Moving to a new domain.

In the interest of standardizing my user name(s), and getting rid of my old ones, this blog will slowly transition to the following domain:

http://thespeckofme.blogspot.com

The new domain is up and running, and contains all the posts on this blog. Please change your bookmarks/RSS feeds to the new one, as I will be deleting this one within a week or two.

Get your news and information.

... easily and more efficiently.

For the past month or two, I have been improving and optimizing the way I obtain information.

I thought I should make a post with some of the best methods of getting and organizing your news.
In advance: all these methods are free of charge.


1. RSS Feeds

RSS feed(s) is probably one of the best technologies applied to online content. As the number of websites/blogs that you follow and bookmark increases, it becomes more difficult to check those sites according to their varying update schedules (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc.). Not to mention that doing so is hugely inefficient: it uses bandwidth, memory, and browser cache in a redundant fashion, and does not provide you with a stored history of the updates (you would have to look up earlier posts up online).

The solution becomes, let the updates come to you. Using the minimum amount of bandwidth and memory possible.

There are many free RSS feed readers available (I will only speak for Mac OS in this post).

Online option:
Google Reader. An online RSS feed reader that only needs a Google account.

Pros: Available from any computer that has an internet connection, does not require local installation.

Cons: (In my opinion) I don't like having news content online and not on local storage. I prefer having access to RSS updates at any time, on my hard drive, with or without an internet connection. If that is not an issue for you, then this service is one of your best options.
An alternative solution is to activate offline access, but I remain skeptical of this service. I prefer locally installed applications to web apps.

I have not tried it, so I cannot describe its features.

Local applications

Mail.app
If you already use Mail.app to handle your email (I do) using the built-in RSS feed reader is an option. I found that it was fairly good in handling a few feeds, but as your list grows, Mail.app takes a larger memory footprint without justifying it with any special features to speak of.



NewsFire
The best reader I have tried so far is NewsFire, and is currently what I am using. NewsFire is free, simple, and has a low memory footprint. You can customize how often it updates your feeds, how to sort them, and categorize your feeds in Groups.

NewsFire will run for months and download tens of thousands of updates before it starts gaining memory fat. An option at this point is to right click on your feed and click "Delete Items and Reset", but if you want to archive some articles, the process becomes more cumbersome.

Tip: Also works great for comics that publish an RSS feed.

NetNewsWire
NetNewsWire has more features than NewsFire, and there have been news online that the next version will sync with your Google Reader account. However, there is also news that using the program/the service will change from free of charge to requiring a monthly subscription fee (at least an ad-free version will).

I find the features to be overkill, but if you need more control over your feeds, go for it.

Recommended RSS feeds:

(tip: to get the RSS feed for any website, direct your browser to the website, and click on the RSS feed icon in the address bar. It will launch your default RSS feed app and load the feed there.)

News: That is really up to you. One crucial feed is the BBC Headlines feed. (found in the default install of Firefox). Feeds of your local news would also prove beneficial.

Tech/programming:

• Lifehacker
• Gizmodo
• Slashdot
• The Daily WTF
• UsingMac.com

The rest is your general personal and political blogs, music blogs, and any smaller/more entertaining feeds that tickle your fancy.

2. Podcasts

Podcasts are more time-consuming to listen to/watch than RSS feeds, and take more bandwidth and local storage space to procure. However, they usually contain content that is not easily available online/in text form, and are more interactive (interviews, documentaries, investigations, etc.)

These are some of the podcasts I follow, which I recommend to everyone who cares about getting varied news sources:

The Economist

The audio podcast from The Economist is an excellent source of their perspective on the news. I find their coverage and analysis fairly balanced. In many cases, they tend to take a step back, let people who are involved in the situation provide their take on the issue, and only respond with questions or paraphrases.

Other Economist podcasts worth looking at:

• The Economist: Serendipity (video)
• The Economist: Tea with the Economist (video)

BBC Documentaries

Even though the documentaries released by the BBC in this podcast are in audio format, they are surprisingly well-presented and are almost always interesting. They usually come in episodes, with each episode being half an hour long.

TEDTalks

The video podcast (I recommend video and not audio since the presentations usually include visual aids) of the now-famous conference TED (Technology, Education and Design) is a good resource for interesting (and sometimes insightful) lectures.

In my opinion, the quality of the talks have decreased slightly in recent years, and excellent talks are harder to come by, but they still do. A good podcast to subscribe to as long as you are selective about what to download/watch.

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
The Friday Night comedy show is a tricky one. The podcast covers two radio shows on the BBC 4 channel: The News Quiz, and The Now Show. They alternate seasons (as a series of one show ends, a series of the other show begins, and so on). The shows cover the news of the week in a comic/satirical way. In my opinion is that The News Quiz covers more news in a more satirical way than The Now Show. But they are both great, and (besides the BBC) happen to be on the top of my sources of UK news.


Other podcasts with interesting - more entertaining than informative - content.

The Moth

A podcast with "real stories told live on stage without notes". The stories are actually almost always interesting, some are even inspiring, and they are not that long (usually 15 to 20 mins tops).

College Humor

The video podcast of College Humor. They are usually hit and miss, but good for a laugh or two. It does take a lot of storage space though. May not be worth the gigs it takes up.

Other podcasts:

• CocoaCast - podcast that discusses programming in Xcode (in Objective-C)
• commandN - Toronto-based show on tech news (fairly pro-Apple)
• Joe Cartoon - animated comics. Sometimes gross/explicit, usually short, always hilarious.
• MacMost Now - podcast on Apple/iPod/iPhone tips, tricks, software, and general Mac "stuff"

As a rule, it is highly likely that you will find podcasts relevant to any topic you may be interested in. You just have to look, try, and be selective.

Next post: Since we are on the topic of news and information, I will discuss the topic of bias and the media in my next post. Which should be posted within a few days at the most.

Rounding up some notes.

Tagline: Nothing is fair.

Exactly a month since my last post. I am disappointed that that is how long it took me to post an update.

In my defense, the past month has been... very eventful. Turbulent, I would say. Most of those events, overshadowed by my visit to the UAE, have been setbacks and disappointments. The range of intensity varies from marginal to life-altering.

On the bright side, things were - and remain - interesting. I like interesting.

