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Jul25

Alberto Contador wins Tour de France

Posted in: News

It has been a great year so far for Spain when it comes sports! Congratulations to the winner: Alberto Contador and congratulation to Spain for outstanding over all performance.

“Spanish rider Alberto Contador has claimed his third Tour de France win after securing the victory yesterday in a 32.3 mile long individual time trial that ran across the French countryside from Bordeaux to Pauillac. Despite being pushed to the limit by his rival, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck, Contador extended his lead in the race, winning by 39 seconds. Today, he’ll finish off the 2010 Tour by taking the ceremonial ride into Paris wearing the leader’s Yellow Jersey, while the top sprinters vie for one last stage win on the Champs Elysees. “

(Via Gadling.)
Jul20

Apple third quarter results

Posted in: News

Apple rolling in cash, thanks to Mac and iPad sells which is awesome for a company we all grew to love to so much in recent years:

The Company posted record revenue of $15.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.25 billion, or $3.51 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.73 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.83 billion, or $2.01 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the quarter, representing a new quarterly record and a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 8.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 61 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.41 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company began selling iPads during the quarter, with total sales of 3.27 million.

Who knew that iPad is will be such a huge hit from the start… Awesome for Apple and awesome for consumers.
Jul16

Hull of 18th century ship at Ground Zero

Posted in: News

Here is a piece of news I would never expect to read:

Workers excavating the World Trade Centre site have unearthed the 10-metre hull of a ship believed to have been buried in the 18th century.

The vessel was probably used along with other debris to fill in land to extend lower Manhattan into the Hudson river, archaeologists have said.

It was hoped the artefact could be retrieved by the end of today, said archaeologist Molly McDonald. A boat specialist was going to the Ground Zero site to examine the find.

Who knew! Check out the full article here for more information and details about this amazing find on the side of the World Trade Centre.

(via guardian.co.uk).
Jul15

Jarvis bike lanes at last!

Posted in: News

I am both a driver and a cyclist in the city of Toronto, since I have sold my car I am more often cyclist now and much less a driver nowadays (I still drive a few times a month, thanks to ZipCar – a car sharing company), nevertheless I welcome this news and I hope many Toronto residents as well. I do not think that there will be an influx of cyclists on Jarvis St. thanks to the new bike lanes but I may be wrong. What I am excited about here is my personal safety while taking Jarvis St. while on the bike. Currently I refuse to bike on Jarvis St., it can be very dangerous at times, I had a few close calls while on the bike on Jarvis St. in the past myself.

Drivers: say goodbye to the alternating centre lane on Jarvis Street. Tomorrow construction begins and within two to three weeks we’ll see active bike lanes ready for use. Cyclists: say hello to a new thoroughfare just east of the core, from Charles St. to Queen St. Hopefully the controversial conversion will have the desired touted effect: little change for motorists and significant incentive to create an influx of cyclists. I have my doubts.

What I hope at the end of the day is that there will be a little less cars Jarvis St. at the same time, since the street turns into a traffic nightmare in the morning and afternoon rush hour. There will be little incentive now for drivers to take Jarvis St. versus other streets like Sherbourne St. or Church St. so hopefully the traffic will balance itself across all three streets from now on. Whatever happens, thank you for the bike lanes! Now I will be able to take my bike safely to the Harbourfront area. I am looking forward to future when most major downtown streets are bike friendly. Once they are, we will see a lot more cyclists using them.

(via BlogTO).
Jul7

Poland to extradite Israeli ‘agent’

Posted in: News

Good news for Poland, bad news for the Israeli Mossad agent – after all it is not their problem. It will be interesting to see what Germany will charge him with beside stollen identity / German passport used during the execution in Dubai hotel. Hopefully a murder charges will be brought against him if he was involved in it.

A Polish court has ruled that an alleged Israeli Mossad agent can be extradited to Germany.

Uri Brodsky is suspected of helping to forge a German passport used in connection with the murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai.

