Manning Park Topo

How To Make Vietnamese Style Single Cup Filter Iced Coffee

How To Make Vietnamese Style Single Cup Filter Iced Coffee

I love coffee. I love a good cup of coffee. The next time i'm in china town, I'll try to dig one of these puppies up. It looks like it could work for camping as well.

Back at it

So everybody has moved on to youtube, microblogging, twitter, myspace, friendfeed friendfeedtwitterspace. I'm all about bucking trends, so I'm giving this blogging thing a second try. I've been meaning to get back at it for a couple of years. I've been feeling half inspired for quite some time by the great series about blogging that "Spark" presented. It's guest Merlin Mann (Of 43 folders fame) made some great points. One of the main points that I took away is FOCUS ON YOUR PASSION. For me, it's politics, technology, music and hockey. Politics is out of the question, Given my employer, it's best to be neutral (Like a true Canadian?!)I'd love to blog about hockey, but I'm a total puck poser and I'd just repeat everything that the wonderful HNIC Radio would tell me. That leaves music and technology. I've recently launched the music blog 'Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle' (http://youdrinkwhattheysell.blogspot.com/) and I'm working on getting the technology blog 'Problems and Solutions' (http://explorehomenetworking.blogspot.com/) up. For some reason, I can barf out a music post in a couple of hours, but I have alot of trouble with the technology posts. Weird.

I hate myspace

Maybe it's because I turned 29 this year.
Maybe, I'm 10-15 years out of the loop.
Maybe, I'm just a bitter bastard
Maybe it's because I enjoy planting tomatoes and playing ball with my max.

But, I can't stand myspace. Every time a site links to it, or some Hollywood whore *This means you Kevin smith*, uses for shameless self promotion; I get a little more annoyed.
Finally, I make the mistake of scrolling down, past the person/band/whore information, to the countless pages of "Ads".

Like "Hey, It's Thursday, Thanks for the ADD.. You Guyz are the best"..
"Hey, it's Friday, you guyz RUL3!".. THANKS FOR THE ADD..

Argh!

I think there must be a greasemonkey script that I can use.. To filter out all content originating from, or even remotely mentioning it. Perhaps I'm just not web2.0. I belief the web is great medium. Blogs and forums are great tool for reaching out, voicing your opinion, talking with peers. However, when everybody is talking, but talking about nothing, should we care? And why is it relevant?


I feel better now.

CHUM Limited and Alliance Atlantis pull ads

According to Canadian Press,"The networks said promoting the movie would be inappropriate for their channels."

Holly Crap, it looks like a few heartless corporation's have a soul. Unfortunately, I'm left being a skeptic. Did somebody within the business decide that this wasn't moral, or did they think it would it negatively impact the business. I hope it was the former, and not the latter.

As far as the movie, I've been thinking about what the proper and moral response as a Canadian blogger would be. I don't believe in government censorship of any works, expect in cases where somebody or something is being harmed or exploited in the creation of the work. I don't really want to talk about the movie. I don't want to inavertly promote the movie, while bashing it's creation. I haven't see it, I don't plan on it. I don't believe I need to see this movie. However, without seeing it, I can't really comment on it. Perhaps it will contain a important message. Perhaps it will help family deal with the ongoing grief. Perhaps it will give the Canadian public a sense of closure. However, I doubt it. It looks a Hollywood exploitation of a tragic story, and I don't I need to see it. I remember the time in my head. I lived in Burlington. I remember the fear the community had first hand. I remeber the News reports. The books and articles. I don't need to see a movie of the other side of story.

That being said, I'm glad to see the Canadian media rejecting the ads. I'm glad the government didn't have to tell the media what was inappropriate. I'm glad the media has decided by themselves. Now, I hope the Canadian public does that same, and votes with their money and does not support the movie. At least, in some small way, it will say something about the morality of Canada.

The verdict on the second debate: What the hell is the "Not withstanding clause, and why the hell do I care?

As stated on tonights election debate, and according to CBC News, It looks like Paul Martin is going for the "Long Bomb" and has challaged Steven Harper to follow his lead and promise the ban of the federal use of the "Nothwithstanding Clause". If If I understand it corectly, what this really means, if Steven Harper and the conservaties get elected and IF they agree to the challage, this promise would effectly ban an action by the conservaties (or any other party) from use the notwithstanding clause overide descions made the Supreme Court on the interpretion of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So on federal level, they could use the notwithstanding clause to overule the supreme court on descions like gay marriage.