So, this post is mainly dedicated to Mostafa 'Tamtoom' Sakr. Mostafa, if this post doesn't merit a comment from you, your cries of "NOW HOW ABOUT YOU UPDATE YOUR FREAKING BLOG!!!!!!!!! -_-*" will fall on deaf ears from now on.

It is my intention to keep this post as removed from my private life and as involved into trivia as possible.

1. Time is a lot better in binary. (Mostafa, this goes out to you)

I now have a time-telling contraption that displays the measurement of the fourth dimension in binary LEDs.

So, how do you read that? Count the lit LEDs obviously

Upper row (hours): 8 + 2 + 1 = 11

Lower row (minutes): 32 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 47

The time: 11:47. Cool huh?

What makes me extra proud of this watch is that, this is how it actually looks like when you receive it from the manufacturer:

Which means that I removed the fairly lame and anticlimactic straps and modded the body to new, badass wide straps with metal studs on them.

I love that watch.

2. BOINC Updates.

Back in November, I wrote about a grid-computing project called the World Community Grid. The WCG is a set of servers that distribute small processing jobs to volunteer computers around the world. As a client, you compute small packets of instructions and send the results back to the projects they came from. You are assisting in medical research by providing processing power.

Current projects include (this list is not exhaustive:

- Help Fight Childhood Cancer

- Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy - Phase 2

- FightAIDS@Home

- Help Conquer Cancer

- The Clean Energy Project

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am in no way a philanthropist. I am a cynical, sarcastic, unemotional, overly rational, cold-hearted jerk. I admit it and I like myself that way.

And while I believe that nothing in life is fair, and that operating on the opposite assumption is nothing short of inexcusable naivety, I also believe that we should not be feeding the cycle of injustice if we can help it.

If you have a computer (or two or ten) and you are mostly not using even 30% of the processing cycles at your disposal, there is absolutely no excuse for you not to be running the BOINC client in the background. If and when they cure any of these worldwide issues, you can think to yourself 'maybe some of those processing jobs I did helped do this'. And we can all like ourselves a bit more.

This is how far I have gone since installing the client.

3. My cell phone was stolen in a professionally engineered heist.

World-class con-artists.

Not really. It was just stolen. There is a remote possibility that it fell from my bag and the battery was dislodged in the process. I called it and it was turned off. However, I am pretty confident it is in someone else's possession, and that someone will not call me back or attempt to return it in any way.

I called Rogers, and of course, the cheapest unit they have available for me is for $169, even though I have been with them for over a year, and am on a 3 year contract. That is besides the whopping $40 I will have to pay for their POS SIM card. Thanks for gouging me you pricks.

Well, I won't let them. I am - hopefully - purchasing a pretty impressive unlocked Sony Ericsson W580i tomorrow.

And that's that.

4. New Quest guarantees 100% chance of failure at enrolling into your courses.

University of Waterloo has updated its online course enrollment/personal info management software a few days ago.

The new system is... painfully crappy. Even more so than the old one was.

An interesting piece of trivia is this:

When you add a course and start going through the confirmation process, the system shows this message:

"You have successfully added XYZ 000 to your Shopping Cart" (I know a snapshot would be much better, but the server is down now - yeah, I know - and I don't want to wait. Maybe I will update it later.)

Shopping Cart? Why the hell am I putting my courses in a shopping cart? How much do you think UW will charge me for shipping if I want my courses sent by courier? Do you think they will prompt for my credit card or PayPal login in the end? What the hell! This is ridiculous.

I am not buying special edition Pokemon socks on eBay, I am in university.

Really ridiculous.

5. Last.fm

My user name is thespeckofme. I like looking at other people's music. Voyeur-ish , don't you think? Let me know if you're on last.fm and you are not on my friends list already.

That is all I have to say for today. I really don't like updating this blog once a month or less, but I don't like posting unless I believe I have something useful to say.

Keep getting smarter everyone.

Back to the future: UAE edition. 02a. Pre-Credits Intermission.

My stay in the UAE is coming to an end. I fly from Dubai International Airport in about 12 hours and 10 minutes.

I am preserving any professional - or semi-pofessional - reports on matters observed during my stay in the country for possible publication on my return to Waterloo. Should publication fall through, I’ll post everything here later. Yeah, you’re holding your breath aren’t you.

Excluding my professional notes has cut my post from >1300 words to a few small paragraphs.

It is almost time for me to leave. This trip was full of personal disappointments, and in that, did not disappoint. The real reason I came here is simple really: I wanted to put all the excuses people gave before to the test, and give things and everyone here a second chance, to see if things would turn out better on take two. They didn’t. And I can finally leave this place behind knowing that nothing and no one will change.

It is almost time for me to leave, and it scares me that I do not fully comprehend that what I had impatiently awaited with immeasurable excitement for a year, is all behind me. And the one event I wish occurred, could not have “not-happened” in a worse way. (read that again a few times, it will make sense, eventually).

What awaits me in Waterloo is, in no vague terms, a shitload of work. Well, whatever. I will meet it all with the comatose-like reactions that everyone has come to know and expect of me. It’s comforting isn’t it, when people don’t change.

So, in closing. I don’t know what happens now.

I do know, that I love airports to death.

Back to the future - UAE edition. 01

I wish I had somehow paved the way for the fact that I am currently writing this blog post from a Starbucks in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. (for those of you who are not familiar with the United Arab Emirates, a hint: Dubai is not a country on its own, it belongs to a country).

There are many reasons why I am back in my home country. Sure, I was born in Egypt, and that is where my previous and massive green passport comes from. But I have lived my entire life in the UAE, and it will always be my home country.

Now.

I am here, because I missed it. I missed my sorry pathetic high school. I missed the indoors strolling track that some dub Al Ain Mall. I miss the people and the annoying conservatism and the cheap taxis that can only be used by people who speak the hybrid language of Arabic and Pakistani (maybe I should call is Arabistani).

I am here because I consider the past 2 years to be an experiment. I know how I have changed, and I have changed a lot since high school. But I also want to know how they have changed. I want to know if they have changed.

I am here to collect data on the different groups that have participated in the pre-post study (Pre university admission, post university admission).