Mr Brodsky, an Israeli citizen, was detained in Poland in June on an arrest warrant issued by Germany.

(via BBC News)
Jul5

Woman wins lottery for 4th time

Posted in: News

What can I say… Congrats? I guess so. Some people are lucky if possessing money could be consider a lucky thing. Good for her, I still refuse to waste money on lottery tickets, may be because I have never won anything when I did buy a lottery ticket from time to time.

Once, twice, three times a Texas lottery millionaire — now it’s four.

Joan R. Ginther, 63, of Bishop, Texas, has won her fourth lottery of seven figures, lottery officials said.

This week, Ginther claimed $10 million from a scratch-off ticket she bought for $50, pushing her total wins to $20.4 million.

In 1993, she won a $5.4 million share of an $11 million Lotto Texas jackpot. In 2006, Ginther won the top prize of $2 million in the Holiday Millionaire game thanks to a $30 scratch-off ticket. And in 2008, she collected a $3 million prize in another scratch-off.

(via Chicago SUN-TIMES).
Jun30

Starbucks to offer free Wi-Fi

Posted in: News, Technology

Effective July 1, 2010, Starbucks will start offering free Wi-Fi access in Canada as well as US. Starbucks have reached a deal with Bell and Wi-Fi is now accessible through a single-click sign-in with no time limits.

100%, totally free Wi-Fi, well you do need to buy something when you are inside, like a coffee, so we clear on that… Thank you Starbucks!
Jun29

WTF moment

Posted in: News

So I had one of those ‘WTF moments’ todays when I was reading an article in USA Today about Larry King leaving his show…

Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer launches a show in September!

Seriously, who the f… will be watching The Eliot Spitzer Show and that was my ‘WTF moment’.
Jun29

Russian spies charged in US

Posted in: News

I have a lots of interests, sometimes I wonder if I have too many of them as there is only some many hours in a day, nevertheless for the most part I pretty fateful to them. In recent years I have become more and more drawn to history, especially espionage history around the world. It is extremely fascinating how much resources, technology and people are involve in espionage in various countries, so it last night when I was catching on the day’s news I noticed a story about Russian spies being captured and charged in US yesterday.

The U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday they had broken what was described as a deeply-embedded spy ring of 11 agents who allegedly spied for Russia for up to a decade. Ten “spies” were arrested on Sunday and Monday and the 11th was detained on Tuesday in Cyprus. Considering the fact that we just had a G8 in Huntsville, Ontario & G20 here in Toronto, Ontario this past weekend where both leader from Russian and US met and seem to be very friendly with each other, the arrests were a bit of surprise for everyone. Today Associated Press reports also that Oleg Gordievsky, Cold War’s most famous defectors who was a former deputy head of the KGB in London and defected in 1985 to West, says Russia probably has about 50 deep-cover couples — and maybe even up to 60 of them — spying inside the United States.

Those arrested spies – allegedly trained by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) – were to infiltrate policy-making circles and collect information, according to court papers filed in the US court for the southern district of New York. Alleged intercepted messages in court documents suggest they were asked to find information on topics including nuclear weapons, US arms control positions, Iran, White House rumours, CIA leadership turnover, and political parties.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it was regrettable that the arrests came amid Obama’s push for a “reset” in Russian-U.S. ties.

“These actions are unfounded and pursue unseemly goals,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We don’t understand the reasons which prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to make a public statement in the spirit of Cold War-era spy stories.”

When asked if those arrested were Russian spies, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the foreign intelligence service refused to comment. There are number of good articles about the story, when you read them, they all sounds like pages ripped from a fascinating espionage novel. It will be interesting how US will respond to it now, Russians cannot deny hard facts and evidence for too long. Hope we will see a good movie out of it in the future or at least well written book about it soon! In the meantime, it is a story to follow through the mainstream media!
Jun19

RIP Grandma

Posted in: News

Thanks for years of laughter and fun, you are the best Grandmother ever! I will miss you!

