I AM DOWNUNDER

G'night Canada, G'day Sydney!

2005-01-23T06:24:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know, I know, I know. "It's been 2 months, you uncaring blogger. Two months I've had to suffer with no updates about your life, your trip, and your humour. Okay, well maybe not too much the humour, but......."

Okay already, I'll say it once, and then we'll move on: "I'M SORRY!"

I am.

So here's the scoop. I leave for Australia today. I have 9 more hours to dicker around home, then I'm gone. First to St. Thomas, then on to Toronto via Robert Q airbus, then on to England via British Airways flight BA0098, then on the 24th on to Sydney via BA7372.

I have more updates than this to make, though. Most are already written, it's just that they're saved to disk in my head. My intent is to get them from disk in head to hard drive disk on computer, and then on to the world wide web. I'll date them as they happened, so be sure to "read backwards". Here's a list of the updates I'll be making:
-- No going back now: I've booked my flight! (December 12)
-- My fav Christmas tradition: Lights! Coffee! And Festive Specials! (December 18)
-- The bestest Christmas present (December 22)
-- Christmas: From scooters to empty "gift boxes", It's all about the leaving (December 25)
-- EXCLUSIVE: Retail staff know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about travel adapters!!! (December 28)
-- The New Year that was almost missed: A small dinner and drinks gathering begins 2005 (January 1)
-- Airline seating: The do's and don'ts (January 10)
-- The only other time I left my time zone... (January 10)
-- Ivey's law of averages falls (for once) in my favour (January 12)
-- The "painfully" Real Canadian Superstore (January 14)
-- Aussie update: What I've done, what I have yet to do (January 15)
-- My fav IT company releases THE coolest gadget: Meet Apple's iPod shuffle (January 16)
-- The "Manny Lover's Club" has its first theme song thanks to yours truly (January 17)
-- Bringing my mother into the digital age (January 18)
-- Lonely Planet - Australia: My bible for the next 6 months (January 18)
-- From the headlines of the Daily Prophet: She Who Must Not Be Named is sighted (January 19)
-- The haircuts (January 20)
-- Packing my life for the next 6+ months into 2 suitcases and a carry-on (attempt number four hundred and ninety-three) (January 21)
-- My first Aussie mate!! (January 22)
-- The first computer I could not fix: 4 days worth of sheer misery, complications, and "can't be undone's" (January 22)
-- The good-bye parties: Those that were and those that were not to be... (January 22)
-- Pre-leaving jitters (January 22)

Oh, one more thing. Keep in mind that all updates dated post-January 23 will be in Sydney-time, which is 16 hours ahead of EST. Yep, that's right, for the most part I'll be a day ahead. I'll be sure to write back and tell you what's happened so you can be better prepared for your tomorrows :o)

So, I'm off. G'night Canada, and g'day Sydney!

Panoramic imaging: First creative activity with new digicam

2004-12-10T20:02:00.000-05:00

Isn't this cool??!!?!!!??!

I wanted to play with my new toy (digital camera, see post below), and thought I'd get my creative juices flowing. (Yes, I know, I just opened myself up to too many really, REALLY good comical comments! :) I created the panoramic view of the living room in my apartment with 4 digital photographs and a nifty program called PTMac (yep, it's just for Macs! .... although I'm sure someone's developed something similar, but inferior, for PCs).

The purpose of this activity? To learn how to create VERY COOL panoramic images with my travel pics. I got the idea @ FromParis.com. The site has super-awesome pics of the sights in Paris, some of which I'll hopefully get to see during my swing through Europe in August. Some of the pics from the site are now serving as my desktop images! :)

To create the panorama, I took 4 vertical (portrait) pics of the livingroom, standing in the same location, and making sure that each pic overlapped each other a bit. Typically, the experts use a wide-angle lens, take 4+ horizontal photos, plus take 2 photos -- 1 straight up and 1 down.

Using the program I uploaded my images; stated the lens type (e.g. normal rectilinear lens) and orientation (portrait); entered my desired panoramic picture width, field of view (up to 360 degrees), and file format (e.g. jpeg, psd, tiff), inputed the angle at which I took the pictures (one of the photos was taken head on, or at a zero degree angle, while others I had to turn the camera to a certain degree to capture the image); provide control points, or matching points on two overlapping pictures (VERY IMPORTANT!); and finally preview and create the panorama. Pretty simple .... once I figured it out! :)

After the panorama was created, I edited it in PhotoShop, since some of the 4 images were darker/lighter than others. There's still a few blemishes if you look close enough -- I've identified them in the comments section; but try to identify them yourself, first! -- but not a bad job for my first panoramic image.

Adventures around town: The entertainment hub of London receiving lots of visits from yours truly

2004-12-10T18:08:00.000-05:00

Adventures @ Future Shop
I've been to Future Shop 3 times in the last week and a bit. The first time was to purchase my digital camera; the second time to return the USB Network Adapter I purchased for my Toshiba laptop before it died, which I forgot to bring with me during my first visit; and the third time to return the plug adapters and digital camera voltage converter that I purchased during my first and second visits.

The adapter/converter allows me to power up my laptop, digicam and recharger, and household/personal appliances while I'm overseas. Different countries have different-sized outlets, and have differing amounts of electricity pouring out of their wall sockets. Australia has its own (interesting fact: only two other countries have a similar plug, and they're both located in southern hemisphere, third-world countries). The UK and Italy have their own as well, while most other European countries share the same system. Anyways, I couldn't find anyone at Future Shop who knew anything about foreign voltages, so I purchased a couple of different devices. I finally figured out what I needed thanks to the 'Net -- I'll need different plugs for everything, as well as a voltage converter for everything except my laptop, which can handle different voltages. However, then the thought hit me...... I should probably wait until after Christmas to purchase it! You never know what Santa Claus may bring for Christmas!! :-)

Good information @ Chapters
I hung out @ Chapters book store on Wednesday, where I read Lonely Planet's Australia travel book, a Friends TV coffee book-like anthology, and the first third of the third installment of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Concerning the Unfortunate Events' series, Lemony Snicket and his cast of characters are coming to the big screen on December 17th, and it promises to be a great movie. The movie is based on the first three books, so I need to get the third book read in the next 7 days. I already own the first 2 books -- thanks Steph A. for the recommendation! -- but don't want to put up another $17 and tax before my trip for another one. Oh, good news: I've got my sister Steph hooked on the books! Anyways, view the movie trailer, check out Lemony Snicket's Web site, or read evil Count Olaf's blog. All great sites!!

Thanks to Lonely Planet, I now have a place to stay during the first few days I'll be in Australia -- Eva's Backpackers hostel! It sounds very homey, has great reviews, is very clean and secure, and has awesome views of Sydney while still being in a quiet, suburban part of the city.

Entertained @ Famous Players
I saw Christmas with the Kranks this week, too. (Yes, very busy week on the town!) Awesome movie, and in my opinion one of the few good Christmas flicks in the past several years. Most recent ones have either failed in their plot or acting. Based very closely on John Grisham's novel Skipping Christmas, this one stands out as the great feel-good Christmas movie of the year. Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis -- two actors I'm not usually fans of -- give superb performances, and lead an interesting and diverse cast of characters. You gotta see it; check out the trailer at Apple.com.

The story, John Grisham's version of the Dr. Seuss classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is this: For the past 20 years, Luther Krank (Tim Allen) has made Christmas the major event of his life. He has decorated his entire home, inside and out, and spread good cheer through his office and neighbourhood. On this particular year, his only daughter, Blair (Julie Gonzalo), has joined the Peace Corps and is stationed in Peru, so Luther figures he can skip Christmas in favour of a luxury cruise. Initially, wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) is horrified, but she begins to understand his logic, if not his methods.

As far as Luther is concerned, he and Nora are going cold turkey. No Christmas in no way. No decorations, cards, carols, parties, holiday ham, cookies and especially no Frosty the snowman perched on their roof. (One of the truly funny moments has Nora and Luther hiding in their basement when neighbours come over to demand they turn over the snowman. Frosty lurks Behind Nora and Luther and the way the glow from the furnace lights him, he looks positively demonic.)

The running joke through the first half of the film pits an adamant Luther and a cowering Nora against their disbelieving, dismayed neighbours. Leading this concerned citizens for Christmas group is the bombastic, bullying Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd), fellow neighbours, and a choir of Christmas carollers. Funny scenes occur when Luther and Nora go to a tanning salon, only to get caught in their skimpy swim wear by the local priest, and when Luther tries to eat lunch minutes after a botox treatment.

The second half of Christmas with the Kranks shows how Luther, Nora, and the neighbours deal with the news Blair is in Miami on her way back to Chicago to show her Peruvian boyfriend (Rene Lavan) a real American family Christmas. Now the family has to create a mini miracle and do in half a day what usually takes weeks. As a feel-good movie, they do just that -- with a few twists along the way!

What's next?
Back to Chapters..... I gotta finish the third installment of The Series of Unfortunate Events before the 17th!!

My first digital camera!

2004-12-09T23:36:00.000-05:00

I've purchased my first ever digital camera!

The camera's a Kodak CX7430, which can take vibrant pics up to 20" x 30" (4 megapixels) or unlimited 640x480 pixel video. It sports a 1.6" LCD screen and auto, portrait, landscape, night, close-up, and sport pre-set scene modes. I also purchased a 256MB SD memory chip and rechargeable NiMH battery pack for it as well. Other cool features? The camera autorotates vertical images and has a burst mode that allows me to take about 6 pics in 2 seconds.

I decided to get a digicam with specs lower than what I was originally looking for in a camera: cheap enough to buy the accessories that don't come with digicams, such as memory that holds more than 10 pictures, or rechargeable batteries that I don't have to throw out after 10 minutes of use! :) I was originally looking for a digicam that had a larger LCD screen and more scene modes. Some of the newer cameras have at least a 1.8" LCD screen, modes for beach and snow, and modes that differentiate between portrait and landscape pics at night. However, I'm super-satisfied with what I've got; really good value considering cameras with these additional features cost an additional $150+. Aaahhhhhh!!

So, I'm now fully "equipped" to capture my adventures on exchange in Sydney, downunder in Australia, and on my 2-week sprint through Europe -- I've set up my "travelblog", updated my Web site (almost!), and will now have a camera in toe, too! :)

Microsoft failing in an innovating world

2004-12-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

During the '90s and early 21st century, computer giant Microsoft made a habit of copycating the technologies of other companies and coming out on top. Microsoft Office soundly defeated Lotus Smart Suite and WordPerfect in the office applications market, Microsoft Internet Explorer trumped Netscape Navigator in the internet browser wars, and XBox has marched ahead of Nintendo and within striking distance of Sony PlayStation in the gamebox space.

However, not only are their market-leading technologies slowly crumbling, but their catch-up strategy now appears to be faltering.

Market-leading technologies crumbling...
Internet Explorer and their Outlook e-mail client are beset by so many viruses, spyware, and adware, literally deteriorating the performance of the applications and the computer systems on which they reside. This has opened the door to competitors such as Mozilla Firefox for browsers and Lotus Notes (well, kinda!) for e-mail programs, the latter especially for business users. While their Office application remains untouched, their mainstay operating system, Windows XP, is beset with problems, infuriating its users, and with an upgrade not expected at least until 2006, computer users are looking elsewhere, to OS's like Linux, or entirely new computer systems like Apple -- the latter which has seen a slight resurgence in their computer line based on the success of their fashionable iPod portable music player.

... and catch-up strategy faltering
Compounding their problems, Microsoft's tried-and-true catch-up strategy -- where they improve on the products of others and use their strong-armed marketing tactics and dominance of the PC world to great effect -- appears to be faltering.

Microsoft recently developed their own search technology and launched their own search site @ search.msn.com, despite the dominance of such search sites as Yahoo! and Google. Don't expect Microsoft to surge ahead of their rivals too soon -- Google itself has become synonymous with search, and is so entrenched that it is now used as a verb: "to google", "googling", and "googled" are words in common and frequent use.

While Microsoft works on a revolutionary update to its dominant operating system, Google went ahead and launched their Desktop Search tool, allowing users to search, not just the file names of files, but the bodies of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, emails, and even one's Internet history and instant chats. Theoretically, such a tool would be included in the operating system, but with Microsoft beset by hackers exploiting the insecurity in their current system, Google revolutionized how computers find information on their PCs, beating Microsoft to the punch.

Latest catch-up technology: MSN Spaces
And just this week -- and what initiated this post -- they announced the launch of MSN Spaces, a blogging tool allowing users to publish a Web journal online.

Said CNN: Microsoft is becoming the latest company aiming to bring blogging to the masses with a free new tool that lets people easily set up Web journals.

Says Kris: Ironically, while they claim to be bringing "blogging to the masses", they aren't ruling out charging for this service in the future. According to Microsoft Corporate VP Blake Irving, "The company plans to keep MSN Spaces as a free service, but won't rule out the idea of creating a paid, premium blog service down the road." So much for that promise, then.

CNN continues: MSN Spaces, which debuts in test form Thursday, is targeted at home users who want to share things like vacation pictures, text journals or a list of favorite songs. The service, free to anyone with a Hotmail e-mail or MSN Messenger account, is part of Microsoft's effort to keep people in a Microsoft-branded universe for all their online communication needs. MSN Spaces will be supported by banner ads that appear at the top of the Web logs.

Says Kris: Blogger and Livejournal are banner ad-free. Which one will you choose? Hhmmmm.....

CNN: Plenty of other companies already offer tools to make it easy for less tech-savvy users to create and maintain blogs, the popular Web logs that track everything from workday antics to political gossip. Microsoft rival AOL has provided its members with a tool since mid-2003, and search engine leader Google Inc. -- another key Microsoft competitor -- offers a free service through its Blogger.com site. Movable Type offers the popular TypePad service, starting at $4.95 a month. Microsoft previously offered a service, called MSN Groups, which let people create their own Web sites. But this is the first time it is turning its attention to the growing blogging phenomenon.

Kris: Ha! You're too late, buddy (or, ENEMY!).

CNN: Michael Gartenberg, research director with Jupiter Research, said he thinks Microsoft has learned from where it initially missed the boat on some technologies, such as Web search, that it's important to offer consumers these products early, or risk losing them to rival services. Although Microsoft is trailing Google and AOL, Gartenberg said it's not too late since blogging is only just catching on with mainstream users.

Kris: Yeah right!

CNN: Microsoft is closely integrating MSN Spaces with its Messenger and Hotmail programs, with the idea that people will hop from one Microsoft product to another for online communications. For example, users can set up a system that alerts friends on MSN Messenger when they have updated their Web journals. If a blogger chooses to limit access to his or her Web journal to a select group of guests, those people will need to use Microsoft's "Passport" to log in. The most common way to get a Passport login is to sign up for a Hotmail or Messenger account. Users can update their MSN Spaces from the Web or remotely via e-mail or cell phone. AOL lets you update via its instant messenger. Microsoft also is more closely integrating some of its other products with its online communication tools, stepping up its competition with companies ranging from Apple Computer Inc. to Google. The MSN Spaces tool that lets a user create a favorite music list will automatically link to Microsoft's MSN Music site, where Microsoft is hoping to build a business selling songs online. Blake Irving said the company has no plans to give users the option of linking their music lists to another service, such as Apple's iTunes. An update to MSN Messenger, also debuting in test from Thursday, will add Microsoft's MSN search bar to the messenger screen. Users also will be able to highlight and click on a group of words in an instant message to search the Web. Microsoft is testing its own search engine to better compete with Google. Its MSN search currently uses Yahoo Inc. technology. Other MSN Messenger updates will make it easier to send instant messages over the Web, even if the computer the person is using doesn't have Messenger installed, and add more sophisticated graphic messages called "winks."