I am confident that the results, while disappointing, will not be unexpected. However, being that the data I am trying to collect is qualitative not quantitative, I am trying my best not to let my expectations ruin my judgement and interpretation of what I find.

Al Ain has not changed. I cannot believe this. Everything is exactly the same. The buildings are the same. The streets are the same. Our apartment complex is a carbon copy of how it was 2 years ago when I left it. The people are the same. Those who wander aimlessly in the mall are still the same. The school is... mostly the same.

What happened? Did I only leave 2 weeks instead of 2 years ago? I was expecting a completely different town than the one I left, and instead, things are so similar to how they were 2 years ago that all my routines and classically conditioned behaviors are still valid and usable.

I have been cheated out of my new city.

One thing is different. There is a teacher in my old high school who, not only has a labret piercing, but also a tongue piercing.

Are you reading this? Are you comprehending the nonsensical magnitude of this development? Our principal, who metaphorically gobbles up any homo sapien with a penis caught in the girls’ building has hired a foreign English teacher with a labret and tongue piercings.

My school did the dirty on me and went progressive behind my back. What the fuck. This is not fair. Why couldn’t I have been here for this?

No. I lie. Another thing has changed. Bad things have happened. I’ve been away, and some really good hearts have been broken.

I wish there was a way for me to convince people in high school of this. But being told that you should hang on now, because things will be better soon does not help. I’ve forgotten how high school can so easily chew you up and spit you out, a permanently broken commodity in a world that has no place for damaged goods.

And finally. Prices are up. Waayy up.

I am only on the the 4th of my 30 day trip to Al Ain, and already I have seen and done a lot of things.

Ironically, my primary and most pressing reason for coming here remains unmet, defying my strongest expectations. And that definitely changes a lot.

This is S.S., reporting to you from Al Ain city, in the United Arab Emirates. (video of sand and camels plays while the camera person wraps up).

Holy shit, people are really still the same.

Statistics:...

... how much assuming is too much?

Disclaimer: This post contains some features of a rant. A rant is a non-critical, not completely informed regurgitation of one's thoughts. Usually used as an excretion of volatile emotion, but in this case, it serves to articulate some thoughts that I currently have, and might confirm, modify, or reject later.

For now, take everything you read with a grain of salt.

An observation that dawned on me during my Basic Data Analysis class last Thursday is that, for something as concrete-sounding as statistics, there are many assumptions involved in the theories used in calculations.

Assume that you are testing a small sample of the population of Canada for a variable that you can numerically operationalize (e.g. the number of States/Provinces that they have visited in their life-time, their average hand-span, etc...).

The purpose behind testing your sample is to be able to make some inference or estimation regarding the whole Canadian population based on the sample you have.

The reason you would need to do this is that you cannot possibly measure that variable for each individual in Canada. Or you can, but that would be economically ludicrous, and would be a complete waste of your life.

According to ABCs of stats, you need to collect a sample that is large enough to provide a close enough representation of your entire population. At the same time, you need to implement random selection.

("large enough". Hold that thought.)

Once you have your sample, the easiest part of the process is to measure the variable of choice: Have them write down the number of states they visited, measure their hand-span, or count the number of freckles they have in the second square inch below their right eye (you laugh, but odds are, someone, somewhere, has beat us to this).

You now have raw data, and you need to do something with it.

The most basic calculation you can do at this point is calculate the mean (average).

let No. of freckles = X

Add the number of freckles counted (∑X), divide by the number of people in your sample (N), which gives you the average number of freckles per person (mean).

Now, should you run into your buddy in your friendly neighborhood sports bar and decide that, 3 pitchers and 10 failed pickup attempts later, your idea of charming the hottie sitting alone two stools to your left is telling her that you can accurately estimate the number of freckles on the second square inch below her right eye (I sincerely hope no one ever gets that desperate), this calculation should be sufficient and you should tuck your varsity shirt in, clean up your vomit, and give it your best shot.

However, for all other statistical purposes, the probability of the number of freckles on the second inch bla bla bla on that hottie's face being the exact mean is minuscule. Because, simply put, while this is your best estimate for the number of freckles on someone's face, most people in the population will not have that exact number. As you move away from that mean, the likelihood of them having that many freckles, while never reaching zero, is decreasing.

So statisticians (try saying that 5 times quickly in a row!) decide to devise ways to make some comfortable playing room, a range to your sample mean if you will. And two new terms are born:

Standard deviation (SD) and standard error (SE).

SD, in vague terms, is the measure of how far away the observations are, on average, from the mean (what a horrible sentence), in a population.

SE is the same thing, except in the sample, not the population from which the sample is taken from.

I could show you the actual formulas. In fact, I probably will.

SD:

SE:

Is just the square root of the sample size (N) multiplied by the SD.

In simple English. SD is an estimation, and SE is an estimation of the estimation.

Furthermore, you make another assumption when you are using a sample to infer the distribution of a population, you are assuming that the population follows what is called, a Normal Distribution. Which is a probability distribution that allows you to "imagine" what the distribution of the observations looks like, and estimate from there.

This is what a normal distribution looks like *:

The problem is, depending on your population, your variable might follow the normal distribution...

Distribution of handspans. Population was our class. *

... and it may not.

Distribution of provinces visited. Population was our class. *

And since the whole point is that you don't know the population and you are trying to infer what it looks like, you are taking a risk by assuming that it does follow that distribution.

So far, I have only gone over the building blocks of inferential statistics, and already, we have several assumptions. To summarize:

1. While some formulas exist to help, you are still assuming that your sample size is big enough to provide good representation of your population.
2. The standard deviation is an estimation of where most of the other values that are not the mean will be falling from the mean. With the SD, you are assuming that 68% of the values are falling within 1 SD on either side of the mean, and 95% are falling within 2 SDs away from the mean [Link].
3. You are assuming that the SE, which is an estimation of the estimation, is accurate enough for you to go on.
4. You are assuming that the population follows a normal distribution.

Now, statisticians (10 times, go!) are not r-tards. These theories have proven that they work, mostly. And some could argue that, this is the best we can do. Certainly, there is no way that an amateur 19 year old blogger who is taking a basic data analysis course could poke any valid holes in basic statistical theories.

However, I cannot help but think that, while each of those points are very close in "ballparking" those "estimations", the small differences add up. And once you delve even deeper into more complicates methods, the number of calculations, and inevitably, the number of assumptions, builds up.

