Heart of Canada

Beedogs

Who can resist checking out "the premier online repository for pictures of dogs in bee costumes"? It's Beedogs.

Book Tags

A couple of people have tagged me on that blogger book tag thingie, including Autonomous Source and one of my new reads, The Journal of N=1. Actually, they tagged me last week, but I've been mulling obsessively over answers to the questions -- I don't know why. I guess I own way too many books, and they're mostly all important to me. One caveat before I start. I'm not including professional books for work; otherwise, they'd all be depression this and psychopathy that. Anyway, here goes....

Number of Books I Own: At present, hundreds. Hubby and I have joked a number of times that the largest commodity we own is paper. We used to own considerably more, but every time we move we find nice homes for some of them. Once you realize that you have to pay by the pound when you move, it becomes a lot easier to part with a few books. The last time we moved, we sold some to this cool book dealer in Calgary and then gave a couple of car loads to the Southwest Calgary Co-Op's 50 cent book exchange. We found that kind of funny because most of the books donated were worth a lot more than 50 cents, but what were we going to do with several copies of Moby Dick or Dombey and Son?

Last Book I Bought: Henri J. M. Nouwen's The Wounded Healer. I bought this book because it pushes past the stereotype that helpers, ministers, and healers have to be aloof and overly professionalized in order to be effective. Perhaps when we understand our own wounds and suffering in life, we can better help and reach out to others.

Last Book I Read That I Could Discuss At A Swanky Dinner Party With My Eyebrow Arched To Underline My Fascinating Interest In The World Around Me, And The Historical Currents Which Sweep Man Along To His Destiny: Bohdan Kordan and Craig Mahovksy's A Bare and Impolitic Right: Internment and Ukrainian-Canadian Redress. Actually, I thought this book had a lot in common with swanky dinner parties: they're both pointless, irritating, and lacking in any real substance. IMHO, the book wavers on the edge of historical fiction, ineffectively discussing realities relative to the diaspora of the time and even more ineffectively holding the government to account: to redress or not redress -- that is the question, unfortunately an unnecessary one and, even more unfortunately for this book, left unanswered with regard to the small number of actual internees at the time relative to actual immigration numbers of those particular ethnic groups from that particular era.

Last Book I Really Finished: Anita Daimant's The Red Tent. Much better historical fiction.

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me (in no particular order):

Donald and Lillian Stokes's Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. I don't like to be without this excellent birding book. Wherever you go, there are birds. Who cares about the Eastern birds? J/K!

Robert Jay Lifton's The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. When people with seemingly good intentions go bad -- can't ever forget that it can happen -- and did -- and still does.

Benjamin Libet, Anthony Freeman and Keith Sutherland's The Volitional Brain: Towards a Neuroscience of Free Will. I'm not cheating here. I don't count this as a book for work because most people I work with or who trained me would never read it. The book is a fascinating intersection between neuroscience, quantum physics, psychology, theology, and philosophy with a dash of mathematics thrown in -- pretty much hits on many of my major interests.

Wladyslaw Szpilman's The Pianist. I read a lot of personal experiences of historical events, including war journals and dairies, 9/11 survivor experiences, and stories of genocide. Official historical accounts are interesting, though sterile; personal accounts are complex and front-line. Both types contain elements of fiction and interpretation.

The Gospel of John. Although I could have said The Bible, in some ways that would have been cheating because it is comprised of many separate books. I was going to say The Book of Psalms because I spend quite a bit of time with it, but, really, how much more does the story of Christ as told in the poetic and literary manner of the Johannine Gospel inspire me. "And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God."

Honourable mentions: J. L. Granatstein and Normal Hillmer's First Drafts: Eyewitness Accounts from Our Past. I could have picked a number of travel journals or historical accounts, but this is the most recent one I've been perusing. I enjoy reading people's initial expressions of novel experiences because they give such a fresh take on what we now have trampled over or reinterpreted a gazillion times.

Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park for its penetrating and insightful look at scientific ethics and justifications. How could I blog about books and not mention my favourite author?