Kris: My conclusion: Microsoft is "technology light-years" behind (yes, technology light-years are different from most other light-years; it's called innovation): many have already adopted and have their life histories recorded at such sites like Blogger (owned by Google, and the technology behind my own blog) or Livejournal. Go fish in some other waters, B. Gates.

** VERY INTERESTING INSIGHT **
Unfortunately, it's not my own, but I thought I'd steal it from Alice and Bill: For those of you considering jumping on Microsoft's MSN Spaces beta blog program, read the fine print: members give Microsoft permission to "use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat" their blog posts. Is that what you want?Microsoft probably should read the fine print as well. By assuming unto itself the right to modify or edit a post it's more than possible that it's also assuming any liability (or at least a portion thereof) arising from a posting. Essentially, by assuming such control of its blogsphere, it, therefore, becomes responsible for its content. Is that what Microsoft wants?

Conclusion
Perhaps my anti-Microsoft rant is biased, given the fact I own a Mac and worked for IBM. I'll give Microsoft some time to prove their new search and blogging technologies. However, my bet is still on the other guys.

Apple launches legal online music downloading store in Canada

2004-12-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

Apple, bridging the gap between expensive CDs and illegal downloading, has finally opened their online music downloading store in Canada. This after opening stores in remote northern shindigs like Finland and populous and large countries like Luxembourg. Check 'er out at apple.ca.

The value prop of Apple's iTunes music store is that you can buy single songs for only $0.99, rather than purchasing a CD for $16.99 when you only really want a song or two from a band's 15-song album.

Quoting the official Canadian Press release:

iTunes finally has launched in Canada, bringing with it more than 700,000 songs, exclusive tracks, celebrity playlists and multiple CD-burning rights. Apple's paid downloading service, which offers all of its songs at 99 cents each or albums starting at $9.99, started accepting Canadian orders close to midnight Wednesday night. That's about $1 cheaper per album than in the U.S.

"The demand across Canada has been overwhelming," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice-president of applications. "We've had a lot of email requests and calls looking for the iTunes store." He added that Apple's iPod portable music player, which works jointly with the iTunes software, has been selling briskly across the country.

The launch was well received by music rights holders, who say iTunes's popularity has encouraged people to turn away from illegal sites like Kazaa. "Anything that expands the number of legitimate legal licensed options for people to get music online, help the fight against piracy and give Canadians far more choice ... is great," said David Basskin of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency, which licenses the reproduction rights of copyrighted music.

The iTunes site offers 30-second samples of every song in its catalogue of works from major labels EMI, Sony/BMG, Universal and Warner Bros, in addition to tracks from 600 independent labels and artists, and exclusive recordings by high-end international stars from the past and present. It also offers special cuts by Canadian music makers The Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlan, Auf der Maur and K-Os, among others.

Album notes are available also, as are artwork and recommendations for similar and related musical items. Purchasers can burn songs onto an unlimited number of CDs for personal use, listen to songs on an unlimited number of iPods, play songs on up to five Macintosh computers or Windows PCs, and share music files with other Mac and PC users on local area networks. Music may be selected by genre — categories include rock, jazz, Latin, new age, inspirational, opera, R&B/soul, reggae and soundtracks — or by artist or album title. The iTunes Music Store opened in April 2003 in the U.S., serving only Mac computers. It expanded to the Windows platform a few months later. The company says more than 150 million songs have since been bought through the Internet. Once they've made a purchase, users can play the song on up to five personal computers, burn a song onto CDs an unlimited number of times, burn the same playlist up to seven times and listen to the music on an unlimited number of iPods. The bilingual site, which will only accept orders from those with a valid credit card with a billing address in Canada, also offers more than 9,000 audio books. iTunes joins several legal download sites in Canada, including Napster and Puretracks.

iTunes in Australia

While we in Canada constantly complain how we're the country where products are always introduced last, that's not true. According to a visitor to appletalk.com.au, Australia holds that right. Says the visitor: "Well, I am sure November is over in Canada, and where is the iTunes Music Store Canada? Why do I ask, because Australia is always behind those countries (Canada, Japan...) in terms of the priority those big company would ever consider..."

GeekCulture.com Spoof

For a spoof on what kind of content should be included in an online music store in Canada, check out this comic at geekculture.com. It's a Canadian classic: an RCMP Mountie, the Barenaked Ladies (my fav Canadian band!), a "polite songs for nice people" section attesting to our rep as super-friendly people, a Canadian goose, and something about moose and beavers which are of course running rampant all over Canada.... AWESOME!!

(Baby) Leafs vs. Senators: Scoring, lots of action, and Kris & Crew at ACC for great game

2004-12-04T14:24:00.000-05:00

I traveled up to T.O. yesterday with Don, Mike, and Mike's buddy Marty to catch the Leafs vs. Senators. The St. John's Maple Leafs, not Toronto, and the Binghamton Senators, not Ottawa, that is! While the National Hockey League is in the midst of an owner-imposed strike, their junior teams -- which typically play in St. John's, Newfoundland and Binghamton, New York respectively -- suited up at the Leaf parent club's arena at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto last night. And in the same vein as other games between the two rivals' parent teams, the juniors put on a great show, with good goals, a couple of close calls off the posts, about 5 fights including an 8-person all-out-brawl that lasted about 10 minutes, and a 3-2 win by the homeside. We couldn't have asked for more.

Reported by TSN post-game: The St. John's Maple Leafs and the Binghamton Senators usually play in front of crowds of about 5,000 so, when a regular-season AHL record for Canada of 17,422 filled Air Canada Centre on Friday night, they were revved up to put on a show. Give this one four stars. There were scoring chances galore, dozens of hard hits, some grand goaltending, and a brawl in which eight players duked it out. Oh, and the Maple Leafs won the game, 3-2 over Binghamton on David Ling's third-period goal. Carlo Colaiacovo and Nathan Perrott also scored for St. John's, 14-7-0-1. It was the Baby Leafs' 10th win in their last 12 games. Antoine Vermette scored both goals for the Senators, 10-9-2-2.

Said TSN about the 10-minute brawl: It was 2-2 entering the third period, and all hell broke loose in the fifth minute. Four fights and a waltz occurred simultaneously, and players then began changing partners. Brian McGrattan, who at one point tried to open the St. John's side of the penalty box to get at taunting Leafs, and Jason MacDonald were each assessed two game misconducts. "Things happen," McGrattan said afterwards. "Tempers flare." The record crowd lifted emotions, he said. "Any time you come to Toronto, and they're starving for hockey here ... but we weren't expecting the crowd that big. I've never played in front of a crowd that big before. The size of the crowd put a lot of energy into the game. Both teams came out rarin'." St. John's captain Marc Moro said he could feel the intensity brewing when he first touched the ice. "Guys were jawing at each other in the warmup," he said. "It boiled over."

Coming home from the game, we got *slightly* lost on the TTC's subway system, and needed to take 3 different subway lines back to our truck (thanks Mike!) instead of 1..... Okay, I know, I've lived in the city for a year in total and became intimately familiar with all forms of public transportation. However, to defend myself, I haven't lived in T.O. since winter of 2002, and was trusting on Marty to hop on the right subway train. Oops! :-)

4.5 years removed from being shot on the bus

2004-11-29T23:41:00.000-05:00

Really sad story out of Toronto today: a 24-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl seriously shot , the latter an innocent "by-rider" traveling with her mom, while riding a city bus. The story kinda hits home for me: the shooting took place on the same bus I took to work every day (35 Steeles) -- and at the same intersection where I lived (Jane & Wilson Streets) -- when I was employed at Ontario Power Generation during the first 4 months of 2000. Kinda -- okay very! -- scary, and extremely unfortunate and sad.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:

Girl shot, but no one steps forward
Police have limited description of 3-5 men involved in incident

Despite a personal appeal from Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino this morning, not one of the approximately 40 passengers who scattered from a TTC bus yesterday following a "heinous" double shooting have come forward.

A 24-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl are hospitalized in serious but stable condition following the violent outburst.

Police are "beside themselves" because no one has yet stepped forward to offer information, Toronto police spokesperson Wendy Drummond said this morning. "The fact that nobody has come forward is disheartening," Drummond said.

Chief Fantino said this morning that police are looking for three to five men who were involved in an argument that broke out aboard the 35C Jane bus while it idled on Jane St. at Wilson Ave. yesterday at about 5:20 p.m. Police believe the group was acting up and that the 24-year-old victim began to argue with them. The argument escalated to gunplay. The man was shot three times — in the head, stomach and leg. The 11-year-old victim, an innocent bystander who was accompanied by her mother, was shot in the head.

There was as yet no detailed description of the suspects, Fantino said. Fantino said he didn't blame the passengers for scattering when the violence broke out, but stressed that they now have a responsibility to help police. "It's absolutely critical for people to realize that only together can we put these people out of commission," Fantino said. "They're still out there. They're dangerous. They're armed." Fantino said it was "mind-boggling" and "ruthless" that an argument could escalate to this level. Fantino said there was only one shooter, so he is urging the other men in the group to "come forward and do the right thing. "Sooner or later we're going to get them," Fantino said.

The TTC issued a statement this morning, saying it "condemns the senseless act of violence. “We are distressed by this violent act against our passengers,” TTC general manager Rick Ducharme said in the statement. The TTC credited the work of the 37-year-old bus operator, who has been with the TTC for almost four years, for responding immediately by pressing the red emergency alarm button that dispatches police and emergency services. “The thoughts and prayers of all TTC employees are with the victims and their families,” Ducharme said.

Witnesses are urged to call 31 Division at 416-808-3100 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

So exciting... Australia is just that much closer!

2004-11-29T13:44:00.000-05:00

Lots of "so exciting" things have been or will soon be happening in regards to my trip to Australia and Europe next year!

THE "ALREADY HAPPENED" LIST

1. Residence
I know it happened a couple of weeks ago, but I got into residence @ UNSW!! Residence spots are extremely limited, since (unlike in Canada) most Australians attend university in their hometown and live at home with the 'rents. Thus, it's pretty competitive to get into residence, so finding out that I did was very, very exciting, and kinda unexpected. One bonus with residence is that it's over $300 cheaper than the other alternative I was considering (but which is still kinda tempting): living at a U.S.-owned Study Abroad house on the beach in Coogee Beach, Sydney. I'm settling for cheaper living conditions that allow me to be closer to school and meet more people.... although the beach still seems kinda inviting.... hmmmmmm

2. Skype
Used Skype for the first time!! Very cool technology, that allows you to chat with someone "voice-to-voice". Billed as "free Internet telephony" service, Skype allows you to call other people on their computers or phones. Basically, you can either use the computer application like MSN and talk instead of typing (which is TOTALLY FREE!), or call someone's phone number from your computer and talk to them that way (only about $2.50CDN per hour, much cheeper than your regular telephone service). You need a microphone with your computer to make it all work, but since my laptop comes with a built-in mic, it's "no-problem-o" for me. I called my parents via this method, and then called my friend Laura in England. There was a bit of an echo in the background when I called England, but I'll figure it out! :)

3. Laura
So, I did talk to Laura today and, in addition to finding out about her fascinating life overseas, we chatted about dates over which I could visit her in Cambridge. Super awesome!

4. Insurance
Never thought purchasing health insurance could be so exciting! All international students to Australia have to purchase Overseas Health Cover from Medibank. So, I paid almost $200, which -- I didn't read the fine print -- but I'm sure will cover absolutely nothing. Typical insurance.

THE "GONNA HAPPEN SOON" LIST

1. Flights
Booking my flight to Australia! I think I've settled on a range of dates (which are still dependent on me finding out if actual airplanes are flying on these days! :) Here's the tentative schedule:

22 January (FLY DAY)
Fly from Toronto to Sydney. I want to travel downunder in time for Australia Day on the 26th, in order to catch all the festivities during the country's national day of celebration of.... well.... click here to find out for yourself!! :) (for the real curious, the 26th is actually the date in 1788 that Captain Arthur Phillip took formal possession of the colony of New South Wales in Australia and became its first governor).

24 January - 15 February
I'm thinking of traveling to the Red Center in Oz and visiting Uluru, the big red-but-colour-changing rock that's the talk of the Outback. Also planning to do some touristy-type things in and around Sydney before orientation for international students starts at UNSW February 16.

16 February - 18 February
UNSW Orientation for International Students. UNSW tells me that I'll find out more details soon. On the 18th I'll finally get to move in to the University Student Apartments

19 February - 27 February
Another week and a half to sightsee. Don't think I've ever had this much free time in my life!

28 February - 24 March
Four weeks of school before...

25 March - 3 April
A week long break. Go figure! Plan on making my way to the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley on student-organized trips. Should be lots of fun!

4 April - 10 June
10 weeks of school. Don't know why they couldn't evenly divide the two terms of the semester more evenly. Not complaining though, since Sydney's weather starts getting cooler around mid- to late-April.

11 June - 16 June
Studying for exams .... or escaping to the warmer weather up north.

17 June - 5 July
Exams

6 July - 30 July
Extended travels up the coast to the islands off Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef, and Cairns and their great surfing conditions! :)

31 July (FLY DAY)
Leave the land downunder for London, England, and then onto Cambridge to visit my friend Laura. Because of the time zone difference, I actually think I arrive in England on the 31st around the same time in the day as I left Australia. Weird, but oh so cool!

31 July - 5 August
Cambridge, England

6 August - 13 August
Before flying back to Canada, I'm thinking of doing a bit of sightseeing in Europe. London, the interior of Great Britain, Paris, and Rome are all options. LB may accompany me, which would be super awesome.

14 August (FLY DAY)
Canada, I haven't forgotten you! Fly from London, England to Toronto, Canada, and onto the GSTA if my family haven't forgotten me. Then, after a few days of "but I shouldn't have to call home!" and "I can go out when I want, I'm 25!!" my apartment search will begin. Will hopefully be starting a job soon after this date, too. After spending money for the previous 12 months, making some won't be so bad. Need to keep those creditors at bay!

2. Case
Hopefully I'll be starting work on the business case I'm writing for Ivey. I'm super excited about the opportunity to write a case based on my experiences and with my contacts at IBM. Now, just need to get them on board......

3. Visa
Once my health insurance paperwork gets processed by UNSW, I get to apply for my student visa. Once again, probably not an interesting task for some, but I'm looking forward to it: it gets me one step closer to Australia!

Trailer Park Boys shake up Ivey Business party

2004-11-29T13:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time in coming, but thought I'd recount my adventures from the 29th of another month, October.