This could be my obsession with "beyond a shadow of a doubt", which means that there is nothing for me in the world of statistics. But I'm hooked, and I want more...

* Diagrams used in this post are excerpts from some notes I have from a stats class.

Litmus paper...

...

I very pleasantly discovered that there is a small litmus paper that Apple conveniently placed inside the headphone jack of my iPod Touch, the main purpose of which is to indicate whether any damage incurred by the device was water-induced.

Three guesses as to how and why I found out...

Are you still there? Great.

Yes, you.

I'm glad you're still checking back with - or without - some sort of dwindling hope that the inconsistent writer of this half-assed blog will stop watching House MD long enough to write something of value. Or something at all.

Needless to say, this post has been long overdue. It blows my mind that I wrote much more when my life was mundane, and during the two crammed-with-life-changing-events months, I write nothing.

I guess, I could argue that it was because of the life-changing events that I did not have time to write anything.

But then I would be bullshitting you.

Okay, here goes.

1. New citizenship.

I am finally a Canadian citizen.

This makes me really happy. For those of you who have never gone through this process, there is a big difference between being a citizen of a country because it's where your mother went into labor, and working for it. It feels different. You relate more to the later.

It's like religion. Converts to religions are, on average, much more devout to their new religion than their old ones, and/or than those who were born with/in it.

I had to study for this one. I had to take a test, and there were questions that I was not allowed to miss.

I'm not going to claim that it was brutally hard, the test was easier than I expected. But I didn't know that when I was studying, and I studied a lot, I studied for weeks.

This is not the time nor the place, but at some point, I am going to write about why - with the perspective of seeing and living in other countries and cultures - I believe the Canadian society to be the most supportive, nurturing, and liberating for the individual and the group than any other society I am familiar with.

2. My last official year of adolescence.

I wish I could say that I will be "forever young", but I think that in reality, I am "forever old".

Without prolonged, dramatized storytelling, and without pausing for you to wipe that tear that is starting to form at the corner of your eye: I was never a teenager. I acted 25 at the age of 16. And I am bitter about it. Which would have been even worse...

3. A great beginning for my last official year of adolescence.

... if it wasn't for the fact that I had a really good birthday.*

Those who know me know that I try to hide my birthday from anyone who doesn't already know it and remember it on their own. I never remind people of my birthday, and I remove my date of birth on facebook at least a week ahead of time, and for at least 2 days after. I hate watching people squirm trying to come up with ways to make their "Happy Birthday" sound different than other peoples' "Happy Birthday"s.

The events of my birthday happened in this order:

• I spent the night of, with my girlfriend, who was my ex-girlfriend. We decided to give our relationship a second chance. She was, and is, my first love, and we were together for two and a half years. We came here from the other side of the globe, together. And all of this makes it special no matter what anyone says or does, and it was too special not to deserve another chance. I love her.
• Later, I had lunch with my family in a Chinese buffet restaurant that is more luxurious than I can describe. King's Buffet. The food was nothing short of fantastic. I don't care whether General Tso was a good or a bad person, he had some daaaamn good chicken.
• I went to The Beat Goes On with my brother, just to browse, and ended up finding Ham Fisted and Pack Up the Cats by complete chance, for $6.99 each. What a good, good, day. I am just one CD short of completing my Local H album discography.
• A couple of days after that, my best friend here and another friend got me a present that genuinely left me in shock, amazement, and literal childish joy.

Exhibit A. One Asus Eee Pc. Yes.

• A couple of days after that, my other best friend here got me another present that for reasons of context, will forever be very valuable to me.

Exhibit B. Each one of those stones has a special protective or healing power. I love them for the thought behind them.

• And finally, two of my closest friends called me all the way from the UAE.
  

Even though one thing did leave me heartbroken, what those few people did for me, reinforces my belief that when it comes to interpersonal relationships, the key is: 

quality over quantity.**

4. Imprint

And what blog post is complete without the Imprint insert.

Our Annual General Meeting is coming up, which means that I have a small speech to prepare. I wish I was one of those speakers who could improvise speeches on the go, except that I am not. I have an almost magical ability to compound the simplest statements to a snowballing ticking bomb of eventual embarrassment.

I am not witty. What a tragedy.

That concludes my "coming back for the nth time" post..

Coming soon... The Aftermath (Part 3 of 3)

* Note that I said "really good" not "perfect".

** Am I the only one who is concerned about how sentimental I have been becoming lately?

The Aftermath (Part 2 of 3)...

... and how in many things, less is more.

Having chosen the morning after a sleepless night to begin writing this post, I make no promises with regards to the quality of the end product. I can only say that, if I drink one more cup of coffee, it is very likely that I will throw up, and then collapse.

This installment of "The Aftermath" series should discuss some insights I have had into my social standing, and the changes that will take place with regards to my employment in the next 6 months.

I think I have finally accepted that I will never change my long-held perspective on friends, relationships, and socialization:

quality over quantity.

The acceptance of this ideology is the easy part, coming to terms with the results is the trick.

Sticking to that rule instead of adopting a policy of openness to compromise with people means that the handful of individuals I regard as "friends" will remain just that: a handful; that handful is unlikely to gain members in the near future, and in light of some decisions that I have made after the last few months, there will probably be less of them. 

My own mother has criticized this in me. Back when I still attended church, we argued about why I never socialized with other church-goers, and I would exclaim "Mom. I disagree with almost every normative concept that they believe in. (e.g. sex before marriage, same-sex relationships, church "protocol", tolerance, etc...), how can I socialize with them?" And she would say "You don't have to agree with them to hang out with them, just spend time talking about superficial things!"

I don't know about you, but I need to have a similar understanding of basic human rights, responsibilities, and ideals to be able to socialize with anyone, regardless of the depth or superficiality of the discussion.

So, with that in mind, and for the sake of simplicity, aggregated in point form, here are some things I am resolved to do or change under the "social" category from now on:

1. Be more blunt and less (fake) nice.
2. Start making decisions with "me" in mind before "they" and "them". And before any other entity that exists in my life. Save for those who have really earned making compromises for.
3. Be less impulsive.
4. Be more spontaneous.