Now, for blog tagging, I'm going to tag...

Jim
Becky
Mr. Anchovy
Kate
Bart

Post Secret

Post Secret: bizarre & voyeuristic, but very, very compelling.

Intel-ligence

Apparently, Intel CEO, Paul Otellini, implies that, if you're sick of adware, you should just buy a Mac.

*snort*

Via VP

Daft Diversions

Your Geek Profile:

Academic Geekiness: High

Internet Geekiness: High

Fashion Geekiness: None

Gamer Geekiness: None

Geekiness in Love: None

General Geekiness: None

Movie Geekiness: None

Music Geekiness: None

SciFi Geekiness: None

How Geeky Are You?

Guess-the-Google

Bruce found this rather compelling visual concept formation game online called Guess-the-Google. My recommendation: don't start playing it at work because you probably won't get any work done. Also check out Montage-a-Google.

UPDATE:

In know...it's silly...

Leo Laporte's Story

I used to really enjoy watching the shows Call for Help and The Screen Savers on Tech TV. At some point last year, the shows started to suck. Then the shows, as I knew them, disappeared altogether and awfully strange things started happening with that channel in general. I hadn't been following tech news, so I was unaware at the time that Tech TV had been bought out by Gag 4, who seems to have systematically dismantled one of my favourite programs and networks altogether.

Lately, I got wind of the real story behind what happened to Leo Laporte and the rest of the Tech TV crew. Based on my reading, it's an ugly story involving lay-offs, moving Tech TV staff from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and then promising work to folks who moved, only to cancel their positions after they moved there.

*shudder*

Horrid, unconscionable acts, if you ask me.

Today, however, I came across a post by Leo Laporte at Leoville Town Square, in which he describes some of the behind-the-scenes wranglings regarding his contract. Here's an excerpt:

...the short version is that during the sale process at the end of 2003 TechTV held up my contract negotiations and couldn't say why....when it came time to sign the contract, they introduced an additional rider that prevented me from suing Vulcan Ventures should they decide to value my fully vested 324,000 shares of TechTV at $0. I declined to sign the rider. They declined to renew without the signature. I walked.

A few weeks later they increased their payoff offer (which as it turned out was much lower than the severance many other TechTV employees received) and I decided to cut my losses and take it. Especially since the sale to Comcast was imminent, and the best legal opinions were that there was nothing I could do about the shares anyway. (Vulcan did void them eventually.) [Read the rest]

I was glad Leo posted what happened to him but also simultaneously disgusted and sad about how Gag 4 treated its employees. Moving some to another city and then callously ditching them? I hope these employees all received excellent severance pay. According to this former Tech TV intern,

The severance package stipulated that the person could not say ANYTHING negative about G4, even if it was true, and it was also stipulated that the person could not discuss the severance package agreement with anyone. I must also add that no single person at TechTV told me this, and that my knowledge came from reading the document itself. It sounded like G4 knew exactly what it was doing from day one. [Link]

The people behind Call for Help and The Screen Savers, as a team, were so much bigger than just their show formats. Gag 4 will never be what Tech TV once was. I was never tempted to refer to G4 in any way at all before they did what they did; now, it just seems instinctive to type Gag 4 every time I think of their management tactics.

Here's Leo's third version of Leoville Town Square.

Check out Leo's homepage.

Read Leo's blog here.

Leo's on the radio with written responses online!

See the Canadian Call for Help show Leo's now hosting, if your service provider carries it (yes, it's Gag 4 in Canada). I think people are still whining about not getting Leo's Call for Help back in the USA, but maybe that will change if the whining becomes shrill enough.

Boycott Bell

Disgusting...especially the word "antivirus" across the breast area.

Postively. Rude. Ingorant. Churlish. Kooky. Stupidity.

Let's make it simple: boycott Bell. Tell Bell, "the female body" is not de facto pornographic, even if that's how they seem to think about women. Block pornography, not women.