The day: Ivey's Halloween bash
The venue: Joe Kool's
The people: The Sevens from 5-double-0
The costumes: Residents from the Trailer Park Boys TV show

Trailer Park Boys is the worst TV show that was ever invented. That's why it's so awesome AND so humorous. Trailer Park Boys focuses on a community at the margins of society. Their home: Sunnyvale Trailer Park, a place where crime and petty rivalries flourish. At the heart of the community are Ricky and Julian -- two guys whose lives are shaped growing up in the trailer park. They love fast cars, talking dirty, and living on the edge of the law. Spending time in prison, flouting the law in the face of trailer park supervisor Mr. Lahey and assistant Randy, growing pot, getting caught for growing pot, planning schemes with J-Roc, or building their friendship with cat-loving Bubbles are some of their more regular activities.

The reviews on the show are fantastic. Says the Globe & Mail: "Trailer Park Boys is the latest incarnation of a Canadian cultural classic." And says Maclean's magazine: "It's leapt from cult status to mainstream phenomenon in 21 episodes flat." More details on these lowlifes can be found @ trailerparkboys.com or showcase.ca/trailerparkboys.

The trailer park "residents":
Kri-i-is was Mr. Lahey
Do-o-on was Julian
Mi-i-ike was Ricky
D. Jag was Bubbles
Ma-a-ark was J-Roc
Ro-o-ob was Tag-alongs Cory and Trevor
Courtney was Female Cop
Nadia was Bubbles' pet

The event:
Ivey HBAs celebrated Halloween October 29th at Joe Kools. We had the back lounge all to ourselves and lots of free food. As Mr. Lahey, and since my sidekick Randy couldn't be in attendance -- nope, unfortunately we couldn't find someone with a big gut to go topless -- I had to eat enough munchies for the both of us.

I played my role to a T, dressing in khaki shirt and pants, used my electric shaver cord and fancy black pen case as a walkie-talkie, crammed my front pockets full of useless junk, and acted insanely "out of it" all night. Loads of fun!!

And in true Trailer Park Boys fashion, there was a "police incident": Mike as Ricky and I as Mr. Lahey broke up a fight between a London PD cop and a buddy from our class last year. Classic.

The pics:
Pre-party pics can be viewed in "The Sevens" photo album.

Tragically Hip concert @ JLC

2004-11-29T11:48:00.000-05:00

Attended The Tragically Hip concert at the John Labatt Centre (JLC) Saturday night. In attendance: my Ivey buddy Mark, another Ivey buddy Don and his girlfriend Courtney, classmate Mark, and hockey friend Matt. "The Hip" played a mix of their classics and new stuff, I found out I need to learn more of their music by heart so I can sing along, and overall it was a good concert. I'd seen The Hip play at multi-band concerts before, but never went to a Hip-only concert, so it was pretty cool. (In contrast, Don and Courtney will have gone to 4 Hip concerts this year come New Year's Eve!!!!) My fav Hip song finally changed -- from long-time-held fav Ahead By A Century to Bobcaygeon -- and I picked up a new fav, the kinda funky tune Gus The Polar Bear From Central Park! Oh, and I found out (by his actions) that my buddy Mark, of German heritage, that his grandparents actually were Nazis that terrorized my grandparents in Holland!!! The proof? He got all excited and belted out the words "Aryan twang" during the Hip's Bobcaygeon! I'd made a no-money, rep-only bet with Don before the show that Mark 'd go crazy during that part of Bobcaygeon, and sure enough...!

For those who don't know who "The Hip" are, and are Canadian, your citizenship has been revoked. For those who aren't Canadian, they are "Canada's band". They're not my fav Canadian band -- that distinction belongs to the Barenaked Ladies, the most awesome live band ever (they're always the crowd pleaser!! :) .... and Canada given its population has some of the best musical talent bar none .... but nevertheless The Hip are CANADA'S BAND. Why? Here's why:

-- They're so versatile, and appeal to all musical interests. Classic rock hounds, hippies, 90s music fans, alternrockers, hardcore head-bangers.... Okay, maybe that's not all, but they appeal to the mainstream music enthusiast.

-- With their 11th album released, they've sold 6 million total albums in Canada. They're still fresh, still inventing, still invigorating.

-- During their Canadian tours, they visit places like Kelowna, Saint John, and Brandon in addition to the standbys Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal and secondary locations Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax, and London.

-- The usual quick-witted lyrics, great musical ability, true passion for their art, dedication to their fans, and incredible live experience.

Not enough evidence? Check out thehip.com and see -- or hear -- for yourself!

Stuck in traffic

2004-11-26T20:08:00.000-05:00

Drove up to Cobourg -- a lake-side town of about 15,000 -- today with JB (my roommate) and Mike for our client field project. The client field project is a course requirement for my 2nd year of business school; basically, the idea is to get together with a group of 3-4 other students, find a client, and offer our business expertise for free.

Our client, Arxx Building Products, markets and sells these styrofoam and plastic "blocks" called Insulated Concrete forms, used as a replacement for lumber to construct homes. Two pieces of styrofoam (or expanded polystyrene) serve as insulation, are held together by plastic webs, and are used to build the foundation and exterior walls of homes. Huh? Styrofoam instead of lumber? Yep, go figure! Concrete is poured between the pieces of styrofoam to build foundations/walls that are insulated from both the inside and outside, making the home more energy-efficient and the foundation stronger.

And all I thought styrofoam was good for was environmentally-unfriendly disposable coffee cups.

So, Cobourg is about an hour east of Toronto. Yes, that means it's a 3-hour drive from London ..... or a 4.5-hour drive through rush-hour traffic, as we are currently finding out right now on our way home (I decided to pop open my laptop as a means of doing something productive). So, 7.5 hours of driving, for what you ask? 2.5 hours of meetings! Yep, only 2.5 hours. I did find out quite a bit of info from the client that I might not have otherwise .... I just wish it didn't require an investment of a whole Friday morning, afternoon, and early evening. Great start to a weekend, huh?!

So, after driving, some chatting, two meetings, and a good dose of sleeping today, I'm ready for bed. Don't know why driving makes you sleepy, but, but, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Decorating for Christmas

2004-11-24T16:39:00.000-05:00

The shopping malls and department stores began playing Christmas jingles the day after Halloween, half a dozen Christmas-themed movies are playing in theatres, Santa is training his reindeer, AND (most importantly) I have decorated JB and I's apartment for Christmas. By sticking to a budget, nonetheless.

The Decorations
My artificial spruce tree is covered in icicle lights and candy canes, and my 20' window sill in a pine needle wreath (the long, rope-like kind). There's a Santa hat hanging from our door, snow flake coasters on the coffee table, and red/green/gold placemats on the dining room table. Getting truly ingenious, I removed the yellow pear and orange tomato from the fruit bowl on the table (yes, I've got plastic fruit!), leaving a red apple, red grapes, and green cucumber -- all Christmas-y colours :)

Last but not least, the ultra-necessary Christmas tree... Well, you see, trees are quite expensive. Traditional, regular-sized trees can cost 100s of dollars. I was thinking of stealing one of the real Christmas trees they recently planted in front of the newest building on campus. However, I found an alternative, and splurged a whole $6 on the cutest little 18" tree from Zellers (Canadian-owned department store) -- complete with fake snow, a little brown bag to hold the roots, and a red ribbon. I've placed it on top of an 18" wicker basket, so it now stands almost 3 feet high in the space between the dining room and my office space.

I've posted pics of the decorated apartment online, for the curious-of-heart.

Okay, to be honest, it's the gayest thing I've ever purchased. BUT, it's the first Christmas tree I've ever owned, and I'm quite proud of it.

The Budget
So, I said I decorated on a budget. In true MasterCard fashion, here's the breakdown.....

Christmas wreath and placemats ... stolen from Mom and Dad
Icicle lights ... previously owned
Santa hat, snowflake coasters, candy canes ... $5 from The Dollar Store
Christmas tree ... $6 bucks
Decorated apartment for Christmas ... PRICELESS!

Yes, I decorated our apartment on an $11 budget. Not bad, not bad at all! :)

MBAs Without Borders

2004-11-24T16:38:00.000-05:00

Soon to graduate with an HBA and half an MBA from Ivey, thought this story from the Canadian Business Magazine was pretty cool. We have Doctors Without Borders, Reporters Without Borders, Teachers Without Borders, Lawyers Without Borders ... and now: "MBAs Without Borders". Tal Dehtier, an MBA from rival business school Michael G. DeGroote School of Business at McMaster, is one of the masterminds behind MBAs Without Borders, a fledgling not-for-profit organization that hopes to send teams of MBAs to help businesses in the developing world. The perk: a chance to help right a struggling economy. "It's an experience you're not going to get back home at a large company, or even a small company," says Dehtiar, who co-founded the organization earlier this year with Michael Brown, a DeGroote MBA alumnus. "You'll get an appreciation for another culture, sure, but our students will see the value of not only helping a business, but how helping a business helps the community." Read the full story in the Canadian Business Magazine or visit the MBAs Without Borders Web site.

In other news this week.....

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has sued the Ontario Government on behalf of all Canadians for reneging on their promise to raise taxes. Ontario's McGuinty government imposed a province-wide health tax on all income-earners making more than $20k/year. So, basically everyone. McGuinty & Co., in true promise-keeping fashion, is arguing that its campaign promises are not legally binding. "McGuinty, great way to prove to Ontario that you're a man of your word."

My very first Web site undergoes major overhaul ... and a story

2004-11-21T16:56:00.000-05:00

The first Web site I designed and maintained (between 1998 and 1999), the site of my hometown newspaper the St. Thomas Times-Journal, recently underwent a major overhaul! Check 'er out at stthomastimesjournal.com.

It's been a while in coming. Back in 1998 I designed the 2nd generation of the site. The newspaper had been online since 1997, a pretty early date in the history of the World Wide Web, impressive especially for a small community newspaper. The original Webmaster had left for another job, and a piecemeal staff of editors with more important things to do had been organized to make updates. That's when I was hired to design a new framework for the site, add new content to it, and make daily updates. By the time I left the paper 1.3 years later to attend university, the site had undergone constant revisions, each update adding new functionality and making the design more user-friendly.

After I left, the same staff that updated the site prior to my employment was reassembled to make daily updates. The responsibility was later passed on to the design department, which I can only assume contained staff with limited Web design experience. Over the course of 5 years, the site went from a design that was reflective of next-gen Web standards to one that looked increasingly like it was developed pre-1995. The main logo was barely visible, frames were poorly implemented, and site functionality was limited.

So, given that history, needless to say I am VERY EXCITED that someone has breathed new life into my "pet project" of 5+ years ago by reassembling it and giving it a new coat of paint! :)

Huh. Hhmmmmmm. Commenting on the Times-Journal brings up fond memories of just exactly how I came to design Web sites, which activity has been an outlet of creative energy and a source of much-needed cash over the years. There IS a story here, so let me share it.......

*****

It was the summer of 1998, and 5 months earlier I had gone from 2 jobs to no jobs. I had quit my Burger King job -- which I had slaved at for almost 2 years, during which time my hourly wage decreased by a nickel (go figure!) that January. A month later, I lost my other part-time job to downsizing: the company went from the owner and me to the owner without me. Ouch!

Anyways, my twelfth grade graduation was 12 days away, and I needed to make some serious cash if I wanted to save enough to attend university in just over a year.

That's when a job ad in my local newspaper caught my eye. "Newspaper looking for staff to work in the press room." Press room? You mean I get to work side-by-side with my city's famed journalists and reporters?? (To clarify, my city, more like a town, was and is still home to 30,000 souls, not enough at the time to sustain 2 shopping malls and just enough to sustain a single non-fast food restaurant.) I was super-excited. The ad appealed to my interest in English and writing in general, and computers in particular. So I applied. Little did I know.

The press room was not the location where hard news was written. Rather, it was the home of my town's 10 most alcoholic men (there were a few exceptions) and the most gigantic and grungy piece of machinery I had ever seen: a full-scale printing press at least 20 years old, with the necessary accumulated grease and rust. The job -- working 12 hours a day -- was to load gigantic roles of newsprint onto the beast, change the press-sized print cartridges, and transfer newspaper-after-printed-newspaper from the press onto skids to be forklifted away.

I accepted the job.

I was desperate!

It was my first, and only, job involving manual labour.

I hated it!

But, you see, there was an escape clause -- a way out, if you will -- that eventually got me from the press room with the alkies to the 2nd floor offices and a desk next to the town's famed reporters. In fact, I got one right beside the paper's -- how should I say this -- "most colourful" columnnist, Bob Meharg. Deep within the recesses of the Times-Journal's human resources department (okay, it's staffed by a single individual who's also responsible for all the accounting, too!), they noticed that my resume contained zero manual labour experience, and lots of writing and computer experience. So, in addition to sending a copy of it to the press room manager, they also sent a copy directly to the publisher.

On the day of my interview, I dressed to the nines, expecting to meet and be interviewed by a rash of journalists. Instead, I was taken to the inner bowls of the newspaper's offices and given a tour of the printing presses before my 15-minute interview with the press room manager. That's when things got interesting. Really interesting.

From the press room I was taken to the publisher's office where I met with the human resources / accounting manager and the publisher herself. They proceeded to ask me some pointed questions. For example: "How fast can you type?" 100 words per minute. "Wow, really?" Yep. "Okay, will you take a typing test?" Err, okay, sure. Typing test results: 60 words per minute. (There was a solid justification for this decrease of 40 words per minute: a very old and decrepit keyboard.) Another example: "Can you design Web sites?" Absolutely. My Web design experience: very, VERY limited. You see, about 3 months previously, my buddy told me how he was learning how to create Web sites in his data and word processing class (a class I should have taken again, given the fact the previous year I had received a 95% average, a $100 cheque for scoring the class' highest grade, and learned how to play more computer games than I ever had before). It sounded cool, so I asked him if I could take a look at his codes. He shared them with me, and for 3 months I played around with them, learning only how to change background colours, alter font attributes, and create tables.

The end result of the interview? The publisher told me that while I wasn't as qualified as other applicants for the press room job, I would be hired for it on a temporary basis for 6 weeks if afterwards I would work in the office in accounting and designing a new Web site for the paper. I readily accepted.

For 6 weeks I toiled in the press room with 10 renegade members of AA. The 12-hour days didn't allow me time to even think of how I was going to design a full-fledged Web site, let alone begin learning how to create one. Six weeks later, I had my own little desk and personal computer in the publisher's 25' x 25' office, creating Web pages. How did I do it? Well, I'd toil away for 8 hours a day trying to figure out what to do, and then for 2-3 hours at night I'd research what I needed to know for the next day. Designing static and animated graphics, inserting images, creating frames and online forms, adding hyperlinks, and incorporating sound were just a few of the design elements I self-taught myself at home, before taking my new-found expertise to the office the next day and incorporating it into the newspaper's Web site.

Six weeks later, I had developed 150-sheets worth of computations and accounting and financial forms for 2 corporately-owned newspapers ..... AND designed my very first Web site. Yay for me!

Not so fast.