And eventually that means that I am walking out on any endeavor, and all those affiliated with it, that demands more time, effort, and/or involvement than it warrants or deserves.

Financially, the plan is to keep my monthly balance at a surplus. Under worst case scenario, break even.

Income:

• Distribution job with Imprint. It's no golden goose, but for a few hours, for one day a week, it's decent.
• Research Assistance. With pay this time.

Expenses:

• Let's not talk about it.

In order for this to work, I need to keep record of every transaction that takes place. Down to the penny.

Fortunately, personal financial managing software is not that difficult to find. Yes, "free" and "Mac OS X" boxes checked.

After trying out a few options, the best candidate was Buddi.

It allows you to add as many accounts as you want, under Expense or Income and with categories of savings, investment, salary, cash, credit, loan, etc... Entering transactions is fairly simple, and you can compile reports and pie-charts of your spending habits, what you spend most on, what you spend least on, and your top expenses on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis.

It has the perfect balance between features and simplicity.

The biggest problem that I have faced when I tried this before, is being able to keep track of every transaction I performed, and then enter it in an orderly fashion at the end of every day. Sometimes, you will grab a cup of coffee somewhere, spent $1.08 and drop the change in a donation box, and by the time you are home, or anywhere with a pen and a paper, you would have forgotten what you spent. And in order for this to work, I need to keep track of everything.

Well, it will be interesting to see how Take 2 will work out.

And, that's enough from me.

The Award for Most Boring Post of this blog goes to...

___________ Year.

Let's play fill in the blanks...

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008.

11:54 p.m.

Thursday, January 1st, 2009.

12:03 a.m.

new |n(y)oō|adjective1 not existing before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or nowfor the first time : new crop varieties | this tendency is not new | [as n. ] (the new) a fascinating mix of the old and the new.

Change of vision...

... today, this blog had a purpose.

The Aftermath (Part 1 of 3)...

... and what I am doing with it.

Finals are over, and so it the 10-day period of recovery in which your sleep schedule thinks it is going to fix itself after the chaos of finals, but instead decides to stay as messed up as it was, for different reasons.

I never really went (back?) to a normal sleep schedule. It all goes back to my obsessive terror of wasting my life away if I end up sleeping more than I do now. That horror does not make much sense since I think my life is leaking away at an alarmingly accelerating rate, for other reasons. But I still fear the few hours I spend asleep with not much productivity coming out of it.

I spent the first 2 nights of freedom backing up my data, installing my new 320 GB internal HDD, and restoring all my data and reinstalling all my applications.

The lack of storage space has been crippling me for the past two months (MacBook, with an 80 GB drive). I deleted all that I could off it, keeping copies of everything on my external drive, until all that was left was my music library, and I could not delete that, since I need all of it with me, at all times. So the result was me running on a few hundred MBs of free space, and having to restart every day to clear out the accumulating temp files and caches (which build up pretty quickly on Mac OS for some reason).

Installing an internal hard drive on a MacBook could not be easier, all you need is a T8 screwdriver (head) for the screws that hold the drive to the internal protective shield. And presto, done in 10 minutes + time offs to wash my hands (around three times).

I paid Canadian Tire a visit to grab the screwdriver, and to my astonishment, they were out of it. All models of the T8 were out of stock. I ended up buying this instead:

I need a better camera.

This is the most all-inclusive screwdriver (heads) set I have ever seen. I'm glad the standalone T8s were all gone. The list of heads is...

This guide covers pretty much everything you need to know to replace your hard drive yourself.

(this applies to White/Black MacBooks, I don't know about the new silver ones, or the Pros).

Now that I have a lot of playing room on my drive, I can start going through the massive list of music I have been wanting to listen to.

I am listening to entire discographies. Top recommendations (so far):

Oomph! [another link]: German industrial metal band. These guys pretty much started the genre. Need I say more?

Best albums: Wunschkind, Unrein, Ego, GlaubeLiebeTod, and Monster.

Another band I highly recommend is Tiamat. I have only listened to their album Amanethes, so this is not a highly reliable recommendation, but they definitely seem to be on to something.

I was also able to install Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex on a dual boot on my MacBook.

(A guide can be found here).

I don't know if I will ever get to make full use of it. Wireless connection worked right out of the box on this one, that definitely brought a few metaphorical tears to my eyes, and I know it comes with many utilities and applications pre-installed and ready to go. However, I cannot seem to shake off the perfect convenience of using Mac OS X.

Ubuntu exploration then, will be pending presence of excess amounts of free time.

I guess that's not going to happen then.

Another geeky goal of mine is reached. Dual screens with my laptop:

Yes, definitely need a better camera.

The office was replacing all the CRTs we had with LCDs. I wrote my name on this one to reserve it until I could pick it up later and take it to my place. That was about a year ago.

I finally managed to get a ride to campus and back (thanks Mom!), and with the purchase of a ridiculously overpriced mini DVI to VGA converter plug, I was ready to go.

I will admit, CRT image quality is shit. But I am not complaining too much, I got the screen for free, and I don't plan on using it for much work. I'll probably dedicate it to iTunes, a movie to play in the background while I work, or any other windows I like to keep an occasional eye on (file transfer windows, BOINC software, etc...)

All in all. Dragging windows from one screen to the other, is very cool.

This concludes the first installment of The Aftermath series of posts.

Next up: Social life. What happened, and what is to come, in the context of employment and approaching change of residence. 

* I apologize for the massive amount of links I have in this post. But I am going into the business of providing people with the best guides for specific things I spent hours looking into.

Helps save time, you see.

All you have to do...

... is leave your computer ON.

Do you have that in you? Don't be lazy. Lives could be changed by this.

This project provides you with software that you run on your computer free of charge. What it does is use some of the unused processor resources that are wasted to perform calculations and rendering necessary for research in fields like:

1. HIV/AIDS research.
2. Cancer.
3. Climate change.
4. Providing aid and food to nations in need.

And if that is not enough for you, here's why you should do this (more details):

1. You won't even notice it's there.
2. Watching the progress of your work units, and accumulating points for contributing in research is very rewarding.
3. You can control how much processor time and power it uses, you can keep it at less than 40% and still get research done. And bandwidth use is next to nothing.
4. It will help people.