Update:

Bell Canada
Executive Office of Customer Relations for Bell
1-866-317-3382
executive.office [at] bell.ca

The message at the above number says to press "1" if you haven't yet talked to Customer Service. I tried talking to Customer Service earlier today, and their responses consisted primarily of "um," "I don't know," and "ad? what ad?" Accordingly, I'd recommend you press "2" for management and then "5" for other concerns (i.e., marketing abominations).

I'm Your Father, I'm Your Father

Continuing on in the Gizoogle theme, here's Star Wars, gangsta style. The animation's pretty amazing, (you can click past the annoying commercials while it's loading).

A Jedi's gotta do what a Jedi's gotta do.

Thanks to a regular reader for the link tip.

Gizoogle

Ok, these folks should win some kind of comedy web award:  go to this site and type in the full url for a website that has a significant amount of text on the front page (it doesn't work well on some blogs). Then click "Gizoogle it" and wait for the page to be translated into...gangsta.

I did it with the Guide to the Canadian House of Commons. It's, um, too funny to describe. Check it out, but I'm not going to tell you which of your favourite sites to, um, transform ; )

Be creative 'n' trackback! I gotta see what ya'll come up with!

Er, on second thought, don't track back if you're transforming, say, your work site. Don't want anyone to get dooced.

Look On The Bright Side

For days when you just don't feel like yourself, consider that you probably don't have it quite this bad:

[Link via Rilla]

W

Go to google, type a single W, and then hit "I'm feeling lucky."

That's impressive.

Blogger Fog

I awakened this morning with some kind of cold/flu thing. As I struggled to get a mental grip on the world around me, I thought I heard, through my foggy consciousness, Rawlco's Kurt Levin say something about bloggers being like used car salesmen because they have no journalistic training.

It's funny what you think you hear when your head is in a fog. Surely Kurt must not have said that. I mean, is that how he sees me? Nah. It must have been my fever talking.

Just in case, though, I'll recommend Kurt catch up on his Jay Rosen here, here, and here for starters. Of course, since you can never call in on Kurt's shows, I can't tell him this.

JKelly VS All the Blogs That Are Fit to Print

Writing for the National Post, J. Kelly Nestruck, -- that's "J." Kelly, not just "Kelly" -- has written an article about bloggers and the blogosphere. JKelly's article is entitled "Why the revolution won't be blogged" and subtitled "Bloggers talk about their importance, but it's just talk." I was impressed that the subtitle was properly punctuated, no small feat in the world of newspapers. I used to draw on newspaper articles to teach punctuation to students. Any newspaper would do: finding examples of bad grammar and punctuation in a newspaper is like shooting fish in a barrel.

JKelly's own blog, On the Fence can be found here. Read it, especially if you just can't get enough of reporters talking about what events they're covering and putting down their colleagues. Maybe that doesn't matter, though, given that he acknowledges his readers don't all read the National Post. Tsk. Tsk. After reading his blog, I, myself, doubt that he's doing much to improve NP readership, either, especially given that he seems to double-dip -- writing about a topic on his blog and then spinning that yarn into a news article later. Yawn.

JKelly essentially took it upon himself to articulate a rather narrow history of the blogosphere and offer an even more narrow opinion about the relationship between journalism and blogging. Besides being so limited in its scope, the article had an air of meanspiritedness that made me think maybe he was just jealous of good bloggers. While JKelly puts down the importance of blogs, others have staked out very different territory on the issue of statements made on the web.

Certainly, JKelly does not appear to have considered the question of the relationship between blogging and journalism as assiduously as NYU's Jay Rosen has, over at PRESSthink. Even still, JKelly purports to give us "the truth" about blogs. Then, after chopping away at them, he finally admits that Dan Rather's recent apology was a blogosphere triumph, well at least for some bloggers, many of whom don't seem to appear on JKelly's list of "approved" blogs.

JKelly concludes his article with the following analogy:

"Bloggers -- alas or hurrah -- are not the giant killers they've been portrayed as lately. They are the plovers who fly into the mouth of the big media crocodiles and keep their teeth clean. If it weren't for the media's bad dental habits, bloggers wouldn't get fed. But if they ever forget their place and start pecking away at the gums, don't believe for a moment that the crocodiles won't snap their jaws shut and swallow them whole."