Getting that site from my computer onto the Web proved to be another problem onto itself. You see, in the code for each page I had developed, I had referenced images and files where they were stored and located on MY computer, not where they would be once they were online. So when I uploaded the site the first time, all the images were broken and none of the links worked. OMG! What to do, what to do. For 3 days, I tried and I tried and I tried to figure it out. Finally, by the end of the 3rd day, conversing with the corporate Web guru located in Alberta, we figured out the problem, I fixed it, and the Times-Journal had a new-look Web site with a ton more content and lots of happy customers and Web surfers.

And I was the star. My picture appeared in ads in the print edition of the paper 2-3 times a week, proclaiming me as the "whiz" behind the Web site. That was kind of cool. But what I found even cooler was where I got to sit day-in and day-out for the next 1.3 years I worked at the paper: with the reporters and editors, and beside the paper's most colourful journalist of all, Bob Meharg. It was where I had wanted to be since I first read the ad: "Newspaper looking for staff to work in the press room."

*****

So that's the story. From illiterate Web designer to the whiz behind the Web site. All in a day's -- or month's -- work :)

I put in so much effort, invested in so many non-reportable hours, and shed so many frustrating tears over that site. So I'm happy to see that someone has poured their own heart and shed their own frustrating tears into it, and am looking forward to keeping up with the news back home via someone else's "pet project". Super job!

Christmas wallpaper

2004-11-18T20:27:00.000-05:00

In a previous life -- which has recently been briefly resuscitated -- I was a big surfer and collector of desktop images and wallpaper. I've decided to share my collection with the world via my Web site, including several Christmas-themed images. Enjoy!

Talking with strangers and other such adventures

2004-11-18T06:35:00.000-05:00

I've developed this interesting habit of talking to my fellow bus riders on my way to and from school. You see, I like to find out about other people, their nuances and intricacies, likes and dislikes, how they selected their university program, living situations, that sort of thing. This week, I met 3 new people on the way home from school: a female sophomore media studies student, a male junior engineer, and a female junior physiology and something else student. All really interesting people with their own hangups in life.....

The media studies student was living in an unfinished house with 5 other girls. The house had neither a finished roof or insulation. Guess the landlord's promise of a finished house by September wasn't exactly kept! Insulation could come in handy this time of year, especially now since it's quickly turning from early fall (aka nice weather) to late fall (aka cold weather). Plus, with daylight savings time now history until April, the sun retires an hour or so earlier now. I didn't learn too much about my new engineering friend, although told him lots about my work experiences via UW's co-op program. The physiology student has come to the realization that physiology ain't for her. I told her about my "switching" story from Accounting to English. However, since she's already 2+ years into her program, it's kinda too late to start something from scratch.

Anyways, that's their stories! Lessons learned: don't sign a lease for an unfinished house and switch university programs more quickly (a lesson I had already learned, after switching out of Accounting to English 6 years ago after only 2 months).

In other news....

Curling
I curled again tonight with my buddies Don, Mark, and Trevor. Curling is sooooo much fun!! Our team, Stone Cold, won 8-2 against a team that looked like a mix of extras from the movie Men With Brooms and audience members from Red Green's possum lodge. We didn't play our best, but won against the perennial losers of our curling club. Best of all, lots of good times.

After the game, we headed over to The Wave (on-campus restaurant and nightclub) with Mark's buddy Dave to take in a performance by long-time Western campus celebrity and classic rock musician Rick McGee. Apparently, he used to be quite the hit on campus when he performed at Western's pub, The Spoke. However, The Spoke's been renovated and turned into a juice bar, so he's had to move to The Wave, and for some reason has lost a bit of his following in the process.

Internal Clock
Okay, my internal clock really needs to be reset. School always has this way of playing havoc with my sleeping patterns, and now is no exception. Ever since Friday I've been sleeping days and staying up nights. That's why, for example, I'm updating my blog at 6:30 a.m. Not sure if I should stay up for my 9:40 class, or go to sleep now and try to get up in time for it. Why is this class so important? Well, because I AM A......

Perennial Skipper
Yep, that's right. Out of my 230 other 2nd year HBA students at Ivey, I've failed to attend the most amount of classes in the past 1.5 years. My buddy Mike beat me out last year -- I missed around 15-20 days of class while he missed 25-30 -- but I've leapt past him this year. However, I've come to the realization that I can't skip as frequently for the next 3-4 weeks of class: I need to boost up my participation marks in some of my classes, since it counts for anywhere between 20% and 40% of my grade. Oops!

------

Okay, I've made up my mind: need to get some sleep before class. Wish me luck on waking up in time!

DVDs & IT toys for sale

2004-11-17T06:48:00.000-05:00

Selling some of my DVDs. If interested in adding to your DVD collection or picking up a Christmas present or two, check 'em out @ krisvaneyk.com/forsale. Also selling my iMac 333Mhz and Logitech MX700 wireless keyboard and mouse. I hate parting with cool toys, but they need to make way for newer cool toys, like a digital camera to take lots of pics in Australia and England! Shoot me off an email to kv@krisvaneyk.com if interested in any of the above.

"Smileys, Instant Messaging, and Buying DVDs": Today in IT News

2004-11-16T01:00:00.000-05:00

SMILEYS
Everyone knows that to make a smiley using the keys on your keyboard, you add a colon to a hyphen and end bracket to make :-) But ever wonder how to make a clown, a skater chick, or Jim Carey? If so, bookmark the NetLingo Dictionary of Internet Words' self-titled "glossary of online jargon with definitions of terminology and acronyms".

DOES 'IM' MAKE U DUM?
I read an article the other day with titled with the above heading. The article was debating whether or not the spelling shortcuts used in instant messages are having a negative impact on the English language and the learning of the younger generation. You can read it at MSN.com.

What I found really interesting about this article is the following paragraph..... did you know the correct form of "taxi" is "taximeter cabriolet"?

"The last time you hailed a taxi, you used a shortcut. And I'm not just talking about shortening taxicab to taxi. The unabbreviated term for it is taximeter cab. A taximeter is the thing in the cab that keeps track of your fare. Even cab is an abbreviation, for cabriolet. So anyone who tells you it's never okay to crunch down language into more easily chewable pieces had better be willing to holler "taximeter cabriolet" the next time he's in New York. My guess is that anyone who does that won't catch anything more than puzzled looks.

BUYING DVDS
Looking to add to your DVD collection in 2005? You might want to wait until the entertainment and technology giants that be can make up their minds.

According to CNN.com, the electronics and entertainment industries are shaping up for the biggest format battle since VHS vs. Betamax (huh? exactly!), in order to decide the future of DVD.

Two rival "next generation" DVD formats look set to be launched onto the marketplace next year. Both are backed by powerful and well-known Japanese manufacturers, with each staking their claim to an industry worth billions of dollars. And with the DVD market unlikely to support parallel formats, the loser faces the prospect of squandering millions spent on research, development and marketing costs.

Both "Blu-ray", principally backed by Sony, and "HD DVD", which has been developed by Toshiba, are based on the same basic technology. Both replace the red lasers found in current DVD machines with blue lasers, utilizing their shorter wavelength to store data at the higher densities needed to record high-definition movies and television.

But with both parties determined to prove the superiority of their product, a protracted dispute could be damaging to the industry as a whole, increasing production costs for DVD manufacturers and making buyers nervous about investing in a format that could quickly become obsolete. The real battle looks set for next Christmas, when both major players plan to have DVD players in the shops.

By that point the entertainment industry, and particularly Hollywood, will likely have chosen sides; and history suggests that the format with the greater selection of movies will prevail. Sony has been stung before by that scenario, having seen its groundbreaking Betamax format starved out of the video market by the wider selection of titles made available in VHS format.

This time, however, Sony seems to have learnt its lesson. Not only does it now have VHS pioneers Matsushita, better known for its Panasonic brand, on side but its success with the Playstation games console provides a template for a successful marketing campaign. Sony is already maneuvering for the fight. In September it announced that it was adopting Blu-ray as the format for Playstation 3, currently scheduled for release in 2006. And with Sony Pictures already in the Blu-ray camp, a Sony-led consortium also recently acquired MGM, along with their back catalogue. Furthermore, Blu-ray has the backing of Hewlett Packard and Dell, which together control around 30 percent of the global PC market. "In terms of technology, we have no weak points. Our format is superior on all counts," Sony executive officer Kiyoshi Nishitani said recently.

Toshiba however has not been cowered by Sony's efforts, retaliating to Sony's Playstation-Blu-ray collaboration by announcing that it would introduce notebook computers with HD DVD in the last quarter of 2005. HD DVD is also backed by rival manufacturers Sanyo and NEC while last year it was also approved by the influential DVD Forum, which has said it will finally endorse just one format. Toshiba also claims the support of Time Warner, in which it owns a small stake and with which it worked closely to establish the current DVD standard in the mid-1990s. It has also had senior engineer Hisashi Yamada commuting between Japan and the U.S. in an effort to court the support of undecided studios such as Paramount, Disney and Universal. "If Sony is so sure it is winning the battle, it wouldn't have felt the need to buy MGM," says Yamada.

THE CONCLUSION? Inevitably there is going to be some confusion in the market and there's going to be another standard war. "In the initial phase the consumer will probably lose. It is a big risk for people who actually buy products for either format without knowing who the winner is." But, in case you've only recently made the switch from video to DVD and are already sweating over the cost of replacing all your favorite films, don't worry. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD will still play your old DVDs.

Aussie election results in, and they mirror the U.S. and Canada's: "Incumbent in despite corruption and celebrity protests"

2004-11-16T00:34:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I'm a news junky. Other than the fact it's become an obsession for me, I think it's important to stay informed. I also believe that journalism is the medium via which our democracy functions, but that's the subject of another post. Anyways, this "junkiness" of mine extends to the world of politics. Given the fact I'll be living in Australia for about 6 months in the new year, I thought it wouldn't hurt to find out more about the news and views that make my adopted country tick. So that's what I've been doing, thanks to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and BRW business magazine.

So, what's news in the land downunder?

ELECTION
Well, like Canada and the U.S. this year, Australia held their government elections several months ago. And, like Canadians and Americans, Australians re-voted in a government -- led by now four-term Prime Minister John Howard -- that inspires the confidence of 50% plus a few, but invokes the vile protestations and hatred of the rest due to their perceived lies, corruption, and/or deceipt.

Interestingly enough, Australians gave incumbent John Howard's government control of the Senate and the lower house, bestowing on him the first unchecked mandate in Australia since 1976. Bush garnered the same mandate on November 2nd, when Republicans maintained their control on both the House of Representatives and the Senate. (Things work a bit differently in Canada, where the leader of the leading party in the House gets to be Prime Minister, while Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister. In retrospect, our system doesn't seem that democratic. However, in Canada's election during the summer, we elected a minority government, where no party has more than 50% of the seats in the House, a situation that rarely occurs.)

Of special note to those who think money and celebrity status equals power, all three governments were also re-elected in an environment where celebrities actively supported losing leftist-leaning partyies. YES, the Tim Robbins / Susan Sarandon phenomena in the U.S. was copied in Australia, where celebs like Kylie Minogue delivered "pro-Mark Latham" and "anybody-but-Howard" speeches. (Latham was and is the opposition leader, and Howard's competitor.)

In other Australian-related news.....

"JUDGE STEALS BLOOD"
A Supreme Court judge is suspected of stealing a vial of his blood from the hospital where he was treated at, after what police believe was a drinking-and-driving related car accident. The judge left the hospital shortly after his blood was taken, but denies he fled in order to hide the blood sample he agrees he had put in his pocket. "I have no memory of leaving the hospital, let alone the 90 minutes I spent in my chambers that night," the judge said in a statement. Yeah right! is all I have to say.

ABORTION NOT A GOVERNMENT-CRUSHING ISSUE DOWNUNDER
Unlike Canada, where the mere mention of the word "abortion" has limited support for certain political parties, Australian politicians have been openly discussing the issue in parliament for 3 weeks. The Government has decided to maintain the status quo, but the mere fact elected officials were able to debate a subject dealing with social issues many Canadians would either find revolutionary (as in, "I'm glad we can discuss the pros and cons of providing abortion services, funding it, and educating women about it and other options", or "we need to protect the rights of the unborn", or to get even more extreme "abortion needs to be outlawed") or old school and 18th century-like (as in, "there is no debate when it comes to abortion, it's a woman's choice").

Anyways, that's Australia's latest breaking news for today. Leading up to and during the time I live in Sydney, I'll keep y'all posted about what's happening in that corner of the globe.

Photo galleries now populated @ krisvaneyk.com

2004-11-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to posting a plethora of my scanned photographs and other digital images to my Web site. To check 'em out, follow the "Photo Galleries" link at krisvaneyk.com.(I've tried and investigated a number of photo-sharing programs, and finally selected FOTKI.COM to host all my pics. Fotki allows me to easily -- for both me and visitors -- post and view photos based on a hierarchical file system.)

Photos coming soon include:
-- Pics from my last 2 years at Ivey.
-- Desktop images and wallpaper..... I've collected hundreds of desktop images over the years: from mountains and trees and lakes and rivers to animals and space and entertainment and sports. I'm not sure how much of this I'm gonna share, but I'll at least post my holiday-themed images in plenty of time for Christmas!
-- Pics from high school. Plan to add these over the Christmas holidays.

In the new year, expect timely updates to the photos section of my site, as I post pics of my travels in Australia and England. Now, just gotta get myself a digital camera to make this "digitizing my photos process" go A LOT freakin' quicker!

Oh, if anyone's got scanned and/or digital pics of me, let me know!

Updates to krisvaneyk.com

2004-11-14T17:31:00.000-05:00

I have a backlog of items to post to my blog (actually, now that I think of it, maybe blog stands for "backlog" instead of "web log" .... interesting!). Before I get to that, however, I'm in the process of updating content to my Web site, krisvaneyk.com. Here's a list of the changes:

BACKPACKING in Europe -- While I won't theoretically be backpacking and I may only visit England, I've added this page to my site to post details of my "stop over" in Europe en route from Australia to Canada.

Writing Portfolio -- I've added several business reports I've written at Ivey, and essays from my last year of high school and first two years at Waterloo.

Biography -- I've finally churned out a bio I'm half-satisfied with. Like my resume, I'm sure it will undergo constant fine-tuning, but for now.....

I've also added a right menu on the main page that includes a list of recent updates, as well as my fav Web sites (mostly links to other friends' blogs).

Enjoy!

Today, we remember

2004-11-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

November 11th. In Canada, in Australia, and in many other countries, today we remember the men and women who served our respective countries during war. And it's a day, in 2004, that my back seized up halfway through a 40-minute service at the University of Western Ontario, yet I stood patiently and attentively. For some reason though, I think the 11th of November will more be remembered for the end of war during 1918 then for the back pain I suffered in 2004.

Anyways, on to my "remembrance post"........

As one notable historian wrote about the men and women who served and died during the twentieth century's two world wars: "They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; our future is their monument." And I add, that it's just not those who died we remember, but those who lived. For those who didn't die but served and lived to tell the tale and build a better tomorrow, or lived after surviving their injuries, or like my grandfather who lived but silently held on to painful memories of losing close friends, or like my grandmother who served in factories or other war-servicing organizations. For those people, we also owe our freedom and our thanks.

