A guy sits down with a girl, takes out a cigarette and starts trying to light it. He has some extreme difficulty getting it lit, and has obviously never smoked before.

Girl (laughing): Hey, do you want some help with that?
Guy: No, no, I’ve got to practice smoking. Let me do it.
Girl: Seriously? You’re practicing how to smoke?
Guy: Yeah! It’s on my list of things to do. See? (takes out agenda) “Laundry, conference sign-up, smoke.”
Girl looks stunned.
Guy: I don’t want to look like an idiot when I go to Amsterdam!

[via Overheard At McGill]

The other day I was driving back from a weekend trip. I decided to take a less traveled road, a highway that is only 2 lanes and goes through many small towns. About an hour (or maybe less) into the drive, I felt guilty. In an age when everyone is saying the evils of driving gasoline-powered cars, and the concern for the environment is at an all time high I was actually enjoying the drive! There was no one but me on the road, and I was taking in the beautiful scenery as well as the twists on the road. I felt like I understood the purpose of driving wasn’t to get from

At the end of the trip I took about 20 minutes longer to reach my destination and to ease my conscience, the total distance traveled was less than if had taken the main highways!

A while ago, we had a discussion over dinner about the merits of higher education. I was trying my best to argue against non-functional and non-essential education: getting a Masters degree just for the sake of getting one, and so on. From the length of the conversation, it appears I wasn’t very successful at convincing everyone else about my position. A couple of nights ago I came across this passage

When a society is rich, its people don’t need to work with their hands; they can devote themselves to activities of the spirit. We have more and more universities and more and more students. If students are going to earn degrees, they’ve got to come up with dissertation topics. And since dissertations can be written about everything under the sun, the number of topics is infinite. Sheets of paper covered with words pile up in archives sadder than cemeteries…[1]

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being

So my laptop died this past Friday, and I have been slowly realizing how useful virtualization or cloud computing would be RIGHT NOW! I am by no means cut off from computers. I have access to a couple of them here at home, and all day at work I stare at various computers. And on top of all that, the laptop that I lost (oh, cruel fate!) didn’t even have many personal files on it. It was a work laptop, but I had gotten so used to having access that I’m in a mini-withdrawal right now.

I think most of all I miss the customization I had done on there, which made my day-to-day tasks easy. I’m beginning to think that if I had that level of customization on a cloud computer, I would never run this risk again. Something like igoogle or the upcoming Live Mesh.

I was having a chat with someone who is by no means a tech-savvy person. She had heard of google adsense and that someone she knew was making about a $100 a month from it. She wondered how she could do it. That got me thinking, why can’t I?

» Continue reading “Making money in the age of internet”

Once again I’m at an airport. Going home, or coming from home, or something in between. After 4 years in the real world I don’t feel stable yet. Should I be content? Or is it ok that I’m constantly looking for something exciting? A friend of mine says its normal for new graduates to change jobs 2 or 3 times within the first five years of entering the job market. Well, I’ve made that change once and then I came back to it! Who knows maybe risk taking (and not loyalty) is rewarded these days.

It also occurs to me that most of my posts here have been made when I was unhappy about something. Looks like this place is mostly for me to vent, but if that’s the case why don’t I just go buy a notebook and do my “Dear diary” entries in there like everyone else?!

This past Christmas we went on a trip to London, and had a lot of fun. I’m not one for posting pictures on facebook, or anything but after hearing about animoto I decided to give it a try. It’s a very neat service!

Watching this video I’m reminded of the day labourers back home. They would all gather in a street corner (usually at a square) and every morning the contractors would come by and pick a few and go to the job site. Looks like the world runs the same way no matter where you are!

Recently, I was in Montreal and one evening we were considering what to eat. Being the guest of honour, I got to pick the food and after a long contemplation I decided that the best bet was to eat something hearty. Something wholesome and very uncomplicated. So we walk over to Schwartz’s Deli, and what a meal! This places and other places like it are why I am addicted to eating!

And the order ?

» Continue reading “Food and the need for a colorscheme”

Sitting here at the Minnesota airport, I’ve heard so many people talking “management”. Looks like everyone is a tech manager….

Oops, they’ve just called our plane for boarding I’ll finish the thought tonight (probably).