I'm guessing JKelly aligns himself with the "big media crocodiles" rather than seeing himself as a plaque-picking plover. The problem with the analogy, however, is that, if the bloggers "start pecking away at the gums" (whatever that means), the crocodiles couldn't really do anything about it anyway. The day big media swallows the blogosphere will be the same day someone gathers up all the pebbles on the earth. Besides, JKelly forgot something important -- journalists have started blogging, too.

I don't know what JKelly wants or expects from bloggers, but maybe there's the rub, after all: it's not so much that the blogosphere disappoints, as that JKelly feels disappointed. Instead of acting like the bad editor of the blogosphere and appreciating only those blogs he approves for print, maybe JKelly should revisit his expectations for blogs, recognizing that the blogosphere will never fit into his rather miniscule vision of blogo-truth. However, he'll have to come down off his high horse first in order to do that.

I think I'll conclude with a quotation from JKelly's own blog: "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool" (Touchstone, AYLI).

My wish for you, JKelly: reflexivity, which might lead you to a deeper level of thought and analysis.

Maybe, *shrug*

What Is Your Animal Personality?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'd ask you if you think this is me, but you probably wouldn't understand....

I know...that wasn't very funny, but I like that kind of weird, reflexive humour.

Aaa-ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Check out these other awesome wolf howls here.

Ed Posts Larry in the Bathtub

I'll admit that I'm more of a dog person than a cat person. Even still, I'm so taken by Ed Hawco's photography post for this week. Check it out.

Why, oh, why, oh, why?

Frittering away your Saturday?

Here's a good bit of frittertainment for you....

Who ever thought of the ping-pong matrix...and, more importantly, why? [Via The Monger]

Blogging or obsession?

I had to laugh at this article I read today in the New York Times.  Actually, at first my laughter was tainted with a bit of chagrin because my husband sent it to me...with a little e-ribbing attached.

The article was about blogging, well, moreso about bloggers, and it started out with blogging from the perspective of a blogspouse:

          To celebrate four years of marriage, Richard Wiggins
          and his wife, Judy Matthews, recently spent a week
          in Key West, Fla. Early on the morning of their
          anniversary, Ms. Matthews heard her husband get
          up and go into the bathroom. He stayed there for
          a long time.

          "I didn't hear any water running, so I wondered
          what was going on," Ms. Matthews said. When
          she knocked on the door, she found him seated
          with his laptop balanced on his knees, typing into his 
          Web log, a collection of observations about the
          technical world, over a wireless link.

*smirk*

I have to acknowledge that the blogger was taking a bit of a risk here.  I mean, they were only married for four years. That's not nearly enough years to let you get away with that kind of behaviour, especially on an anniversary trip to Florida.  Blogger-to-blogger advice:  wise up.  Wait a marital decade, at least, to start sneaking off to blog.

         "It seems as if his laptop is glued to his legs 24/7,"
         Ms. Matthews said of her husband.

Ok, look, true obsessions are bad -- it doesn't matter what the focus of the obsession is. If someone tells you your laptop's become an extension of your body, get help. Now.  Maybe someone should start a BA with an associated Blog-Anon.  Ha-ha, you say, but perhaps it's not so funny:

          Tony Pierce started his blog three years ago while in
          search of a distraction after breaking up with a
          girlfriend. "In three years, I don't think I've missed a
          day," he said....Where some frequent bloggers might
          label themselves merely ardent, Mr. Pierce is more
          realistic. "I wouldn't call it dedicated, I would call it a
          problem," he said. "If this were beer, I'd be an
          alcoholic"....Mr. Pierce...said blogging began to feel
          like an addiction when he noticed that he would rather
          be with his computer than with his girlfriend....Mr.
          Pierce described the rush he gets..."the fix" provided
          by his blog.

