Well, if you are, might I then persuade you to watch the following clip ?

Alright then, if you’ve got Friday sorted out, I hope you are having a lovely Saturday !

Some one my Facebook mentioned that she was going to spend her Friday night with her husband at the laundromatt. She didn’t go into further details but I guess it is best to leave it to one’s imagination.
I had a load of washing to do yesterday but I however decided to put it off for later. I’ve never been to the laundry room on Friday nights and I decided that I rather keep myself in suspense about whatever goes on in the laundry room on Friday nights.
Whenever I go down to the laundry room, I find it empty – ofcourse because I like to do my laundry on the weekdays. Yep, just me and that lonely old spider sitting in its web on a corner. You know… I’ve never seen that spider move from that spot since I noticed it.

$1.75 to wash and $1.00 to dry for half-hour if you were wondering.

Some of you may remember my fondness for British sitcoms. I especially like those that have scenes that are shot outside in open air. So, two weeks ago, I decided to watch once again, the antics of Mrs. Bucket in “Keeping Up Appearances”.
Well, I couldn’t stop after watching just one episode, so I watched another and another and by last weekend I had already watched all 45 episodes from all the 5 seasons !

After that I began “One Foot in the Grave”. I only could watch a few episodes because you see, like Victor Mildrew, I don’t have much to do these days … and so, in a weird way I began to relate myself to Victor and stopped when one night I thought to myself, “That could be me in the next X years !”

4291 ?

Now I am watching “Are You being Served ?” The clip you just watched shows Mollie Sugden and John Inman in the episode, “The Apartment”.
My brother doesn’t like the opening theme (Or in his words, “ka-ching-ma-jig”). He says it gives him “the shudders”. So, he was glad when he heard a different theme when I loaded the sequel, “Grace and Favour”. Now that series has a few exterior shots and I’ll be watching it tomorrow.

If you find yourself in the eastern part of the continent, aren’t you loving this weather ? The days are not very humid and the nights are especially cool ! It is unusual for this time of the year. Otherwise, I’d be complaining about the humidity and how much I sweat !

On days like these I like to put in atleast one hour of walking to my routine. But yesterday, I woke up telling myself that I should take it up a notch and do a 5 km walk.
The first ½ km was warming up and it was rather a bad start but by 3 km I was on “the high” and I was especially happy when my heart rate was still normal.

But sadly I gave up 290 meters short of my goal. But I made it the rest of the way and beyond … by taking a bus.

Now excuse me… I need to cool off my screaming feet !

Update: My parents called yesterday and they said ‘Ismail’ was taking an 800km journey by train to Jaipur with his friend. They had hardly travelled 60km from home and he suddenly didn’t feel well. When he collapsed his friend pulled the chain but by the time it stopped he was already gone.

Now because this happened on the Railways, there was an investigation and his body was held by the Coroner’s office who concluded that he had died of a heart attack.

Note 2: I am aware this page does not render properly on Internet Explorer and Firefox 2. I am in no mood to fix that right now. However, stay tuned for upcoming changes.

I have been a *nix user for around 8 years – and in that time I have tried various flavours of Linux and only 2 years ago I decided to try out FreeBSD. Well, one reason I can do that is they are all absolutely free ! Download – Burn to a CD – Boot from CD – Install !

FreeBSD is a descendant of another operating system called BSD (short for Berkley Software Distribution), that was developed at the University of California, Berkley in the 80’s. BSD itself was based on the original UNIX developed by AT&T in the 70’s.
Today BSD’s descendants work behind the scenes powering servers such as Yahoo! and Hotmail, as well as providing core technologies for Apple’s MacOSX.

BSD’s mascot, was Beastie the Daemon pictured above. They chose a Demon, because the processes that work in the background when the computer is running are called “Daemons”. (Note the Spelling !)
(Windows users need not be alarmed as these processes are simply called “services”.
However Mac OS X, being a Unix system, has daemons)

Why does Beastie wear tennis shoes ? I don’t know. However, I want to share with you a story I only came across recently. You may or may not have come across it but I think it’ll give you a chuckle.

