of the crowd and gave my Ice Breaker speech. It is going to be OK. The worse could happen that I blank out. If that happens, I can pause, smile and pick up where I left off. Easy to say!

The objective of this speech is: Get to the Point. I will be talking about happiness. I have 7 minutes! My Toastmasters mentor and I have been working on the structure of the speech for many hours. It has been a --task to make boundaries and bullets for happiness.

So, here is a sneak peek at what I will say:

I will talk about health, wealth and purpose and the impact they have on our well being. I picked these three firstly because they rhyme with my speech opening line :) and secondly because they are simple facts that audience can relate to. The most important part of the speech is sandwiching the philosophy of happiness with a good dose of real life example. I am good in writing the philosophical part but no so good with the second part; to help me find examples I used google! I used keywords: happiness, prosperity, wealth, health, purpose, correlation many times.

To get an idea about my speech, my evaluator was kind enough to meet with me yesterday. I will append her evaluation here.

Wish me luck!

Prosperity: what does it mean to you?

2010-01-05T16:53:00.010-05:00

Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the most prosper of them all?

Is it the healthy?

Is it the wealthy?

Or the successful?

Prosperity! How many times have you heard this word in the past couple of weeks? This time of the year we wish our friends, family and loved ones a prosper New Year over and over again. What do we exactly mean by that?

A prosper person is someone who has it all; who has health, wealth and success. [to the audience] Do you all agree that this is a good definition for prosperity? Visualize yourself: with a lot of money, a healthy body and a successful career. How would you feel seeing yourself in this person's shoes? Prosper? Hell, ya, I would! After all what else is there to want.

I strive everyday to achieve a little bit --just a little bit-- of each of these. I go to bed every night thinking about which path can get me the successful career, tons of money and a toned, healthy body faster? I make five, three, and one year wish lists every year, in fact I do it just around this time of the year. Then I write them down on a piece of a paper in a notebook, because I read in Keith Ferrazi's book, Never Eat Alone, that, "An unwritten wish is just a dream."...and you know how dreams are, you may or may not remember them the next day!

Back to my statement: How would I feel seeing myself having all three? Excellent; but, for one year, or maybe two years. After the third year I am gonna feel BORED! Yep, you heard me right. BORED! I will start missing making career plans. With all the money I have, I will probably be eating at the "best" restaurants in town. Sounds superb. But no food is as healthy as the food one makes at home. The point I am trying to make is after a few years of this superb life, I will stop feeling prosper anymore.

Oh, I know what the problem is, I have them all --that leaves me with nothing more to want. Human beings always "want" something. "Want" is the compass in our lives. Without it we will be lost!

Well, the solution is to have one of the three, so that I still have something left to strive for --sort of a motivation to get up the next day. But which one? That's the topic for another blog. :)

To wrap this one up, I want to conclude by leaving you with something to reflect upon: explore your relationship with any of these three goals, health, wealth and success and see to which you can relate more.

What and who is making news today

2009-12-22T17:08:00.010-05:00

While the commuters shift from buses and trains to work to buses and trains to the malls, the earth rotates its last few trips around the sun for 2009. Newsmakers are making news and newspapers are still printing them regardless.
On December 21, 2009,
A village in China uses pig excrement as a source of energy.

A couple of researchers from UofT School of business have found that the more committed to buying green products and saving the planet, the more likely we are to cheat, lie, steal and be selfish. They indicate in their paper, to be published in the journal of Physiological Science, that, “…when we engage in actions that give us some kind of moral, warm glow –let’s call it that –that afterwards we are more likely to transgress.”

Sadly Brittany Murphy, fell to her death at the age of 32. She was famous for being in Hollywood movies such as: Clueless, 8 Mile and Sin City.

And in Toronto, the street car service on St. Clair Avenue West resumes. This is great news for the residents who have been living the construction havoc for the past years.

Why should we know history?

2009-11-05T12:52:00.009-05:00

He raised his hand. Someone passed him the mic. Now we could all hear him loud and clear. "Why do so many people know about the massacre of Jews by the Nazi Germany and only few know about Japan's atrocities in China during the Japan-China war?", he asked her.

She answered with a question. "Why do so few people know about history? Why is history not taught in school any more?"

The crowd seemed to agree. Many shook heads disapproving the current wide-spread ignorance towards history.

But, how has the knowledge of history helped us along the way. Having the experience of two world wars, two nuclear bombs explosions, apartheid, and the cold war has not made the world a more peaceful, more secure, more accepting and respectful of differences.

The past has not taught us anything. Many of the today's problems are residues of old unresolved, grudges.

I propose :) we forget about learning and teaching the history since thus far this knowledge has not brought us happiness.

I am an extraordinary person aspire to be ordinary

2009-10-31T18:31:00.008-04:00

Wednesday 10/29/09 - 12 PM The Lab Z4-029 - Toastmasters meeting running backwards, from future, the end, to present, the beginning. A bunch of us were there. Some had roles, some had to deliver a talk. I had to deliver a talk. My first talk, the Ice-breaker in Toastmasters' lingo. Since everything was going backwards, my talk was last of the three. It was so painful to wait. Finally, I was introduced. I went up and faced my biggest fear. Public speaking!

"Fellow Toastmasters, dear guests. Today, I am here to tell you about my extraordinary life and how I aspire to be ordinary. I live on Avenue Road, in a two story house. I drive a CLK320. I am married. My husband is a university Professor. I have two kids, twins, well-behaved. They are 10 years old. I am a CIO, Chief Intelligence Officer. My job is to put intelligence back into products. The product that my team and I work on is called IComp. IComp stands for Intelligent Compiler. IComp takes the user specification, requirement orally or in written form and translates it to an efficient, high performing executable for the target hardware architecture. There is no need for the user to write high level, abstract, unintelligent program. In fact, high level languages such as C, C++, or Fortran are so yesterday. Today IComp supports 143 languages and is widely used around the world. It's perfect. Except there is one problem. IComp doesn't exist. IComp, the gorgeous house in the posh neighborhood, the Mercedes, the professor is all in the future!
Today, I am a software developer. I develop code for the compiler back-end. If you ask me what does the compiler back-end do. I'll tell you short and sweet, it does everything that the compiler front-end doesn't do. The effect the long and detailed description of the back-end of the compiler has on people is, let's just say, not good! One of my hobbies is to learn new languages. I have a feeling that it may come handy in the future, given that compilers may one day support up to 143 languages. I know German, ein bisschen, and French, un peu. I live in a condo that I call home. I have to admit, I do prefer houses over condos. But, I can never see myself living in a posh neighborhood, I am far too logical to feel comfortable with showing off. ;) I take public transit to work. It's far better way of getting to and from work. I am a book fetish. Public transit means more time to read. My boyfriend is a PhD student. I do believe teaching is a good profession for a man. It's amazing how extraordinary my life has become now that I have lived it backwards. I do have to say one thing though, no matter how ordinary I sound at present, I feel extraordinary. Thank you.
Madam, Toastmaster."

Done. Complete. Sigh.

Time for speech evaluation. Let me know what you think. :)

How can you write your resume in 10 minutes or less?!

2009-10-12T10:29:00.011-04:00

A dramatic shift in the topic chosen for this blog; it clearly demonstrates that play time is over! :)

Each time I have done my resume I had to go through (re)learning the trends and techniques of resume writing. I find this exercise extremely inefficient and superbly time consuming.

In order to make this process a bit easier and the future iterations much faster, (claim is 10 minutes or less), I decided to summarize and record my interpretations of the rules, design the template that is flexible to upcoming trends and future changes.

First the resume type: there are four types (as far as I know) of resume. These formats are only suggestions and do sound old school. I can select and apply (conservatively) a bit of each to my resume. After all, I want my resume to survive the 30 seconds glance.

The Chronological: in this format I will list all the positions I have held starting with the most recent to demonstrate my depth in the knowledge area and breadth in the industry that I have been applying my professional self to.
If I have been consistent in choosing employment positions (breadth) and projects and responsibilities within each position (depth), the finished chronological resume should show continuity, growth, advancement and accomplishments.

But what if I was hit by a resource action, or decided to voluntarily retire, resign, quit, there are so many ways to describe the same action; or I have decided to start fresh in a new knowledge area; what then? In that case, the chronological format cannot demonstrate and highlight my abilities and convey my true worth.

Functional format emphasizes on skills, abilities, credentials and qualifications first. Later in the resume I can insert opportunities that I have had to apply the qualifications to or develop and improve the skills and abilities. The message here is to let the audience know that I have a defined career goal, I have given the return, or the change careful thought; and I have a set of skills and abilities that can assist me in achieving it (the goal).

The next resume format is CV. This type is used by select group of professionals, such as doctors. The CV consists of a list of credentials such as medical schools, residences performed, internships, fellowships, and hospitals they worked in.

What I need to learn next is how to position facts and information about myself through out this document.

Introduction: I like to always start with an introduction that summarizes my qualifications, skills, and abilities relevant to the job I am applying. This section should be crafted intelligently. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is to use brainstorming techniques: a piece of paper, a pen, a few keywords from the job description and an open mind is all that I need. Avoid Google!!

Qualifications: Depending on the resume type, functional, chronological, etc, I will enclose a history of positions and education or certifications after the introduction.

Closing: I close with the miscellaneous: awards, volunteer activities, and hobbies; stuff that can show a bit of personality.

That should be all that goes in my resume.

Once the organization of the resume is clear, I have to think about vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation.

A quick tally on time, I have spent 2 days so far on writing my resume; it is definitely not a 10 minutes task!

Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona ... 3 Cities 9 Days

2009-08-14T17:51:00.030-04:00

Reino de España
Capital City: Madrid
Official Language: Spanish (some regions have their own language, such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Leonese, Portuguese, and etc.)
Most important cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Cordoba, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, La Palmas de Gran Canaria, Bilbao, Valladolid
Currency: Euro

Man, what a work out!! I had to drag and lift the luggage up and down many stairs; luckily they were not too heavy. To get to the hotel we took the metro. Madrid Barajas International Airport, MAD, is connected to the Merto line 8, pink line. For 2 euro a ticket it is an affordable alternative to taking a cab to get to any place in the city. (Madrid Subway Map)

The hotel is in a perfect place, in the heart of Old City. The room and most importantly the bathroom is spotless clean. There is air condition, a must have in summer, an LCD TV and a laptop that comes with a free internet in the room. The furniture is trendy, contemporary. The hotel is called, High Tech - Petit Palace operated by the High Tech Hotels company. (Visit their site)

Jet lagged, exhausted and constipated, we made a short trip to a few places around the old city Madrid, had an unforgettable ice-cream ceremony, washed, and slept.

We stayed 3 nights in Madrid and enjoyed an array of activities such as sight seeing, shopping, eating and the unforgettable Fiesta de La Paloma.

The La Paloma festival, August 6-15, honors the La Paloma Virgin, one of the three loved *Virgins* known to be the protector of the Madrid dwellers. The extravagant, loud, fun festival in the height of the summer is very real. Men and women dressed in colorful, traditional outfit of a Chulapos or Chulapas dance, walk and have and create fun in the streets surrounding La Latina. For the more contemporary, the youth, the Madridians, Spanish and international tourists the casual clothes will do, so long as you join in the dance, enjoy the loud music (different on each street), and drink limonada, tequila, or etc. (Have a look at the Chulapos and Chulapas getting ready to celebrate the La Paloma Festival, Madrid 2009)

On the fourth day we packed and left for the Madrid bus station to continue with our trip in Spain. The bus station was not too far from the hotel. Again we chose to get there via the subway line. I found the Madrid subway extremely organized, clean and easy to navigate. All the stations display the next train arrival time; the next station is both announced and displayed on screen in the train. The Mendez Alvaro bus station is on line 6, gray, and accessible via line 1, light blue, and line 3, yellow. The avanzabus company connects Madrid to all the regions in Spain. When I booked, they had 2 for 1 deals on their web site. I saved 20eurnos by booking on-line. (Check them out)

Madrid money and time saving tips:
Stay around Sol subway station to save on transportation cost; all sites are within walking distance; wide range of traditional and fast food restaurants in this area.
Navigate the Museo Del Prado museum using their Masterpieces plan.
Take advantage of free or reduced admission, if you qualify, to Museo Del Prado (Sunday - Tuesday 6-8 PM)

The capital of Valencia Province, the city of Valencia has been an agricultural and industrial center throughout its history. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea at the mouth of the Turia River in a region surrounded by orchards. It is Spain's third largest city. (source: student.britannica.com)

Four and a half hours later we were in Valencia. Situated in the middle of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. For us Valencia meant a three days opportunity to rest and relax under the sun before we head to the next big city. Or so we thought. Intentionally, we reserved a hotel close to the beach. But on the ride to the hotel far distance from the bus station, (total cost 10euro), as our eyes became more familiar to the palm trees, wide streets (unlike Madrid) and contemporary architecture (especially the L'oceanographic museum) we were determined to sight see as much as possible. But, first we had to indulge in the food we so much heard and read about. They said we could find the fancy restaurants by the sea. We see the sea in the far distance but there was no sight of any restaurants. To make matters a bit more challenging most roads were blocked and cars were being redirected to detours, while the city was getting ready for the next weekend's, August 22-23, Europe's Grand Prix Formula 1 race. When we finally got to the beach we were too tired, too hungry to shop around for restaurants. We walked into the second restaurant because the first one was closed. Al Coso was its name. Great place. They have the most delicious Spanish mixed rice. They even treat you to fresh oven baked bread while you are waiting for your food to arrive. Satisfied, we left Al Coso to take walk on the sandy beach.
Valencia's city bus transit ticket is 1.35 euro, paid to the bus driver. It's best to have the exact change or amount close to it. The next buses are announced on most (but not all) buses. Bus 19 goes to the city center, Ayunmiento. Once there, all the historical places are in walking distance of each other. There are a variety of souvenir stores in that area that offer unique works of art, and jewelry at a very affordable price. It was hard to leave this charming city. It was hard to see the last days of this, so far fantastic trip is arriving.

Essential Valencia:
Bioparc
Jardin del Turia
Torres de Serranos-Torres de Quart
Catedraly Basilica
Lonja
Mercado Central
Mercado de Colon
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
Marina Real Juan Carol-I-Paseo Maritimo-Playas
Parque Natural de l'Albufera

Barcelona, was unlike any other place. It is said to be the seventh city in Europe in number of tourists it receives. Given the city structure and the situation of the important sights, we got ourselves T10 metro pass, (more economical than buying one ticket, 2.80 euro, at a time), and started our journey at the La Sagrada Familia, (Antoni Gaudí1882). It took Gaudi 43 years to bring it to the stage that we see today. He finished the two facades; the birth and crucifying of Christ. The characters, in each story, are meticulously carved to the extent their emotion is obvious. I would not been surprised if you spend at least an hour outside the church. It is worth every minute the time you spend or every picture you shoot. Inside, you can see Gaudi's innovation; his use of geometry and incorporating natural light into his design. In designing the ceiling, the pillars and the windows, Gaudi was inspired by nature. As a result, his creation is by far like no other church! It is unique in every sense of the word. La Sagrada Familia is work in progress! The plan is to have the third facade based on Gaudi's design completed by 2050. The story is based on Christ's rise from dead.

Madrid Valencia Barcelona Spain August 2009

FSBO

2009-07-17T22:06:00.001-04:00

Long gone the days were houses served only one purpose: providing a place to dwell.

Today a house is considered an investment. It is widely believed that unlike other commodities, the value of the house will appreciate over time and bring in a nice return on investment. Those who have jumped on the wagon of buy low, sell high have made it rich and comfortable.

Work in progress ...

Love and hate by the five-cent bagful

2009-06-25T07:40:00.000-04:00

Back in the days when plastic bags were not invented yet, my grandmother never needed one. After all, life was simple those days. No need to clean after the pets, since they didn't have one. No need for garbage bags, since a) they didn't produce that much waste b) they dumped all the waste in the garbage bin.

When the plastic bags came into picture, in early 20th century, they were to replace paper bags which back then were known as inefficient and number one contributor to killing trees. Plastic bags were light, water proof, and only took a small storage space. They became popular and soon gave new shape and color to the way we shop.

It took us 50 odd years to realize that plastic bags are indeed as inefficient as the paper bags, if not more. They use up another natural resource, oil; they don't disintegrate; they end up in the landfills; they are a known hazard for the marine life.

Time for a change? You bet.

We have since welcomed the new, the reusable bag, eco-friendly alternative to the plastic bag in our consumer driver lives. We know that manufacturing these bags uses scarce, expensive energy. However, durability will make the average cost of energy used per bag lower than plastic or paper bags.

Holding a chic reusable bag is more than making a fashion statement. It's regarded as responsible! While we are gradually buying into the idea of purchasing our first and second R-bags and reducing our plastic bag footprint as a result, our city decided to pull a plastic bag tax on us to hasten the process.

Many took issue! Many are unhappy. It's added insult on injury, to be asked to pay an extra 5c per bag after you spend $$$ in a store. It's understandable. Especially, for some of us, the free plastic bags served a variety of purposes in our households.

In a consumer driven culture a moral lesson can be taught only by attaching a price tag to it. Only then we realize the value of what we have taken for granted. The point here is that, the reusable bags are great and they are a good solution to our over a century old quest for efficient, environment friendly packaging and storage. But, a coup de tat against plastic bag was not necessary.

Each of the products we switched from/to had their own set of pros and cons. Perfect has not been discovered and/or invented yet. We could continue using plastic, paper, and/or reusable and our environment will still be fine, if only we learned the art of moderation.

If each party involved did its part, the impact will be effortless and huge. If we used one less bag on each trip to the supermarket, we could reduce the usage by a lot!

The imposed tarrif or in the case of Inida the $2000 fine are just measures to curtail the wasteful behavior and culture.

(Who cares) What others think/feel?

2009-06-08T21:05:00.000-04:00

Two minutes into the ride to work, I hear it. I dare not to turn around, but I am dying to sneer at the one who is so oblivious of his surroundings and has his music so loud!

In the evening, at the gym: guy walks in adjusts the lights, walks to the T.V. system changes the channel to TSN; he completely ignores the rest of us who are happy with the lights and are enjoying the program playing on T.V.

*Don't burp, blow/pick your nose, and break wind at the dinner table, lunch table, break fast table --don't do any of these in public space, period.
*Don't put your feet up on the table
*Don't speak loud in public
*Don't stare

I am not giving you advice. I am just remembering the rules of etiquette that I was taught to follow when I was growing up.

Today, for various reasons, it is more of a choice than an obligation to follow these rules. If you feel like being loud in public space, you could because no one will stop you (I am always tempted to raise the issue, but the cons of doing so out-weights its pros.) I take all the unpleasantness in --patiently, quietly, while my teeth are grinding against each other. :)

Work in progress ....

What should we call it?