He started blogging after a break up.  Yes, blogging can be therapeutic, like writing, in general, can be for some people. However, what about those other words: problem...the fix...rather be with his girlfriend?  Sounds like an obsession to me.  On the other hand, I don't know his girlfriend.  Of course, if the blog's interfering with his ability to live his life normally and is getting in the way of his relationships and work, well, that's another (more serious) story.

Mike Hentz concluded the article by pointing out another, more positive side to blogging:

          People like Mr. Pierce, who devote much of their free
          time to the care and feeding of their own blogs and
          posting to other blogs, do so largely because it makes
          them feel productive even if it is not a paying job.

I found that last point pretty interesting. After I "lost" my position at a local college, I went from working at the speed of light to chugging along about 2.5 miles per hour, stressed out, sick, and bored right out of my mind.  What can I say? I think blogging saved my sanity.  As I got a leg up on my current work, I turned blogging into a quasi-daily activity, and now?  Well, if you like writing, it's a heck of a lot of fun!  It is for me.

You can read the entire NYT article here, although you might have to register first. 

Blogpower

This guy in Austin, Texas is really ticked (via Kim). Wowow.

I call these "justice blogs." Here's another one.

Postscript:

I guess blogpower worked. The Texas guy got his problem resolved, and now the original site's gone, leaving only this message:

Case #00000001status: finally resolved

Here is my heartfelt plea:
"All I want is to get my truck fixed. It wouldn't have mattered if you hit my old truck of 10 years but I just bought my 2004 Toyota Tacoma 2 months ago. Please take some responsibility for your actions."

In hindsight, I realize that my choice of words was inappropriate. I don't want to be remembered as the BitchHitMyTruck guy and I certainly don't want this to consume any more of my time. I'm really a laid back guy who would rather be lounging at Barton Springs, rock climbing on the Greenbelt, or riding my cruiser bicycle around South Austin. As it turns out the girl involved is really a good person and does not deserve this kind of attention.

The final chapter:
As a fitting end to this saga I will be getting drunk this weekend (May 29th) and take photos myself to put on the site. After that the site will be gone for good.

- Patrick

New UK Blog

Surfing around the web (before going to bed...do you do that?), I found an interesting new blog from the UK. Well, the blog's not new, given that it's been going since 2002, a long time by any blogger's standard, but it's new to my blogroll.

Here's an excerpt from one of the posts I read:

"The goose situation is very complicated. Of the five from last year the two new babies have grown and flown off with their perfect wings to nest by the river. This one has paired up with one of the other two. We're not sure if its partner isn't Lonely Goose (whom Paris calls Only Goose). It certainly behaves like Lonely Goose who for weeks has been sailing up and down this stretch squawking when lonely or hungry at all times of day and night. The last week has been especially hair-raising as he goes out into the road calling, calling late at night. I go and feed him later on now to settle him so he does not wander and get flattened."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwww!

This blogger has a nice style and very engaging photos included in some posts.

You can see the rest of the blog at London and the North.

MSN tales

My concentration and attention are fading this afternoon...

I had a quick check-in on MSN with my hubby because our car is in the shop. I thought I'd share the conversation with you:

Beautiful Dreamer says: hey Beautiful Dreamer says: how's the car doing...any time estimates? Hubby says: they're supposed to call you Beautiful Dreamer says: k Beautiful Dreamer says [showing him my Danny Aiello blog post]: www.heartofcanada.ca Hubby says: hmmm..."received in the mail YESTERDAY" and didn't tell me? Beautiful Dreamer says: Beautiful Dreamer says: hey, maybe danny'll call me...you never know Hubby says [quoting something from my blog]: "My husband (smiling): 'Nice one!'" Hubby says: Beautiful Dreamer says: ...um... Beautiful Dreamer says: r u reading my BLOG??? Hubby says: actually, it was, "Oo...! Nice one!" Hubby says: lol Beautiful Dreamer says [singing along to Danny Aiello]: you'll never know just how much i miss youyou'll never know just how much i caaaaaaaaare Beautiful Dreamer says: wanna move back to nyc? Hubby says: Hubby says: no. Beautiful Dreamer says: omg, you put a period after no Beautiful Dreamer says: like no-period Beautiful Dreamer says: Beautiful Dreamer says: !!! Hubby says: we couldn't even afford to move to Edmonton, let alone NYC Beautiful Dreamer says: maybe we could get on an episode of law and order! Beautiful Dreamer says: i could be a lounge singer and you could strut like Logan Hubby says: "Law and Order: Boring People"...when life's so dull it's a crime Hubby says: lol Beautiful Dreamer says: roflmao!!!

