30th
June
2008
Our camping inventory is complete. This afternoon we treated ourselves to a shopping tour in our favourite tent and poncho shops, and came away with one small treat bag. Inside, the ultimate weapon in our assault of the outdoors: solar-powered mosquito repellers. Imagine, in a world where high-tech can solve anything, we’ve found something completely unforeseen.
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posted in food |
29th
June
2008
Everyone needs a dream. Proof: someone in proximity just told the world that the “dream of a clean house” is check and mate over everything else in the game. My own dreams are not as practical, but I’m not giving up on them, just yet.
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posted in education |
28th
June
2008
In a world where criminals are constantly “looking out” for other people’s money, security is the foundation of life on the Internet. How often are we told to protect our identity? To keep our passwords complex and hidden from others? To watch out for anything that seems “not right”? After all, if you leave your valuables in plain view, someone else will be the richer for your error.
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posted in computing |
27th
June
2008
There once were two sisters. The first, older and wiser and prettier, found herself under the shadow of the second, who was infinitely more worldly and famous. No matter how hard the first sister (let’s call her Quebec) tried, everyone continued to remark on how the second sister (let’s call her Montreal) was superior in all that mattered.
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posted in media, politics |
26th
June
2008
Banking machines are one of the better conveniences of the last quarter-century. In fact, they rank right up there with the microwave oven, if you want to rank things by time saved per operation. Usually. Back BC (before children), banks had tellers and lines and no interbranch capability for those of us in the pay envelope class. Cash ruled, and if you ran out you were poor folk, or someone with a chequebook and lots of trusting acquaintences. Now we stand before the altar, make hand signals and wait for a set of almost identical banknotes to deslot.
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posted in economy |
25th
June
2008
There’s just over a week to go before B-day, where the B stands for bells. On July 3rd, the invitation has gone out to over 400 municipalities in Canada to help celebrate the quadricentennial here in Quebec City by ringing their bells. In particular, those that hide away inside church spires. This city has too many for me to count, but when you’re in party mode, the more the merrier.
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posted in environment |
24th
June
2008
This house is paid for, time to start dreaming of something bigger. Tonight, somewhere in the “Oil Patch”, someone has realized that their house just isn’t fancy enough to reflect all that money coming in. But, seriously, how do you decide that you need this property? From the report on CBC, the mortgage alone might be enough to “make you want to kill yourself”.
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posted in economy |
23rd
June
2008
Even though the media can’t repeat what he said, the word was out; George Carlin has gone to find out if the “Invisible Guy” really does exist. For those of us that first learned about commercial humour from a friend’s vinyl library, he was one in a million. Irreverent jokes do have a place; otherwise he wouldn’t have marked our collective psyche as he did. George, you’ve left the party far too early.
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posted in music |
22nd
June
2008
Gadgets make the world go round. I have no empirical evidence, but it does make sense. Otherwise, why would acquiring some new toy bring that rush of pleasure; there’s probably genetic coding. Anyhow, this weekend I made the impulsive purchase of a TV tuner for a laptop. The USB stick kind, as recently reviewed in Linux Journal. There were a couple in stock at our local “Store For Tomorrow”, and the price (a ferry wharf, aka the Borden) didn’t elicit a gasp across the table, so we were customers.
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posted in technology |
21st
June
2008
I’ve tried to find the proper analogy; farm team, summer camp, amateur night, little brother. None fit the situation for the start of yet another season of Canadian (Eh!) Idol. I mean, we know that there is a ton of talent up here in the wilderness, but any time a team from “the big town that wants to be the next American City”, aka Toronto, takes over…
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posted in Idol |