2009-05-18T20:12:00.000-04:00

For starters, I have to think of a new title for this blog. To some extent the name should provide a sense of direction, for me as well as the (possible) reader. I love feedback. (If you are reading this and/or glanced at a few other posts in this blog space, let me know what you think is suitable. I appreciate it.)

I kept my promise

2009-05-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

I am ready to put pen to paper and start writing again. It's two weeks short of six months. I arrived early but I feel it went by much quicker than expected. I am not done with priorities --not thoroughly. But, I am more disciplined. Being able to scribble something useful, (or satisfy the urge to vocalize thoughts), at least once at most twice a month is a possibility.

Taking a 6 months hiatus!

2009-01-11T17:49:00.001-05:00

Through out the day, ideas come rushing to my head unannounced, but there is not much time to put them down into quality writing and when there is time the inspiration has disappeared. Therefore such abysmal activity during the past couple of months. Pity!

So, I am taking a short, 6 months, hiatus from blogging here to concentrate on priority items 1-5. As the days get longer and the weather warmer, I shall find more time to dedicate to writing, which has turned from a hobby to a passion.

During this hibernation period, I will have the opportunity to extrapolate the thoughts into notes and drafts and find my (writing) niche.

Meanwhile, if you are interested in special topics of various C/C++ issues and information, visit my blog here.

In a nutshell, I shall be back!!

Can you be a secret Santa?

2008-12-06T18:26:00.000-05:00

http://secretsantaworld.net/

The message is too powerful to further comment on.
Pass it on!

Can we save the World Economy?

2008-10-25T15:56:00.000-04:00

The guiding light of capitalism that is not having any form of state intervention in society has proven to be flawed. The first signs of this flaw ironically became obvious around the time that societies with heavily state regulated economy were going through a revolution, (Revolutions of 1989 and end of the Cold War). We bid socialism, communism and fascism farewell and claimed that they are dysfunctional systems. Almost two decades later we find ourselves dealing with another dysfunctional system.

We have come to a full circle.

Despite all the human intelligence at our disposal and coupled with all the state of the art technology we have failed to build a sustainable, peaceful, healthy and prosper society for ourselves and for our future generation.

The calamities of the past year, reminds me of Ayn Rand's masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. Society fails due to ever increasing influence of state in market. One may notice, that the calamity that we are experiencing are due to the complete opposite reason --lack of governance.

In a panel discussion organized by Columbia University Earth Science Institute, (http://www.earth.columbia.edu/worldeconomy/), George Soros, Financier and Philanthropist, described systems imperfect he then added that human beings are imperfect as well.

In the past few months, all of us, more or less, have followed politics (more than ever, I would say) despite the fact that over the years our hope in them has diminished. (Case in point: less than 59% of Canadians voted in the past election.) We have seen governments that are inefficient, self-serving, bureaucratic --simply put-- good for nothing.

Therefore, it is in the hand of you and I; simple, ordinary, hard working citizens, to build a sustainable present and prosper future in our communities. Although, we may be imperfect, but we have witnessed enough mistakes to know right from wrong, I believe.

Key Promises 2008 Federal Election Campaign

2008-10-13T21:07:00.000-04:00

A list of key promises in the 2008 federal election campaign

Mon Oct 13, 5:48 PM

By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Key promises in the federal election campaign, with projected costs where applicable and available:

CONSERVATIVES

-Two-cent-a-litre cut in taxes on diesel and aviation fuel over four years. $600 million a year once fully implemented.
-Reinstate veterans' benefits for Second World War veterans who have lived in Canada for more than 10 years; $9 million a year.
-A near-complete withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2011.
-Allow 49 per cent foreign ownership of airlines and foreign ownership of uranium mines.
-Maternity, parental leave benefits for entrepreneurs who pay into EI. $150 million annually, financed by EI premiums.
-Tax credit for first-time homebuyers to claim up to $5,000 in closing costs for a rebate of up to $750. $200 million a year, fully implemented.
-Ban kid-friendly flavours and additives from tobacco products and require cigarillos to be sold in packages of at least 20. No cost provided.
-Increase the Senior Age Credit by $1,000, saving those in the lowest tax-paying income bracket about $150 a year. $400 million a year.
-$85 million in tax breaks for families where one spouse forgoes full-time work to care for a disabled family member.
-Introduce maximum life sentences for offenders as young as 14 convicted of first-or second-degree murder; maximum 14-year sentences for youths who commit violent crimes.
-Teens over 14 who commit serious crimes would no longer have their identities protected.
-End conditional sentencing, also known as house arrest, for 30 serious crimes, including robbery, theft, and arson.
-$113 million over five years to crack down on environmental crime, including maximum penalties of $6 million for companies and $1 million for individuals.
-A consumer protection package including an Internet anti-spam law, a ban on charging for unsolicited text messages and a crackdown on gas-pump tampering. No cost provided.
-Prohibit the export of bitumen to countries without carbon-emission targets equivalent to Canada's.
-$24 million to foster development of international cruise destinations along the St. Lawrence Seaway.
-New tax credit for parents of children under 16 enrolled in eligible arts programs; $150 million a year.
-Let charities and not-for-profit groups set up RESPs for kids from low-income families.
-$2,000 incentives for apprentices who complete eligible training programs to ease shortage of workers in skilled trades. $60 million a year.
-$400 million more over four years for the repayable Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative and Automotive Innovation funds.
-Abolish industrial tariffs on imported machinery and equipment. $345 million.
- $10 million over four years for 50 new teaching-hospital residencies.
-$5-million incentive fund to attract Canadian doctors working abroad.
-$5 million over three years for pilot projects to recruit and retain nurses.
-$15 million over four years for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research, plus $10 million over two years for the National Lung Health Network.
-$50 million for the University of Waterloo's Institute of Quantum Computing, for research and teaching in quantum information.
-$500 million over five years to expand broadband Internet access across Canada.

GREENS

-A Guaranteed Livable Income supplement for the poor. No cost provided.
-A new carbon tax of $50 per tonne and new taxes on toxic chemicals.
-Forgive 50 per cent of student loans for successful graduates. No cost provided.
-More money and research grants for post-secondary institutions that focus on renewable energy and conservation. No cost provided.
- Shift consumption taxes to environmentally harmful products and services and away from income and products, activities that do no harm. No cost provided.
-Cut corporate tax by $50 for each tonne of carbon-emission reductions. No cost provided.
-Increase GST to six per cent to finance infrastructure improvements, with expanded exemptions on food, children's clothing and books. No cost provided.

LIBERALS

-"Green Shift" carbon tax on fossil fuels, offset by income and business tax cuts. Income tax cuts of up to 10 per cent. Cut the small business tax rate to 10 per cent from 11 per cent. Lower the corporate tax rate to 14 per cent by 2013. Overall, $90 million in lost revenue for the treasury over four years.
-$70 billion over 10 years for municipal infrastructure.
-$1.2 billion over four years to help farmers adjust to green technologies.
-Restore the $3-billion contingency fund abandoned by the Conservatives.
-Create $1-billion Advanced Manufacturing Prosperity Fund to help manufacturers retain and create jobs.
-Add $350 to existing $1,200-a-year child-care allowance. Create a new supplement for the poorest families with children, worth $1,225 a year per family.
-National daycare program with 165,000 spaces. $1.25 billion a year, fully implemented.
-End military mission in Afghanistan in 2011.
-Restore the Court Challenges Program and double budget to $6 million a year.
-$50 million to upgrade Canada's food safety system.
-$10,000 per household in refundable tax benefits for energy-saving home retrofits. $600 million.
-More robust energy efficiency standards for building codes and home appliances.
-$250 million over four years to curb the spread of the mountain pine beetle.
-$250 million to modernize and "green" fishing vessels and protect fish stocks in Canadian and international waters.
-$100 million to improve Canada's small-craft harbours.
-$420 million over four years to help increase the number of doctors, nurses and medical technicians across Canada.
-$900 million over four years to create a new plan for catastrophic drug coverage.
-$500 million more a year for university-based research and a $100-million research fund for scientists, researchers and grad students.
-A poverty plan to reduce the number of people living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent and the number of children by at least 50 per cent.
-Reverse the immigration measures brought in by the Conservatives and spend $800 million to help new Canadians and reduce the immigration backlog.
-Bring back the Kelowna Accord and work with aboriginal peoples, provinces and territories to improve native health, education and housing. $2 billion.
-Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors by $600 a year for low-income seniors.
-200,000 student bursaries of up to $3,500 per year over four years, and guaranteed eligibility for $5,000 student loans, regardless of parental income.
-Simplify the tax system for post-secondary students, providing most students about $1,000 a year.
-Restore cuts made by the Conservatives to arts and culture funding and double the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts.
-$75 million to bolster security at ethno-cultural centres and places of worship across Canada.
-Restore $6 million in funding for Quebec's National Optics Institute.
-A summit meeting on the economy with economists, regulators and premiers within 30 days of forming a government.
-Finish mapping the Arctic seabed by 2013 and re-instate an ambassador for the North, to strengthen northern sovereignty. No cost estimate available.