Six years ago I wrote an essay for my history class, about a miraculous event at Christmastime in 1914 during the First World War. I offer it here as my act of remembrance. It begins......

Christmas In The Trenches
An Essay by Kris Van Eyk

        World War One. The War to End All Wars: “The ultimate conflict expediting humanity into a world where dreams of progress, an innocence of the prewar world, faith in God, and hope in the future reign supreme”.
        An adage far-fetched and unfounded.
        “We’re not making a sacrifice. Jesus, you’ve seen this war. We are the sacrifice”.
        Dreadfully precise.
        But for one dramatic day, that sacrifice came to a stunning and spontaneous impasse. That day was Christmas. Nearing the end of 1914, at points along the trench lines of Northern France and Belgium, there occurred what can only be described as a miraculous occurrence, that of supposed caustic enemies joining hands and hearts in what has come to be known as the Christmas Truce. Was it an act of defiance? Or were the soldiers on that frigid but glorious morning displaying the example of “peace and goodwill towards men”? Amid the horrendous death of hundreds and thousands of comrades and compatriots, there were those who refused to stand with the masses, and were courageous enough to remember the reason for Christmas amongst the devastation, desperately needed in a world lacking in sanity.

If you're interested, you can read the rest of the essay at http://www.krisvaneyk.com/downloads/essays/christmastruce.rtf

Here's a poem remembering the same Christmas Truce, one of the many resources I relied on when writing my essay.

Christmas in the Trenches (by John McCutcheon)

My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool.
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here
I fought for King and country I love dear.
'Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung,
The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung
Our families back in England were toasting us that day
Their brave and glorious lads so far away.

I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound
Says I, "Now listen up, me boys!" each soldier strained to hear
As one young German voice sang out so clear.
"He's singing bloody well, you know!" my partner says to me
Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony
The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more
As Christmas brought us respite from the war
As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" struck up some lads from Kent
The next they sang was "Stille Nacht." "Tis 'Silent Night'," says I
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky
"There's someone coming toward us!" the front line sentry cried
All sights were fixed on one long figure trudging from their side
His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shown on that plain so bright
As he, bravely, strode unarmed into the night
Soon one by one on either side walked into No Man's Land
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well
And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave 'em hell
We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home
These sons and fathers far away from families of their own
Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men

Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more
With sad farewells we each prepared to settle back to war
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wonderous night
"Whose family have I fixed within my sights?"
'Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost, so bitter hung
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung
For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone forevermore

My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell
Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we're the same

History of the Poppy

I'll conclude my Remembrance Day post with the story of how the poppy, which many people throughout the world wear at this time of year "to remember", came to be viewed as the symbol of remembrance.

In May 1915 Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps was working in a dressing station on the front line to the north of Ieper, Belgium, when he wrote In Flanders Fields:

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

"We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

"Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."

In 1918 Moira Michael, an American, wrote a poem in reply, "We shall keep the faith", in which she promised to wear a poppy "in honour of our dead". So began the tradition of wearing a poppy in remembrance.

It was French YMCA Secretary, Madame Guerin, who in 1918 conceived the idea of selling silk poppies to help needy soldiers. Poppies were first sold in England on Armistice Day in 1921 by members of the British Legion to raise money for those who had been incapacitated by the war. The practice began in many countries that same year, including Canada and Australia.

Since 1921 wearing a poppy has enabled Canadians, Australians, and others to show they have not forgotten those who served and died in wars and conflicts during the past almost 100 years.

Elephants danced ... and programs and projects were managed ... at IBM

2004-11-07T01:44:00.001-05:00

This post is titled after IBM CEO Lou Gerstner's memoirs, "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?: Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround". Gerstner led a remarkable turnaround at IBM during the 1990s and early years of the 21st century, at a time the company was on the verge of collapse.

However, this post has nothing to do with his story. It has to do with mine.... kinda! :)

Yeah, one day I should tell my own story. Perhaps I won't write a multi-hundred-page book on my experiences, but you never know! :) My 2.5 year internship with one of the world's largest companies (yes, I'm gloating!) was awesome. From the first 2 months of me thinking "great company, but I'm not sure I'll come back to the job after my 4-month term" to the next 2 months of me thinking "I've been given so much responsibility, I'm working with so many senior and technical people, this is awesome" to 8 months later when I was thinking "I can't believe I'm responsible for a global marketing program" to the next 2 months when I said to myself "why the mono? it's messing with my world!" to finally "I'm choosing business school and negative $60,000 for 2 years to IBM and positive $50,000+ a year: why again?!".

I guess I just kinda told the story in bursts. I'll go back and fill in the holes some day.

Anyways, the purpose of this post -- before I went on a mini-detour -- was to steal a couple of quotes I read on the blog for my Information Systems Consulting course, and hide them on my blog. The quotes deal with the subject of "project management", and are soooooo applicable to my role as interim Worldwide Program Manager at IBM.

Anyways, here they are:

A project is one small step for the project sponsor, one giant leap for the project manager. (Some projects I was responsible for took on a life of their own. They became my job. However, for the person sponsoring the project, it was just a blip on their radar screen. An important blip, but a blip nonetheless.)
The more ridiculous the deadline the more money will be wasted trying to meet it. (Over the summer, our VP pre-announced 12 service offerings before the organization had even skilled consultants to deliver the services, developed technical collateral to enable the consultants, or create marketing collateral to support the services. You wouldn't believe how quickly everyone jumped to meet the deadline -- which theoretically had already passed!)
Activity is not achievement. (I was involved in a few projects that were all talk, research, investigation, etc. Sometimes these projects even ended with a final deliverable. However, they didn't materialize into anything meaningful. So all this time was invested into..... what exactly?!)
Projects happen in two ways: a) Planned and then executed or b) Executed, stopped, planned and then executed. (You can execute until -- as we say in hicksville -- the "cows come home". However, without a plan, you'll be forced to re-execute until you get it right.... which could have been the first time if you had first planned.)

10 reasons why my employer should not have allowed me to work from home

2004-11-07T01:44:00.000-05:00

DISCLAIMER: Okay, before you (employer) decide not to hire me due to my irresponsibility or inability to focus, or before you (friend) congratulate me for jipping my employer out of meaningful work and cold hard cash, here's the background to my "poem": I read a similar post by another blogger recently, and thought I'd write one of my own. Yes, I did work remotely over the summer, from my apartment from London. But no, I did not take advantage of my employer's trust, confidence, or resources. So, with that disclaimer behind me, here she is: "The 10 reasons why my employer should not have allowed me to work from home!"

Starting with #10.
My new comfy couch. Way too cozy. Way too tempting.

#9.
TV becomes a lot more interesting. There's just too many good shows on the tube when you're not supposed to be watching it. Thanks Dr. Phil, Springer, and all of the court TV judges. You made my summer sooooooo enjoyable!

#8.
Cloistering is replaced by curiosity. At work, I'd cloister myself in my cubicle, stare at the plain office wall 2 feet away, and act like a hermit to the rest of the world between the hours of 7:30 and 11:00. (Yes, that was first a.m., and then p.m.) At home, I have a great view out of my 7th floor apartment. Too much is happening outside -- and I can see it now!

#7.
Did I mention my new comfy couch? Ok, but how about the new matching 2-seater? Huh, huh, huh?!!

#6.
You wouldn't believe how many meals I could make and have between the hours of 9 and 5 when a fridge-full of food was only fifteen feet away. My transportation bills may be halved by working from home, but A&P added me to their preferred customer list after my grocery bill doubled.

#5.
There's no one to pass by my office and look over my shoulder to see all the elicit Web sites I'm checking out. And trust me, they were in full supply. In fact, I think they needed me to see them; I kept them company all summer long. Seriously.

#4.
Horizontal surfaces.... like my new comfy couch and matching 2-seater!!

#3.
Tubs of ice cream, jars of peanut butter, boxes of cereal, and containers of yogurt ALL disappear. They're great time-wasters.... err, stress relievers and time-to-take-a-break helpers.

#2.
I'm a firm believer that you work as hard as you dress professionally. That's why I disregarded showers and worked in my boxers.

And last, but certainly not least, #1.
MY COMFY COUCH!!!

OF COURSE, all these reasons do not apply to me. I was the most productive and loyal and trusting employee. But for employees whose employers allow them to make their home their office, borrow some of the ideas above. I hear they've been known to work! :)

10 reasons why the Chinese have better lives than Canadians, Americans, Aussies, and the rest of the free first world

2004-11-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

David Letterman (aka Tony, my roommate from first year university). Top 10 list. Stolen from workopolis.com. "What the Chinese do better than North Americans and Australians." That is, besides providing REALLY cheap labour. Here it is......

#10: Free Hemming
This doesn't count as cheap labour because only three people service an entire department store. At department stores in Shanghai, salesclerks measure you while you are trying on the pants, asking: "Will you be wearing these with high heels or flats?" If you decide to buy them, she scribbles the length on your receipt. You head to what looks like a gift-wrapping station where a man measures and chalks the pants, scissors off the surplus, and flings them to two women behind him. One hems the raw edge on a machine and tosses it to the other, who stitches the final hem on another machine and presses them.

#9: Computer Seating Maps
Typically, concert halls provide you with the following information: Row DD, Seat 81, cost $74.95. But where on earth is it? At the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the black granite ticket counter is embedded with a Samsung computer screen which lights up with the event you want to see, showing unsold seats, colour-coded by price, and the sightline to the stage. There is even a bar stool on which to perch while you consider your choices. Movie theatres offer the same service. You choose which film and what showing, and the screen in the counter shows you what's unsold. After you make your choice, you can go shopping or enjoy a latte until show time. No one will take your seats.

#8: Parking Data
A friend I met up with last week was an hour late because he couldn't find an empty parking spot in downtown Toronto. He had driven to a dozen lots, each time finding a wooden sign plunked at the entrance smugly announcing that the lot was full. In China, roadside electronic billboards not only give directions to nearby lots and garages, they reveal how many empty spaces are left.

#7: Wireless Service Bells
Trying to flag down your waiter for a glass of water? Just press a made-in-China gizmo at your table. Your table number lights up on a panel inside the kitchen and your server is soon hovering by your side. The bell also eliminates that annoying waiterly interruption: "Is everything all right?" The same gizmo in spas alerts masseuses when you're demurely under the sheet and ready for their attention.

#6: Daily Banking
We feel so lucky when a bank branch opens for a few hours on Saturday mornings. (Notice the long, long lines?) But Chinese banks are now open 9 to 5, seven days a week. Even on New Year's Day and other national holidays, at least some branches will open for business. The ones that are closed post helpful notices directing you to the closest open branch. And, yes, they do have a full network of ATMs.

#5: Anti-theft Slipcovers
What do you do with a purse in a restaurant? It can slide off your lap, and looping the handle over the back of your chair is an invitation to a thief. In China, when you sling your purse or laptop or coat over your chair back, a waiter hurries to toss a tasteful slipcover over it. It foils thieves, and also protects coats from food spills. Some restaurants provide hooks under the table for purses.

#4: Adult Playgrounds
Hate paying those gym club bills? Loathe huffing and puffing around buff bodies in spandex? Beijing provides free outdoor exercise equipment in neighbourhoods throughout the city: walking machines, ab flexers, weight machines and rowing machines in bright reds, blues, yellows and greens. Adult playgrounds get everyone out in the fresh air, especially seniors who might stay shut in at home. Teens like to hang out there, too. And it sends a not-so-subtle propaganda message about the benefits of healthy living.

#3: Transit Debit Cards
Wouldn't it be great to have a single debit-like card for buses, subways -- and taxis? That's how it works in Shanghai. Passengers don't have to fumble for exact change on buses and subways, or line up to buy tokens or tickets. Taxi drivers don't have to make change, or get ripped off by counterfeit bills. And they aren't loaded down with cash, which would make them tempting targets for robbery. In addition, China's taxis automatically print out receipts with date, mileage, taxi medallion number, even the start and end times of the ride.

#2: Informative Stoplights
In Tianjin, a city of 13 million people, traffic lights display red or green signals in a rectangle that rhythmically shrinks down as the time remaining evaporates. In Beijing, some traffic lights offer a countdown clock for both green and red signals. During a red light, you know whether you have time to check that map; on a green light, you know whether to start braking a block away -- or to stomp on the accelerator.

... and #1: Cellphones and Telephone Technology
By any standard you can think of -- coverage, price, ubiquity -- China's cellphone practices beat ours. You can use them in elevators, subways and parking garages. They work in Tibet, at the Great Wall, in remotest rural China, which is more than you can say for Ontario Cottage Country or the Australian Outback. Patients, doctors, nurses and visitors use them in hospitals, too, with no apparent ill effects. It's a cheap, pay-as-you-go system, with no stupid monthly contracts or credit checks. The phones are so cheap -- even sidewalk cabbage vendors have them -- that China is now the biggest cellphone market in the world. With 300 million in use, each one telling time, wristwatch sales have plummeted. "We're a nation of thumbs," a classmate from Shanghai told me, meaning that Chinese use cellphones like RIM Blackberries, text-messaging friends 24/7, at 1.6 cents a pop. The Chinese never got used to voicemail or answering machines; installing home phones was equivalent to two years pay in the 1980s, so the country leapfrogged over landline technology right into cellular. Chinese author Qian Fuchang even plans to transmit a novel -- about an extramarital affair -- via text-messaging, one 70-word chapter at a time.

After reading that you gotta ask yourself: "What's wrong with us??!?!??" Some of these concepts don't even seem that difficult to implement, and would make our lives so much easier. Such as little bells to signal the attention of waiters. Stoplights signaling how much longer the light will stay green for may prevent more people from going through yellows and reds. How about reserved seating in movie theatres?!?

What is wrong with us?

Why Bush won (morals), and why it's bad news for Canada (immoral acts)

2004-11-06T18:40:00.000-05:00

Yes, two more comments on the recent U.S. Presidential election. (Okay, there may be many more, since politics is one of the "sports" I enjoy watching and reading about, but just two comments for this post :)

First, WHY DID GEORGE W. BUSH WIN THE ELECTION? Actually, this question may better be phrased why did John Kerry lose? In any election there's dozens of reasons why people vote. In this election, there was a series of polarizing issues around the topic of morality that pushed Bush over the edge, in Ohio and maybe other states as well. One of those issues was same-sex marriage.

Consider this from an ABC News column from 5 November:

When Massachusetts' highest court legalized same-sex marriages and the mayor of San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, it ignited a firestorm across the country. At the time, some Democrats feared such moves might create a backlash against the Democratic Party in the 2004 election. Today, many Democrats say those fears were realized. "I believe it did energize a very conservative vote," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a former San Francisco mayor. "I think it gave them a position to rally around." Conservatives agree. "The people behind the lawsuits to strike down marriage in courts have seriously misjudged the views of the American people," said Matt Daniels, president of a public policy group called the Alliance for Marriage.