CBC briefly states:

"The notwithstanding clause allows the federal government or a provincial legislature to enact legislation to override several sections of the Charter that deal with fundamental freedoms, legal rights and equality rights."

for a more indept look:

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause (or 'la clause dérogatoire' in French), or as the override power, and it allows Parliament or provincial legislatures to override certain portions of the Charter."


finally, right from the parl.gc.ca site:

The Notwithstanding Clause of the Charter (BP194e): "THE NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE
OF THE CHARTER"

How'd They Vote? :: Canadian MPs in Focus

I've been hiding for awhile. I will get to a full on update some-time soon, sometime before another full on update is needed. Anyhow, not to waste time. Canada is knee deep in election talk.. Instead of getting into dirt, I first though I'd pass on a resource. I'm quite happy to see this type of information published on the net. Like most Canadians, I have *no idea* what my MP does after I elect him/her. I simply read the local/national paper, and follow the headlines assuming my MP has done me right. Well, that's about to change. Before I vote, I'll be checking into the incumbent to see how they've voted on key issues: social responsibility, defense spending, transporting, education and heath care.

How'd They Vote? :: Canadian MPs in Focus

Bills, Bills and wrapping your pipes

Well, Merry Freaking' Christmas. I'm offically old. As of 1 dec 05, I will have a hydro bill, a gas bill, a phone bill, a bill for the bill, and a bill for the fact i can't pay the other bills.

My web searches 6 months ago included:
"AJAX", and "Indie Music blogs"..

My present day searches include:
"how to weatherstrip a house" and "reducing your heating costs".

New gizmos of choice? Programmable thermostats and energy reducing bulbs. Projects of future? Doing a engery audit of my residence, and elemanting heat loss. Weapon of choice? Weather striping. Perhaps I'm in just in shock. I learned today that my monthly gas+hydro will be close to $200 a month.


Hydro One - Heating Tips
Natural Resource Canada - Heating and Cooling
CBC: Consumer tips: Coping with high energy costs at home
RONA: Caulking and weather stripping

Christians Open Minded?

A little old.. I forgot to push the "publish" button :) Non the less, some always fun random jabs the extreme right.


Intresting:

National Post: "'If you constantly marginalize us, that's when we could galvanized into one voting bloc,' he said. 'But really we're all over the map. We're pretty open-minded people.'"

Point 1. National Post: "One of the speakers who will address attendees today is Chris Kempling, a B.C. teacher who was suspended from his job as a guidance counsellor after writing a series of letters to his local paper that criticized same-sex relationships.

Point 2. National Post: "Mr. Emmanuel said the evangelical community is not necessarily going to fall in line behind Mr. Harper's Conservatives.

'I want to be careful not to be too critical, but I think Stephen Harper could do a better job defending our community,' he said. 'To be honest, I was shocked at his inability to fight for his beliefs and to keep the [sponsorship scandal] in the forefront of the debate.'"

Point 3. National Post: "The conference will also hear from Stephen Bennett, a U.S. radio personality, musician and public speaker who has flown to Canada to discuss his personal rejection of homosexuality. A self-professed 'former homosexual,' Mr. Bennett is now married to a woman and has dedicated himself to reaching out to 'homosexuals who want to escape the lifestyle.'"

Point 4. National Post: "Christians interested in social outreach and other 'compassionate endeavours' might have a natural proclivity toward Liberal or NDP candidates, he said. But he said it is the public disavowals of religion that push the evangelical constituency toward the Conservatives."


Finally. National Post: "But Mr. Emmanuel said he reached his breaking point during the 2004 federal election, when the Liberal government threatened the electorate with the Conservative party's "hidden agenda," which he believes was a thinly veiled attack on Christian beliefs."


Shutup. Damn crazy Christians. Here's a hint. Nobody wants to deal with uber right wings crazy christian beliefs. We as Canadians have larger, more pressing issues then the right-wing beliefs. It was the right wing that made Gay rights an issue in the last election. Anybody rember what happened? An Enourmous amout of Canadians said to their politicians, not "yes/no we support the issue".. It was more like "Shut up!, Why the hell are we talking about this? Can't you guys do something useful like end the hockey strike?"

In summary, SHUT UP.

Mid Range Gamer..

New System..

I'm building a new system this weekend. Upgrading a system based around a Athlon XP 1200 to a mid-range gamer. Unfortuanlly, it's not for me :( I haven't played with SATA or PCI-E, so I'll be curious of the results. In preparation, I'll be slipstreaming an XP CD, and using some sort of freeware to recover a missing XP serial key. Most of my time has been spent in these days has been spent in Linux, working on my mythbox, so it'll be a little of an XP refresher. I've never bothered to learn create how to create a slipstreamed version of XP. It will also give me a chance to try some of the newer games available.