NDP

-A moratorium on expansion of Alberta's tarsands; require oil companies to reclaim land strip-mined for petroleum production. No cost provided.
-$8.2 billion over four years to create, protect and foster growth of "green-collar" jobs and manufacturing.
-A "cap-and-trade" system to create incentives for big business to reduce their emissions. No cost provided.
-Slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. No cost provided.
-A price-monitoring agency to investigate price spikes and consult with provinces about regulations. No cost provided.
-Cap credit-card interest rates at five per cent over prime.
-Outlaw automated banking machine fees, saving consumers at least $104 per year.
-$120 million a year in additional funding for women's groups.
-$1,000-a-year grant to all undergraduate or equivalent students who qualify for student loans.
-$1 billion over five years to expand medical and nursing schools, increasing the number of student spaces by 50 per cent.
-$125 million a year to forgive student loans for medical-school grads who spend 10 years as family physicians.
-$100 million for skills training and job creation.
-Comprehensive review of Canadian banking regulations. No cost provided.
-Income averaging for artists and a $20,000 annual tax break on income generated by copyright and residual revenue. No cost provided.
-Scrap Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement within six months of forming government.
-A new Ministry of Consumer Protection to investigate and prosecute gas-pump gouging and collusion. No cost provided.
-$1 billion a year on a new catastrophic drug plan.
-Reverse corporate tax cuts, raising rate to 22.12 per cent from 19.5.
-Monthly cheques of up to $400 to replace existing child benefits, including the Conservative payment of $100 a month per eligible child. No cost provided.
-$5 billion over five years to improve health care, housing and infrastructure for First Nations communities.
-$1-billion national home-care program for seniors.
-A national child-care program calling for 220,000 spaces annually in the fourth year. $1.4 billion in the first year.
-Raise $2.5 billion a year in carbon auctions and reinvest the money in public transit and other green initiatives.
-Re-introduce a national minimum wage and immediately set it to $10 an hour.
-Direct one cent per litre of federal excise tax on gasoline into public transit; $400 million a year.

That's Canadian, aye?

2008-10-07T20:43:00.000-04:00

Work boots are piled up yesterday in front of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s campaign office in his riding of Whitby-Oshawa.

Hundreds of Canadian Auto Worker union members gathered to present Flaherty with work boots collected from laid-off workers from across the province.

Source: http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/

Re: How to give our elections more pop?

2008-09-09T17:35:00.000-04:00

Andrew Chung, Toronto Star columnist, writes in his recent post:

The razzle-dazzle U.S. campaign offers some tempting lessons on how to jazz up our own. The question is, do we really want to learn them?

God no! We don't need to jazz up our elections American or any other Style!

Events like the US election campaign is a production of media to build rating and sell advertising. Hardly any useful fact about leadership style and strategy is transferred to the audience during an event like this. Those millions of dollars that (you suggest) Canadians should consider spending, I doubt result in electing a leader that can face the problems head on. Bottom line the razzle-dazzle, pop, all the jazz, etc. is not what we lack or need to attract public attention and talent. For that we need to come up with better solutions.

What do you think?

Travel Stories from St. John's!

2008-09-01T14:52:00.000-04:00

My life has been in the fast lane for the past couple of years. So, when I came across the full page ad of air travel to St. John's, NL; that promised tranquility to visitors; I was curious! The ad featured nothing but sprawling green. That same day I looked the official tourism web site of Newfoundland and ordered a free guide. Flipping through pages of the guide, when it arrived, reading about the natural peace and beauty this province offers, I knew I had to go there some day. What I didn't know that my rendezvous will be so early --this summer.

St. John's, Newfoundland --August 29 - September 2, 2008

St. John's welcomed our arrival with abundance of rain. Our inn keeper, we stayed at The Bluestone Inn, a B&B located in downtown St. John's, welcomed our arrival with urgency and promptly left us to go look after a sick friend. We were left in our room, on the second floor of a 1900 building. We counted there were 38 stairs to our room. Suddenly, I had much more appreciation for elevators. The room was furnished with stuff that could have also dated to the time when the building was built. No kidding! Everything about the place screamed antiques.

I was feeling completely out of place, calculating the number of hours left of the trip, thinking maybe I should change the departure date and grinding my teeth with frustration at the thought. Last thing I wanted to do (on my vacation) was to spend hours on the phone talking to the airline's customer service and feeling helpless.

They say, "Never judge a book by its cover." In my moment of snap judgment, I had decided that my visit to St. John's was ruined, however a couple of hours and a few dozen camera snaps later, I had a totally different view about this.

Welcome to the Far East. Where people have been living since the 1620s. Where Newfoundland and North America begins. Here you can indulge in (hi)story and natural beauty.

Don't be surprised if people on the streets say hi to you and ask how you are doing today. Don't be shy to reply and ask the same questions from them. We found the newfie accent endearing. It's a mix of Irish and Scottish English with a little bit of drawl.

The art and culture may seem unfamiliar. If you are a traveler and have visited many art galleries, museums, etc., brace yourself for a refreshingly unique art. This I think is because people in this area have lived here for generations and established their own way of expression and art. You can see nature has a lot of influence on the art works.

Renting a car, even for one day, to see the seaside settlements and wildlife (beaver and caribou) is a must. We didn't get around to do it this time round (yes, we are planning to go back). We spent our time exploring almost all the St. John's sites, culture and people.

We did most of our touring using either public transit, metro bus, or on foot. Taking the Route 10 bus is a must. The bus travels through some of the major streets, Freshwater Rd, Elizabeth Avenue (the one and only flat street in the city), it passes by the most significant landmarks, City Hall, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Health and Sciences library and Pippy park, a 3400 acre land reserve right in St. John's. The bus rides are $2.25 and can be paid, exact fare, on the bus. Make sure to ask the driver for a transfer if you have to switch buses. Stopovers are not allowed, though.

You must hit the trails, you must! Walking to the top of the Signal Hill and then hiking along the Atlantic coast was an exhilarating experience for me. Besides amazing view of the Atlantic ocean, I relived Marconi's moment when he received the first transatlantic wireless signal.

Places you are likely to visit:

Signal Hill Road
The Battery
The Rooms
Basilica of St. John's the Baptist
George Street (Enjoy the nightlife of St. John's here --for best experience go on the weekend)
Cape Spear (easternmost point in Canada --beyond this point is Atlantic Ocean)
Geo Johnson Center (Built deep into the earth with only the large, glass-encased entryway protruding above ground, this geological is literally embedded in Signal Hill, which is made up of 550-million-year-old rocks!)
It offers three very unique exhibits:
- The Titanic Story (did you know that Titanic sank 350 miles away from Newfoundland?)
- The ExxonMobil Oil and Gas gallery (go there if you want to learn why oil is nicknamed black gold.)
- Earth's geological showcase (story of earth --going back to over 4.5 billion years ago)

Visitor Information Centre is located on 384 Water Street

I bet you are hungry to know about St. John's restaurants and bistros. I have one word for you: Coffee Matters, Go there! I crave their creme brulee!

St. John's was an unforgettable destination for us. There is something simple and sincere about this place. Go there if you are looking for a quiet spot --it gives you a whole new perspective!

2008-08-22T08:37:00.000-04:00

Those countries that don't have it and their governments don't have a greed for it and have been able to curb their dependency on it, enjoy peace.

For the rest of us the saga of fretting over the peaks and valleys of its price, the fight between the suppliers and the cartels will continue.

I am talking about oil!

Pro Choice or Life : What do you think?

2008-07-29T08:27:00.000-04:00

"You f@#$ sick!", she said loudly. I turned in the direction of the voice. "You f@#$ sick!" She said it again with such vengeance in her voice.

Who is she talking to? As I am trying to figure this out, a man holding a big poster of gross, bloody looking figure which resembled a head of a human being connected to an umbilical cord is walking towards me. He is wearing a patient smile. His hand is stretched out and he is holding a flyer. Does he expect me to take the flyer from him? He says, "Pro Life". He says it in such a tone that leaves no doubt; he believes that I am Pro Life.

I have to make up my mind quickly. Am I "Pro Life" or "Pro Choice"? Take the d#@$ flyer and walk away from all this, I say to myself. But, I can't just take the flyer for the sake of it.

I don't hear the young, angry voice of the girl any more. Has she left the scene?

He is now closer. He smiles. I smile back. But, my hand stays firmly at my side. He walks passed me and I continue my way to catch the street car.

Am I Pro Choice, then? The answer, as I think about this on the street car, is more complicated than a simple, "Yes".

Coincidentally, the young girl is riding the street car with me. She seems very angry. She must be Pro Choice.

But, isn't that an irresponsible way out of a situation that could have been avoided to begin with?

I believe advocating choice or life is not the right solution to the problem. Those who coined the term and formed the movement, created a rift between us. Taking the life of an unwanted child is not any better than giving life to it and abandoning it in this world.

If reason dominated, neither us nor our dependents would need to be in the situation to decide whether they are "Pro Choice" or "Pro Life".

On this, I choose to abstain.

Press for change! Signing up for epost...

2008-07-10T21:25:00.000-04:00

Adieu to receiving bills in the mail. I am open to change and trying something new. I am motivated to help the environment. One less printed bill means one less reason to cut down a tree. I am going to sign up for epost!

I don't want to think about why epost is available in 2008 and not in 1950 when early signs of forest depletion and global warming became visible. I know better; it's better to arrive late than never. I don't want to speculate Post Corporation's intentions that they are thinking "green" now because if they don't they may become extinct (companies have started sending their customers the Estatements, we email more than we mail.) I am just glad they thought of it; it's better to arrive late than never.

For Post, going green is a fundamental change. It uproots a 4 century old tradition of delivering to the door of millions.
If the future of the mail is electronic. There are things I shall miss. I shall miss the stamps and the taste of the sticky glue after I licked to stick it to the envelope. I shall miss the friendly smile of the mail carrier. I shall miss a hand written note.

There will be books and pictures to remind us of the history. I know better; to gain something I need give up something else. I am all for change!

What is the oil price driven by?

