Vacation

Well, summer has started with the bang of Canada Day. I’m personally staying around town, but still planning to have a good time. Besides all the same beaches and pools, what’s special this summer is believe it or not: camping with my family.

I expect this to be an adventure, one that I don’t know the outcome of, but that is exactly what an adventure should be. And as Jon Acuff has once said:

I decided to go camping together because our family don’t spend much time outdoors, and the few times when we do, are spent in the city. There is also the fact that my sister is jealous, because I go camping a lot. However, the most important reason is that is FUN. Think about it this way. You and I both have only a certain amount of time on Earth. So then, why not make this time fun? My family is split up over the globe a lot of times, so I want to put the time we have together to good use. I hope my family won’t argue too much about this idea. 🙂

We have everything we need, so all we need to do is get out there.

Stay tuned for the happenings of our first family camping trip.

But for now,

Good bye spring, hello summer!

Why I Like My DUMB Phone

GO DUMB PHONES GO

Although smart phones are cool, I like my dumb flip phone with its teeny T9 keypad. There are a lot of reasons, but here’s my top three:

1. A dumb phone will not surprise you. There won’t be a time that it runs out of storage because the only thing on it is a picture of my house. I won’t see a huge bill because it is impossible to go over data, or for that matter, use data. It will actually not freeze and lag! It will not reach a point that the phone crawls at the slowest possible speed. The battery will not die because no one is using it to play 3D games. It is simple, and simple is good.
2. It is not a distraction. Angry Birds will not let beep and ding because the pigs are angry and somehow gravity was defied and it is giving you’re a space eagle (I think…). There won’t be pages and pages of games available at a single touch. You won’t get the urge to see a kitty cat meowing on YouTube, or if Miss. Piggy’s dress is better than Taylor Swift. Also, I won’t be wasting time looking at random things on the internet.
3. IT IS A PHONE!!! The definition of a telephone from the Merriam Webster Dictionary: “an instrument for reproducing sounds at a distance; specifically: one in which sound is converted into electrical impulses for transmission (as by wire or radio waves)”. Now smart phone “a cell phone that includes additional software functions (as e-mail or an Internet browser)” I have my Mac and my iPod for the “additional software functions”. My phone is a TOOL to keep me safe and to be able to communicate conveniently. There isn’t anything more I would expect a phone to do than call and text. However people in this time and age thinks that phones need to be able to do everything. Several cellular companies in my area do not even carry dumb phones anymore. The companies who do carry dumb phones put them at the end.

…and that’s why I like my dumb Samsung flip phone.

A Day in the Life of a Home Buyer

SO MANY CHOICES!!!

Having the opportunity to find a new home that suites the whole family may seem like a great idea at first, but then it turns in to a nightmare. I know this only because I was forced to move when my morning drive turned in to one hour (or more if traffic is bad). After only 3 days, I’m already feeling some “house-finding-symptoms”. However, in these 3 days, I have only begun to eliminate choices, instead of finding houses to put into consideration. For that matter, I’ve seen dozens upon dozens of houses, yet only one house have been half-considered. You would think that because our market is so diverse, it would be easy to find “the perfect house”, but it isn’t.

Today there’s modern luxury homes:

my love...

These are too expensive for my budget, but exist in my dreams.

Older houses:

It's... Good.

These are pretty good, except for the fact that it is hard to find one that please the whole family.

And then cheap, but tiny houses:

...

My family is pretty big, so these won’t work either.

As you can see, I do consider myself a rather contemporary man, even though my budget won’t allow it. I like a modern house with panels of wood and glass. My mom insists on a more-than-decent kitchen, and my dad insists on a more-than-big lot (land). Finding an awesome house with a huge lot is remarkably hard to find in the area I want to buy a house in. So, this is how the first few days of my adventure went:

Wake up

Go on to the web and find decent properties. This usually ends up with expectations lowered, search criteria expanded, search area widened, and general grumpiness. However, a couple of houses are found.

Now our Realtor (apparently a registered trademark) is contacted and he makes appointments. Most of the houses are open to the public from 2-4pm on weekends, so this part is pretty simple.

This is the time to cram a dozen or so houses in to a 2 hour time period. Usually we only get through 5, but that dosen’t stop us from trying to cram 12.

Finally, one half-decent house in need of some renovation is found, but this is not the hard part.

The hard part is debating with mom and dad. The “price-house-lot-appliance-room-…” ratio is always a tad bit off. The price might be too expensive for the property, or the exterior might be not as good as the interior, etc.

This is how most of my weekend was spent. But don’t worry, I’ll find that perfect house… One day.