Well, that's how it is. Our lives...normal, boring.

I'm Ape Over This

I've been a long-time fan of Koko, a lowland gorilla who learned American Sign Language in her early years, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Penny Patterson. A terrific website exists devoted to Koko, as well as to building a preserve for lowland gorillas in Maui (*sigh*... Maui ... *sigh*). Robin Williams is the honourary co-chair for the Maui gorilla preserve initiative. I loved this short dvd preview of him interacting with Koko. It's a fundraising promo, but it's nice to watch anyway.

Koko is 32 and has a kitten. I'm intrigued by gorilla art. Koko's painting of "love" has always appealed to me.

I'd just point out, given the "graffiti as art an anti-social sub-culture" discussion going on in our city, that Koko's art is all legal (I know...that wasn't very funny).

Google Blog

Yes, Google now has a blog. I'm fascinated by Google. I've even phoned them and chatted them up a bit. Hey, why not?

Here's their corporate philosophy.

Excerpt:

"4. Democracy on the web works....

6. You can make money without doing evil."

I wonder if they hire psychologists.

Blogging on the Radio

If you're in the AM listening range of Rawlco's 650 CKOM radio, you might want to listen in to John Gormley Live! this morning. John's going to be discussing blogging...with a local woman who has her own blog : )

Sounds like fun!

Postscript

Ok, I so have to blog about this before I get back to work! Going on John Gormley Live! to talk about blogging was interesting such a blast! What could be better than talking to your favourite Canadian radio celebrity on air, live, about your favourite thing to do: blog! If you didn't catch the show, listen to it tonight on 650 CKOM AM radio. Kate from Small Dead Animals live-blogged the discussion while the show was on, gnashing her teeth simultaneously in her typically humorous way. I live-blogged once while listening to Milt Rosenberg from Chicago and then called in just like Kate did -- it was a hoot!

If you didn't catch some of the blogs I talked about this afternoon, you can write them down if you listen tonight. I read mostly Canadian political blogs, academic blogs, and "joe blogs" by people who write well. Most of the people I read are listed on my menu to the right on this site. By the way, I already get several thousand readers per month, but you should have seen the hits coming into my site meter while on the show today -- at least tripled my daily readership in one hour. Neat-o! Obviously John's got a very popular show.

The only problem with going on the show was, well, it was so much fun that now I want to do radio too! C'mon Rawlco Radio...how about a weekly psychologist's spot?!!! Child and youth issues...parenting...ask Dr. T.... I'm up for it...just waiting for your call : ) OMG that would be sooo great!

My Life in Strongbadia

Via Becky I learn:

Which Homestar Runner character are you?

I know...it's juvenile, but YAY!

By the way, er, what rigid and hostile cliques???

Milt Rosenberg on Cool Websites

Milt Rosenberg, a Chicago psychologist and newstalk radio host, did a great show segment tonight on the internet. Er, that is, I listened to it on the internet, and the segment was also about the internet : ) Milt has a really great show, which I listen to online in the late evening sometimes (9-11 p.m. central time). He also has Miltsfile, the blog where he posts tidbits from his show.

One really neat feature of Milt's blog is his daily music link, usually the last tidbit in each post. He links to an interesting online musical piece you can listen to on the net. I listened to the Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Veronica Dudarova, Conductor) perform Piotr Il'yich's Fantasy-Overture from Romeo and Juliet several times the other night while working on the computer.