• DFI LANParty UT NF4 ULTRA-D Motherboard ATX S939 NFORCE4 Ultra DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA RAID Sound LAN
• eVGA E-GEFORCE 6600GT 128M DDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI HD OUT VIDEO CARD
• AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor S939 Venice 2.0GHZ 512K L2 Cache 90NM Retail Box
• Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB SATA 7200RPM 16MB 9.0MS RoHS .98
• OCZ EL Platinum REV.2 (TCCD) PC3200 1GB 2X512MB DDR CL 2-2-2-5 184PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit

The Manitoban Online - Not allowed to recruit on campus ...

The Manitoban Online - Not allowed to recruit on campus ...: "There has been controversy recently over whether or not the Canadian Forces should be permitted to recruit on university campuses. In September, student protestors at York University clashed with recruitment officers over a booth set up for a career fair. The York Federation of Students (YSF) and the Grassroots Anti-Imperialist Network (GRAIN) believe the Canadian Forces (CF) are in direct conflict with the standards of the university regarding human rights."


Really, I've never thought about militant university students being against the CF. I suppose I'm sort of ignorant. I'll take that pay cheque from the man. However, I believe the role of a military is to be the "pointy stick" of a nation. Baby Hugging, Politics and handshaking make the international law and policies, but somebody has to carry them out. When it comes to international law, the military becomes the face of the country. Therefore, the military's actions should reflect the view of nation through it's elected representatives. So if these so called activist are protesting against the CF recruiting on campus, I believe they are saying the nation as a whole is corrupt and violates human rights. So why not attack it at the source, the body, rather then at the stick it holds?

I guess what I'm trying to say, is a common speech for me. If you don't like what your country, your military, your city, your whatever is doing, then get involved and change it. But to protest against the CF recruiting on university campus, that's just lazy. Shut your mouth, go to Ottawa and make a difference. The nation will be better for it.

Max

Max 009
Originally uploaded by prosonik.

The updates have been a little thin lately. SG arrived on the 22 Sept 05, and it's been a wirlwind ever since. We've had quite a week of traveling around, going to concerts and visting the SPCA. Well, it has all paid off, as we are now the proud adopties of "Max" (formally "Storm"). Thanks to the staff of the Surrey SPCA for their patience with us.

Harvey Danger - Little by Little now available for free via Bittorrent

Okay, Now this is cool.. Harvey Danger (Yes, the hype band of yesteryear) has released their new album via bittorrent in ogg and mp3 format. (Way to support OGG!) . I was a big fan of there "Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?", and to a lesser extent "King James Version". I had long though that they had broken up an until hearing a mumor on Seattles KEXP that they played a small show. Anyways, I haven't heard the album yet. I'm excited to see how Harvey Danger sounds circa 2005.

Wikipedia has an exellent entry on the band. It gives brief overview 0f the band complete with discrography and what the members have been up to over the last couple years

LASAGNA CASSEROLE

As a kid, I loved this recipe. My mother used to make a couple batches, one to eat, and one for the freezer for the quick meal nights. Later one, she divided it up into small microwavable dishes, for suppers on-the-go. It was so much better then a comparble Michelina's frozen dinners.

1 Package ground beef (525 – 600 GR)
1 – 2 garlic cloves chopped 1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
2-1/2 Cups COOKED MACARONI (I usually use elbow macaroni but penne will also work or small shells) 1 container cottage cheese, salt, oregano, parsley etc. Mozzarella & parmesan cheese


Brown ground beef in skillet. Spoon of excess fat and add garlic. Stir in tomato sauce, spices and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Combine cooked macaroni, cottage cheese and sauce in a 2 qt. casserole. Top with mozzarella & parmesan cheese

Bake ½ hr. at 325 degrees or microwave approximately 15 minutes.

Mulroney to B.C.: 'Go stuff it.' - and he was right!

Everybody is down on Brian. Oh, did the former prime minster of the country do? Did he actually tell the truth? He spoke his mind. NEWSFLASH TO THE WEST: If you want a "Western Leader". Tell your neighbours, tell your friends, tell the people you hate, to pick a party - and vote for it. At the same time, have them look at the actual population of the country, and then have them notice, where the population is: Onatario and Quebec. What a concept; the majority of candians are in the countries two largest provinces. SOMEHOW, they seem to "control" the election. Go figure!
When a leader (he may be a quebecer, but he's a conservative) tells it like he see's it (and he saw it right), people jump all over him. I wonder what's worse? To be Quebec 'frog' or a Western "Cry-baby"?. The power is in the vote. The power is in the poplution. If (we) the west want our voices heard, (we) the west must find a way to unite a western voice - whether it be a conservative, liberal or NDP voice. Maybe a regional party the represents the Western Canadian voice. And before you think it: I'm not speaking of the "Reform part II" which represented a of the vote - no matter how popular they were.