The Lorax’s Letter

Dear Humans,

I am immortal, yet I am dying. How can you slaughter my race, again and again. You promised, you campaigned, you protested, you donated, you appointed ministers, you wrote books, you researched, you did everything; except destroying. Why is the environment the last thing on your list? Don’t you realize you can’t live if it wasn’t for me? I, speaker for the trees, created and continues to replenish the air you breathe. Please “show not tell”. Use your actions to prove your words.

The world may seam to be made by money. In fact, for that matter; even if it is ran by money, it is still made of nature. It all may change though, very quickly. Take a look:

This is China, the world’s most populated country. What’s in this photo of Shanghai? Well, buildings, signs, and very few trees. These trees are all carefully planted and fertilized unnaturally. To be honest, this place is not so different than Thneedville:

Artificial trees, buildings, and signs. You don’t want to turn the world into Thneedville! Trust me.

Please help. I know you know about climate change. I know you know about pollution. I know you know to turn off the lights. But do you know about an effective and easy way to save the planet? UNPLUG. It is simple, but most people don’t think about it. Unplugging is effective because even if a(n) appliance/electronic/gizmo/etc. is turned off, it still consumes energy. Please unplug (or turn off at the wall socket) toasters, blenders, coffee makers, chargers, TVs, disc players, game consoles, and whatever else is not in use. In fact a TV “turned off” (left on standby) uses 85% of the energy it uses when it is turned on.

Please help! As a Cree Prophecy once said to YOUR race:

“When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money”

Do it for me , The Lorax, do it for the Cree. For that matter, do it for YOU. This is as much as your world, as it is mine.

Pretty, pretty, please? With a cherry on top?

Yours sincerely,

The Lorax

“The New iPad”

Personally, I am not really pleased with “The New iPad”, I think it could be better. Sure, there’s the retina display that’s clearer than a HDTV with 3.1 million pixels. The processor is now A5X, which is incredible. The iSight camera is light years ahead, shooting videos at 1080p and taking incredibly detailed photos. Speech-to-text is included, and there is 4G LTE (again, incredibly advanced) models. But something is missing.

This is Apple. Waking up today, I expected something grand. Maybe a SD slot or perhaps a haptic display? Wouldn’t it be really cool if iPads have a haptic display, giving items on screen texture? The upgrades we see today is already a huge leap, but it isn’t as exciting as other updates. The iPad and the iPhone, the two newest products have had significant changes since they arrived. The first iPad was amazing because it was the first of its kind. The iPad 2 was completely changed with a sleeker design, various hardware changes and IOS 5. But “The New iPad” dosen’t have anything completely new. Even the iPhone 4S has Siri, which is pretty awesome, sci-fi, and more importantly, never seen before. These new features on “The New iPad” exists in other places. The iPhone 4S has a retina display, 4G, iSight camera, 1080p HD video recording, and speech-to-text. The A5X processor is just a small upgrade from the A5 chip. These features are only worth adding because they haven’t been on a tablet before.

Why is “The New iPad” in quotations? Well, because it is just called the iPad. Not iPad 3, or iPad HD. This iPad is just called iPad. iPad is a nice name, with a lot of legal battles in China, but it is still a great name. However, the first iPad was also named “iPad”. How do we refer to this iPad a year later when another new iPad comes out? Are we going to call the iPads iPad, iPad 2, The New iPad, The New-New iPad, etc.? I guess the Apple product numbering system is saying goodbye…

Lots of rumours have been proved right, other unconventional features have been proved wrong. Today, we see a new leap in tablet technology. However, Apple, you can do better. As Tim Cook mentioned, Apple have “the most innovative [people] on earth.”

To see the full keynote and details of the release of the new iPad, Apple TV, iPad iLife suite, iPad iWork suite, and apps for “The New iPad”; click here.

5 Rules of Happiness

Finding happiness...

Everything we do in life are all done to achieve the ultimate goal: Happiness. The most depressed gets one life, the happiest gets one life as well. However, a happy life is full of good memories and no regret. On the other hand, a sad life is full of regrets and sorrow. Happiness can be hard to achieve, with so much stress and pressure in our modern lives. Mae West once said “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” Over the years, I have managed to find ways to be happy. Here are my top 5:

1. Forget About Yesterday

Yesterday happened. Without a time machine it is impossible to go back in time and change what happened. Instead of dwelling on the past and events that have happened, start fresh. Open a new chapter and start again. Do not let yesterday get in the way of today. To be able start, you must stop. So stop worrying about the past, and you will be happier.