Conservatives in 11 states pushed forward with ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage. All 11 passed, including in the battleground state of Ohio. Political analysts say it drew Republicans to the polls, most significantly in Ohio. According to an analysis by the ABC News Polling Unit, Ohio saw a five-point increase in turnout among conservatives between 2000 and 2004. "They sure were highly motivated to turn out the vote against gay marriage," said Ohio Democratic strategist Greg Haas. "That obviously impacted the outcome of the race by at least a couple hundred thousand votes." Bush won Ohio by only 136,000 votes. Republicans clearly tried to use the issue to win votes, whether in a Republican National Committee mailing with a picture of a man proposing to another man or in millions of phone calls. Said one Bush campaign staffer to a potential voter via telephone: "Just want to let you know that President Bush is committed to protecting the unborn, defending marriage, and preserving 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance." "In a lot of these small towns and small cities areas like where I'm from, the turnout was off the charts," Haas said. "It really was you know a very diabolically brilliant move on the part of [Bush adviser] Karl Rove and others to lay this issue out there." Conservatives argue that the ones who lay the issue before the American people are the judicial activists in Massachusetts and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples, although California law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

So, there you have it.

Now, WHY IS BUSH' RE-ELECTION BAD NEWS FOR CANADA?

The following list is a start:

-- Bush thinks medical drugs from Canada originated in 3rd world countries. Canadian pharmaceutical companies shouldn't expect a big boon from Americans (at least, not any more than they're currently experiencing by close-to-the-border living Americans) any time soon.

-- Bush' government policies during his first 4 years as President crippled Canada's softwood lumber and cattle industries. Just think what amendments he'll make before 2008 to stifle the flow of Canadian goods across the border...?

-- Bush' insistence on a continental missile shield will surely cause a hailstorm of political rumblings between the pro-missile shield Conservative party, anti-missile shield NDP and Bloc Quebecois parties, and middle-of-the-fence missile shield supporting Liberal party, at the start of Canada's first minority government in decades. Bush may push Martin to the polls sooner than he thinks.

You get the point. Bush' election victory was a win for 51% of Americans, but a big loss for 100% of Canadians.

"Thank you, Ohio."

2004-11-03T17:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am Canadian, and this blog will eventually be all about Australia. But unfortunately, the U.S. of A. is the world (or rather, the U.S. wants to affect the entire world, whether it's conducting a war under false premises in Iraq, or destroying people's livelihoods in Canada by not accepting Canadian meet and wood, aka beef products and softwood lumber). So, in this spirit, and given my interest in all things political, it is only fitting I comment on "our" American election.

FOUR MORE YEARS!!!!
First, why thank Ohio? Because winning the state clinched the election for Bush, sending him back to the White House for another 4 years. (For the more technical among you, with Ohio in the president's win column Bush claimed 274 electoral votes, 4 more than the 270 needed for victory.)

Faithful reader: "GEORGE W. BUSH??? HOW COULD YOU SUPPORT THAT #%@!#%!!"

Usually faithful writer: "First, for all my redneck-bashing and gay-rights supporting friends, please hold your venom for a sec'. Here goes.... If I was American I'd be a Republican, and to me politics is like sports: I always cheer on my team. Am I a fan of deceiving the world to go to war? No. But I'm not a fan of a leader who makes a mistake and then flipflops to change his strategy based on public opinion, no matter how big that mistake might be. (Kerry, Bush' opponent in the election, is a Grade A, 100% flip flopper). Sometimes even the "team" you cheer on makes poor management decisions, but it's how your team reacts afterwards that causes you to cheer them on again. On the other hand, I am a strong fan of leaders who stay the #%@!#% out of my life. Republicans in the USA -- like Conservatives in Canada and the current ruling coalition in Australia (yes, I even know a bit about Australian politics already! :) -- are all about less government, and more $$$$$ for me (read "less taxes").... similarly, they are also about creating programs for the less fortunate that encourage this segment of society to stand on its own two fight, rather than encourage them to rely on the system for life and bleed it to death."

So, that's my political $0.02 in a nutshell.

With that said, I wouldn't have been disappointed if Bush' challenger, Senator John Kerry, would have defeated my team. Enough changes have to occur in the next 4 years in America -- that a new face would have been welcome. And to certain countries, it would have been cause for celebration. With that said,

"MY TEAM WON!!!" Ha ha ha!!! So there!

FACTS AND FIGURES

Now, on to some of the interesting facts and figures from the election....

Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry hired 10,000 lawyers to monitor the election process across the country. If each lawyer worked the full 12+ hours the electorate could vote and at $200 per hour, Kerry spent over $25 million on lawyers monitoring the election alone! Makes me wish I had gone to law school instead of business school.
Bush had been on the brink of declaring victory at around 4:30 in the morning, despite the fact Kerry had not conceded the election to him. Bush' White House henchmen delayed those plans in confusion and annoyance after Kerry said he would not concede. The President, who is typically in bed by 10 p.m. (what a life!), stayed up until 5 a.m. huddling with said henchmen to determine if he could make a solid case for declaring victory before he went to bed. They even tried to convince several TV networks to call the election in Bush' favour. The best quote of the early morning hours came on this topic from Bush' Chief of Staff, Andrew Card: "The President has decided to give Senator Kerry the respect of more time to reflect on the results of this election." Sweet! Bush' campaign chairman Marc Racicot followed this up with: "We wanted to extend the appropriate courtesies and to be gracious under the circumstances, and to allow the opportunity for the Kerry campaign, in the cold, hard light of day, to take a look at the situation and come to a conclusion." I guess Bush didn't want to get up too early in the morning. If Bush' arrogance had won the day and he claimed the presidential crown without Kerry's approval, he would have set a precedent. Glad he decided not to fire the smoking gun too soon. Much like he should done on Iraq.
What was the most important issue to Americans who voted? It wasn't the war in Iraq, or terrorism, or even local issues like jobs and the economy. It was "moral values". Huh? Moral issues, like pro-religion, pro-prayer, anti-abortion, anti-stem cell research using human embryos, and anti-gay marriage. Such support wouldn't be offered in Canada. In fact, Canadians have expelled people from government for demonstrating moral values. Makes one think....

INSIGHTS

Now, on to some of my more interesting insights....

Already, talk has turned to who's gonna run for President in 2008. Many people peg Rudy Guliani, the mayor of NYC during the terrorist attacks of Sepember 11th, 2001, as Bush' replacement as Republican Presidential candidate. Guliani has served as a strong supporter and campaigner of Bush in the runup to this election. Because of this support, several TV network interviewers asked Guliani if he'd serve on Bush' cabinet. He said no, using his interest and passion in his current job as a senior security consultant as his excuse for not doing so. So why won't he serve on Bush' staff? Here's why: Guliani has a pristine reputation as a bonafide leader. Why would he risk damaging that reputation, or even bruising it, during the next 4 years, if what he really wants is to leverage that reputation by serving as U.S. President in 2008. The fact is, he wouldn't. So, don't expect Rudy's face anywhere inside the White House until another 1468 days have passed.

Enough on the election. Hope my $0.02 gave y'all some food for thought. Until 2008, "FOUR MORE YEARS!!!!"

My first regular season curling win in 2 years, on the same night as Boston's first world series win in 86 years

2004-10-28T13:19:00.000-04:00

Okay, so my curling teams' futility streak wasn't as great as some....

SPORTS HEADLINES:

The Boston Red Sox, a major league baseball powerhouse that hadn't won their league's highest honour, the World Series, since 1918, pulled off a stunning 4-0 series sweep against another MLB powerhouse, the St. Louis Cardinals last night.

In other news, Stone Cold, not a powerhouse in the University of Western Ontario's curling club, recovered from their nail-biting 7-6 loss in week 1 with an 11-1 pounding of some other team, also not a powerhouse. Stone Cold is a merger of the 2 bronze medal teams from last year (we won.... okay, it was on default, but...!), and includes Ivey buddies Don, Mike, Mark, Trevor, and Kris (that'd be me!).

It was Kris' first curling win during regular season play since 2002, when he was a member at the University of Waterloo curling club. However, after 12 straight losses last year, his 8th place team pulled off a stunning 5-1 victory against the #1 ranked Ivey MBA team in the first round of the playoffs. They had previously beat Kris' team 14-0 in only 3 ends earlier in the season.

How long does one have to wait!

2004-10-27T18:35:00.000-04:00

Ok, I've been sitting in the registrar's office at the University of Western Ontario now for about 75 minutes.

The first 10 minutes were consumed by me filling out some long and and unnecessary form to apply for an official transcript.... when all the registrar's assistant needs is my student and VISA cards to print out and process the payment for the transcript.

The next 5 minutes were used profitably to process my transcript request and update my mailing address -- my family moved last September, so it only took me 14 months for me to tell the university.

It's when I tried to pick up my OSAP so that I could give it back to the university (aka "apply it against my tuition" is the official verbiage they use) where things got bogged down. The really nice and sweet lady has left me sitting on my a$$ for the past 45 minutes.

Here's why:

Apparently, Ivey (my business school) didn't completely process whatever it is they needed to process for the university to issue me an official transcript. So while I was left free to sit in my chair and patiently wait (during which time I've wrote this entry), she was busy on the phone to Ivey working out the all-too-complicated details that are supposed to culminate with me walking away with a $10 piece of paper.

So here I sit, impatiently waiting, updating my blog in my impatience.... oh, and being awesomely amused by my friend Laura's blog! :) Laura is from my home "area", the GSTA (Greater St. Thomas Area), and has recently gone global by completing her Master's at the University of Cambridge in England in..... (Laura, you'll have to tell me what you're officially studying.... I know it has something to do with applying evolutionary thought to musical theory, or something of the sort!). Anyways, you can check out her blog @ laurabolt.expressionblogs.net.

Errand day!

2004-10-27T14:53:00.000-04:00

Here I am, sitting at the bus stop all alone, on a simply beautiful autumn day with the soft breeze rustling the orange, red, and yellow leaves (ok, I'm waxing too poetic, I know). I decided to prop open my iBook and compose my 2nd entry of the day.

So why am I bus-waiting? (Yes, "bus-waiting", it's a new term I just coined.) Well, TODAY IS ERRAND DAY!!! Maybe errand day isn't as exciting for some. However, for those of us who have had nothing to do the last 2 weeks -- no classes, no meetings, and projects I've needed to get started on and haven't had the time for amidst all my sleeping and TV watching -- I've been looking forward to errand day for a while.

In no particular order, here are the errands I get to look forward to today...
- Picking up my OSAP
- Finding out I'm getting less OSAP then what they told me (okay, I hope this doesn't happen, but... :)
- Applying OSAP towards my overdue tuition
- Ordering an "official" transcript, so I can include one in my enrolment package (see below)
- Completing my enrolment forms for my exchange at the University of New South Wales
- Picking up a confirmation of enrolment at UWO form. This 'll make my parents happy, since they've been harping on me (aka politely asking me for) such a form so that I can visit the dentist and take care of my cancer for free. (Thought I'd include the bit about cancer in hopes of getting people to send me money.... something I'm fast running out of. Let me know if it works by sending a cheque in the mail to 702-500 Proudfoot Lane in London, Ontario.)

Anyways, that's it. Wish me lots of fun!! :)

Meet MacJournal, my new blogging friend

2004-10-27T14:27:00.000-04:00

Thanks Dan Schimpf, what a way to make my life easier!!

I don't know Dan. In fact, I'm sure many who have heard of him don't know him either. That's because Dan is a former winner (2002) of an Apple Design Award. So what'd he do to win, and in the process make my (and the lives of other Mac owners) easier? He designed MacJournal, a nifty application for creating, managing, and modifying personal journals. (For those who associate journals with the diaries of 12 year old girls, read "blogs" for journals.)

Anyways, what's super-cool about MacJournal is that you can type into it -- like I am doing now -- press the "blogger" icon in the menu bar, and your entry is automatically updated to my blog -- like this will be in about 3 minutes.

This is what it looks like:

To read more about it, check out Dan the Man's Web site at http://homepage.mac.com/dschimpf

Steve Jobs: "Kris, welcome back!"

2004-10-19T16:38:00.000-04:00

Yes, it was time. First, a bit about my new toy, then a bit about the old beast.

I've purchased an Apple iBook, 933 Mhz Power PC G4 processor, 14" monitor, 640 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive, DVD/CD-RW, running OS X 10.3.5. Got a sweet deal on the purchase: for a machine that cost somewhere around $2k 6 months ago, I acquired the iBook along with an Apple Pro Keyboard and Mouse, an iCurve (laptop stand), and best of all Apple Extreme Wireless card for $1.2k, less than half they would have cost new!

This purchase, of course, comes at the most inopportune of times. With Ivey tuition running me $20k+ a year the last 2 years and my trip to Australia and Europe not too cheap either, a new laptop could've waited. However, I'm the biggest non-CS geek I know, and to me computers are supposed to be fun. My PC laptop was not.......

My original plan was to baby my 3.5 year old Toshiba Satellite Pro notebook (which I refer to as my Dead PC Society status symbol, after the classic movie Dead Poets Society) until I returned from Australia next fall, which would have put the age of the machine at 4.5 years. However, it was nearing death way too quickly, and needed to live like a retiree rather than a refugee-like traveler. In other words, there was no way she was gonna make it being carted to school 4 days a week, and then to Toronto-to-London-to-Sydney and back and live to tell the tale.

My two biggest beefs with my DPS status symbol was the speed and hard drive size of the beast. It was taking more than 10 minutes to start up -- explainable given I was running Windows XP on a machine designed for Windows 98 .... oh yeah, and the hard drive was within MBs of hanging out a "no vacancy" sign -- and could hold only 10 GB of stuff, not nearly enough for my growing mp3 and jpg collections.

However, I actually have several more good and valid excuses. In the last year, in chronological order: the battery shorted out and no longer worked (in fact, the computer won't work unless the battery is removed), the power chord frayed (my only power source left for the $#@! thing), a screw fell out from inside the laptop (and given the fact I know lots about applications but next to nothing about the internal workings of the beasts, I wasn't about to try to take a look inside and figure out where the screw fell from), the monitor cracked in 3 locations, and within the last 3 weeks the DVD-ROM drive no longer functions. Not to mention the fact that after 3.5 years together, my fingers have erased the lettering on a quarter of the keys.

Now, with my new iBook I have a battery that lasts twice as long as the Toshiba's ever did (when the battery still worked, that is), a power cord that is compact AND not frayed, a DVD player that functions not to mention a brand-spankin'-new CD writer (one of which I've never owned before), and -- OF COURSE -- an operating system that kicks XP, to-be-released-in-2006-maybe Longhorn, and Bill Gates' collective ass.

Money-wise, I'm contemplating selling the iCurve and keyboard so I can buy a few extra souvenirs in Sydney and Cambridge. But needless to say, I've fast re-discovered that COMPUTERS ARE LOTSA FUN!!

Job Interview #4!!!!

2004-10-19T13:42:00.000-04:00

Not to gloat or anything, BUT I'VE SCORED MY 4TH JOB INTERVIEW!!!! (4 exclamation points to boot). The company is Trapeze Software, which according to their Web site creates software for "operators and suppliers of passenger transport in Europe and North America as well as duty and crew planning systems for all types of businesses". So, in other words, not exactly sure what they do! j/k :) One of the REALLY cool things the company recently did was to plan some of the shuttle services between areans, airports, and traffic hubs in Athens, Greece during the recent summer Olympics.