1931-2010
Jun17

Rogers Wireless privacy issues

Posted in: News

From local news:

I have read about this story before and frankly I agree with her. Companies who fail protecting customer privacy should be sued to the bone so they learn their lessons. Based on the title of this post from BlogTO: “Toronto woman suing Rogers for exposing her affair has allies” she is not the only one who had privacy taken away from her by Rogers. I do not condone her marital affair but I do agree with her on suing Rogers in this case. Frankly I think, she is should go way more money in her lawsuit. Rogers can afford to pay up big time.

Gabriela Nagy, the adulterous ex-Rogers customer who filed a $600,000 suit against the company for ruining her marriage, says she has allies in other blame deflectors privacy advocates.

According to Nagy, 12 other former Rogers customers in Ontario claim their marriages crumbled due to the company’s failure to protect their private information. She says four have already signed affidavits.

Nagy filed a suit against Rogers after her cell phone bill, which was under her maiden name, was bundled with her husband’s bill, allowing him to see her call history. Nagy’s husband found out about the affair, and the two are now separated.

Nagy has launched a campaign called Citizens Helping Individuals Reform Privacy Policies (CHIRPP), which, she hopes, will improve privacy protection in Ontario.

‘If we have no privacy, we are nothing,’ Nagy said at news conference today, incidentally, beside her new public relations specialist.

Nagy, disguised in dark glasses and a wig, said she would still be pursuing the lawsuit even if her marriage hadn’t failed. Reconcile that.

(Via blogTO.)
Jun17

“New media haven” is in Iceland

Posted in: News

WikiLeaks inspired “New media haven” proposal passes Iceland Parliament – this is huge news for everyone around the world!

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says:

The WikiLeaks advised proposal to build an international ‘new media haven’ in Iceland, with the world’s strongest press and whistleblower protection laws, and a ‘Nobel’ prize for for Freedom of Expression, has unaminously passed the Icelandic Parliament.

50 votes were cast in favor, zero against, one abstained. Twelve members of parliament were not present. Vote results.

One of the inspirations for the proposal was the dramatic August 2009 gagging of of Iceland’s national broadcaster, RUV by Iceland’s then largest bank, Kaupthing

Two changes were made to the proposal from its original form as per the opinion of the parliament’s general affairs committee. The first of these altered slightly the wording of the first paragraph so as to widen the arena for research. The second of these added two new items to the list of tasks for the government:

- That the government should perform a detailed analysis, especially with respect to operational security, for the prospect of operating data centers in Iceland.

- That the government should organize an international conference in Iceland regarding the changes to the legal environment being caused by expansion of cloud computing, data havens, and the judicial state of the Internet.

Video footage from the proposal’s vote will be available here and here.

Details of the proposal and press contacts.

(Via Boing Boing.)
Jun5

Funeral home for pets

Posted in: News

Apparently first funeral home for pets to open here in Toronto, for some strange reason I have always assumed that there was one here anyway. As a dog owner, I don’t think it crazy at all, but than again I am a dog owner and my pet is considered part of my family.

This Saturday, Pets at Peace will open its storefront location. The funeral home is the first of its kind in Toronto, offering bereaved pet owners the chance to host memorial services, cremations, or burials for their deceased pets.

Helen Hobbs, president of Pets at Peace Pet Loss and Memorial Services and a licensed funeral director, has run her business online for the past seven years. She said she decided to open a storefront in response to customer requests to meet in person and view products firsthand.

Pets at Peace boasts 24/7 on-call service and grief resources to help owners deal with their loss.

Prices for cremation start at $225 for small (up to 20 lbs). More information is available on their website.

Sound absolutely crazy? Probably. If you don’t have a pet.

(Via blogTO.)
Jun2

Canada’s DMCA to “satisfy US demand”

Posted in: News

This is a sad reality of being so close to the US. Canada’s DMCA was designed to “satisfy US demand”:

Michael Geist sez,

The Canadian government will introduce its DMCA this afternoon, leaving some to wonder why a U.S. style approach to digital locks is being implemented when so many Canadians spoke out against it. The simple answer may be revealed from a former Minister of Industry chief of staff, who told a PhD candidate researching copyright policy that the Prime Minister required that the U.S. be satisfied with Canadian copyright reform as the only mandate for a bill.