2. Be Optimistic

Humans have all evolved to be pessimists, and think about the worst case scenario because it has the most survival value. Imagine this: A monkey running around in the forest. When it sees a tiger, it can be optimistic and hope to become friends, or be pessimistic and run for his life. Running away from the tiger have proved to be the most successful, thus their children will run from the tiger. After many generations, most optimists have been removed from the gene pool as they are simply not able to survive. So today, humans are mostly pessimistic. But the difference today, most situations aren’t about life and death. For example, after a job application, humans can worry and think “I won’t get the job”, or think “I will get the job”. Obviously, thinking “I will get the job” will make humans, us, happier.

3. Physical Exercise

Your body and mind are connected, so believe it or not, physical exercise can make you happy. Chemicals in your brain are released to reduce stress and depression; and increase energy and happiness. Without getting too technical, chemicals released include dopamine, and endorphin.

4.  Be With Friends and Family

Humans are social animals, thus being with the people we love will naturally make us happier. Friends and family can comfort, and inspire. Directly through their smiles and jokes, and indirectly with their presence; they make us happy and well, happy. It works perfectly just like math: (family+friends)+(you)=happiness.

5. Organize

Organization is truly key. Clutter can cause stress. It has been proven that the sanctuary homes should be isn’t possible with clutter. The next time you are stressed out in your room, organize it and see how your environment can really affect your mood. A slight side note, but not only will decluttering reduce stress, it will make finding things so much easier. Not only physically organizing, but planning and being prepared helps too. Stress from “what do I do”? And “Oh no, I forgot to do that!” will be gone. Reduced stress is (obviously) great to improve overall happiness.

Hopefully these tips will help you in becoming happier ( 🙂 ) and living a better life.

Textbooks… Reinvented

Before I go on, I just want to say a quick “Happy New Year”. I was quite busy and wasn’t able to blog in the last while. Anyways, I hope everyone will live a successful and happy 2012 (that is if the world doesn’t end ;-)). I also want to wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year (if you celebrate it). Have fun in 2012, the year of the dragon.

School districts in North America are working furiously to catch up with today’s technology. A couple years ago we used blackboards and chalkboard; then came the whiteboards and the projectors; now some schools use crazily high tech Smart boards. They try to catch up by using technology in class. Students type, and sometimes even blog. Schools are encouraging laptops, iPads and to learn the “21st century way”. But why haven’t we changed one of the most important aspect of education, textbooks. As far as my family and I can remember, the world had always been using paper textbooks. Just think about it for a moment. Now even if Steve Jobs isn’t here, someone sure would’ve thought about decreasing the weight of student’s backpacks by putting textbooks online. However, Steve Jobs is here. He and his team at Apple truly reinvented textbooks with the iPad.

For too long our students have been bored out of their minds with textbooks. But these textbooks are different. Using the iPad’s multitouch technology, students are able to interact with these textbooks. A 3D model can be manipulated, a timeline can be animated, the options are endless. But it gets even better. Flashcards are incorporated in to the text book so it is super easy to take notes. There could be lesson checks and best of all, anyone can make their own textbook for free. Now through the Mac App Store and “iBooks Author” anyone can share their knowledge. Imagine the possibilities.

Regular textbooks can cost hundreds of dollars, but these are available from the iBooks store for a much cheaper price.

As we speak, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw Hill Education, and Pearson Education (3 of the top K-12 textbook providers) are developing iPad textbooks.

We are definitely moving forward. This is great, it will help education become better, much better. Technology make the new generation more prepared for their world after 16 or so years of schooling, because in 16 years our world will change dramatically. Apple, thank you, once again.

The link to iBooks textbooks is here: http://www.apple.com/education/ibooks-textbooks/

iOS 5 Tips and Tricks

I thought that owning multiple Apple iDevices, I might share some cool new features of the newest operating system, iOS 5. If you have anything to add, feel free to to comment.

