Embracing your nerdiness t-shirts

OK, I get it. Being a nerd is now cool. But why did it have to go so far?

Going back and forth from UBC on the bus these days and even just walking around Vancouver I can't help but notice all the t-shirts that have something to do with being a "nerd". There are so many different ways of showing your nerdiness. Whether it is through math equations, chemistry symbols or physics diagrams. But why oh why did it have to be cool?

Making nerdiness the new "cool" has totally detracted from it's uniqueness. I used to be proud to be a nerd. And, although I think I was one of many geeks, people were still surprised when I would straight up admit to playing board games. Or liking math. Or not drinking alcohol. At the time, most people preferred to be geeks on the inside, but fit in with the masses on the outside. Those who admitted to being geeks normally didn't have many friends who didn't also admit to being geeks. Those kinds of geek spent most of their time playing dungeons and dragons. I was one of a handful of math/physics lovers who also played sports, went on ski trips and went to parties and the like. We were a rare breed. And that was nice. One had some honour and distinction (and probably used to get "honours with distinction" in high school!).

OK, I'll admit that this new fashion of embracing your nerdiness isn't all that bad. I had once thought of starting my own line of t-shirts revolving around the number pi. In fact, I'm pretty sure I made a "pi" t-shirt before anybody else (with friends) had socially announced that they even liked math. So maybe that's it, maybe I'm just jealous. Damn you people for stealing my ideas!

With all this said I would hereby like to renounce my acceptance of being a nerd. I am no longer a nerd. I am now too cool to be a geek. I can't just be another guy with a "nerds 2² ever" shirt. I normally don't fight too hard to be unique. I really don't have much to prove, but this may just be an exception. I can't just fit in with everyone as they submit to their inner nerd. It makes me feel so plain.



Bah! Who am I kidding? I can't renounce being a nerd!! When I wrote the word "exception" just now I couldn't help but think of mathematical formulae that are "exceptions to the rule"! It's ingrained in me. My geekiness surrounds me!

Math calculates the tips.
Physics gets me around the pool table.
Biology helps me understand bowel movements (and how whales eat).
Chemistry... well chemistry still sucks.
I wear glasses.
I like the movie "The Matrix" for more than its crazy story.
I've played Agricola more times Einstein has been quoted.
I write blog posts about Google and Apple.
Heck, I write blog posts with the word "heck" in them!

The nerd in me cannot die...
But please, pretty please, stop making those dang nerd-lovin' t-shirts!

The Number 654

Having fun with the number 654. Can you add anything to the list?

• 654A.D. - Arab invaders plunder Rhodes and seize Cos
• 654A.D. - Japanese emperor Kotoku dies and empress Kogyoku is restored under the name Saimei
• The first time that the sequence of digits "654" occurs in the number pi is at the 672nd position after the decimal.
• The number 654 is not mentioned in the Bible
• John 6:54 states "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
• There is no 654 area code. Anywhere. In the world.
• The prime factors of 654 are 2x3x109
• 654A.D. - Pope Martin I is publicly humiliated in Constantinople after condemning emperor Constans II Pognatus. Eugenius I takes over the Papacy
• The Black Crowes have a song called "Thunderstorm 6:54". It has confusing lyrics.
• Air Canada flight AC 654 goes between Halifax and St. John's
• Delta Airlines flight DL 654 goes from Aruba through Atlanta to Minneapolis
• American Airlines flight AA 654 goes between Dallas and Boston
• By 6:54pm all those flights will have departed. You're late.
• On 06/05/04 (June 5, 2004) Ronald Reagan died
• Roger Federer recorded his 654th career victory against Robin Soderling in the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2009 (that took me forever to find! Like 654 seconds!)
  
• 654A.D. - Battle of Bulcamp between Penda of Mercia and Anna, Christian king of the Angles, is fought at Bulcamp in Henham Park killing Anna and his son, Jurmin
  
• This post was posted at 6:54am
  

Belugas, seals and sea lions OH MY

Baleener's school mate and loner resident of 654 has gone on vacation. Just in time for Baleener to need some help running some tests for his Masters project down at Vancouver's Aquarium. So I offered to help. My ulterior motive was that I knew this would grant me a behind the scenes look at the aquarium. If any of you know me well or read the camping blog post, you would know I love animals. I love watching them, I love petting them, I really love feeding them, and I LOVE LOVE to kiss them!!! Which is kinda a problem with cats because I will kiss a cat (there are three living within the 654 alone) and then forget and kiss Baleener shortly after...causing an immediate allergic reaction for him...and a mild fight for us.