In a paper being presented this week in Montreal, Blayne Haggart writes that according to the former chief of staff to Maxime Bernier, the decision to introduce U.S.-style DMCA rules in Canada was strictly a political decision, the result of pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office desire to meet U.S. demands. She states ‘the Prime Minister’s Office’s position was, move quickly, satisfy the United States.’ When Bernier and then-Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda protested, the PMO replied ‘we don’t care what you do, as long as the U.S. is satisfied.’

(Via Boing Boing.)
May26

Iraq: CIA’s wanted to discredit Saddam?

Posted in: News

From the fascinating world of espionage - Iraq: CIA’s aborted psyops stunt to discredit Saddam? “Pedo-Hussein” sex tapes:

In the run-up to America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, a CIA team brainstormed ways to attack public perception of Saddam Hussein among Iraqis. One of the psyops plans was to ‘flood Iraq with videos’ that depicted the dictator having sex with a teenage boy. The CIA hoax ‘hidden camera’ videos were to be shot ‘very grainy, like it was a secret videotaping of a sex session,’ according to a former official familiar with the plan.

The agency actually did make a video purporting to show Osama bin Laden and his cronies sitting around a campfire swigging bottles of liquor and savoring their conquests with boys, one of the former CIA officers recalled, chuckling at the memory. The actors were drawn from ‘some of us darker-skinned employees,’ he said.

Man oh man, my kingdom for a torrent. Anyway, just one problem with the CIA’s man-boy-love-tape plans:

‘Saddam playing with boys would have no resonance in the Middle East — nobody cares,’ [said a] former CIA official with extensive experience in the region. ‘Trying to mount such a campaign would show a total misunderstanding of the target. We always mistake our own taboos as universal when, in fact, they are just our taboos.’

CIA unit’s wacky idea: Depict Saddam as gay (Washington Post)

(Via Boing Boing.)
May25

The robotic X-37B

Posted in: News

Boing Boing is asking a good question! Is the robotic X-37B a tool for spacewar, or a surveillance drone? Either way, it looks like a thing of beauty and I hope it is used to peaceful means.

Boeing’s X-37B is the unmanned successor to the space shuttle which began a stealthy debut mission last month. Is it a tool for space warcraft, or part of an American surveillance program? Amateur skywatchers have captured early glimpses, and plotted its orbit. Officials are maintaining silence on the craft’s mission, but consensus in the press so far seems to be that it is an orbital spy vehicle. More in the New York Times. (image: Artist’s rendering from NASA/Boeing Phantom Works, 1999)

(Via Boing Boing.)
May21

Play Google Pac-Man

Posted in: News

Hop over to www.google.com today as they have replaced their logo with a playable Pac-Man game .This is a perfect way to waste a day before a long-weekend.
May15

Apple responds to Adobe

Posted in: News

Apple responds to Adobe campaign – I laughed so hard when I saw this…
May8

Stories from inside Area 51

Posted in: News

Area 51 has been of interest to a lot of people over the years, including me… while back I was driving across Nevada and I saw military warming signs keep away from entering the grounds. As years are passing, we are slowly learning more about this complex from different sources. Boing Boing had another post about it recently called More stories from inside Area 51:

“Last month, I posted about Roadrunners Internationale, a small group of Area 51 vets who were now able to speak about their experiences at Area 51, the shadowy military base in southern Nevada that’s a hotbed for black budget aircraft activity, conspiracy theorists, and, of course, extraterrestrials and the humans who love them. In today’s Los Angeles Times, five former Area 51 insiders — including a commander of the base in the 1960s, a special projects engineer, and a test pilot — tell their favorite stories from Dreamland. From the LA Times (Wikimedia Commons image):

Urban legend has it that Area 51 is connected by underground tunnels and trains to other secret facilities around the country. In 2001, Katie Couric told Today Show audiences that 7 percent of Americans doubt the moon landing happened–that it was staged in the Nevada desert. Millions of X-Files fans believe the truth may be ‘out there,’ but more likely it’s concealed inside Area 51′s Strangelove-esque hangars–buildings that, though confirmed by Google Earth, the government refuses to acknowledge.