2008-06-21T12:42:00.000-04:00

The motivation behind this blog comes from the eye catching full page car advertisement that appeared in the daily Toronto Newspaper every single day during this past week.

What are the big shots behind these ad schemes thinking of, if at all? Presumably, they believe with incentives such as gas cards or cheap gas they can encourage consumers to buy more of their fuel inefficient, gas-guzzler cars.

These offers reek with greed. These short sighted auto industry movers cannot think of better ways to keep their pockets full of money.

I am sure they can for example spend portion of their money on improving the fuel consumption of their existing models but I suppose that is going to delay time to market and impact their share of market value!

While we all are anticipating worse news from the oil market, we are being encouraged to waste more of it and be content that someone else is going to pay for it.

Well, the good thing is for every yin there is a yang. If we have full page ads to lure us into buying cars, we have other tools to research about them at the same time.

Take this site for example. If you are looking to buy a new car this is a place to get you started. Here you can find gas mileage (MPG), greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution ratings, and safety information for new and used cars and trucks.

After visiting this page nothing, not even cheap gas for 3 years, can change my mind in what make/model I want to buy. (This is just a rhetoric. I have been using public transit and my bike for the past 3+ years now!)

2008-06-11T08:59:00.000-04:00

From Forbes network:

The world's proven oil reserves were essentially flat in 2007 while production fell by 0.2 percent, the first decline since 2002, BP reported on Wednesday, when it launched its 2008 Statistical Review of World Energy.

On Tuesday, the International Energy (otcbb: IENI.OB - news - people ) Agency, the energy adviser for the world's industrialised countries, sharply lowered its projection for supply outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Concern over long-term oil supplies has driven the recent spike in oil prices and prompted Wall Street banks to raise their price forecast to about $150 and $200.

"For sure, banks tend to focus on supply. It is easy for them to make assumptions of $200," Olivier Jakob with Petromatrix said. "On the other side, we have to look at price impact on demand. That's why the market is so volatile."

Maybe is not as important to know how we got here as it is vital to know we can separately or collectively free ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels.

Getting there by bicycle

2008-06-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

I am thinking, if each business adds the direction to its location by bike to its web site more people will be motivated to leave the cars behind. I am thinking malls, shopping centers, banks, pharmacies and etc.
With the price of oil on the rise, with no slowdown in sight, it is becoming imperative to conserve.
Although we knew this was going to happen, after all we hit the $99 a barrel mark 2 years ago, we still feel we have been caught off guard.
Farmers driven by market are selling their crops of corn to producers of bio-fuels. This, along with high cost of energy, has shot the price of food up by 10-20%. There is no hard evidence to prove that bio-fuel is green alternative to fossil fuels.
I digress.
The point is, facilitating commuting by bike by providing information on the bike routes is an easy way of showing commitment to being green.

The nice part about being a pessimist...

2008-06-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

I am not a pessimist. But I like the irony in this quote:

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
- George F. Will

People believe I am what they see Me as!

2008-05-29T13:34:00.000-04:00

I have a perception-phobia --that is I am most concerned of how I am perceived in the eyes of the others. This trait shows itself time and again and creates bizarre moments. Recently, I joined a new team where I have to start from scratch building relationships. This is much harder (and by far much more important) than the actual job. Even, if I do an excellent job on the project, if my team dislikes me, my accomplishments will fall on deaf ears and blind eyes --that is no one will care to notice and recognize them. I definitely need to do some serious thinking about this topic and come up with practical strategies to achieve this. Any thoughts?

on Dance

2008-05-28T22:40:00.000-04:00

Dance is transcending ones inner most feelings into movements.

Redeem (your cell phone for $$$)

2008-04-15T23:16:00.000-04:00

Along came a company (apparently they've been around since 1999) that buys your out dated old cell phone that you have been itching to dump for a better model (maybe even an iphone). Check them out if you have one!

Earth Hour 2008!

2008-04-05T08:13:00.001-04:00

The hour I spent with a group of Columbia Alumni to clean up the small habitat for spawning fish and birds by Lake Ontario and turning out all the lights at my house between 8-9 PM sounds insignificant compared to my (un-intentional) daily contribution to climate change. So, how can I distribute the impact of Earth Hour over a year? Why not declare an Earth Year?!

In privileged places such as North America success of each cause relies heavily on how well people behind it can make the cause look, seem, sound cool and fun. Image is everything. Look around you, Green as a color, Green as an adjective, or being Green as a verb has become trendy. So, it should be easy to instill a Green culture.

Not so easy.

We are used to the "Good Life". Partly due to this, conserving, unless for short period of time, such as 1 hour per year, may not be something that comes naturally. Unless the media does its part and brain washes us. With the unlimited band width in our daily lives, media can turn us into Green junkies. I doubt they do that, for reasons that make an interesting topic for another time and blog.

All in all we will continue splurging.

Life goes on

2008-03-20T16:58:00.000-04:00

There are people in one's life that drive one insane and there are people that keep one sane. Paradoxically they could be the same.

From quirky to avant-garde

2008-03-01T13:08:00.000-05:00

When Rolf Paloheimo first built his Healthy House back in 1996, he was regarded as a scientist with a strange experiment. Today he is considered, thanks to Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth", an avant-garde environmentalist. His house is disconnected from city water and electricity grid. There is a zero-tolerance for waste; everything from water to human waste is recycled.

It's a fact that we are producing more waste than generations before us. Little attention is given to where does the waste go.

In 2000, Toronto households created 920,000 tonnes of waste or about one tonne per household. Only 24% of this waste was composted, recycled or reused. The rest went to landfills.

An exaggerated case of using landfills is shown in The Simpson's Movie; dumping the silo that Homer has been keeping his pig crap in, in the Springfield landfill is the last straw sort of speak to make the landfill overflow and cause hideous side effects. The aftermath of that event made us all laugh. But in reality this is no laughing matter.

How can we divert more of our waste from the landfills?
The immediate answer is to recycle and reuse. Why not reuse that old shower curtain as cover for items in the pantry or the outdoor furniture or reuse the old toothbrush to scrub stain from the household items or reuse it to wax the shoes.

After the dance class

2008-02-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

Dance is this exciting thing that sharpens your perception of yourself within the space around you!

Sunday morning coffee shop and OLIVE

2008-01-08T17:17:00.000-05:00

I went down to get coffee. As I was waiting in line I over heard two people exchanging job leads. I got my coffee (and doughnuts of course ;)) on my way out I noticed a mature looking guy wrapping up a job interview, which seemed to have gone very well!

The face of how we conduct business is changing, it is a change for better --I think. We are making an effort to look outside of the box --jobs advertised in the newspaper (a very dry and impersonal approach) vs career discussions over coffee on a Sunday morning.

As I was sipping my coffee, I leafed through pages of January edition of IEEE Spectrum magazine. The first few sentences of an article caught my eye:

"CODE THREE! Code Three!" shouts a police officer over a radio. "There's been an explosion at Global Financial Trust!"

I looked for the author's name. David Kushner. I know him, not personally, but through the articles he occasionally writes for Spectrum magazine. Just last month, he wrote a piece on making (serious) amount of money through on-line video games.

This article, is about SimHospital, a simulation used for medical training through the application: On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment, or OLIVE.

"The answer is simple", Kushner writes, "in a simulation you can learn to drive a car with out crashing, trade securities without breaking your company's bank, manage complaining customers without alienating them, treat patients without killing them."

Or perform a job interview without bombing it!

Next stop is report on COG, "Canadian Organic Growers", and Toronto's 3Rs Working Group.

2007 review and 2008 preview

2007-12-15T20:28:00.001-05:00

Reflecting on the year that passed, the 365 days that were granted and what was done with each day ... personally I achieved an intangible goal. The world of knowledge around us condition us to look (not necessarily see) hear (not necessarily listen) at many things in a short span of time. To be in control of the stimuli around, was my number one priority in the year that passed. I can say that I have become 10% better. Less clutter has created clarity and focus for me.

Professionally, I strived to experiment with different technologies directly affecting the product that I am working on. The most eminent was to improve consumability of the product by adding a customer perspective to any new product feature. The number of products loaded with features but unable to properly function the basic operation attest to loss of feedback during the product development and design cycle. If Agile methodology achieves the theory that it is based on --LEAN-- we may see a boost in hours spent on creating rather than maintaining. In short it will create a happier (less disgruntled by having to debug problems that should have been detected) work force and less stressful work environment.

Artistically, I continued dancing. It was an honor to be able to learn from the talented artists this city contains for yet another year.

In the coming year, as a system we will continue to make mistakes. The world around us will continue to suffer from another year of lack of respect and tolerance for differences. The only hope for us, global village dwellers, is project green. Being conscious of the environment and nature can provide all a neutral platform to make peace amongst us and with the planet.

Wishing you all a GREAT 2008!

The other travel story!

2007-11-13T08:23:00.000-05:00

The second leg of the trip was Tehran, Iran. When the plane landed the commotion amongst women was noticeable. The head scarves were flying out of the bag, spun in the air and hung around the neck. Then they were pulled over the head and tied tightly. A group of foreign women had the hardest time completing this procedure. They were frustrated by the ordeal and unable to keep the scarf on. Why do we all have to conform? No idea! Who am I to contend? No idea, again!