So today I traded 4 hours of work (holding a flow probe in a flow

tank) for about 30-40 minutes of AMAZING ANIMAL EXPERIENCE! I got to feed and pet the Beluga whales, a Stellar Sea lion, and Alaskan fur seals. The Stellar Sea lion's name was "Izzy" and she was so wonderful! She was very gentle and performed great tricks! My favorite trick was: You hold up your hands like guns and go "bang" and then she falls dramatically on her back like you shot her.

Best part though, of course, was getting the opportunity to kiss a fur seal named "Tafika". It was our first kiss though so she kissed me on the nose.

Very modest of her I think. The whole experience made me very jealous of the trainer's job, but then I remembered that I like making money and not living with my parents. So I guess I will just be a visitor.

Google vs. Apple strategies

DISCLAIMER: Forgive my ignorance. I realised when I thought of this post's topic that I often write about things that other internet bloggers know so much more about. Others write much more eloquently than me and have far more insight. As such, all I can do for you here is tell you my opinion on subjects that catch my fancy. Hopefully it gets you to read up more on the subject and develop an opinion on the subject yourself. With that, here's what I have to say about Apple vs. Google's strategies:




I get most of my gadget news from Engadget through my RSS feed. Most of their information revolves around cell phones and every rumor of every new piece of hardware or software released is analysed up the wazoo. But they also touch on bigger topics that affect the gadgeting world. One that has greatly intrigued me is product development strategies from an industry perspective. When the major players in the tech world make product decisions it not only affects their company's direction, but also the direction of the industry as a whole. Like I've said before, the tech world is a rapidly morphing industry and an innovative vision is crucial to keeping your company alive in the long term.

By far and away the two most innovative, visionary and influential companies right now are Google and Apple. Both these organisations have a real knack for determining what consumers do want and what they will want. In some ways their approaches are very similar. They both create slick, easy to use products. Their focus is not only on image, but also on functionality and both have excelled in this department. But recently it's the substantial differences between the two CEOs' visions that has the tech world buzzing. While Google promotes open platform systems and encourages independent developers to create an identity for their product, Apple operates a very tightly controlled, ultra-restrictive atmosphere. So which one is better in the long run?

Once again, I'm going to have to side with Google. Not that I have anything against Apple's products. I own several Mac products and love them all! But in my opinion their law suit loving, Adobe Flash hating ways aren't helping the industry evolve naturally and fully. There are a few examples of Apple's excessive restrictions that I'd like to point out here.

1. Adobe Flash
Everything on the internet seems to use Flash. It has become a staple for applications and videos on every site you visit because it is the bet product on the market. However, Apple comes along and says they will not have any Flash compatibility on the iPad and now expects everybody to follow their lead and adopt HTML5 instead. Thankfully, not everyone's towing the line and instead just going with the best product available. In contrast to Apple's hard line, most Google products are compatible with both HTML5 and Flash and the developer/end user gets to choose which one suits their needs. Apple has the whole internet at their beck and call. Is that OK? Are they pretty much running a monopoly of the tech world?

2. iAd
There has been much debate recently about Apple's decision to restrict advertising abilities on the new iPhone 4. The restrictions essentially eliminate any advertising capabilities from the competition (Google, Microsoft and others) and limits the abilities of the independent developers to generate revenue as well. Of course, the iPhone is so awesome and superior to any other phone that developers will jump through whatever hoops Apple presents just to get in on the action. But is this best for the tech industry? Should Steve Jobs alone be controlling and directing the industry?

3. Law suits
It seems like a week can't go by without Apple suing some company or another for infringing on their patents or for thinking about something that might be similar to one of their patents. The worst law suit that I can think of (of the top of my head) was when Jobs and co. sued The Beatles' Apple Records because of their use of an apple as a logo. Steve Jobs presumed that since he was now in the music business (with the iTunes Store) that anybody else in the music industry with an apple logo had to give it up. Even if they were there first. Lame. This is definitely an overuse of power and shows how far Apple will go to monopolize every industry they touch.

All these points combined lead to one main issue: competition. We've seen problems with limited competition in the computer world before. Microsoft pretty much had a monopoly of the personal computer sector since its creation. Their tactics were to buy out smaller competitors and sue the little guys that they couldn't buy out. Granted, that was a very different situation but how did that all work out?

Creating open platforms essentially gives these companies a lot of employees that will work for free. Not being a developer myself, it's hard to comment confidently, but are independent developers essentially that? The developer ends up making money for both the client and themselves, but they're not earning a salary from the client. In other words, Apple or Google doesn't pay someone to create an app for them, it's done pro bono. Apple, of course, is all about developers creating apps, but only on their conditions. Their very strict conditions. And don't make a misstep cause they'll probably sue you!