Newsgroups: alt.humor.best-of-usenet
Subject: [comp.org.usenix] A Great Daemon Story
From: Rob Kolstad
Newsgroups: comp.org.usenix
Subject: A Great Daemon Story

Linda Branagan is an expert on daemons. She has a T-shirt that sports the daemon in tennis shoes that appears on the cover of the 4.3-BSD manuals and “The Design and Implementation of the 4.3-BSD UNIX Operating System” by S. Leffler, M. McKusick, M. Karels, J. Quarterman, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA 1989.

She tells the following story about wearing the 4.3-BSD daemon T-shirt:

Last week I walked into a local ‘‘home style cookin’ restaurant/watering hole’’ in Texas to pick up a take-out order. I spoke briefly to the waitress behind the counter, who told me my order would be done in a few minutes.

So, while I was busy gazing at the farm implements hanging on the walls, I was approached by two ‘‘natives.’’ These guys might just be the original Texas rednecks.

‘‘Pardon us, ma’am. Mind if we ask you a question?’’

Well, people keep telling me that Texans are real friendly, so I nodded.

‘‘Are you a Satanist?’’

Well, at least they didn’t ask me if I liked to party.

‘‘Uh, no, I can’t say that I am.’’

‘‘Gee, ma’am. Are you sure about that?’’ they asked.

I put on my biggest, brightest Dallas Cowboys cheerleader smile and said, ‘‘No, I’m positive. The closest I’ve ever come to Satanism is watching Geraldo.’’

‘‘Hmmm. Interesting. See, we was just wondering why it is you have the lord of darkness on your chest there.’’

I was this close to slapping one of them and causing a scene—then I stopped and noticed the shirt I happened to be wearing that day. Sure enough, it had a picture of a small, devilish-looking creature that has for some time now been associated with a certain operating system. In this particular representation, the creature was wearing sneakers.

They continued: ‘‘See, ma’am, we don’t exactly appreciate it when people show off pictures of the devil. Especially when he’s lookin’ so friendly.’’

These idiots sounded terrifyingly serious.

Me: ‘‘Oh, well, see, this isn’t really the devil, it’s just, well, it’s sort of a mascot.

Native: ‘‘And what kind of football team has the devil as a mascot?’’

Me: ‘‘Oh, it’s not a team. It’s an operating—uh, a kind of computer.’’

I figured that an ATM machine was about as much technology as these guys could handle, and I knew that if I so much as uttered the word ‘‘UNIX’’ I would only make things worse.

Native: ‘‘Where does this satanical computer come from?’’

Me: ‘‘California. And there’s nothing satanical about it really.’’

Somewhere along the line here, the waitress noticed my predicament—but these guys probably outweighed her by 600 pounds, so all she did was look at me sympathetically and run off into the kitchen.

Native: ‘‘Ma’am, I think you’re lying. And we’d appreciate it if you’d leave the premises now.’’

Fortunately, the waitress returned that very instant with my order, and they agreed that it would be okay for me to actually pay for my food before I left. While I was at the cash register, they amused themselves by talking to each other.

Native #1: ‘‘Do you think the police know about these devil computers?’’

Native #2: ‘‘If they come from California, then the FBI oughta know about ’em.’’

They escorted me to the door. I tried one last time: ‘‘You’re really blowing this all out of proportion. A lot of people use this ‘kind of computers.’ Universities, researchers, businesses. They’re actually very useful.’’

Big, big, big mistake. I should have guessed at what came next.

Native: ‘‘Does the government use these devil computers?’’

Me: ‘‘Yes.’’

Another big boo-boo.

Native: ‘‘And does the government pay for ’em? With our tax dollars?’’

I decided that it was time to jump ship.

Me: ‘‘No. Nope. Not at all. Your tax dollars never entered the picture at all. I promise. No sir, not a penny. Our good Christian congressmen would never let something like that happen. Nope. Never. Bye.’’

Texas. What a country.

As a fellow Hamiltonian I feel it is my duty to report the origin of the ice-cream trucks, so we can get the best cones first !

On Gray’s Rd. near Hwy 8

Have you got your Loonie on hand ? Hehehe… Ready ?

¡¡¡ Ice Cream !!!

I become such a kid when I hear the ice-cream truck jingle at this time of the year.

See what I mean ?