The streets of Tehran are crowded. To get to their destination, people patiently wait hours for the bus, taxi, metro or in cars stuck in traffic. I don't know if these words are compelling enough to convey the really chaotic condition of the traffic in Tehran. The side effect: you've got a city that its air pollution level is unacceptably high. Elders and children should wear mask.
Like any other big city, Tehran has to accommodate its exponentially growing population. Unfortunately, this has translated into tearing down houses and building 5+ story apartments. The city used to boast beautiful fruit gardens in the northern part; now there is only a few of those left. Space is hot commodity and greed a trend.

But, I can't say enough good things about the taste of produce. The tomatoes, cucumbers, the sweet lemon (yes there is such thing as sweet lemon), the fresh pistachio and so on; it's all so very good! Going to a house of kebab is a must. There are many restaurants spread through out the city that serve traditional food.

They say action speaks louder than words. In Tehran the reverse is true. Visit a bank and you may see what I mean. From the time you stand at the counter, in front of the teller, in what seems to be a line, but in fact it is more like a congregation, to the time your business is completed and you leave the bank you observe the teller engages in greetings with more than a dozen of the customers, shaking head and/or hand while working. It's amazing how much personal relationship is mixed with professional. Be prepared, because you never know who will open up to you and tell you her life story/problems or offer advice! Here people are engaged and involved in each others lives. It's an insult moreover futile to say "butt out". Good or bad?

With its fantastic geographical location, abundant resources, growing educated population, unique business and personal culture; Iran remains an interesting enigma to me. Regardless, I will unconditionally love it because that's where I was born!

Travel Stories from Paris!

2007-10-21T06:46:00.000-04:00

I truly shone in using my French. My teach yourself French book didn't leave my sight during the flight, okay so I dozed off a few times, spent some time eating my meal, which by the way I had to choose al a carte from le menu provided by the elegant Air France air host and was distracted a few times by the in flight movie, License to Wed, which was a ridiculously futile attempt at creating a romantic comedy --apart from all this I was studiously and diligently studying my French. Needless to say that on my first day; at Chateau de Versailles and in need to find a washroom, I asked "Who is the toilet?" instead of "Where is the toilet?". Fabulous! I have to admit though, it is very true that learning a language where it is spoken is more effective. From pronunciation to sentence structure, all can be learned more efficiently, and in my case memorably, while interacting with and/or listening to native speakers.

The "Top 10 Paris" book, Mike Gerrard & Donna Dailey, was my number one --the best-- asset on this trip. Thank you Lisa, for lending your book to me. 10 is the magic number when you are spending a limited time there, because the number of things to see and do in Paris is just overwhelming. We spent 5 days, I am telling you we squeezed every minute in an hour, and thanks to this book, efficiently rode le Metro but still we ran out of time. Pick up the latest edition, because admission fees and hours of operation change on a yearly basis.

When is the best time to travel to Paris? The number one inhibitor in seeing the sights is the wait time in the queues to get ticket, except for du Musee du Louvre which has efficiently turned its ticket kiosks to ticket dispenser machines. Before traveling I heard and read horrifying stories how can this gobble up one's time; we are talking about hours of wait time. I guess traveling during off season saves one both money and time. We were there the first week of October and the maximum time we spent in any line was 45 minutes and that was to get to the top of Eiffel tower. Besides the weather was not too bad. It rained only once in the evening and the rest it was partly sunny part cloudy with temperatures in the 20C/68F range.

Where to stay? Every provision has been made to make a tourist's stay both affordable and memorable. After all, this city has not become a major tourist attraction yesterday; they have years and years of experience and have perfected the art of accommodating tourists of all ages, tastes with different budgets. It is helpful, however, if you decide on where you want to stay before looking for "accommodation Paris" on the Internet, hit the travel section of your public library or walk in any travel agency. le Seine has divided this city into the right and left bank. Top destinations on the left bank are:

Eiffel Tower
Musee d'Orsay
Napeleon's Tomb and Hotel des Invalides
Musee du Louvre
Basilique du Sacre-Couer
Arc de Triomphe

Top destinations on the right bank are:

Champs Elysees
Avenue Montaigne
Place de La Concorde
L'Opera
Montmartre

We stayed at one of Cistadines Apart 'Hotels, equipped with a kitchenette. I'd say this setting is more suitable for longer duration visits. Nevertheless it worked well for us. We had a grand breakfast, crepe, baguette, croissant and delicious very fatty French fromage, every morning.

What is the best way to get around? Given that we arrived early in the week, Tuesday, our best bet was to purchase Carte Orange for 32.10 euro. We conveniently hopped on and off train and/or bus without having to worry about zones and exact change. Carte Orange Covers zones 1-6. This includes CDG airport and Chateau De Versailles.

Why visit Paris? Paris is viewed by many as the most splendid and attractive city in Europe, if not the world. No matter if you go for business or pleasure, your visit to Paris will leave you with deep impressions, from the fashions of the Champs-Elysees to the arts of the Louvre; from the rich history of the Notre Dame cathedral to the modern design of the Centre Georges-Pompidou to the relaxed air of a small cafe -- Paris truly has something to offer everyone.

Viva La Paris!

ParisFranceOctober2007

Saturday morning musing

2007-09-22T08:28:00.000-04:00

The 60 year old who took an early retirement and has been running a farm in Vermont for the past 12 years, talked about it being 14 hours a day work --more or less like the corporate world he retired from but much in a different way. Here he can stop and relax, alongside his wife, for a taste of cheese they make on the farm. Although, the routine repeats everyday but he feels happier and healthier --less stressed.

I admire people who take a leap of faith, open a new chapter, turn their life upside down and start fresh.

For me the days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months too quickly to spare me moments to think about the future in a profound, focused way --that famous (rather out-dated interview question) where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 15 years.

Just this past month I spent many unaccounted hours on promoting a series of seminars on communication and softskills. The launch was a significant event so was the positive feedback of attendees! It was a desirable outcome for 6 months of brainstorming with Vicki, Manager of Professional Development and Career Services at Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, about the course, instructor, logistics, PR and etc. TV producer, Stacie Overton, of Ivanhoe Broadcast company, found the idea interesting enough to do a show for their Smart Women series. This idea is still being discussed between Stacie and Ayla Tezcan the instructor but I very much hope it takes off.

I am going to wrap up my Saturday morning musing with a funny quote from Mickey Rooney:
"Always get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted a whole day."

Operation Green Ontario

2007-08-14T22:33:00.000-04:00

Ontario will invest $79 million in planting 50 million trees--this is the largest pledge to the UN campaign to build a billion trees world wide.
It is estimated that adding this many trees will reduce Ontario's CO2 emission by the amount generated by 172 million cars for 100 km by 2054.

Startup weekend

2007-08-07T12:15:00.000-04:00

If I told you that a company was to be established from ground up during a weekend would you be intrigued to know more? Or would you casually dismiss the idea as impossible! Well, if you are in the second group I have news for you --that it is possible. Check out www.vosnap.com. This is not the whole story. There is more to come.

Bjarn's visit

2007-07-21T14:52:00.002-04:00

The room was packed and yet people were still arriving. They were sitting on the floor in whatever space available between the seats. No one considered leaving. The C++ enthusiasts were adamant to see and hear the father and inventor of the language.

There are always a few who rise to occasion. They brought down the projector from their labs, found a bigger lecture room. Thanks to the help of a few students and T.A.s of University of Toronto, 15 minutes later a 140 people capacity lecture room was filled with eager listeners and the lecture was under way.

Dr. Stroustrup's visit was part of C++0x standard committee meeting. He spoke about the good, bad and ugly of C++ programming language.

With billions lines of code and 300 million C++ developers around the world there is an enormous range of features that can potentially become part of the language standard. How can the standard keep all happy?

There are plenty of suggestions for new features to be implemented in C++0X standard. "We shouldn't just implement new features. We should first ask what kind of problem does this feature solve and how it is going to be useful to the general users," Stroustrup said in his presentation.

Support for a memory model for parallel programming, communication protocols, safe STL, more generic programming and etc. are all being reviewed by the committee. Fans of garbage collection will be disappointed, as chances of this feature making it in this revision is slim.

The committee promises completion by the end of the decade, hence the name, C++0X. Although, there is a possibility of using hex values --that is if they don't make it by 2009. One way or another this is an exciting event for all C++ developers.

As a C++ compiler tester I am equally interested to see how fast we get these features implemented in the products we support.

It is going to be an interesting ride for many of us. So better stay tuned.

The event was made possible by IEEE Toronto Computer Chapter.

Note: Photo is courtsety of Evgeny Polkovnikov, Software Developer, certicom

Bottled water no longer hot

2007-07-10T07:58:00.000-04:00

Bottled water is being added to the list of things bad for the environment. After being around for as long as I can remember they are being criticized for their adverse effects on environment. Considering the amount of green house gases produced and amount of energy consumed for their production and distribution, it is hard to drink water out of a bottle without the guilt feeling of the damage they cause the environment. Watch out for cities like San Francisco and Salt Lake City that are jumping on the vagabond of banning the bottled water. The bottle water industry has to find creative ways to survive the bad rap.

CN Tower Illuminated

2007-05-30T12:11:00.000-04:00

Just when every major city in North America, including Toronto, is trying to conserve, NY City has a mandate to convert all its yellow cabs to hybrid and San Francisco is cutting greenhouse gas by 25% by 2020,we hear CN Tower, the world's tallest building today (553 m), is getting a face lift which involves being outfitted with LED lights that shoot up the elevator shaft over the "bubble" and straight to the mast. Just how much watts per day are we talking about? But, wait! Apparently the LEDs are high tech --they consume 60% less than when the tower was last fully lit in the 1990s. I think it's okay then?