‘It wasn’t always called Area 51,’ says (Edward) Lovick, the physicist who developed stealth technology. His boss, legendary aircraft designer Clarence L. ‘Kelly’ Johnson, called the place Paradise Ranch to entice men to leave their families and ‘rough it’ out in the Nevada desert in the name of science and the fight against the evil empire. ‘Test pilot Tony LeVier found the place by flying over it,’ says Lovick. ‘It was a lake bed called Groom Lake, selected for testing because it was flat and far from anything. It was kept secret because the CIA tested U-2s there.’

When Frances Gary Powers was shot down over Sverdlovsk, Russia, in 1960, the U-2 program lost its cover. But the CIA already had Lovick and some 200 scientists, engineers and pilots working at Area 51 on the A-12 OXCART, which would outfox Soviet radar using height, stealth and speed.

‘The Road to Area 51′

(Via Boing Boing.)
May5

Operation Mincemeat

Posted in: News

This is interesting:

Malcolm Gladwell tells us about Operation Mincemeat, a caper undertaken by British intelligence to fool the Hitler and the Nazis into thinking the Allied invasion of mainland Europe would come from through Greece and not Sicily.

It did not take long for word of the downed officer to make its way to German intelligence agents in the region. Spain was a neutral country, but much of its military was pro-German, and the Nazis found an officer in the Spanish general staff who was willing to help. A thin metal rod was inserted into the envelope; the documents were then wound around it and slid out through a gap, without disturbing the envelope’s seals. What the officer discovered was astounding. Major Martin was a courier, carrying a personal letter from Lieutenant General Archibald Nye, the vice-chief of the Imperial General Staff, in London, to General Harold Alexander, the senior British officer under Eisenhower in Tunisia. Nye’s letter spelled out what Allied intentions were in southern Europe. American and British forces planned to cross the Mediterranean from their positions in North Africa, and launch an attack on German-held Greece and Sardinia. Hitler transferred a Panzer division from France to the Peloponnese, in Greece, and the German military command sent an urgent message to the head of its forces in the region: ‘The measures to be taken in Sardinia and the Peloponnese have priority over any others.’

(Via kottke.org.)
May4

MarsEdit 3 released today

Posted in: News

This is an exciting day indeed! Much loved and used App for any Mac blogger has been upgraded today to a new version: MarsEdit 3.0

I have been using MarsEdit for a long time now so I am really happy to see a new version with new features, some fixes and overall improvements to this App. There is also new integration with iPhone / Aperture as well custom fields and pages for those of us who use WordPress engine.

The upgrade from previous version is $14.95USD (you will need an exciting license number to get this pricing), otherwise the new version costs $39.95USD – you can also download a fully working 30-days trial for free. Get your MarsEdit by visiting their web site today.

Below is a press release from the company:

“MarsEdit 3 Released Featuring Rich Text Editing, Enhanced Media Browser Somerville, MA. May 4, 2010 (Permalink) Red Sweater Software is excited to announce the immediate availability of MarsEdit 3, a major upgrade to the award-winning blog editor for Mac OS X.

MarsEdit 3 brings a long-awaited rich text editing mode for easy formatting of blog content without knowledge of HTML code. For users who prefer to edit HTML directly, an updated syntax highlighter makes it easier than ever to spot markup errors.

Enhancements to the media manager bring streamlined integration with iPhoto, Aperture, and Lightroom. Users can browse their libraries for photos, resize them, and insert them directly into blog entries. The scheduled uploads feature allows media assets to be used in posts without uploading them immediately, for complete offline editing capability.