Anyways, I'm in way over my head here. This stuff is all very complicated and I only learn about it form blogs and other biased sources. As the disclaimer said, I just write about things that interest me even though I probably have no right to comment on them. If you've read this far through my ramblings and not gotten bored, confused or fallen asleep then I'm impressed. Hopefully this blog-writing learning curve is rather steep and I will learn to be more coherent and cohesive for you all in the very near future! ;)

BOTTOM LINE: Apple should stop being jerks and let the tech/gadget/computer world accelerate at its own pace and on its own terms. You're not the boss of me, Steve!

Saturday June 26, 9:00 to 23:30

It's a been awhile since my last contribution to The 654 blog... My sister and her boyfriend were visiting this weekend from Edmonton and just headed for the airport not long ago. Yesterday we had as busy a single day as I can remember.

9:00am: We caught the bus (three actually) to Deep Cove to meet their friend who is currently living in North Van while he takes English classes (he's from Switzerland like my sister's boyfriend).

10:20am It was kinda funny, we didn't really have anything planned for once we actually got to Deep Cove. I have been there a couple times previously, most recently last year with my parents and we went hiking. But my sister's nursing a bum knee at the moment, so we ended up renting double kayaks for a couple hours and cruising around the cove. It was actually my first time ever kayaking. Fun and relaxing.

12:45pm Caught bus back to Vancouver. Technically Deep Cove is part of North Van, though it really does seem to be a quaint fishing/resort village nestled in the mountains.

~2:00pm We went for a sushi feast at Sushiyama, my favourite sushi place in Vancouver. Nothing beats fresh, cheap West Coast sushi, so my guests needed to get their fill before heading back to the prairies. I always get the dragon roll (salmon, avocado, cream cheese, topped with unagi) and I also chose a Salifornia roll (a California roll wrapped in deep-fried salmon). I had a nasty encounter with a Salifornia roll last year when scalded the roof of my mouth with a piece immediately after it came out of the kitchen and I was too stupid to spit out the piping hot piece. I've avoided it ever since, but I figured it was time to try it again with a little more caution.

~3pm Someone had an ice cream craving, so we walked down to Mario's Gelati near the Olympic Village, then walked around the seawall towards Granville Island. By this point, we were all dead exhausted from all the kayaking, walking, and sushi face-stuffing, so we barely made it to Charleson Park before collapsing on the grass for a late afternoon nap.

6:45pm We made a pitstop at Granville Island before heading to Chinatown for their night market, so it was nowhere near dark out. They had the usual street market fare: tacky souvenirs, questionably cheap clothing, and skewered meats. We hung around and watched part of a showcase of martial arts students, though it was kinda embarrassing to watch. Only the nunchuk guy had some eyebrow-raising talent.

~9:00pm Finally we walked over to the Burrard Red Robin's for a late dinner. I quite like the atmosphere of this particular Red Robin's and I'm also a sucker for their bottomless Freckled Lemonade. Last time, I found out their baked potato soup is surprisingly good, so I had to get it again this time around.

11:30pm ZZZzzzzzzzzzz

Today we took it a bit easier and spent a few hours at the Vancouver Aquarium then a late lunch at Tokyo John, a close-to-home sushi standby.

654 top suite goes kayaking

Since we have almost completed our third year of living in Vancouver we are coming to terms on how little we have utilized the beautiful surroundings in easy reach. This also includes the "island" (Vancouver Island that is). My parents have retired out there and they tell us frequently to come use them as a free place to stay and even offer free pick up in Nanimo so we can come across as foot passengers (= much cheaper). Well this weekend I thought we would kill two birds with one stone. 1, visit dad for fathers day. 2, try some kayaking in Ucluelet.

Now Baleener and I have not been Kayaking since high school. Not totally sure if that really counts either since our school was in the middle of the Canadian prairies so it really came down t0 10-15 of us in kayaks paddling in our high school swimming pool. They did teach us to flip over and come out though ( but that is a whole other traumatizing blog post).

So Baleener and I signed up for a 3 hour day tour kayaking around the Harbour. The tour was made up of us, two other Canadians, and a English couple who foolishly decided to go in a double kayak plus our tour guides who were Chileans. Altogether it was pretty awesome, turns out I am a natural Kayaker. Plus I am a big fan of anything that gets me up close to wild life. We got to see a few sea lions! The out fit for kayaking....well you can look at the picture and make your own call. Baleener said I looked cute. We are now super pumped for more kayaking. Next stop is Deep Cove.