Here's a green ... there's a green ... everywhere's a green

2007-05-09T13:04:00.000-04:00

People have gone completely "green mad". Every other page of a recent issue of a local newspaper contained one or two articles on environmental friendly topics. From green fashion to green spring cleaning tips and ideas, you name it; it was covered!

Later, I heard on BBC radio, that people are lining up to buy, get this, a designer shopping bag, that says, "I am not a plastic bag". They drive their not so environmentally friendly cars to the stores that have these bags on sale--5 pounds each--and then drive back home. All stores are now sold out of this item!

Don't get me wrong. I am a true believer that it is our duty to utilize natural resources responsibly. If we don't run out of the resources we have available, in our time; our children and children's children more likely will.

But, what surprises me is how majority of us advocate a cause only if and when the image is "cool".

World Laughter Day

2007-04-25T13:03:00.000-04:00

Not too long ago a friend stunned me with existence of Hot Yoga, and today I learn about Laughter Yoga which is so difficult to imagine, considering some of the yoga positions are so hard to sustain that it actually brings tears to eyes. But, that is not the whole story, with that came the realization of World Laughter Day, which is on May 6--next Sunday. I take laughter or a genuine smile over a blank, expressionless or serious frown every second of every day. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you smile and laugh from your heart.

Paper or plastic?

2007-03-29T12:55:00.000-04:00

Taking public transit to work could be such fun but at times irritating, I mean how many of you have had the pleasure of listening to someone else’s eating or ipod--these are the two I have experienced--while traveling to work and probably trying to catch up on your sleep or meditate about the day ahead.

Today the guy behind me was having his breakfast as if he is having it in front of a loud speaker. It reminded me of Lynn Truss’ book, Talk to the Hand, saying that many people have adopted the self-absorbed attitude of the worst role model in the world, Bart Simpson –My bubble, my rules and if you don’t like it, you know where to go!

On a different note, it was in the news that San Francisco is imposing a ban on plastic bags. The law passed 10-to-1. I wonder what the one person opposing the law had to say. Well, this wasn’t mentioned, very typical journalism style. Why waste the precious space to talk about the 1 opposing. It’s great that we are trying to conserve but let’s just not be too hasty. In the 80’s the paper bag was replaced by plastic bag. Ever asked why? Well maybe the following data from www.plasticbag.com can shed some light:

“When it comes to reducing solid waste, bigger definitely isn't better. The less material you use to make a package, the less waste you have to recycle or dispose of after you've used (and reused) it. Take a look at how the facts stack up for plastic bags.

The smaller volume of plastic bags can help conserve landfill space. Nothing degrades fast enough to extend the useful lives of modern U.S. landfills...not paper, not plastics, nothing, according to Dr. William Rathje of the University of Arizona Garbage project.
30 percent less material is used to produce today's plastic bag than the bags made just five years ago
Compared to paper grocery bags, plastic grocery bags:

Consume 40 percent less energy than paper
Generate 80 percent less solid waste
Produce 70 percent fewer atmospheric emissions
Release up to 94 percent fewer waterborne wastes “

Today is Eddie's Birthday..

2007-03-25T23:15:00.000-04:00

Five people five lessons narrated beautifully in an engaging story.

As I flipped the pages I learned to anticipate—eagerly, patiently—who Eddie is going to meet next.

Eddie “Maintenance” is the stronger of the two sons who would have done anything to get his father’s attention; in return for a bit of a fatherly love. Eddie’s story unravels in three time eras, Eddie’s present on earth, his present in heaven and his past. You bond with Eddie and perhaps often find yourself identifying with his story –shaking your head—you’ve been there, done that, felt it! No life is wasted. There is meaning and purpose to each and every one of our lives. We might not know it at this time. Does heaven, after life, exist to help us make sense of it all?

Mitch Albom’s “The Five People you Meet in Heaven” is a great read!

Another free trip around the sun is complete!

2007-03-22T20:15:00.000-04:00

Image converter

2007-03-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

Recently, I needed an image converter to convert gif to eps format. 2 out of 3 applications I tried didn't work.

First I tried Doc-Print v3.3 provided on VeryPDF.com. The binary was relatively small and downloaded in few seconds--on a broadband connection. The set up was fast and within few clicks the software seemed to be good to go. The application needed a machine restart to complete installation --although a nuisance but shutting down all windows and open applications deemed to be a very small price to pay to achieve the goal. After restarting the computer, I tried it out anxiously. To my surprise the application didn't start. The window flashed and disappeared. So, I used the uninstall exe provided by the software to uninstal --I had to manually remove a config.ini from under the program directory and then remove the program directory.

I moved on to my ImageMagick, next link on the Google search result page. This one took a while to just load up the mirror sites. I quickly moved on.

The third link, however, was the winner, Advanced Batch Converter 3.9. The downloaded took a few seconds. Installation was quick. It didn't require a machine restart. The application was user friendly. Under 5 minutes, I had my gif image converted to eps! :)

.. what do you know?!

2007-02-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

... especially if someone tries to knock you down a peg or two; as long as you are respectful of other people, defending your position is the right thing -- even a noble thing -- to do.

An Inconvenient Truth

2007-02-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

It was so pleasant hearing the birds chirp on my way to work yesterday. But, it struck me that how odd it is to have this lovely experience early February in a city that is notorious for its long and rough winters.
What is portrayed in the eco-documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, made my hair stand on end. It is too much to take in 90 minutes but the irony is what Al Gore presents eloquently and with excellent visual effects in 90 minutes is the consequence of our doing in the past 90-100 years.
We have come to believe that terrorism is the 21st century's biggest threat. But what we will be facing as a result of global warming is far more serious. We notice the unusual changes in weather, the arrival of invasive insect species, the extinction of some of the species and the spread of disease all around us.
The good thing is we can reverse the effect of green house gases by controlling the emission of carbon dioxide.
As individuals we are contributors to the global warming hence we can be part of the solution. Become part of the solution today!

2007!

2007-01-02T19:59:00.000-05:00

It finally arrived ... with neither a warning nor a delay ... as always on time. So, we have to start getting used to starting our letters and signing our checks with 2007 dates ... that's a challenge. Other than that ... hmmm ... I don't know ... are we supposed to feel any different ... I mean other than the fact that we are now officially one year older ... which could be both good and bad :)

2006-11-25T07:06:00.000-05:00

Last night I saw Casino Royale. The story lacked the light heartedness of previous bond movies. Granted, it's always about chasing the money until it is out of the hands of the bad guys. But, this one had just too many gory scenes, the action scenes were incredibly physical as opposed to clever--we actually watch him as he suffocates a couple of the bad guys.

On the pro side, I really liked watching the poker game embedded in the movie. Daniel Craig makes a real good bond. I really like his chiseled face and his smile. His arrogance is becoming him. Does he do his own stunts?! The opening chase is by far the most fantastic fight/chase choreography of the entire movie.

Overall a good candidate to watch on big screen!

Marketing Ads

2006-11-10T08:09:00.000-05:00

Whoever comes up with these marketing slogans should receive the "foot in the mouth" prize of the year--I am not kidding there is such a prize. You don't believe me do a google on it.

My favorites are:

Innovation. Available right off the shelf. Mix n match for your business!

Unlocking the incredible potential of people through Internet connectivity.

Since when innovation has become so ubiquitous and easy to achieve that you can mix n match them? And how on earth can Internet connectivity unlock the incredible potential of people?

Granted these slogans are meant to be eye catchers but they shouldn't sound so shallow or should they?

The Marathon

2006-10-16T07:55:00.000-04:00

The Toronto Marathon was this past Sunday. I cheered and clapped until my hands turned red and I started sounding like an old rooster. It was a rather cool day , but thankfully the sun was shinning. The first spot went to a guy from Vancouver who finished the Marathon in 2 hours 34 min and 11 sec. The first female runner finished 13. There were a couple of music bands playing and let me tell you their contribution was probably the most obvious. Every beat they played brought a smile to the tired face of the passing runners. Cheers!

Bioelectrics

2006-09-28T08:54:00.000-04:00

The terms biomedicine, biomedical engineering and such are recent additions to my vocabulary as they are being more and more used in technical and non-technical context. Today I came across a brand new term, bioelectrics. As I am typing this up I realize it is being immediately underlined red—looks like the word has not made to the Word processor dictionary either. I am using Word 2002 – SP3. Just shows how fast we are moving forward and breaking new grounds in science and technology. Hold this thought.
Back to bioelectrics: the article appeared in IEEE Spectrum, August 2006 edition. Let me capture the thought by quoting directly from the article:
“40 Thousand volts, four thousand amperes, and over one hundred million watts squeezed into a cubic centimeter. You’d think that would be enough to vaporize just about anything, and it certainly doesn’t seem like the kind of electricity you’d want to apply to your body. But if our research continues to succeed as it has, years from now we’ll be asking some cancer patients to do just that. And it might just save their lives.”
Per the article the period this amount of energy is applied to the cell is in the matter of nanoseconds. The energy applied to the cell is enough to create a huge electric field at the membrane of the cell and break it down. As a result a hole will be created across the membrane of the cell. Ions will pour in and cause the cell to short circuit. We just destroyed a bad cell in matter of nanoseconds!
I admit it’s fascinating. Like any other R&D project millions of dollars is spent with a small hope that this: applying high voltage to the cell is going to someday be branded as the cure for cancer. That’s the goal. But, even if that is not achieved, the least something good comes out of it.
That concerns me most. You see each edition of Spectrum has many WOW stories like this. As mentioned before we are moving forward in the science and technology field with incredible speed—pairing disciplines that have almost nothing to do with each other. Despite this we still don’t have a cure for cancer and HIV. In the previous centuries, 18-20, I call these the golden centuries, so much good was done. Human life improved by Louis Pasteur’s extraordinary contribution to microbiology and medicine, getting an X-Ray would have been impossible had Marie Curie not discovered Radium and so much more.
Just what exactly do we, the generation of 21 century, have to be proud of? Oh, I know! ipod! (I know I am being too sarcastic) But, I think you get the point.

