Where you at ?

I have not blogged for some time now and am due for the

"No time to blog because I am too busy at work" apology

that we all point have used at one time. After spending an intense 8-10 hours staring at a computer screen at work, the last thing I want to do is go back onto the computer in the evening, hence no blogging. So, with excuses out of the way and nothing really insightful to say, I thought I vent for a bit.

I was away from home in a city south of Chicago for business. It was a draining week, here are my highs and lows during the week:

Monday: I had an awful time trying to find the customer site. I later realized that two buildings 10 minutes apart use the same address.

Tuesday: I wake up to find my rental car covered with frost and no ice scraper inside my car. Already tight on time, I do my best to clean the windshield with my hands and drive with half visibility. Kids, don't try this at home!

Wednesday: Canada loses to Russia. At this point, I am willing to give up on the week and head home to grieve. My co-workers console me and I try to move on (it was really not that dramatic, but it makes for a good story).

Thursday: Finally, some uplifting news when I discover Lake Shelbyville and a power plant on a local map near Springfield, IL. Could this really be the Springfield in The Simpsons?

Friday: Arrive back home safely.

Let's see what the next week brings!

Tech Support

Obtaining assistance from IT technical support staff is a common occurrence that almost all of us have experienced in our lives. Most of my experiences with IT support have been unpleasant. In university, whenever I had any computer issues, the University of Waterloo (Math Faculty Computing Facility) MFCF technical support was not very helpful. Quite often, the person whom I end up talking to for help in resolving my residential Internet problems is in his first week on the job.

I am often contacted by family members whenever there are computer issues in my house. Here are the most popular problems I hear:

• The computer does not start, fix it.
• The printer is not printing, fix it.
• The Internet is not working, fix it.

The volume of problems are increasing since my dad started to use the computer more. His computer is always infested with spyware. I think he ends up clicking on those pop-ups asking you to download software that will make your computer go faster, which usually end up installing the software and spyware. I am asked to fix so many problems that I decided to devise the following system when a problem occurs:

Contact 1^st-level technical support => My little sister.
If not solved then contact 2^nd-level technical support => My little brother.
If it still cannot be solved, the problem escalates to me and I undertake the responsibility of trying to fix and explain the problem (not fun ): ).

Most of the problems I have seen on computers is the infestation of spyware, which is installed from free software downloaded off the Internet. Although you can download spyware removal software, it is easier to avoid downloading software containing spyware.

A Web site containing links to free software without spyware cane be found here.

Here is a list of my favorite free software to install:

• Browser: Mozilla Firefox
• FTP Client: FileZilla
• Media player: Winamp
• Graphics software: Paint .NET
• Word processor: Open Office

My advice to people downloading free software is a common phrase I heard growing up and is also applicable to this situation, which is Stay Alert, Stay Safe!

Moments

mo·ment (mō'mənt)

n. A brief, indefinite interval of time.

We all have those special moments that we will remember for the rest of our lives. These moments can be short, long, happy or sad. Usually, it'’s the joyous personal moments that we remember, being it a birth of a loved one, graduating from university, or your wedding day. Your probably wondering what I am driving at with all this moment talk, is he SAD?

I was simply touched by this poem while watching the Toyota-Lexus commercial. Here is a brief snippet from the poem.

I Need A Moment. You Got A Moment? Wait A Moment. You Can Take A Moment. Make A Moment. Spoil A Moment And If All The Stars Line In The Right Moment, That Moment Can Be Perfect. Moments Can Define You. Moments Can Delight You And Moments Can Change Your Life. Heres To The Moment And Squeezing All You Can Out Of Every Last Single One Of Them.

Think about what you were doing when huge moments occurred in your life, ignoring the personal moments for the time being. For our parent's generation, it was the first man on the moon. For some of us, we will remember where we were during the blackout that occurred a few years ago.

A moment that I will remember was on Sunday February 24, 2002. On this day, Canada won Olympic hockey gold by defeating the United States. Remember the moment that Wayne Gretzky ranted about how everyone wanted Canada to lose, the lucky loonie placed inside the ice rink by the Canadian ice-maker, or Mario Lemieux fake shot between the legs pass to Joe Sakic for a goal.

As the Turin Olympics approach in less than five days, lets just hope for another moment that we will all remember. Go Canada!

Oz ... The critic

As the majority of us were absorbed this week reading the controversy surrounding the cartoons printed in the Danish newspaper, some of you may have missed the Academy award nominations. Now, I am not a frequent movie watcher, neither have I seen the majority of the movies nominated, but when I heard several nominations for The Constant Gardener, I thought I share my thoughts on this movie that I just watched.

Before you read on, I must warn you that I have been told that my movie recommendations stink. For this I remain apologetic because these same people who criticize my recommendations also watch Bollywood movies. Now, I will never recommend a Bollywood movie because I find them boring and predictable. If you have never seen a Bollywood movie, it can be summarized easily:

Parents are trying to force girl to marry rich evil guy probably called Raj
Girl finds other guy that she wants to marry during a scene where they chase each other around a tree
Parents disapprove of guy and father yells at girl during a thunderstorm
After a sing and dance, parents finally approve guy that girl likes.

Fortunately, The Constant Gardener has a lot more substance than a Bollywood movie. The plot evolves around an activist who uncovers a conspiracy involving clinical testing of a new drug on people in Africa, who are unaware that they are being use as test subjects.

My interest in this subject was sparked after watching this movie. I have learned a great deal about the unethical actions of huge corporations in third-world countries. It is unfortunate that a companies stock price is more important than fatality rates in a third-world country.