For WordPress blogs, MarsEdit 3 features support for Pages and Custom Fields. These can be configured so that custom text fields appear in the post editor alongside standard fields such as Title and Tags.

‘We’ve been working on some of these features for years, so it feels great to finally have something awesome to show customers,’ said Daniel Jalkut, founder of Red Sweater Software. ‘We tried to focus on a mix of features that increase the appeal for less technical users, while strengthening the core functionality that our long-time customers rely upon.’

MarsEdit supports a wide range of the most popular blog-hosting services, with custom-tuned support for WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Squarespace, Movable Type, and TypePad. Dozens of other systems also work with MarsEdit through its support of the standard MetaWeblog and AtomPub publishing interfaces.

Price And Availability

MarsEdit 3 is available today for $39.95 (US). A family pack license, good for up to 5 people in a private household, is $59.95 (US).

Existing MarsEdit customers may upgrade to MarsEdit 3 for $14.95 (US). Customers who purchased MarsEdit on or after January 1, 2010 are entitled to a free upgrade.

A free 30-day, fully functioning trial version is available from the MarsEdit home page.

MarsEdit 3 requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher.”
Feb27

Giant iceberg splits from Antarctica

Posted in: News

When I read stuff like this below, it kinda freaks me out… it is amazing how much damage we have created to the environment over the last century. It is the same environment we need to sustain our own existence. The planet is literary melting at unusual pace, I don’t mean to insensitive but I am glad I will not be around in 50 to 100 years from now to see what climate will look like at that point in the future. In Toronto, Canada we have had a weirdest and probably warmest winter this year. It is snowing today and it has been snowing since yesterday. However this is the most snow we have seen this winter! With only three weeks left of winter itself, it is very unusual. South of the border, in the USA – it is a different story. They have got unusual amounts of snow this season, kind of upside down effect!

A giant iceberg, the size of Luxembourg, has broken free from Antarctica and according to scientists could potentially play havoc with weather patterns across the globe for years to come. The massive chunk of ice, more than 985 square-miles in size, broke free from the Mertz Glacier Tongue along the eastern coast of Antarctica on February 12 or 13, and moved out into a region of the Southern Ocean that is vital to the production of cold, salty water that helps circulate important ocean currents.

The newly formed iceberg, which is over 48-miles in length, has already drifted out into a part of the ocean known as a polynya. Polynyas are an area of the Southern Ocean where dense, extremely cold and salty water is produced. That ‘bottom water’, as it is known, sinks deep into the sea and creates the circulation that moves the various ocean currents around the globe. If the iceberg stays where it is at right now, it could cause a change in those circulations, having an effect on ocean currents worldwide, which will also change jet stream patterns and the movement of weather.

(Via Gadling.)
Feb9

Aperture 3 or Lightroom 3

Posted in: News, Photography

Let’s talk software for photographers today… I have been a big fan and user of Adobe Lightroom. Awesome piece of software, very easy to use and with all the upgrades over the last couple of years it has been improved time and time again. I have been using Lightroom 3 Beta for a while and I like all the new features and I was looking forward to buying the full release when it comes out beta later this year.

But nothing is permanent and set in stone, I am facing a real, new choice as of today – I am talking about the new Apple’s Aperture 3 which was released this morning. I am seriously considering downloading the 30-day trial to have a real, close look at it. Lightroom has been a leader in photography management for a while, but the new Aperture 3 could change it. Why? Well, as new camera are coming out, we starting to see a blur between photography and video, most of the new point and shoot and DSLR have option to shoot both and many people expand on it. Those who used shoot photos only, starting to try out video more and more. Aperture 3 is taking advantage of it. Although I really like Adobe Lightroom, the video in Aperture is appealing considering this is where photography is headed – into this new photo/video or should I say multimedia mode. New slideshows let you share your work by weaving together photos, audio, text and HD video. I have recently added a basic HD pocket camera to experiment with video more. And although i’m just starting in video I would like to learn it in order to stay ahead. Aperture 3 could possibly be a better choice for me at this point. Places lets you explore photos based on the location they were taken, and like in iPhoto, Places automatically reverse geocodes GPS data into locations. In Aperture 3, you can assign locations by dragging-and-dropping photos onto a map or by using location information from GPS enabled cameras, tracking devices or iPhone photos. Apple says the new software boasts over 200 new features. It sounds like a lot! But it also means, that with this brand new experience using a new software – I would have to do a bit of learning all over again.