And once you sign up, join the University of Waterloo team - or any other team that you relate to.

Please. Do this. It costs nothing, save for your hydro bill, but you never turn your computer off anyway, so why not leave it on for a good reason? And you can do anything else you want to while the software works in the background (you can also stop it whenever you feel like it, and you can tell it not to run when you are on battery power). You can customize it however way you want.

BOINC software does not interfere with MSN, Facebook, or porn. You are out of excuses.

Go. [World Community Grid - Home].

Warning: This could possibly get your computer to overheat. Default settings for the software are set to minimize that risk. However, if you feel that your computer is overheating (fan is too loud, laptop is a lot warmer than it usually is, etc.) tone the settings down a bit.

What works for me (Intel MacBook, 1 Gb RAM, 1.8 GHz):

• 40% CPU time
• 100% processor power

The fans are going on around 5800 rpm, but that's fine by me.

Paradise Lost...

... [listen to the song.]

"Xavier" (6:04)

Fair Roseanna, your vagrancy's a familiar tale

Fraught with danger, the lives you led were judged profane

Hatred enfolds us

Inculcates the minds with its heresy

Laymen enfold us

Clemency arrives to set you free

Faith.

Although Xavier has prayed

That life giving waters may rain

Down on the souls of man

To cure them all of their ways

These were the sins of Xavier's past

Hung like jewels in the forest of veils

Freedom so hard when we are all bound by laws

Etched in the seam of natures own hand

Unseen by all those who fail in their pursuit of faith

Although Xavier has prayed

That life giving waters may rain

Down on the souls of man

To cure them all of their ways

And as the night turns into day

Will the sun illuminate your way

Or will the nightmares come home to stay

Xavier's love lies in chains...

These were the sins of Xavier's past

Hung like jewels in the forest of veils

(Cover of Dead Can Dance)

© 2008 Paradise Lost, all rights reserved.

Posting for the sake of...

... friendship, fairness, and fate.

You’ve got to love a job that will let you blog during your free time.

Someone who is very special to me called me up today. Granted, that someone is on the other side of the globe, and I cannot describe how much that frustrates me, but I’m pretty confident that we have not seen the end of each other just yet.

So, one of Скарлєт's (Scarlette's) many ways of showing me her love and care is yelling at me for not updating my blog frequently enough. And I promised that I would post an update tonight.

The things I get myself into.

Committing to making a post on a specific day is always problematic. I usually tend to write when I have something that deserves writing about, not because I have a deadline.

It so happens, however, that I have had something on my mind in the past few days that could just be a perfect topic to write about.

Disclaimer: The opinions to follow are my personal thoughts and inclinations, are affected by my normative biases, and in no way represent those of Imprint, any of the members of Imprint, or its Board of Directors.

University of Waterloo has - almost surely - decided to erect its very first international satellite campus. In Dubai.

This “decision” has sparked controversy all over campus, and amongst many people, for many different reasons.

Being that I have been a resident of the United Arab Emirates (the country no one knew about till approximately 4 days ago, which happens to include Dubai as one of its Emirates) for 15 years of my life, I have been asked to give my opinion and input on a discussion panel held by Imprint regarding this issue.

But, what issue, you would ask. UW is a very respectable university, and Dubai is one of the - if not the - most progressive and industrial cities/city in the Middle East, and one that already has several satellite campuses that belong to many prestigious western countries.

It’s a match made in heaven.

Not quite.

While Dubai is more progressive than almost all other cities in the Gulf Area, and most certainly more than any other region in the UAE, that is like saying that Coptic Orthodox Christians are more progressive than Quakers: just because they have accepted the use of the internet (and that depends on which Coptic priest you speak to, really) does not mean that they have reached the pinnacle of tolerance and open-mindedness.

So, Dubai is bright in comparison to the rest of its peers, but does not come close in its level of democracy and liberalism to the levels that Canadians have come to know and love.

Those levels of conservatism and rigidness are manifest in two areas that would matter most to potential university students and staff members:

1. Freedom of expression. Freedom of the media. Debate. Criticism of the government or the political establishment. Police discretion and power. etc.

2. Romantic and intimate relationships. Intimacy in public places, be it hetero- or homosexual. Of course, homosexual relationships are - publicly - forbidden. The homosexual issue is more complicated, and will be approached later. For now, and in the interest of simplicity, let’s just say that homosexual practices are met with zero tolerance.

So, we have established that the average Canadian citizen will have to make significant compromises in their life style should they attend the to-be Dubai campus.

The level and severity of compromise could differ greatly from one person to the next. A person from the LGBT community might not mind abstaining from homosexual relations during their stay on the Dubai campus, but might be affected by the high level of censorship and conservatism. And, of course, vice versa.

One argument - and one that I would make too - is, bluntly and crudely: “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”

While I - and the majority of UW students and staff members - strongly disagree with the laws and policies implemented in Dubai, and the UAE, respecting the country’s sovereignty and its right to enforce its legislature is inarguably a must.

If you don't like the way it is, don't go.

Such is the case with tourism: you don’t expect to act or be treated the way you were used to back home, you adapt to the way things are in the host country.

Therefore, as long as no UW student/staff member is forced or prohibited from transferring to the Dubai campus, and all other requirements fulfilled, I don’t see where the problem is.

Another argument that was raised, however, could possibly defeat the one mentioned above. And it is one that applies to UW staff members.

It could be argued that transferring to the Dubai campus would constitute, in some instances, a form of promotion or career development, and being denied that because of one’s refusal to compromise their rights would be in violation of university policies.

I can’t discuss that argument much, since I don’t have sufficient knowledge on the subject to critically analyze it. Furthermore, I don’t think anyone else does, being that we don’t exactly know how the UW Board of Directors is going to handle the matter of staff employment and possible transfer in/to the Dubai campus.

As for the homosexual question that constitutes a major part of the discussion, an “insider” explanation is due:

The UAE, and implicitly Dubai, cater to one of the biggest and most prevalent homosexual scenes in the world.

All unofficially and under the table, of course.

I would argue that over 60% of the students in my high school class (all males) in Al Ain (a city that is several times more conservative than Dubai) have indulged in consistent and consensual same-sex intercourse, with several partners. And I would be right.