Anyways, the job is Project Manager, which means coordinating the implementation of new software by clients, from the time they understand what it is they need the software to do for them until the client signs off on the project. From the job posting: "Responsibilities include meeting with clients to understand requirements and issues and to develop a project implementation plan. As the project team lead you are responsible for: resource/scheduling allocation and management of Technical Product Specialists assigned to the project, tracking of the project’s budget, technical problem resolution, development of specifications and management of project communications. Ultimately it is the Project Manager who builds the confidence of the client and establishes the relationship for delivery of optimum customer service."

Info about my 3 other interviews are in the "Hi blog! Remember me?" post below. Yay for me! :)

Hello blog! Remember me?

2004-10-17T19:59:00.000-04:00

Hello blog! Remember me? I'm Kris, the person who created you and haven't wrote in you in a while. Yes, I'm back. So much has happened, so much hasn't happened, I've grown as a person, I've shrunk, too. Yes, life is confusing, but SO MUCH FUN! (still working on convincing someone of this!)

Anyways, on the "what has happened front", in the last month or two......

- One of my best friends, Laura, and I went to see King Henry the (I forget the number!!) at the Stratford Festival over Labour Day weekend at the beginning of September. Pretty decent performance. However, my fav part of the evening was just being in Stratford again -- Stratford is the best small town ever! I lived there 3 summers ago when I was an IS Manager at the local newspaper, the Stratford Beacon Herald, and fell in love with the town. I hadn't been back since. Renowned for its 7-month long Theatre Festival -- I think in an average year they put on about 20 or so performances -- the 15,000-strong town is also home to dozens of really nice restaurants, the cutest shops, even a shopping mall that's double the size of the one in my hometown of St. Thomas, which has double the population. Not to mention the Avon River, lots of walking trails along the water, and a pretty sizeable island. When I lived there, my route to work took me right along the Avon, and I got to see lots of cygnets (baby swans) and "what are baby ducks called?" become bigger cygnets and adult ducks. The irony is that even though Stratford was the best city I've ever lived in -- I've also lived in Waterloo, Cambridge, London, Toronto, Markham, and of course my hometowns of St. Thomas and Aylmer -- that summer was the worst of my life. I was living in a city in which I knew absolutely no one, and had the worst boss who made my life miserable. Sorry for going off on a tangent, but I LOVE STRATFORD!!!

- JB finally moved back to the apartment in late August, after spending most of the summer abroad (aka living back home with his mom and dad in Burnt River, Ontario -- huh, there's a place called Burnt River?!!?!). We're the most odd pairing of roommates you could imagine. Total opposites, but that's what makes life so interesting, and makes us awesome roommates.

- Second year of business school got off to a real bang, with Kris (that'd be me) doing lots of reading and class preparation, always participating in class, making lots of good points -- at least I thought they were good! :) Lately, I've seemed to have hit a snag, and have missed half my classes in the last 2 weeks! Hopefully the next 2.5 weeks I'll regain my form -- the next couple of weeks we have off, unofficially has a 2.5-week-long weekend, or officially to write exams, take job interviews, and work on our client field projects. I don't have any exams, no interviews scheduled, but I do have the client field project to work on.... although I plan to take lots of weekend-like breaks! :)

- My first post-Chloe smooch. 'Nough said.

- One of my best friends, Laura (yep, the same Laura as in my visit to Stratford), left for England at the beginning of October to study her Master's at the University of Cambridge. She'll be there for a full year, although will be back @ Christmas. GUESS WHO'S GOING TO VISIT HER IN AUGUST??? Yep, me!!!!!!! Here's the story..... No plane in the world flies straight from Toronto, Canada to Sydney, Australia. (If they do, they end up landing somewhere in the Pacific) Some fly west and stop over in Vancouver in British Columbia or San Francisco or L.A. in California. I've since learned that some even go to Taipei in China or someplace in South Korea. (If I was flying west, I wouldn't fly to Korea -- don't trust their planes!! -- and China apparently still has the SARS, so that leaves Vancouver, San Fran, or L.A.) Anyways, there's a few planes that fly east, instead, and stop over in London, England. The price is a bit more, but when you're already spending $2,000 on a return flight to Sydney...! What's so cool about the Toronto-to-London-to-Sydney flight is that they let you stay for as long as you want FOR FREE on either your flight to or from Sydney.... so, in August, on my way back from Sydney: "England, welcome Kris!!" I've never been outside of my region's time zone but once, and now I'll be in the world's 3 major geographies -- North America, Europe, and Asia/Australasia -- all in one year!! Kinda cool! Okay, really cool!!! Anyways, my tentative plan is to stop over in London for 3 weeks, visit with Laura and see the sights in and around Cambridge and area for a week or so (or however long she can put up with me), and then travel around the UK for a bit. Needless to say, my exchange to Australia has taken an AWESOME twist! :)

- I've already received 3 interviews for full-time employment beginning post-Australia: with Research in Motion in Waterloo and Armstrong Partnership and Accenture in Toronto. RIM is the maker of the popular Blackberry, the small computer-like wireless internet/email gadget; Armstrong is a marketing promotions company; and Accenture is one of the world's largest business and IT consulting companies (ironically, it's only substantial competitor is IBM, for which I've worked for the past 2.5 years). I'll "blog" back here when I hear some positive news (like "you've been hired"!!).

Anyways, that's the highlights, I'll fill in the gaps soon enough (during my 2.5-week-long weekend!).

"There are distinct periods of time whose experiences you spend the rest of your life trying to recapture"

2004-09-13T21:27:00.000-04:00

I'm writing this post with the perspective of time. It's the middle of October now, and these are my thoughts from the beginning of to mid September. I've wanted to put-them-to-PC (aka put-them-to-paper) for a while now. So here they are....

My favourite short-story is one written by famed Canadian author Timothy Findley. Titled "Somewhere - Later - Not Now", the story details moments of time in the failing relationship of childhood friends Davis and Diana. However, it's not the story that's important right here; it's a quote from it that comes to mind right now. The quote reads: "Sometimes there is a day whose atmosphere you spend the rest of your life trying to recapture."

Over two weeks in September, I encountered several of these days, which together are embodied by this quotation. The 14 days started innocently enough, with an excursion with one best friend to a community street festival - The Iron Horse Festival - in St. Thomas. That night ended with ... well, it's better saved in the chronicles of Kris' mind! :) The 14 days continued with the revisiting of Stratford - a city I both loved and hated - with a second best friend. I hadn't been back in 3 years, and I fell in love all over again. The 14 days ended just as innocently as they had started, with meeting my newest best friend, on a bench in the hallway of an institution that I'm pleased to pay $40k to.

So, to twist Mr. Findley's quote to my experiences:

"Sometimes there are distinct periods of time in our lives whose experiences you spend the rest of your life trying to understand".... or "reflect on".... or maybe the author got it right when he used the word "recapture". I don't know. What I do know is that they'll be "recaptured" for a very long time.

TRAVELOGUE (1): Why live abroad? Why an international exchange? And why Australia?!?

2004-08-22T20:10:00.000-04:00

Ok, I've claimed this space will soon serve as a travelogue based on my adventures down under, and not generic a blog of whatever else it is I find interesting. Even the title suggests as much, right? So, here goes, one of my first posts dealing with my upcoming stay in Australia.

And the first questions I thought I'd answer revolve around the one-word query word "Why?"

For instance:

Why spend more than half a year living, traveling, and studying in another country?
So what are my reasons for studying abroad, eh? I have a couple of justifiable explanations for leaving Canada for a bit - given that my real reason is to party, p-a-r-t-y, PARTY - since society soon expects me to start acting like I'm part of the real world, with one of those things people call jobs, or sometimes even careers. Ugh!

So, "justifiable explanation #1": I'm really interested in learning more about international business, how culture impacts interpersonal relationships, and managing different cultures. I'm registering for several internationally- and culturally-focused courses at UNSW (University of New South Wales) - including Managing Across Cultures and Global Environment of Business. Gaining a better knowledge of how to work with people from different race and cultural backgrounds is one of my primary goals in studying abroad. This topic piqued my interest after working with many colleagues throughout Europe and Asia during my 2.5 year employment with IBM.

"Semi-justifiable explanation #2" is that there aren’t too many countries like Australia that contain such a diverse geography and unique life forms: Ayer’s Rock, kangaroos, the Outback, koalas, Sydney and its opera house, little Nemo (okay, maybe not Nemo per-say, but a wide variety of aquatic life). Experiencing such diversity would be a great opportunity.

Oh, and the warmer weather Australia experiences during Canada’s coldest season doesn’t alter my interest living in Australia, either!! :)

I could also give you a run down of the typical responses people give for living, studying, and/or working abroad. In fact, why don't I do so; it'll make my answer seem much more broad and cultural-sounding, and me much more insightful :)

PERSONAL GROWTH
Living abroad gives you so many more experiences than you'd have back home - from meeting new people to trying and seeing new things. You are exposed to new ways of thinking and living and are forced to put on the 'foreigner''s hat, which encourages personal growth and self-confidence. Or so they say.

NEW PERSPECTIVES
Living abroad also broadens your intellectual horizons, and gives you a deeper knowledge and appreciation for international, political, and economic issues, since you're seeing them all through the view of a different culture. You also gain more understanding for your own country, its role in international affairs, and its way of life.

CAREER
Living abroad enhances your employment prospects, especially in the fields of business, international affairs, and government service. People who live abroad are likely to possess international knowledge and have other transnational competencies like cross-cultural communication skills, analytical skills, an understanding of and familiarity with local customs and cultural contexts, flexibility, resilience, and the ability to adapt to new circumstances and deal constructively with differences.

So, that's what the experts say I can expect from my living and studying abroad experience.

Okay, so how about this "why" question, given my above explanation...

SO WHY AUSTRALIA, YOU FREAK?!!!?! As a Canadian, you're going to learn as much about culture by living in Australia as you would by eating french fries at Burger King instead of McDonald's.
Well, first let me say that I used to work at BK and ate way too many of their fries, and I speak as an expert in the matter when I say that BK fries do not compare in the least to McD's tasty version of skinned, peeled, and fried potatoes.

Honestly, though, let me relate a *real* cultural experience I've had to explain my perspective - that Australia does differ from Canada.

I grew up in the most rural of rural places in Ontario, in the middle of farm country. Life, for the most part, is laid back, relaxed. People work their 9 to 5 jobs - less than that if they can - and enjoy the simpler pleasures of life, or whatever pleasures can be squeezed out of towns the size of 300, 6,500, or 32,000 (the population of the 3-street whistle stops, villages, or towns I grew up in and around). When I attended university, I participated in their student intern / co-op program and had an opportunity to work and live in Canada's most populated area - the GTA - and largest city - Toronto. It's only 2 hours away from where I grew up, but it's a world away in many aspects. Life, people's dispositions, racial makeup, personal goals, career ambitions, family size, family life, weekend activities - everything was different.

Where I grew up, people enjoy life. Work is a stone's throw away from home and commuting is not an issue. Well-prepared meals and activities are enjoyed not just on weekends, but during the week as well. People's lives revolve around the TV schedule, but people also have the time and energy with which to enjoy more. You see many more kids playing a game of road hockey or pick-up basketball. More time is spent outdoors; people's yards can be the size of squished suburban blocks in larger cities. Most of my friends had families with 2 or more kids, and more people engage in family activities. Everyone is white, except for the local convenience store owner, a few blue collar workers, and a doctor or two.

In the GTA, people aspire to things in life (one could argue they're never satisfied, or that they have ever-increasing goals...your pick!). A 2 hour total commute each day is not unheard of - I actually did that and more when living there - and many people work well outside a 9 to 5 schedule. People's lives revolve around the subway schedule, and people are more tired and apt to plop themselves in front of the TV when they get home than anything else. To enjoy the outdoors, people have to travel outside the city; they don't have a yard to run around in or garden to enjoy (unless you want to call their few shrubs and hanging geraniums a 'sad excuse' for one). More indoor activities can be had and enjoyed - museums and galleries, film and theatre, professional sports. You can't see the stars at night. Family life is reserved for the weekends. Most people I met came from or had families with 2 or fewer kids. White people are a minority in the GTA; there were many times I was the only person of my race in a subway car or bus.

Could I say my rural experience was a completely different "CULTURAL EXPERIENCE" than what I had in Toronto. Huh, huh, huh...??? I think so! :)

So, I expect the same from Sydney. A different experience, a different way of life, a different culture. And it will be one I won't be able to easily escape from. Home will be more than 20 hours away by super-expensive super jet, not 2 hours away by $20 Greyhound.

NEXT TRAVELOGUE: My answer to the "what" questions :)

The newest great gadget: HIP-E. Finally, a computer targeted to teens ... and digital users using Windows XP.

2004-08-22T12:32:00.000-04:00

Okay, before you read this post, you must understand. I AM ADDICTED TO TECH TOYS.

Okay, you're free to proceed......

Apple Computer has traditionally been at the epicenter of computer fads -- they almost always cater to the market segment most interested in expensive "tech toys", regardless of whether their latest and greatest invention had mass-market appeal. From the blueberry iMac to the G4 cube to the hippest monitors, they consistently hit "home runs" among this small, select group. They hit a grand slam with the introduction of the iPod, a walkman-like mp3 music player.

There's a new company on the block duplicating Apple's strategy in one of the biggest computer market segment -- TEENS. Hip-e has struck gold (in this humble blogger's opinion) with the introduction of a PC geared exclusively to this market. The PC is flashy, it's stylish in the Apple Computer way, and - best of all - it employs the operating system used by 95% of computer users.

The hip-e is designed to serve as a hub for all of a teenager's digital interactions. It comes with a huge 120Mhz hard drive to store music and movie files, a widescreen monitor, wireless internet capabilities, a TV tuner and connections for video game consoles (read PS2 and XBOX for "video game"!!!), a feature long lacking on most computers today. You can customize it with an MP3 player slash data storage drive and a cell phone that synchs data with the PC.

According to one reviewer, it's even been re-tooled to speak to teens in everyday terms. "Users can click on 'paper' to launch Microsoft Word, 'presentation' to launch PowerPoint, or 'burn CD' to open a CD-copying program."

So why is the hip-e going to be a smashing success? According to hip-e designer and 16-year old Nevin Watkins, "Computers were originally made for adults, for work purposes. I kind of really want a computer for me!" Seems like a good enough reason to me :)

According to company president Kent Savage, "I think what Apple did with the iPod is great. But that's just one device. We're copying their strategy - on steroids. We're building a number of uses for computers - all in one device."

So when will I get my hands on this latest tech toy? (Although I'm 24, when it comes to tech toys and the new hip-e, I consider myself 24-teen.) Probably not anytime soon. Although in the meantime, I'll have to content myself with hooking up my PS2 to my flatmates TV instead of carting it off to my room and plugging it into my PC.

My grand scheme for 2010: the Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler, B.C.

2004-08-18T19:02:00.000-04:00

Okay, before I publicize my next brainchild idea, a brief explanation is necessary.