1. It takes you almost nine hours to update your package-tracking database
2. You promise me that my Registered Letter Mail from Hamilton to Toronto would reach in 3 business days – it is 10 days now and there is still no sign of it.
3. You lost my Registered Letter Mail – when I filed an inquiry, you tried to somehow put the blame on the recipient.
4. Only after my trip to one of your outlets, I learn on the CBC that your union is on strike ! Next time – put a big banner over the bureau saying that there is a strike and mail won’t be delivered – so I can save my arse from an impending deadline !
5. You told me that my package bound internationally would take 10 business days – it took 14 days to just get out of Canada !
6. Why do you need to force a 280mm × 210mm magazine into a 100mm × 140mm × 350mm box ? I would gladly take the delivery notice card and walk to the post office and pick it up in mint condition.
7. You lost my greeting card to a friend wishing him Happy Holidays. When you found it – you returned it to me – in February ! And you still charged me to re-send it !
8. How many times do I need to tell you that M. Rafique does not live here !
9. And how many more times will you deliver my mail to my neighbour instead ?
10. You lost my friend’s passport and ruined his vacation plans (I’ve nothing else to say on that one)

Except – Get Your Act Together !

The anticipation is high because it’s time I got a new computer. I am retiring my Thinkpad i1300 which is now 7½ years old – which still runs by the way. So, until the new baby laptop arrives, I’ll be doing some planning – perhaps move the crib my desk next to a different wall, get new toys cooling accessories and perhaps try to set up the older one Thinkpad as a wireless print server. Oh and think of names !

What ? You mean you never … ? Ok I admit I never gave my Thinkpad a name but you know this blog – ManiaRavings – is hosted on a server, named “Sam”. Oh wait I think it’s “Susan”. No, it’s Sam.

Hi Sam !

Anyway, what was I talking about ? O yeah … last night I came across a few of Lenovo ads on YouTube. (Yea, that’s one way to play the waiting game). They make hilarious ads.

But I found this following video, (which is not an ad) that shows a bunch of Sumo wrestlers taking a break off camera, singing the ever popular R. Kelly song:

“Can we get our fish ?”

But you know, they really believed in it ! And they did it too !

Enjoy your weekend !

Today was the last day of field school. Looking back, the second week was especially awesome (and exhausting). Everyday from 8:30 in the morning, we went out into the wilderness to study rock formations and how the surrounding tills and hills were related to one another.

Now, this was no nature hike, were you’d stroll on a pre-determined trail, enjoying the beauty of nature, and behave like an ascetic. Nope ! We took “short-cuts” – through the shrubbery making our way by snapping countless sticks, breaking branches, even uprooting small trees and “taking care” of other (small and helpless) life-forms. We had to cover all types of terrain – soil, mud clay, angled rocks. And do it all by playing safe. (Irony ?)

Our guide was Professor Paul Bateman, whose physical stamina and manouvering through the bush put the rest of us young eggs to shame. He’d walk through the sticks with a route in his head like as if he were walking along a street in a city and he would climb up a cliff like he was going up a stairway. Catching up-to him was sometimes a challenge itself. (I suspect there is an extra ‘e’ in the middle of his last-name)

Most of our excursions took place south of Haileybury, around Cobalt, known for its silver mines in the earlier part of the 20th century. Cobalt was the largest silver producer in the world at one time. At its peak in 1910’s it had a population of 63000 and was the financial center of Northern Ontario, boasting the largest stock exchange in North America, north of New York.
It is hard to imagine that today. No mining has taken place since the 50s and the town has shrunk to a population of around 1500. The factories, mills and financial centers have long gone but stories remain to be told – typical of all mining towns around the world.

If you are looking for tall-tales, old mining towns are the best places to begin. The picture above shows us taking shelter from the rain beside the shop of blacksmith Fred Larose. One day in 1903, Larose saw a fox lurking near his shop. He grabbed his hammer and threw it at the fox but (fortunately) missed it and hit a rock-face. The hammer chipped the rock, exposing a silver vein – thus beginning the Cobalt silver rush.

Amused ? Ok, one more. The building in the picture above, was site of a butcher-shop who was squatting on a mine property. After many unsuccessful attempts by the mining company to remove the butcher, they decided to finally take action. So, they dumped tailings (mine waste – rock, and sludge) over the butcher shop and over time, completely buried it. Later, the site became a shaft leading underground, with the present structure above.
When the mining company finally closed, irony of all ironies, the building above, became site for another butcher shop !