Fall

2006-09-27T08:39:00.000-04:00

Time just flies. Have you noticed a change in your surroundings recently? Well, in my neck of the wood, it seems like people went from shorts and sandals to jackets and sweaters overnight. I am actually looking forward to the season of colorful leaves and crisp and cool weather. Happy Fall!

Moving up the escalator

2006-08-20T17:27:00.000-04:00

Monday morning bright and sharp, I got off the train. I run ahead of everyone, wanting to be the first one getting on the escalator. After all, the goal is to beat the rush hour traffic and get to work early. Strangely, no one else feels as eager as I, to get on. How is that? But, I don't get a chance to think about an answer for my brain quickly switches to solving a much bigger problem. I can't move up this escalator! I try to take one step--up that is--but I lose my balance. I let go of my purse and lunch box and hold on to the rails tightly. I take one more step. Okay, I am going to make it, I think to myself. You wish. I lose my balance and fall on all four. Ouch that hurts. My knee is bleeding and I feel a sharp pain on my side. I can't let that get me down. Oh no! I am now further away from the top. A scary thought crosses my mind; I might die on this stupid escalator. I can't let that happen. I pull myself together. Get up. Grab the rails so tightly that my knuckles turn white and I climb. I finally make it. I pinch myself to see if I am awake or if this has all been a bad dream. The blood is dripping down my leg. It can't be a dream. I am all confused. I take this escalator every morning. In fact this escalator is the only reason I trek the platform all the way to get on the first car. I look down. Who on earth could have foolishly changed the direction of the escalator. It clearly has the sign "Going up"?!!!

I see a few gathered down the escalator. One is holding my bags. I can't hear what they are saying. But, I bet they are asking one another, who on earth these bags belongs to.

I better go get my bags...I have to move on. I have no time to stand here feel sorry for myself and angry at the person who did this to me!

Couple hours later, after I have vented my anger to one of the station superintendents, placed a band aid on my knee, which I had almost forgotten I had in my wallet, told my story to half a dozen people; I feel much better. In fact, a smile lits my face every time I think about the incident; definitely something to remember for years to come.

Finch Station is different ...

2006-08-04T12:55:00.000-04:00

She plays keyboard and he plays violin. Together they create the most delighful music that ranges from "Waves of the Danube" to "La Cumparsita". As I proceed with my morning commute through Finch Station I listen to the art Indulis and Ilga Suna create. Each and everyday when I listen to them I feel the surge of excitement then comes the goose bumps as I hum the familiar tune, eventually I launch into this very happy go lucky mood that lasts even after the music fades away and through the hectic morning commute.

A great quote

2006-08-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

"Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character."
— Albert Einstein, Swiss-American mathematician, physicist, and public philosopher (1879-1955)

3-days tour of Canada East

2006-07-25T23:11:00.000-04:00

Quebec City is a beautiful jewel. It has 380 years of history and has been recognized by UNESCO as the World Heritage site. The most amazing feature of this city is its frontier--built over the span of many years to protect the city from the frequent attacks of British or the French. Today about 580,000 people live in this city.

This picture shows old Montreal, Place Jacques-Cartier, close to the port. For many years this area has been the center for celebration and joy for fishermen, residents and all. Today this area has the most amazing array of restaurants and live entertainment.

The Fab Four!

2006-07-03T06:49:00.000-04:00

With four teams left and only 4 more matches to go it’s hard to believe that the Fifa World Cup 2006 is coming to a close. During the past 4 weeks about billion or more people watched the games as their favorite teams rose or fell out of the games. It was such a pleasure to watch so many different soccer styles. South Americans yet again became my all time favorite—and I am utterly disappointed of their early elimination. They play passionately, run feverishly, see each other in the field, play as a team and win as a team. Mexico versus Argentine was a classic, wonderful showcase of South American football.

Many of these players are on European teams and quite familiar with strategies and tactics of European football. Yet when confronted, their performance against European teams are fairly dismal—where was Rolandinho, Ronaldo and Robinho in the Brazil game against France. I have to admit Argentine played a fantastic game against Germany and if it wasn’t for their keeper having to leave the game due to injury they had high chances to advance to the semis.

In any case the Fab Four have been selected and I think this is how they will rank in the end: Portugal, Germany, Italy and France.

Cheap Chips

2006-06-20T09:19:00.000-04:00

There is enough bandwidth above and around 60GHz to join a DVD and HD TV wirelessly and expect 2 gig-per-second transmission of data.
The problem is not that these frequencies are not utilized yet, in fact Mercedez-Benz uses 77-GHz bandwidth in its adaptive cruise control. The suggested manufacturer price for the 2007 Merecedez, S550 is only 85400 USD!

To take advantage of this frequency bandwidth in wireless consumer electronics cheap transceivers are needed.
Silicon!
IBM engineers revealed the first experimental 60-GHz transmitter and receiver this month. They have utilized an alloy of germanium and silicon. The working model is able to transmit and receive 630 megabits per second over a distance of 10 meters.
Concurrently, a group of researchers at University of California, L.A. are taking a different approach. They are taking advantage of the widespread CMOS technology.
CMOS technology is so common that there is no doubt that the chips that result will be cheap. Integration of many devices with CMOS technology is very easy. The drawback is inability to predict how transistors and everything else will behave at that frequency.
With the advent of R&D in this area there is hope that we can rid our lives from clutter and displeasure of looking at the farm of wires around the house. However, we shall await for when this technology is “mature and inexpensive”.

Greatest things come to those who wait!

2006-06-02T17:08:00.000-04:00

no more comments ... self explanatory!

A mini vacation :)

2006-05-12T11:12:00.000-04:00

I took a different bus to work today. It was just what I needed --a mini vacation. It was good for my brain which has seized up!

On a completely different note: Canada is an Indian word and it means village. How interesting!

Absences

2006-04-30T19:02:00.000-04:00

I sat in the dark theater in the anticipation of Serge Bennathan’s latest creation—the last one for the Dancemakers. Absences is about Serge’s16 years encounter with creation of art in Toronto and for Dancemakers. In Absences Serge has created a full length piece on music by Bertrand Chenier that is performed by Eva Egoyan. Absences is a story of the art Serge developed during his journey with the company. He masterfully through his dancers narrates us moments that have had an impact on him as an artist. The interpreters merge and disperse, execute the dance movements in synergy yet interject their unique interpretation. Every time I see this group they are amazing.
For me the evening meant more than watching an excellent performance; it gave me an opportunity to dwell on the fun experience I have had over the past two years taking classes with the company.

Your call is important to us. Please continue to hold!!!

2006-03-25T19:32:00.000-05:00

I didn't have to go down to their offices and frankly they were surprised I did. While the receptionist of one of the companies was trying to direct my "call" she had to emphasize to the support team that I was physically there, "customer is here --in person!"
I am glad I did go down and solved my problem and got my questions answered in person. This experience was much more pleasant than being on hold for close to an hour. Also, I felt more confident with the service I got!

Freedom ...

2006-03-20T11:37:00.000-05:00

What is freedom, if I can't be me?

Where are you from?

2006-03-06T12:11:00.000-05:00

With the current rate of immigration one is bound to see people from her own home country on some corner of the city one now calls home. I am also an immigrant and have chosen to call a new country and city home. I pass by and glance at many people on my daily commute, but somehow it is different when the features of the other suggests he or she might be a compatriot --I feel a sense of familiarity.

... well deserved Oscar went to Crash for the best movie of the year. The movie depicted eloquently cultural differences in a series of intertwined stories that had just the right amount of drama!

"Bluetooth on Steriods"

2006-02-08T08:39:00.000-05:00

chip making material (silicon germanium)
+ unlicensed 60 gigahertz spectrum a.k.a millimeter wave band
= the bulky cables behind the TV becoming obsolete!

Change

2006-02-05T07:46:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here and "blabbing" as I need to take care of dozens of things to make the changes go smoothly--unfortunately on a Sunday--but right now "blabbing" seems to be the most reasonable savior --escape-- from reality.
I can't see myself living a "monotone" life, but when I confront change there is always a part of me that longs for the routine!
On a completely different subject why is "weather" such a popular conversation starter and/or rescuer. Looks like weather is a more interesting or less threatening topic to break the silence with. So, how is the weather at your corner of the world?! Snow flurries are dancing in the air here--it's quite pretty actually!

Cell Trio

2006-01-16T08:50:00.000-05:00

The tiny square shaped object that the guy in the image is holding is called "Cell trio" --the revolutionary new chip designed from ground up for multimedia applications running on networks.

You console gamers out there will be ecstatic to know that Cell trio is promising to provide a much more improved 3-D graphics --this translates to amazing game experience, doesn't it? The first product to use this new chip is Sony PS3.
Now, I am not a fan of playing console games, in fact I admit I have never played! But it seems there is a big market demand for such enhancements that has initiated collaboration among the three giant hi-tech companies, Sony, IBM and Toshiba to shell out $400 million to bring this chip to the market.
This is a significantly good start for the New Year for the chip industry since this chip is using the 32-nanometer technology --meaning the width of the smallest circuit wire on the chip is 32-nanometer. Amazing!