654 (minus the loner member) go camping

The members of 654 have been talking for the last few months about going camping and inviting our two friends from not to far away to join us. A couple weeks ago this well talked of event was finally accomplished. Planning to make this a reality included convenient giving Fongo a tent and camp chair for his birthday, and a group planning meeting which mainly focused on

what amazing food we would all eat and who would prepare what.

Some of the highlights included getting yelled at by the German forest ranger (turns out you can't go through the brush looking for dead wood for your camp fire in B.C parks). Food. Friend from not to far away ingulfing lamp in flames every time he turned it on. No rain! Hiking Joffre Lakes out of season = falling through melting snow up to our hips a minimum of 5 times to a max of 20 depending who it was (soon we stopped looking back when someone screamed). And of course hand feeding grey jays and chipmunks (also against park rules).

Biggest humiliation was realizing we had camped a five minute drive out of Pemberton....we could have easily gone to Mcdonalds for dinner.

And of course there is always the things you forget, which for our group included: Two camp chairs, hand soap, pillows, and a rinsing bucket for dishes.

Thanks to Baleener for taking these lovely pictures.

Potato chops and Chicken Boona Currey...Delicious!

So recently there are some new recipes being made at the 654. This is courtesy of a new cook book gifted from my father in law. The cook book was created 20+ years ago as a fundraiser by a group of women from the Goan community. Though being a little hard to follow and having several mystery ingredients, (ex, "add spice" WHAT???, which spice???). We are getting some awesome turnouts!! Oh yes, also love the pictures in this book!

Potato Chops

After multiple steps of cooking and much time the result are essentially small Indian spiced shepherd's pies that have been coated in bread crumbs and then fried in butter.

Not so healthy but awesome! It's like taking your favorite comfort food and turning up the volume to a new state of delicious!

Chicken Boona Curry

After several disappointing Curry recipes I have finally found one that tastes like a white person didn't make it! It is so flavorful and so good. I did omit one personally hated ingredient and added a small amount of another.

Anyway now I know good Indian recipes are not found on the internet. They are found in obscure Indian cook books kept secret for several years by family members obtained by marriage.

Prince of Persia shoes and T-shirt vests????

So my mother-in-law is often going to England to visit family and she always comes back with "just a small gift". This usually translates as shirts and some socks for me and some socks, shirts, hula hoops and chocolate fingers for my husband. The shirt for me is purchased by my mother-in-law in consultation with her stylish niece. For the record I really like this last shirt, but it is not something I have seen in Vancouver yet. It is avest with buttons, cut with tails in the front and made out of T-shirt material. When I showed my husband my outfit with vest and asked his opinion he replied, " it's a little 80s" with more grilling questions he also admitted he liked it (he's a smart one). Although I think the vest style with tails in the front is a little more early 90s.

If you are wondering whether those are black leggings in the picture, NO they are not. They are grey leggings. *Sigh* unfortunately the shirts available for sale are ideally made to go with skinny pants or leggings. So I can't give up all leggings, but I am giving up black for sure!

Prince of Persia sandals...or Greek maybe? Well one thing for sure I do like these shoes BUT they are a little weird. I mean the closest thing to them I have ever owned are some neoprene ankle supports.

I am not alone in my like for these, I wore them to work one day and got a lot of compliments. Looks like people think the ankle support look is in. Guess I'll wear them with my 80s leggings and 90s vest.

Songwriters' Block

Paul Simon - Song about the Moon

If you want to write a song about the moon
Walk along the craters of the afternoon
When the shadows are deep and the light is alien
And gravity leaps like a knife off the pavement
And you want to write a song about the moon
You want to write a spiritual tune
Then nah nah nah nah nah nah yeah
Presto
a song about about the moon

If you want to write a song about the heart
Think about the moon before you start
Because the heart will howl like a dog in the moonlight
And the heart can explode like a pistol on a June night
So if you want to write a song about the heart
And it's ever-longing for a counterpart
Then nah nah nah nah nah nah yeah
Write a song about the moon

The laughing boy he laughed so hard
He fell down from his place
The laughing girl she laughed so hard
The tears rolled down her face

Hey songwriter
If you want to write a song about a face
Think about a photograph
That you really can't remember but you can't erase
Wash your hands in dreams and lightning
Cut off your hair and whatever is frightening
If you want to write a song about a face
If you want to write a song about the human race
Then nah nah nah nah nah nah yeah
Write a song about the moon

If you want to write a song about the moon
You want to write a spiritual tune
Then do it
Write a song about the moon