There is another one about a china-man mysteriously disappearing near the railway tracks one night but I don’t remember it well.

Studying geology is hard work – not just mentally but when one is learning about prospecting at the same time, it is physically demanding as well. As far as I am concerned, walking through the bush is the easy part. The hard part is for me climbing – 50% because I am way out of shape. The other half ? Try going up and down mounds of rock like the one pictured above and climbing small cliffs every day for 6 hours.

For us, there was no excuse because time was limited. Steep or not, rain or shine, all had to participate. I would return to the hotel in the evening exhausted and with blisters everywhere. And O yes, there was homework due 8:30 the next morning.

Thursday tested my physical strength. It rained all day. No, it poured ! My poncho was useless and I was soked to socks. And as we were in the bush – my pants were covered to the knees in mud. Rain brings unique challenges. After 200 ft of carefully stepping over slippery rocks and tree trunks next to a rock wall, holding to what ever we could to avoid being pulled in by the crashing waves of Lake Temiskaming, we were next told to climb a 85ft cliff.

With rain beating on us, the rocks were slippery. We held on to tree branches to to give us some boost. At some places, the soft soil would give and we’d have the whole plant in our hands instead – roots and all ! Fortunately, all made it one piece to the top. The fun didn’t stop there ! On the top we were greeted with wet clayey soil. So, the next 50 feet we had to move in ways to avoid sinking and slipping.

If it was sunny and dry – it would have been a walk on the beach, an easier climb up and hard ground on top.

So, why did we go through all that trouble and what is so interesting about these rock formations ? Well, as far as Ontario is concerned, these rocks were formed 3.5 billion years ago by volcanic activity, as massive and high peaks. These mountains went through periods of glaciation then subsequent melting of ice which formed vast lakes and this cycle continued until the last ice-age, which occurred between 15000 and 10000 years ago. The glacier that covered this area shaped the present terrain and also left behind the present day Great-Lakes.

It gets more interesting when we learn what kinds of rocks to look for when prospecting for a particular mineral. In the above picture, the guys are banging at a rock-face trying their luck in finding some silver. Only one succeded and he found a pinch of it. The rock face being worked on is called Cobalt-Bloom, which is a beautiful pink rock & is a good indicator of a vein of silver nearby.

And I am sure everybody has some curiosity about how the pace they are living now, looked like millions of years ago. Above, Paul is standing next to a volcanic vent. You can easily picture how the lava flowed.
Isn’t it bewildering ? The one place, where you’d never think of any kind of lava or seismic activity had just that a billion years ago !

There is so much more I want talk about my exciting two weeks in Temiskaming shores but I am tired too ! I am glad Monday is a long-weekend holiday, so I can catch up with your blogs and tweets.
I’ve to go pack my things now and tomorrow, I’ll be leaving hear at noon.

It’s going to be a long ride home.

I thought I’d be able to post about Field School everyday. But the professor decides to keep us from 8:30 AM up to 5:00 PM and additionally we spend another hour to two completing assignments and copying & cleaning our field notebooks.

Also, I regret not bringing along a laptop, so that I could hook-up to the wireless at the hotel. Therefore I have to depend on the computer labs at the college – which by the way, were not open on the weekend.

The journey up to here was exhausting ! I took the bus and it took me 9 hours to get here !
Southern Ontario is boring with it’s flat-lands and farmlands. However, the road after North Bay was extremely pleasant as it passes through the southern edge of the Boreal Forest. After a six hours on the bus to North Bay, I wished the (two hour) ride to Haileybury was longer. (There was a stopover for an hour at North Bay – in case you were counting).

I haven’t had the time to do any touristy things around Haileybury. I did however spend the Saturday walking around the town – and pretty much covered it all. Well, to be frank there isn’t much to do here. It was once a bedroom community for high income families, mine managers and mine supervisors.
The middle and lower income folks lived in New Liskeard (just north of Haileybury), where all the activity happened.

But when the mines in Cobalt (just south of Haileybury) closed a couple of decades ago, folks began moving out of the Temiskaming Shores area seeking a living else where.

New Liskeard by it’s nature sustained and actually grew inturn adding more shops and restaurants and services. Cobalt today attracts tourists, visiting the historic silver mines and hoping to grab some ore for themselves.