So, if the question is:

Q: Will one be able to have/maintain same-sex relationships on the Dubai satellite campus?

A: Absolutely, should you be smart enough about it.

Q: Will the authorities be okay with it?

A: No.

Q: So what do I do?

A: Don't go on gay pride parades, and you should be fine.

On a more serious note, should the satellite campus be built, and should students and staff members transfer to said satellite: be discreet. Don't be stupid. They will let you be if you are walking by the wall.

In other news: Americans...

Don't let us down tomorrow.

Because it's your decision. And whichever way you go - especially if you go Republican...

... don't you fucking dare complain later.

Today's word of wisdom...

... is brought to you by the sitcom, Becker.

Becker is my all-time favourite television series, mainly because of Becker's character (explanation below).

This is from the pilot episode.

First, a short synopsis that will help put things into perspective.

Becker is a doctor who works in the Bronx. The fact that he had graduated from Harvard means that he has some mysterious reason to be working in a private practice in the Bronx, a practice that is mainly not very profitable compared to what he could do with his Harvard degree.

That mysterious reason gradually turns out to be his desire to help people who are in need and cannot sometimes afford good medical help.

That is very inconsistent being that Becker's character in the show is a very angry and cynical one. He is constantly complaining about everything that happens around him, and is known to be very pessimistic about any event that he experiences.

He is really, really, cynical and sarcastic.

I love his character.

In this episode, one of the patients in Becker's clinic is an HIV-positive little boy. Becker is having a conversation with the child's mother, and he is informing her that he cannot provide the care that her son, MJ, needs in his clinic, that he has signed her son up to an advanced treatment program in a hospital, and that she would not have to worry about the costs for treatment, since that will be taken care of (he doesn't tell her that he is planning to pay for the program with his own money).

Mother: Jesus blessed us when he sent MJ to you.

And here's the passage that blew my mind away.

Becker: “Yeah, Jesus, right, uh, you gonna talk to him you might wanna leave my name out of it, we don’t exactly have a great working relationship. You gotta admit that if he’s really sitting up there watching us, I think he fell asleep at the wheel, you know, I mean, how else could you explain how a disease like this could slip through the cracks.”

The headline...

... is only half the story.

Actually, most of the time, it is not even remotely close to the real content of the story.

Hi.

In the whirlwind that has been my life for the past three weeks, countless times I had planned to put my affairs in order and post something, but that becomes a very challenging task to do after spending three hours doing Russian homework.

Naturally, so much has happened since the last time I made a post, and I am hoping that not too much damage has been done to this blog due to the recent hiatus.

First of all, here's your "moment of zen":

Someone back from the place I cautiously call home has been paying some visits to my blog. I get a lot of visits from the UAE, so nothing special so far, except that - as you can probably tell from my ever so subtle highlighting in the screenshot - that amusing visitor had decided that the first thing they would do, would be to search for the keyword "nude"...

I don't know what exactly on my blog would give anyone the impression that I am sponsoring material that caters to the needs of adult entertainment seekers. I know that in my quest to provide you with all that is interesting and geeky, things get a bit racy sometimes, but I have never made any claims of hosting any visually explicit substance.

(Now that I mention it, stay tuned for my new production "Hot MacBook on MacBook Action Part 2: Lusty Laptops in Lingerie.")

Unless. Unless the caption in my blog header photo gave them some ideas...

I'd rather they were just looking for some PG13 photos. I'd like to think that there is still some common knowledge that everyone must share. And in my elitist cranium, the definition of "common knowledge" means that everyone must be familiar with famous quotes about Soviet Russia.

Imprint.

Lots going on.

Courses.

A lot more is going on.

Social life/entertainment

*chirp chirp*

Politics.

To be honest, I am not sure what to think of Canadians voting for another conservative minority government. Not only is Stephen Harper "serving" as Prime Minister for another term, the conservatives have more seats in Parliament that before.

I am disappointed, there's no question about that. I very strongly disagree with so much of their policies and general moral stands in society. However, I am comforted by the fact that it could have been much worse.

It could be the US.

It was only when Jon Stewart compared Canadian Conservatives to an American "Nader gay fans for peace" group (as in, our conservatives are their ultra-liberals, for those who are unfamiliar with North American politics), that I realized that to some extent, things will be okay.

Which brings me to the closing statement of this post:

To all of those who are: 1) American 2) Eligible and registered to vote:

I beg you. No, I implore you. For the sake of all that is pretty and innocent in this world. For the sake of every puppy and hamster that has ever lived...

Please, do not give the presidency to McCain/Palin.

They terrify me, they do. And what terrifies me even more is that there is a chance that the majority of the vote would be in their favor.

I mean, really, what excuse do you have? You chose W. over Gore in 2000. Four years later, you again choose W. over Kerry.

Another four years of abysmal performance follow, that leave W. with current support ratings of 27%.

And now, you are presented with the most incompetent, backward, unbelievable, utterly ridiculous Republican presidential candidate/running mate.

I am not vouching for Obama, and I am not saying he is the manifestation of Jesus in his second coming, but whatever he is, he has got to be better than Idiot Maverick and that Airhead that can see Russia from her house (that's a lie, by the way, she can't, due to a funny thing I call THE CURVATURE OF THE EARTH. And distance).

Please, save yourself. And save us too. Go vote. Vote Democrats.

Till later.

Irresponsible Media...

... kills.

I first read about this on Gizmodo.com.

A 16 year old Indian girl commited suicide due to the rumors being spread about the Large Hadron [Update: I swear the typo was by accident] Collider creating a black hole that is going to kill us all.

First of all, reading readers' comments on the story was as sickening as it was just unbelievable:

As much as I wish I had gone to computer/software science/engineering for my career - I love programming, but I know I don't have a future in it - I am relieved to know that I have missed out on the company of these fine fellows. And while I am generally against stereotyping people, it is my general impression that most CS folks I have met are lacking in general courtesy and the minimum required levels of compassion.

But douchebag-ness is not the purpose behind my post today.

The purpose is to revisit a topic that I have discussed several times before in conversations with others, and one that has always had a strong impression on me.

And that is the danger of close-mindedness and enforced ignorance leading to the development of people who are very impressionable and are at-risk of manipulation.