Well, it is early to say what I will do in the near future, after all it is the morning after the Aperture 3 announcement. I need to dig around more online for some first impressions and reviews, download and try it out for myself etc. But I feel a bit of excitement about the whole thing. Since I am a Mac user, Aperture 3 will run in 64-bit mode on Snow Leopard, it will play well with iPhoto (which I have not really use that much in the past but this may change now), it will also play well with Flickr and Facebook too – both of which I big part of my online life. It will look and feel native to my Mac OS X environment. And lastly Aperture is available for $200USD for the full version (Lightroom is more expensive) or $100 for an upgrade, you can try it with a 30-day free trial here. I think in a month or so I will make my final decision as to which way to go or may be stay where I am now – with Lightroom…
Jan15

Canadians help Haiti

Posted in: News

If you are in Canada donating to help Haiti earthquake victims is very easy.

You can text HELP to 1291 for $5 donation using any Rogers or Fido mobile phone. Your $5 dollar donation will be added to your cellphone phone bill at the end of the month. If you would like to donate more, let say $50 dollars, you can simply send the text from your phone ten times, for each of the text you sent, five dollars will be send to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. This is the easiest and the fastest way to send money if you want to help out.

Alternatively you can visit the Canadian Red Cross web site or call them directly at 1-800-418-1111 and make a donation. Whichever way you choose to do so, please whatever you can, even if it is a few dollars, trust me collectively we all can make a big difference!

Damon Winter of The New York Times arrived in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday. James Estrin spoke with him at midnight Thursday. You can see the photos and conversation from Haiti by visiting On Assignment: Prayers in the Dark.
Jan13

What you can do to help Haiti

Posted in: News

Matador is mobilizing its community of passionate travelers to help earthquake victims in Haiti.

Earlier today, an earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the capital of Haiti, with a series of aftershocks as strong as 5.5 rattling Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. As of this writing [9:45 PM EST], the full scope of damage has not been determined; however, the collapse of a hospital and extensive structural devastation suggests that the death toll may be high.

We’ve already been contacted by Matador readers and community members who want to know how they can help.

At present, we are working to coordinate a trip to Haiti via the Dominican Republic for Matador readers and members who want to contribute as volunteers in the post-earthquake recovery. It’s a huge effort and will depend to a large extent on the goodwill and quick response time of travelers and travel industry leaders.

Logistics include arranging transportation and lodging, as well as determining the best organization to partner with in order to contribute our time and skills. These details are being worked on right now.

Specifically, Matador is encouraging JetBlue to provide transportation to Hispaniola (the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic) via a Twitter campaign. Our request is being taken to JetBlue’s corporate relations department for their consideration.

In the meantime, we need your help.

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Dec29

The good and the bad

Posted in: News

The good: It nice to wake up and see that someone else enjoys your photography! One of my favourite travel blogs Gadling, which I have been following closely for years now, has Photo of the Day feature where they pick their favourite photograph each day from their Flickr pool. They have been a great supporter of my photography in the last couple of years, featuring my photographs on and off through out the year. So there is no better way to close off another year by having yet another photograph showcased on their blog today. You can find it here.

The bad: I have been following closely the news for the past few days when it comes to the new restrictions on air travel, specifically what you can or cannot take with you as a carry on as well as what can electronics can used and when during a flight. The recent events after a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit reminded us that there are still people who want to hurt innocent people traveling by air and I understand that the security system currently in place is not sufficient to deter the bad guys. However, the new restrictions do not address the problem.

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