Haileybury however it hasn’t sustained well enough as New Liskeard. It still remains a bedroom community to a large extent. There are only a few shops around and a couple of restaurants (emphasis on restaurants). Not even a Tim Horton’s I tell you !

There are a mix of neighbourhoods – some with houses of newer construction and some that look plain run down ! I can go on but Haileybury, I think, is located on the most beautiful spot on the shores of Lake Temiskaming. The view of the lake from anywhere is breath taking !

Lake Temiskaming from Haileybury looking toward Quebec

Lake Temiskaming was believed to be the source of Ottawa River, until it was confirmed that the river actually originates in the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec.
When winds are down, the water is amazingly still. You can even see the reflection of the clouds above. Otherwise, the lake is very muddy due to it’s clayey bed.

Northern College is located on an elevation and it is a good 15 minute climb from the hotel where I am staying. In the evenings, I can just run down hill and hop into bed – thankfully it is not the other way around !

Well, Field School began on Monday and there was no time to waste ! Folks were introduced, and I (being from a city 550km/330 mi south) was surprised that I wasn’t from the farthest town.
There are 13 students who come from towns a few hours from the college however, one came from Manitoba and two of them (who were also my team members) came all the way from Saskatchewan.
Their reasons for joining the Haileybury School Of Mines were just like mine – it offered the mining program via distance and thus offered a lot of flexibility.

The first day, we were learning how to use the measuring tape (yea, yea laugh it off) and the clinometer (a small hand-held instrument used to measure vertical angles). We were taken to an area behind the school, near the railway tracks and were asked to measure the horizontal distance between two stakes, planted randomly – at different elevations.
A couple of teams had to measure right across the tracks. There were no trains except for the 10:50 and the 16:35 Ontario Northland trains but they sped by alright ! (I didn’t take any pictures because I left the camera in my jacket).

We (or the Professor) did however get into a bit of a pickle with a track supervisor passing by sometime in the afternoon. (He didn’t like it when we said that the “tracks were crooked”)
Meh ! Rules are meant to be broken – and we continued after he left.

The one with the hat turned around is our professor for Surveying and Minerology & Geology – Don Hillier

The next three days were spent surveying outside the school building. The weather was wonderful and it only began to rain Thursday night.

The only frustration that we had was setting up the theodolites – (a surveying instrument used to measure horizontal and vertical angles). These instruments are set up on a tripod and and need to be aligned over an exact spot (a nail-head in our case) and need to be precisely leveled !
You must have seen surveyors use these instruments – one looking through the scope and another fellow holding a range pole at a distance.
Usually it is supposed to take about a minute to set up the instrument – but in our case, it took us a good 5 to 10 minutes and even more depending on the terrain.

Here’s a tip – the next time you see a surveyor in your neighbourhood, close your blinds !

The picture above shows a theodolite setup. See the house way in the distance ? Click on the picture to biggify.

This is what I see in the scope. That is one helluva range which I bet is never needed. So, umm yea, you never know.

We spent the Friday indoors, summarizing our weeks worth of work and finalizing things before handing it all in. So, nothing exciting there.

Today we began the field trips for Geology. Oh boy what a great time we had - learning about the geologic history as well as the cultural history of Cobalt. We went out prospecting, sampling rocks and fossils – which I will tell you all about in the next post.

In the mean while, here is a prose to “Surveying” written by a student of the Haileybury School of Mines, in ‘92 – dedicated to a tough professor at the time. Enjoy !

Survey Class ‘92

Right or wrong it’s got to be
You’ll get no part-marks from me !
I told you from the start of the term,
Surveying was exact, so you had better learn.

Some say when I teach it is bad
But you should see some of the students I’ve had
Golder, Doire and Bremner too -
Oh there is more that’s just a few.

Some say when I mark drawings, that I’m cruel
But Dixon Creek doesn’t run trough the school…
And one other thing I will check
What corner of the school is in Quebec ?

So as you can see it’s been rough
And sometimes I had to get tough.
And now I think when I retire,
I’ll put up my feet by the fire

And think of all the times when
I made Grenon “Start Again”
Right or wrong, it’s got to be…

- by R. Grenon

At the end of 2008, I wrote a New Year’s post in which I said I had made a career move and would discuss it later.