On the show tonight with Milt tonight were Ellis Booker, who edits Crain's BtoB magazine and Media Business; Steve Pazol, who is CEO of the Chicago-based techology company nPhase; and Tony Moy, professor of interactive design at the Illinois Institute of Art.

Tonight, Milt and his guests shared their picks for interesting web places across a number of categories. I've reproduced most of the list here for you to enjoy. I've added a few tidbits of my own at the end of the list. I hope you'll find something new and interesting. I know I did!

Interesting personal picks by Milt and his guests:
snopes - urban legend and hoax look-ups
ufo physics - how ufos might work and how you might build one (I don't believe in ufo's, by the way)
vtuner - radio stations online from around the world
movielink - legally watch movies online for a limited period of time; usa viewers only so far
rhymezone - searchable site with 150,000 lines from Shakespeare's works
Shakespearean insulter - insults, what ho!
Babelfish - text translation page
penciljack - everything comics
fatwallet - consumer product reviews
frugal - more consumer product reviews
eopinions - consumer product opinions by purchasers
PBS kids - cool kids shows online
NASA - Mars stuff and more
trip advisor - plan trips online
cool home pages - just how it sounds, great designs
Gutenberg - free full-text books and other print material online

Portal sites:
refdesk - general reference source
yahoo news - news portal
Debka - middle east information
Memri - search pretty much everything
Technorati - blogger links and sources
Wikipedia - open source, online encyclopedia by everyone
Britannica - online encyclopedia

Blogosphere:
Miltsfile, too - news and magazine links from Milt's show
dreamflux - Tony Moy's sketches and tips
blogjam - life perspectives from an audio equipment installer in Baghdad
rosenblog - Milt Rosenberg's son, a freelance journalist with interesting links
Andrew Sullivan - the "daily dish"
kausfiles - Mickey Kaus from Slate magazine

Search engines:
google - world's biggest search engine; use the image tab at the top to search for images
all the web - a new search engine, almost as comprehensive as google

Multimedia search resources:
kazaa - peer-to-peer music sharing (use carefully! or don't use at all)
itunes - apple computer's free music site
real one - premium and rhapsody versions
red hot jazz - public domain, traditional jazz music
classical plus - online classical music
all music - artist preferences and influence (links to music purchases)
music plasma - artist preferences and influence (links to music purchases)

Social networking
friendster - network with other people (be careful!)
dogster - networking for dog lovers (still be careful!)

Best of the Best-New-Sites
homestar runner - Matt, Mike, Ryan and Melissa's crazy cartoons

Some random favourites of my own (yes, I am a geek):
Latin - Latin-English translator
slashdot - everything geeky
thinkgeek - "stuff for smart masses"
clipart - free online clipart
Nova - watch nova programs online
music videos - music videos
singing fish - find songs and other media all over the web

I'd add blogs, but most of the ones I read are already on my blogroll.

Enjoy surfing!

The Wonderful Web

Those of you who know me know that I barely shop. I only shop when I have to and don't like to linger when I do. It's in and out and home. However, then I discovered internet shopping, so I almost never have to shop outside of the home at all. People just deliver stuff to my door (when I have the money to buy something, that is).

Some things, however, I can only get when I travel to Alberta. For example, anything IKEA has to be purchased in Edmonton or Calgary. So, you can imagine my ecstasy when IKEA beefed up their online shopping site!

Now, I don't have to wait for my next Edmonton trip to buy these (or beg people to bring them here for me):

Siljans Rye Crispbread

Kalles Salmon Pate

I guess it doesn't take that much to make my day!

New Domain

Oh happy day...the official domain name for this site is now

http://www.heartofcanada.ca

You can continue to access the domain via the old-and-clunky typepad address, too.

I'm also squatting on http://www.heartofcanada.com for those who enter the .com instead of the .ca. But, you know, the .ca is so much nicer -- well, except all the paper work associated with registering it!

Weird Web Stuff

This page is so addictive! Enter a name (e.g., "Smith" or "John") on the left and then click go. You've been warned!