Ward Islands, Toronto Islands

If you are looking for something to do on any given day, and you happen to be in Toronto, head down to the Toronto Island Ferry port, and get a RT ticket for $7.25 (subject to change, fees are based on 2015) and travel to Ward island. 

The Rectory Cafe

Center Island is a popular destination, and with the Centerville Amusement park, water fountains, and the bicycle and boat rental stores it makes total sense that the line to that island is always the busiest.  But Ward has its own beauty --it's more mature, and more reserved.  You get off the ferry, and there is no sign or anything else to direct you or inhibit you from going in any direction.  But, if I may suggest you may head towards the lake and start walking west toward the Center island.  It's a lovely walk and doesn't take too long.  Along the way, watch for the sign (on your left) for The Rectory Cafe.  Don't think of leaving if you are hungry and there is a line; it's worth the wait, and the staff is quite accommodating and seats hungry clients quickly.  The Salmon and Steak there are cooked to perfection.  In the summer time, when we visited, August 16, there was quite a charming jazz musician singing beautiful tunes.  It was a whole experience.

There is plenty to do after lunch.  Continue with the walk to Center Island and explore the eastern point of the island via a rental boat or a bicycle.

Should speaking the official language in public places become law?

These days the streets, trains, malls, shops, grocery stores, coffee shops, banks, in short all public places are so crowded.  Looks like the entire inhabitants of the city are making an attempt to be out and about.  There is so much noise, people in groups speaking loudly on the train, in the street, and pretty much everywhere. In midst of the hustle and bustle it's hard not to notice the variety of languages,other than one of the two official languages, French, or English, spoken.

Perhaps it is the convenience, and/or the peace of mind that prompts the choice of language.  Convenience that the language equips with all that is necessary to impress, express all the details of a narrative, and peace of mind that the words spoken is privy only to the individuals it is intended for.  If English or French are not spoken as widely as one would expect, it is perhaps because they cannot satisfy these needs.

 But what is the implication of such a choice?  On the surface it doesn't seem to have any [implication].  After all a conversation in a public place should be worthy only to its participants, and noise to the rest; the expressionless faces of non-participants is evidence of their indifference.  Even businesses hire people from many different ethnic backgrounds to be able to claim we-speak-your-language to encourage doing business with them.  Another variation of the same topic is the store signage printed in languages other than the two official languages, implicitly employing and serving a select ethnic group.


Toronto remains a mosaic of many languages. In 2006, forty-seven percent of the population had a mother tongue in a language other than English or French.

If we encourage, or ignore this trend, Toronto will not be one city, instead it will be hundred different cities within one city.  There won't be one Toronto, but a Chinese Toronto, an Italian Toronto, a Portuguese Toronto, a Russian Toronto, in short a Toronto divided amongst many visible minorities.  As a government thrives on having a majority, Toronto will also benefit from having a majority of its residents speaking either English or French fluently.

Innovation in the transportation

This is my last of a three part blog series on the topic of transportation.  Motivated by the Global Engineering Innovation Challenge, my friend and I brainstormed on what can be done to improve the road share in a limited right of way.

The goal is to pack a collection of objects, cars, buses, and bikes, into the minimum number of fixed-size bins, the road lanes. The resemblance between this and the classic bin packing problem is eminent.  In a bin packing problem one may pack based on first fit, or first best fit, based on ascending or descending ordered list of object based on its size.  Here we will be packing based on time of use.

The existing infrastructure of surface transport is sliced in at least three bins

            The side walks at least one on each side

            The roads at least one for each direction, North-South or East-West

S_urface -> {S_idewalk, R_oad1, R_oad2}

The objects are bikes, cars, buses, and trucks

I_tems -> {B_ikes, C_ars, B_uses, T_rucks}

In solving this problem it is important to consider the time of the week day as the constraint to optimize.

T_ime -> {   06 < T < 10                   // demand is high because it is morning rush hour

               10 < T < 14                     // demand is low

               14 < T < 20                     // demand is high because it evening rush hour

               20 < T < 24                     // demand is low

            }

The solution is:

T_ime -> {   06 < T < 10                        S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1       Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                             , R_oad2  Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                     }

                10 < T < 14                        S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1     Bikes, Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                             , R_oad2  Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                      }

                           

               14 < T < 20                         S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1       Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                            , R_oad2  Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                     }

               20 < T < 24             S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                , R_oad1     Bikes, Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                , R_oad2  Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                  }

            }

This proposal promotes better, safer sharing of the road by distributing the load of its usage through out the day.

Random Hacks of Kindess #3, Toronto

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!

Discovery Walk - Don Valley Parkway Trail

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.

Earth hour 2010 in Toronto!

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.

Why should we know history?

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.