Well, it’s later now, and it’s time to tell you that since September, I have been going to Mining School (over the Internet).
Don’t be alarmed, Northern College is a publicly funded College of Applied Arts and Technology and their School of Mines is renowned (or so as they say).

I was thinking of a career change (from manufacturing) in the beginning of 2008. But I made the final decision to move to the primary sector when thousands of jobs were lost in the automotive and manufacturing sector in Ontario over the summer. (Only last Friday 7000 jobs in Ontario were lost when Chrysler shut down).

I had a few choices down that would allow me to apply my knowledge of Industrial Design, but Mining appealed to me the most.
Also important was the fact that there was a college, 550 km (340 miles) away in Northern Ontario, offering a two year program in Mining – online, thus saving me the huge trouble of disrupting my perfect life in Hamilton and – move (shudder). So, I began the application process in mid August and was quickly accepted.

Even though I am going to school in my jammies (or otherwise), I have my hands full. I have at least 5 courses a semester, so I am a full time student, just like any other. The one benefit I have is getting to create a schedule for school around my existing life instead of the other way around.

As this is a two year program, so I will be finished by this time next year. And only a few of weeks ago, I received news that I was awarded scholarship – just enough to cover tuition expenses for the next year. W00T !

At the end of each Academic year, students attending the Mining School via the Internet are required to make-up for the labs and field-trips by visiting the college for two weeks in May. My field school begins tomorrow at 9:00 AM and will end on Friday, May 16^th.

In the first week, between Monday, May 4^th and Friday, May 8^th, we will be getting well acquainted with surveying equipments, that we have so far learnt from the textbook such as a Clinometer, Theodolite, Dumpy Level and Total Station.
So as long as I take another look at my notes, I should be fine.

The second week, between Monday, May 11^th and Friday, May 15^th will be much more exciting (and blogworthy – I hope). We will be taking field trips around the Temiskaming Shores area, studying the landforms, sampling rocks and roughing it a little. They will last all day from 9 in the morning to 5 PM (rain or shine) but we were also told to bring our cameras – so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Even with all the excitement I am still very nervous ! It’s about meeting my class fellows and the professors whom I have never seen (just like meeting bloggers for the first time but they have got avatars – many of them avatars are creepy anyways).
And then I am worried about my performance in the labs and during the field trips – hoping I don’t make serious goof and that I don’t get very exhausted.
And oh yes, I have an exam to write too ! And that my final grades are still not out yet ! Arrgh !

Sigh ! The pressure of grades does that to me.
I know … I know … focus on getting fresh air, experience a small town charm and have a good time right ?

Anyway, by the time you are reading this, I will already be on the road.

I’ll keep you posted.

I have loved these chocolates ever since I was a kid – especially the one in the purple wrapper. It used to have a single brazil nut in the centre but was later replaced with hazel. Boo !

What I remember most was that the tin featured a ‘Major’ and a ‘Miss’, and it was called Mackintosh’s Quality Street.
And how many tins have I opened excitedly only to find sewing equipment and accessories in there – I don’t know !

I haven’t seen a Quality Street tin sold in Canada (besides those sold in cardboard boxes). Maybe I’ve been looking in the wrong places (or during the wrong season). This one was brought by Mom and Dad during their visit to the UK last November.

P.S.: The tin is closed. The chocolates were gorged eated. The tin is empty.

Yet, some how:

This has all got to do with the recent buzz about Oprah, only recently learning how to use twitter and sending out her first tweet, but I didn’t expect all this to go into my head !

I know misread a tweet and suspect it is this one by the true King of Twitter:

Well, I am a tweetbrain alright but strangely, I connected that word to “Oprah”.

At the same time, I updated my status on Facebook, and it spawned a conversation there:

Charles makes a good point. Yes, it is up for grabs. And neither Google nor Twitter Search have any results for Tweeprah.

Oh wait ! Were you there when Oprah sent her first tweet ? I was ! She yelled.
She calls Ashton Kutcher “King of Twitter” – which is so wrong ! I should be – I’ve banked more updates than him – 9033 more ! Did you see that ! I just challenged Oprah !
Oh and did you know Kutcher is the first user to reach 1 million followers ? A good chunk of them “followers” are spam ! I know !
He was in a race with CNN and said if he got there first, he’d ding-dong-ditch Ted Turner !