1. A computer is no longer necessary! Any device can be set up, backed up, synced with other devices, and updated right on the device. Backups and syncs is done using iCloud. But if you do want to sync and backup with a computer, it can be done wirelessly through local Wi-Fi.
2. iCloud can sync everything over everything. This means if you add an event on your Mac at home, it will appear on your iPad, iPhone, etc. If you add a contact at work, it will appear on your Mac and your iPhone, and your iPad, etc.
3. The new notification centre keeps all your notifications in one place. Simply swipe  down and you’ll be able to see your notifications, weather, and a stock ticker. Notifications now simply pop up on the top of your screen causing little disturbance. In the lock screen, swiping the little icon beside the notification will launch whatever the notification is. For example, you can listen to a voice message in the lock screen.
4. With Newsstand, subscribing to electronic magazines have never been easier, in the App Store, visit the “Newsstand” category to purchase new subscriptions. Also, several newspapers including the New York Times are incorporated into Newsstand.
5. If you have an iPhone, you can take a photo with a tap of a button on the lock screen. The capture button now can also be activated with the volume up button (iPad 2 too!). Also, under the “option” tab, you can enable grids.
6. Safari now have a “Reader” button in the URL box, this is for reading articles without the distractions (ads, related posts, sidebars, etc.). Also, with Reading List, you can save a page to read later. Safari has a private browsing feature located in the Safari section of settings too.
7. The iPad 2 now have multitasking gestures. Swipe up with four/five fingers to open the multitasking bar, swipe sideways to switch applications, and pinch to go back to the home screen.
8. AirPlay can now mirror your device through Apple TV so you see what your audience see.
9. Mail now supports rich text (bold, italics, etc.) and have other new features including swiping to hide the list of mail items (iPad).
10. The new built in app Reminders allow you to create lists on any date.
11. iPads and iPod Touches join in with iMessage, they can text using their Apple ID.
12. Twitter is now integrated into iOS 5. You can even tweet using Siri!
13. Hotmail is now an option when you create a new mail account. This means it is possible to sync with your Hotmail account on your iDevice.
14. On the iPad, the keyboard can be split by using two fingers and making a splitting gesture. This make it more convenient to type with two thumbs (if that is you). This can be disabled in settings (if you’re not the thumb typer).
15. You can create text shortcuts in the keyboard setting.
16. You can see how much space your apps are taking in settings>general>usage.
17. On the iPhone, you can create custom vibrations for different contacts. Simply turn them on in the accessibility setting and add vibrations in the sounds setting.
18. The weather app now has an hour by hour forecast.
19. Maps are now compatible with AirPrint. Roll up the edge to find a new print button.
20. iOS 5 can now identify different headphones and save different volume settings for each.

All in all, these are 20 tips and tricks that I can think of. But again, if you have more, add them into the comment section. Thank-you 🙂

How I Lived a 6 Day Week

This may sound weird, but I truly lived a six day week. In other words, I spent more than 15 hours doing nothing. How? Well, let me explain.

Last Friday I started a stopwatch in our car’s computer that times every second as long as the car is moving. This Friday, I ended up with 15 hours, 25 minutes, and 33 seconds.

To me, this is crazy. I get on the car, I go. I get to my destination, I stop. It is something I don’t think about, it is an inevitable part of life these days. I don’t use the car for no reason, I use it to get to  place and back. Last week, I simply followed my normal routine, nothing special happened, I didn’t pick anyone up at the airport or whatnot; in fact, I didn’t even use the car on the weekend. And then, I look at the time, one whole day (well, excluding sleep) just went away.

Imagine, having 3 hours each day devoted just to getting from one place to another (15/5=3 I didn’t use the car on the weekend). imagine what you can do if you have an extra day.

So don’t waste time! Today, lots of time is already taken away from you. The car is only one of them. There’s your computer starting up, or the internet blah blah blah blu-ray player updating the blah blah blah :-). Use your time wisely, you don’t have much of it.

The Place I Call Home

Wildlife. There are bears, deer, coyotes, raccoons, squirrels and birds, not to mention the friendly bugs. You can smell trees, ferns and wild plants growing everywhere. Living in the middle of a jungle can really change your life.

Our road

It is really an adventure to live with wild animals. There were the two times when a black bear strode into my backyard, causing considerable damage to my fence. Bears might do damage, but it is the deer that’s the most adorable, sly, clever, and a tad bit annoying all at once. First, there was one time where the back door was left slightly ajar, and then the next morning, my bowl of sweets was nothing but a bowl of wrappers. The deer was so excited, that paw prints was on my door for a while after the incident. Also in the spring, deer would eat up all the bulbs in the neighbourhood!

Not you again...

During the winter, my family put bird feeders out for the birds until last year when squirrels somehow climbed on to the feeder and stole all the food in no more than a couple of hours! No wonder why my neighbours hang their feeders on the tip of the tree. But the beauties of the place are without question the birds. They are magnificent, from stellar jays and humming birds to robins and seagulls.

Plants are equally amazing as well (fighting with the animals :-)). The aroma of roses and other flowers are astonishing. After one whiff, you’re hooked. We also have 100% organic, non-fertilized and non-chemical sprayed blackberries, raspberries, salmonberries, strawberries, chives, green onions, pumpkins, and corns. The only problem is that the strawberries turn out to be miniscule (now think about CFIA or USDA certified organic…), and the little fury creatures running around eat all the pumpkins. A con is the weeds; they grow everywhere! It is almost impossible to clear them.

It is amazing what you can see and all the adventures you’ll be able to enjoy living in a rainforest. But now, our population at 7 billion and counting, with more and more species going extinct, and thoughts about not wasting money on endangered ones, will the next generations be able to experience this luxury we are able to enjoy today? Will they be able to see the deep blue sea and swim in it like me?