Anyhow, here's some more text from the article in the Vancouver Sun.

Vancouver Sun: "If they don't vote for her, I hope somebody will have the decency to tell them to go stuff it,' Mulroney told Newman. 'If they won't support a young woman from British Columbia to be prime minister of Canada, I hope they stop talking about western alienation.'

Mulroney said a Campbell government wouldn't change 'a goddamned thing,' but he believed Western Canadians simply didn't want a 'frog' from Quebec running the government."

September Sunset in Matsqui

September Sunset in Matsqui
Originally uploaded by prosonik.

A September Sunset in Matsqui. I snapped this quickly tonight, right out my front door. The sunset lit my livingroom up with this amazing red color. It was a amazing sunset.

Technology Vrs Nature

Technology, when used properly can benefit society. Geeks do good. Case in point, in the days following Katrina, grassroots efforts across the net have popped up with invaluable information using Google earth and Google Maps. The community has come together to use both these tools to provide information to friends/family and survivors of hurricane. I came across this information like most other users. I was exploring the Google earth site, and to my delight, the community has provided overlays for use with the Google Earth software. Using Google earth, I can compare a city like Hamilton, On, to New Orleans to see just how terrible the flooding is. I can fly can pan in 3D over major land marks in New Orleans. In addition, the community has come together to release detailed post-hurricane overlays. These overlays provide with a real visual sense of where the levee breaks took place and others point to news events. Now, NASA, Carnegie Mellon University, and Google have come together to provide even more overlays. You can use Google earth to fly over much of New Orleans and view the devastation for yourself. No other piece of a software or media outlet has ever before provided so much detialed infrormation. No other media source has come close to the visual impact that Google Earth provides.

Following that discovery, I found another awesome use for Google maps. A Google map hack has begun to update information on specific sites/homes using the maps as reference. Now, a friend or family member can use the site to see brief comments on specific houses.. Comments like "the Ashley's are in Prattville AL". . So very cool. I think this has so much potential in major world catastrophes. The best part, it's a grass roots idea, supported by a major corporation and university. People coming together to help people. Geeks unite!

Katrina Information Map: "Katrina Information Map - This map is intended for the use of people affected by Hurricane Katrina who have or are trying to find information about the status of specific locations affected by the storm and its aftermath. If you have information about the status of an area that is not yet on the map, please contribute by following the instructions below so that others may get that much needed information."

Google Earth - Hurricane Katrina Imagery: "Hurricane Katrina Imagery
The Google Earth team is working on adding imagery of the impact of Hurricane Katrina. We will be posting links to this imagery for viewing as 'image overlays' in Google Earth."

U.S. Newswire : Releases : Katrina Relief Canada's Response

IndyMedia and Hurricane Katrina

If your like me, your probably getting a bit sick of this whole Hurricane Katrina catastrophe. The whole Kanye west thing. The whole "Ignoring the black people" thing. Finally, George Bush. Who can forget him?

After the Hurricane, I imagine him down at his ranch; Lying in a big bed, in children's PJs watching FOX News (You know he loves FOX). George Sr. Calls up.. "Awe shucks Daddy, do I got to deal with this?" "I'm on summer break, plus Laguna beach is on tonight". "Don't I have staff that deals with this sort of stuff?".."No Jr, you have to deal with this stuff.. Show the people that your not just a cowboy, but The Bush family actually do care about our american people" "But Daddy, I do care! I care About the American People on "Laguna beach".. They got some awful cute girls worth saving!.

Anyways, if your beliefs are center or slightly right wing, I suggest browsing the indymedia coverage of Katrina. It's some interesting left-wing reading. That being said I think "Extremist" is an understatement. If your take Indymedia for the gospel, it seems like God himself dreamed up this whole Katrina mess to slap down the black residents of the south and the only real fix would to be convert to communism.

*Note: I don't want to discount this as a tragedy. I don't mean to insult black residents of the effected states. I do believe they are being marginalized , and being used as political pawns instead of victims. It does seem that certain people are obstructing the real issue. Help people that need the help. I encourage support of the American/Canadian Red Cross, and I will be making a donation

New Orleans Independent Media Center: "Hurricane Katrina"
Hurricane Katrina- Canadian Red Cross
FOXNews.com: "Forum: Hurricane Katrina"

July-August 2005 189

July-August 2005 189
Originally uploaded by prosonik.

Another shot from the roadtrip. Somewhere between Cache Creek and Whistler.
I am finally forced to admit this: I now understand why locals call this place 'God's Country'