You see, I'm a dreamer. And I've always been someone who does all those really neat things everyone else always thinks are cool, but never does. LIke going on exchange halfway around the world to Australia. Or passing on a full-time job with IBM to spend $50K of money I don't have on a 2-year business program. Or living in the coolest small-town city of Stratford, Ontario rather than returning to my hometown after my first year at university.

So, my grand scheme is this: after financing my final year at university and exchange to Australia almost completely with debt this year, and working the next 4 years to pay off that debt and buy a car and a house and finance a wedding (still looking for the girl, btw), and all that other fun, mandatory-for-living-a-normal-life stuff, my plan is to take a sabbatical from normal life. Why? My plan is to make my way to British Columbia, Canada, where I'd like to volunteer for the 2010 winter Olympics being held in Vancouver / Whistler. (By the way, I've never yet travelled outside my region's time zone, and B.C. is as far away from Ontario as New York and Los Angeles, California, or as Perth and Sydney in Australia.) Maybe I'll hand out the medals, shine the Vancouver Olympic Committee CEO's shoes, or clean the athletes toilets. Or maybe I'll find some kind of real job with the VOC or in Vancouver. I haven't quite figured that part out yet. But I will, since I'd really like to enjoy the Olympics in Canada in 2010 more intimately than just visiting the city and taking in some events.

So, what does everyone think of my grand scheme? Other than that I'm crazy and completely insane, of course.

I love telemarketers!!!

2004-08-18T16:32:00.000-04:00

Ha! Funny e-mail and thought. Got an e-mail today from Signature Vacations. They're a travel company that books all-inclusive vacations for clients in Caribbean "sun spots" like St. Christopher & Nevis (named after me, of course), Cuba, St. Maarten, and the Dominican.

I had visited their site several years ago - probably some time during the snow-infested winter months - to dream of warmer weather.

Signature e-mailed me to inform me that I hadn't checked out their Web site in 2 years, to contact them if I had forgotten my password, and that they missed my visits. I'm sure they did.

I was actually thinking of sending them the following reply:

"Thank you for your concern, in noticing that I have not visited www.signaturevacations.com in over 2 years. I would visit more often, but do not have the time in which to do so, nor the funds with which to travel. If you would kindly send a cheque in the amount of $2,500 to my address, I would return your kindness by visiting your site more frequently, and may even be so generous as to purchase one of your vacation packages from it. I remain, your past Web site visitor, Kris."

Btw, the subject to this post is NOT TRUE. In fact, I REALLY hate telemarketers. But that's the subject of another post :)

After designing Web sites for almost 2 dozen clients.... I introduce: krisvaneyk.com!

2004-08-18T16:22:00.000-04:00

Yay! My own Web site, finally! After 6+ years of designing sites and other media for organizations as international as the Glenn Gould Foundation; as artsy as the Stratford Summer Music; as informative as the Times-Journal, Reporter, and Beacon Herald; as technical as PJ Materials Consultants; as socially-conscious as Rehoboth Ministries and the Right to Life movement; as religious as the Evangelical Library; as academic as Arthur Voaden Secondary School or the University of Western Ontario's Model UN Society; or as charitable as the Sunshine Foundation (to name just a few, of course :), I finally bring to the world - okay, probably just to me and a few friends and *hopefully* recruiters (I'm looking for a full-time job!) who are bored out of their minds - WWW.KRISVANEYK.COM!!

So what does my new site include? Well, for starters, I've included:

Bio
CV, including my resume and writing samples
Photos (hosted at Fotki)
Info on my trip down under
A separate home for my company, KV Media & Web Design
And, of course, this blog / travelogue :)

So enjoy!

In light of the theme of this blog, I reciprocate my pro-Canadian post below with: "SHOUT-OUTS to Aussie Olympians!!"

2004-08-17T18:36:00.000-04:00

Okay, given that I'll be using this blog to record my adventures down under, I only think it appropriate to reciprocate my shout-out to Canada's first Olympic medalists (see post below), with several to my future Aussie Olympic country-men and -women. So here goes.....

Australia's most recognized athlete at the Summer games has been Ian Thorpe (pictured at right, below). He's already won several medals, including gold in the 200 men's freestyle swimming event. Sydney's Morning Herald daily newspaper (which I have begun reading for fun, since it'll soon become my main news source :) can't say enough good things about Thorpe: "In Sydney (where the Games were held in 2000), he was a prodigy. A 17-year-old with the world seemingly at his famous, size-17 feet. Four years later, in Athens, Ian Thorpe is quite simply a phenomenon. A man - amazingly, for one so mature, still only a young man of 21 - whose place in the pantheon of Australian sport is already assured. An immortal."

Next, Sara Carrigan, the women's road race (cycling) gold medalist. The race was set around the scenic hills and antiquities of Athens. Another Aussie won the bronze.

I never knew Australia has a basketball team..... Especially when Canada doesn't, even though they could field a team with a handful of NBA players. Then again, NBA-calibre isn't the yardstick of success these days, after basketball's Team USA, referred to as the Dream Team, got their a**e* kicked by Puerto Rico, and just squeaked by a Greek squad today.

Canada's Summer Olympic forte is rowing; the Aussie's aren't so bad themselves. Australia's Sally Newmarch and Emma Halliday set a world record in rowing in one of their pre-final heats this week.

Last is the women's beach volleyball tandem of Summer Lochowicz and Kerri Pottharst.

That's a wrap. Btw, the Aussie's stand 2nd in the medal standings so far, behind the Chinese and just up on the Americans. Go Australia!

Shout-out to Canada's first Olympic medalists

2004-08-17T10:47:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Canada's first 2 medalists, Emilie Heymans and Blythe Hartley. But syncrho swimming?! :) They won a bronze in 10-metre synchronized platform diving.

NHL Lockout "Breaking News": NHL stars to tour like rock stars if locked out by owners

2004-08-17T09:34:00.000-04:00

I'm a big hockey fan. The Leafs of Toronto and Oilers of Edmonton (I was a big-time Gretzky fan, and always appreciate the Oilers youthful enthusiasm) are my teams in the NHL, the Knights of London, Ontario on the OHL. Personally, I can't skate worth a lick - although I lace up the skates several times each year to play pickup hockey with my family - but I love to watch.

Anyways, for those not in the know, NHL team owners are threatening to lock out their hockey players next year because they feel the players are making too much money. Which they are, even the players recognize that. It's the solution, however, that both sides can't agree on. Basically, the owners want a salary cap for each team, so that no one single team can spend more than a set amount of money on players. The players want the market to determine their salary, and would prefer a system where teams can spend as much as they want, but must pay a luxury tax if they spend more than a set amount.

ANYWAYS, the point of this post is to comment on the latest and greatest idea of about 10-15% of the players. If the owners lock them out, some of the league's best stars plan to start their own "tour of terror": 78 different players will form 6 different teams and tour and play in Canadian cities. Kind of like the music group/band approach to live concert touring.

What's cool about their idea? The rule changes..... I would suggest that most of the changes they are going to make for their games should have been implemented by the NHL long ago. Here's a summary of the changes:

Each team would have four skaters and a goalie on the ice at one time
Periods would last 17 minutes
Line changes would only be made on the fly
There would be no centre red-line
No-touch icing would be in effect
Minor penalties would result in penalty shots.

Read the story at TSN.ca.

The ad that duped my bro'

2004-08-16T23:18:00.000-04:00

Funny story. My younger brother has been borrowing my personal laptop this summer (no worries, I'm still mobile with my Thinkpad for work). During the last few months, he's called me to discuss his latest laptop woes, questions, and curiosities. As his familiarity with working on my laptop increased, the number of calls I received decreased.

Today, he purchased his own laptop, after working several times each week at our Oma's this summer. And the telephone calls increased exponentially. I must have talked to him a dozen times today. But the funniest call was when he visited a Web site and a pop-up ad appeared. The ad demanded that he download the latest and greatest spyware software from spw7.com. He mistook the ad for a serious operating system issue, and called me immediately. The ad contained about 5 paragraphs of information, and he proceeded to read it all to me verbatim about half a dozen times, to make sure I had it all. I couldn't figure out why the message had appeared, so I visited the Web site. I finally put two an two together, and told him that he had got duped, that his "fatal error message" was in fact an online ad. I had him download Firefox, an ultra-cool new Internet browser (download it at www.mozilla.org/products/firefox that blocks all pop-up ads, with the instructions to do so immediately, before he started taking other ads too seriously and buying, downloading, and supporting goodness knows what else!! :)

Anyways, we shared a good laugh.... although my bro's covered an ounce of embarrassment I think :)

Athens 2004 - Olympics Opening Ceremonies

2004-08-14T00:45:00.000-04:00

Awesome!! Greek history, mythology, or geography enthusiast? If so, hope you caught the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games. If not, you missed a great opening ceremonies anyways.

Athens put on a great show, a lot better than what I remember of the Sydney games. Very mythological, lots of Greek gods, a centaur, a pair of lovers, a pregnant woman whose expanded stomach lit up like a light bulb.

Couldn't have asked for more.... Here are some media reports of the ceremonies:

It was an instant Greek classic. A rhapsody in Aegean blue and Parthenon white, silhouetted in the twinkling sparkle of flashing lights and cascading fireworks. The XXVIII Olympic Games have begun, splendidly returned to the country where they were born in 776 BC and resurrected in 1896. (TheStar.com)
On 13 August, the biggest celebration of the world began at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Exactly at 20:45, the Opening Ceremony signalled the start of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games. 72,000 people inside the Olympic Stadium and four billion more across the globe watched the moment the Games returned to the country where they were born and the city where they revived. (Athens2004.com)

Here's "my take" of the activities of the opening ceremonies: Connecting symbolically the Ancient Olympia Stadium with the Athens Olympic Stadium, the beginning of the Opening Ceremony bridged 3,000 years of Olympic Games history. 400 percussionists played to the rhythm of the Greek dance “zeimbeiko” and then to the heartbeat.

Next, the Olympic circles appeared flaming through the water that covered the Olympic Stadium’s field of play.

Then the Stadium entered the ATHENS 2004 President, Ms Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the IOC President, Dr. Jaques Rogge, and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Konstantinos Stefanopoulos, and the Greek flag was raised. Next, a giant Cycladic head (2,700 b.C.) slowly emerged from the centre of the Stadium. Following the course of Greek art, it then broke apart to reveal to the astonished audience the figure of a “Kouros” statue and then to a classical statue. At the perimeter of the field of play the history of Greek civilisation was depicted, starting from the Minoan age to the present day, through works of art.

Torchbearers carried the Olympic flame in the Olympic Stadium. When the last Torchbearer, Sailing Olympic winner Nikos Kaklamanakis, reached the Cauldron, the Torch pivoted downwards, bringing symbolically together earth and sky. Nikos Kaklamanakis lit the Cauldron and the Torch slowly lifted the Flame above the Athens Olympic Stadium. This magical night, Athens welcomed the best athletes from around the globe for the Games of the XXVII Olympiad.

As a TV viewer, the only drag to an opening ceremonies is when each country enters the building. 202 countries later..... you get the picture.

Oh, my favourite quote from the ceremonies. A reporter asked one of the Greek Olympic organizers if he was disappointed his country didn't get to host the Olympics in 1996, on the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic movement (started once again by Greece), and had to wait an extra 8 years for the games to finally return to Greece. His reply? "It may be 8 years late, but we're just glad our child has come home to us." Awesome!

My only real beef with the ceremonies... well, actually it's with the broadcasting. I watched most of the ceremonies on Canada's CBC, and then tuned into NBC for a bit. The American network had a lot better camera views, which really showed off the pomp, the fireworks, the lighting, the choreography, etc. In addition, they had actual reports down on field level talking to the athletes. The CBC countered with scratchy cell-phone conversations between the play-by-play commentators in the booth and the athletes. Knowing CBC, I bet they made the athletes pay for the calls themselves.

For pics from the ceremonies, check out the official 2004 Olympics Web site. Enjoy!

TVShowsOnDVD.com

2004-08-12T23:21:00.000-04:00

I'm not a TV fanatic, but I do have my favourite shows (and I am a fan of collecting them on DVD!). Some of my favs are soon coming to DVD, including Without a Trace (good twist to traditional crime drama shows), Unsolved Mysteries (most scariest real life show when I was 12!), 7th Heaven (good family drama with bad acting, but *sometimes* still watchable!). My current TV shows on DVD collection includes Friends (seasons 2, 3, 5, and 6), Party of Five (season 1), and ER (season 1).

So what's next on my shopping list? I'm not a fan of purchasing DVDs of TV shows that are on TV still on a regular basis (for example, like CSI Miami or Law & Order). I was a fan of Gilmore Girls -- yes I know I'm a guy, but the writing / scripts on this show were first rate. I may also swing for Frasier one of these days -- not a show I kept up with, but one of the best underrated comedies (in my humble opinion).<>

My shopping list may remain full for some time, however -- my 20k tuition and my trip to Australia require my attention, and most of my money!

Visit TVShowsOnDVD.com!

Health care in Canada - not my favourite topic, but one that needs a solution

2004-08-12T23:10:00.000-04:00

So, it appears the premiers of Canada's province and the prime minister of Canada can't decide on how to best fund health care. Are we surprised? No. What's really sad here is you can have 13 people, coming from different ideologies, different parts of the country, different political parties, all agree on a strategy to better fund health care (which is currently the case), and have only 1 person disagree, leaving all parties with no solution.

What's the answer? It's no longer money -- governments appear willing to make health care their top priority. It's a strategy that's needed in order to enable the money spent to effectively address health care's problems.... and it's the strategy that 13 premiers and 1 prime minister have to agree on. Hopefully sooner rather than later: health care is a life and death issue, and should no longer be a political game.

Read the latest at: TheStar.com - Martin shoots down pharmacare plan

First post! I AM (soon to be) DOWNUNDER!

2004-08-06T16:12:00.000-04:00

Yay! My first post to my new "blog spot"! :)

Okay, here's my story. I was born and raised in the 300-strong 3-street pit stop of Talbotville, 6,500-strong town of Aylmer, and 32,000-strong city of St. Thomas -- all in the province of Ontario in Canada. "Canada, you said?!? I'm visiting your blog 'cause I thought you were from Australia, you freak." Hold on, I'm getting there. After finishing top of my high school class at Arthur Voaden Secondary School in St. Thomas, I attended the University of Waterloo, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English Rhetoric & Professional Writing. I also participated in the co-op student internship program, and had an opportunity to work as a Program Manager of a worldwide marketing organization at IBM. I worked with people from all over Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia. It's then that I really began to appreciate the impact culture can have on business, managing, and interpersonal relationships. That experience, and my dream to not just vacation in another country, but live there, led to my interest in participating in some sort of international exchange. After UW, I was accepted to study at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario (located in the 320,000-strong metropolis of London, a stone's throw away from where I grew up). I applied to their academic exchange program to study at Sydney, Australia's University of New South Wales. I'll be leaving Canada for Australia this coming January 2005, and will be traveling and partying down under (err, I mean studying) until August.

So, that's my story.

The purpose of my blog between now and then will be commenting on many of the myriad news portals and favourite Web sites I visit, my second year of business school, and my personal life (oh God no!). Come January, this space will turn from news and life blog to travelogue, as I record my experiences down under.

Until later.... out!

Kris.