In this case, the poor girl was subjected to a barrage of false and ill-researched reports from the Indian media, all claiming that once the LHC is activated, and in no exaggerated terms, the world would come to an end.

The girl is not the only person who believes that: in that area of India, almost everyone is spending days and nights in temples praying to god for mercy and salvation. She just took it one step further.

Of course, we here, don't know, or don't care.

But this is a horrible situation. While the world prepares - and stumbles - to undertake what some describe as the greatest science experiment of our time, people in other areas of the world believe it to be a demonic plan that will bring about the apocalypse.

Why? Because of the lethal mix of misinformation and lack of critical thinking.

The Indian media was (or maybe still is) unanimous in its impression that this is a catastrophe waiting to happen, which would explain the girl's deep conviction of the imminent death that awaits us all. However, she then refused to listen to others who told her that she shouldn't worry about that. I am not saying she should have taken their word for granted either, but anybody should have "researched" this more before swallowing pesticides to end their life, a most excruciating death.

I put "researched" in quotation marks because I realize that that place is probably in a remote area that is surely lacking in the latest facilities someone would use to "research".

But the lack of critical thinking is still there.

And that is what I observed back when I used to live in the United Arab Emirates.

[Disclaimer: I am not targeting the United Arab Emirates, Arabs, or any group of people under an ethnic or religious affiliation with my discussion, I am merely reporting what I experienced in my life].

The people I was surrounded with (to an extent. many others I know are as intelligent and progressive as could be) in the UAE are an example - albeit a much milder one - of this phenomenon. The UAE is a country in which free speech and honest debate are hindered, almost nullified, by tradition and censorship. Even my valedictorian speech had to be pre-approved by the principal, and additional references to specific important people (a.k.a owners) of the school were requested. The fact that I did not provide the version I was going to actually read is besides the point, since I broke the "rules".

People are constantly told what to think, how to act, what to say, and what to be very careful about approaching in conversation. Internet access is censored, sometimes to preposterous levels.

Combine that with media that is (un)intentionally misleading, or controlled by the government, or religious groups, and what do you get? Flocks of sheep.

At least what the girl believed was somewhat (I highly stress "somewhat") realistic. I will never forget some of the "news" that spread in a matter of hours, and was taken as truth that could not be contested.

I will never forget the day a boy showed up to class with a list printed off the internet. The list was of Pokémon names (remember Pokemon? good times). The list apparently detailed how every name of every Pokémon translated to an insult against Islam or the Prophet.

Or how all of a sudden a nationwide boycott of PEPSI was in effect, because apparently it stands for: Pay Every Penny Save Israel. Or how Coca Cola was "No god, no Mohammed" written in arabic, backwards.

For those who are currently exclaiming: "COME ON!!" I reply: I shit you not. This happened for real.

And on and on it goes.

And maybe PEPSI did indeed stand for what they thought it did, who cares!? It tastes great and owns Coke any day, and the value of 1 AED is insignificant anyway. My point is that no one questioned what they heard. No one thought: "HEY. Wait a minute. Why don't I stop acting like a brainless monkey and find some proof that this isn't just some craptastic Anti-American or Anti-Israeli propaganda?"

One reason they didn't do so, is that it agrees with their previous beliefs. They despise Israel from the deepest corners of their hearts, and they're not exactly America's biggest fans either. In fact, I think they would probably still go with it even if they knew it was just propaganda. It's called confirmation bias.

Everyone just bought it.

While the case of the Indian girl's suicide is not due to propaganda, it was influenced almost completely by misinformation that was publicized unanimously, and went unchecked.

I wonder when the media and their subsequent sponsors will realize how big an impact they actually have on people. I used to be Assistant Science Editor in Imprint, and I know how tricky it is sometimes to get accurate technical data (never mind changing science stories to fear-mongering), but you still did your best to get it as perfectly as you could.

Maybe the Indian media could take some lessons from Imprint volunteers?

Tailspin Tragedies I...

... snippets of tragedy for your consideration.

I am caught in the crossfire between stereotypes that surround males.. and not living up to them.

A Gift...

... from a homeless dood.

Yes, today marks a new pinnacle in my life as an appreciated philanthropist.

Today, a homeless dood has shown me his gratitude by giving me... a box of mints.

The box is far more valuable than appearances let on, it's one of those Starbucks After-coffee Mints that are sold for three thousand dollars a pop or something.

Why anyone would be so terribly lacking in mental faculties as to want to get rid of the erotic after-taste of coffee by taking mints is beyond me. Certainly irrelevant to this post.

But all jokes aside, the real value of this box lies in the gesture. And for you to understand that, I must tell the details.

This man, whom we shall from now on call H-Dood, has started frequenting my - and by 'my' I mean where I work - Subway on a regular basis for the past week or so. Except, as his official state is 'homeless', he is always accompanied by alternating men, all of whom are well-dressed, and pay for his meal. My guess is that he stays next to an office building in Uptown, and asks for food instead of money. People who pass by get encouraged by the fact that he seeks nutrition, not liquor, and buy him a meal at the store.

And as fate would have it, I am his usual server whenever he comes in.

Today, he comes into the store with a new unknown suit-ed company executive or what have you, and has a sub. Except this time, when he walks in and sees me, a smile stretches across his face, he points at me, and while I can't remember what he said verbatim, it was to the effect that I was his friend and we were "comrades" in a way.

Later, during one of his many daydream-filled pauses during eating, he gets up and walks over to the counter and hands me the box, says something unintelligible and goes back to his table. I assumed he was asking me to remove the plastic wrapping from around the box, and sure enough, it is so tough I had to resort to the use of a knife. When I tried to give it back to him, he says "No man, that is a gift!"

Several questions will remain unanswered: how did he gain possession of a Starbucks After-coffee mint box? What was he doing in Starbucks to begin with?

In answer to question 2, I would guess that he was taken there by one of his many sponsors, and as to how he gained possession of the box, I guess they bought it for him. No, I don't think he stole it.

Point is, no matter how he got it, anything is of value when your resources are depleted. And he still gave me an unopened, untouched box of Starbucks mints, something I wouldn't - and have previously decided not to - buy for myself.

Just when I thought I could finally perfect the cynical cocoon in which I would hide for the rest of my life...
I'm close though... just a step or two more.