Ok … back to this Entrecard business. Is it even one ? Their business model was screwed right from the beginning. Add to that, a sloppy customer service and a fatuous CEO – who, for his problems the other day, blamed “farms” in the eastern world.
Update: He’s been caught posing as an Asian female and faking forum posts.

I recommend you read the comments also, you’ll learn more.

Like any other ad network, Entrecard is not free – you are paying for ads using virtual credits and you are earn those credits by sacrificing some of your time !
Now, what they have done is give priority to those advertisers who pay with cash. Ads bought with cash would share 50% of the time with ads bought with virtual credits.

This is simply unfair ! Even casinos don’t do that with their own chips ! And by calling ads bought with cash “Paid Ads” as opposed to those bought with virtual credits, I figure even they do not know their own system !

But even after all that I am still willing to give Entrecard a chance. It’s a fun ad network. I found many interesting blogs through it, made a few friends, gave others time on my blog, sought time on other blogs etc all without breaking my bank, and l like to keep it that way.

Even if there seems to be no immediate solution for bloggers blogging for fun out there, I want to stick to Entrecard and see where this ends up.

So, for those of you leaving Entrecard, you can take down your widgets but can you leave your accounts active ?
You don’t need to leave your comment, but you can let me know you were here by dropping your card !
Besides, you will also be contributing to my bank of virtual credits – as well as yours.

If you are looking for an alternative to Entrecard, where you can buy ads using cash, have a look at CMF Ads by Ben Barden.

LadyBanana is also compiling a list of blogs that will not accept paid ads on Entrecard. See her “Post For Those Who DO NOT Accept Paid Ads On Entrecard”

PS. I won’t be able to reply to all your comments this week.

Well… would you ?

Between every March and May Tim Horton’s holds a contest, where those buying a hot beverage, would un-roll the rim of their cups (after emptying the contents first of course) to find out if they have won anything.
This year, they are giving out 31 million food prizes, 25000 gift cards ($100), 1000 laptops, 100 cash prizes of $10000 and 35 Toyota Venzas.

I have always won food prizes so far – a coffee, doughnut, muffin etc. But I am in desperate need of a new computer. I have been using my brother’s the last couple of months.

Yes, that is my thumb and that spot is most likely a café au lait (eh !). I think it’s cool I have one there )

Please excuse my absence as I have been awfully busy the past two weeks and will remain so in the next few.
I will try my best to catch up with you and also try to keep this place up and running.

RRROLL IT ! …

Dad sends out mass e-mails almost every week and these always have to do with religion or have a spiritual lesson. Sometimes they are e-mail forwards and sometimes he finds them on message boards that he is part of. And sometimes if he finds something in Arabic or Urdu that is worth sharing, he translates it too.

Believe it or not, Dad has been using e-mail longer than I have. Yep ! He’s amassed a pretty good list by now: of contacts from way back when and even some of my own friends.
I wonder if he still e-mails (unknowingly) contacts who have passed on !

Most of what he writes on his own can spark a discussion and flare emotions. So even I don’t read everything he sends !
And the amount of responses he gets keeps him going.

Positive thinking in life

There was a blind girl who hated herself because of what she was. She hated everything and everyone. Except for her loving boyfriend who was always there for her.

She once told him, “If I could only see the world, I will marry you”.

She underwent surgery, one day when a pair of good eyes were made available to her. When the bandages came off, she could see everything. And her boyfriend.

He asked her, “Now that you can see the world , will you marry me ?”

The girl looked at him and saw that he was blind too ! Looking at his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn’t expected that !
And the thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

He left in tears.

Days later, he wrote her a note saying, “Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.”

Moral

This is a trait of human nature: when situations change for the better, only a few remember what life was like before, and only a few remember those who were by their side when the times were bad.

Life is a gift from God. Today, before you say an unkind word, think of someone who can’t
speak.

Before you complain about your food, think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your spouse, think of someone who’s yearning for a companion.

Today, before you complain about life, think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before whining about the distance you drive, think of someone who travels the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job, think of the unemployed and those who wish they had your job.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down put a smile on your face and be thankful to your Lord that you are alive.