Category: Miscellaneous

Send a Birthday Card to Shane

Yesterday, my mother sent me a link that I want to share with as many people as possible: Shane’s Wish.

Shane Bernier is seven years old, and has had cancer for two years already. This year for his birthday on May 30 he wants as many birthday cards as possible. He’s trying to break a Guiness record.

Every card he receives gives Shane a small escape from his life in the hospital and his cancer, and according to his mother, since he’s been getting the cards Shane’s immune system has become stronger.

To send a card to Shane, simply send it to:
Shane Bernier
PO Box 484
Lancaster, Ontario
K0C 1N0
Canada

If you can write it in French he will be able to read it. If not don’t worry, his parents will read it to him.

On YouTube:

Now I have to go get a card & send it.

Update: My card is now sent!

Winter Magic

The Horseshoe Falls in winterA lamppost by the falls encrusted in ice

If you’ve never been to Niagara Falls you should try to go, they’re incredible. If you’ve been but never in the winter you should try to go back in the winter. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before and if you are in the area it is well worth the trip.

Last weekend when I was in Toronto I took the time to drive down to Niagara Falls and see them again. I was blown away by the ice. It seems that the mist from the falls freezes on everything. There were tiny branches, less than half an inch thick, that had three or four inches of ice on them! Even the lampposts were covered.

Again I forgot my camera so these photos are from my phone, and I had the phone set to a small image size, but hopefully these photos will convince you to go see the falls in winter.

2.0 Outside of the Web

Sometimes a buzzword takes on a life of it’s own. The current example: 2.0. While not exactly a word, when you pair it with something else you get something like “Web 2.0” or, as I read about in yesterday’s Montreal Gazette, “Cemetery 2.0.” Cemetery 2.0 is a device attached to a tombstone that has a satellite internet connection and acts as a web terminal to allow grave site visitors to view the deceased’s surviving web presence, including things such as a Facebook profile and Flickr photos.

While the idea of having something more than a piece of stone to remember someone by is great, I’m really writing about the name here. Cemetery 2.0 is a bit too trendy of a name, an example of a buzzword going too far, and being taken to places where it probably shouldn’t be used. What happens when the Cemetery 2.0 goes into production and a second version comes out? Do we get Cemetery 2.0 2.0?

Fun with Google

So another one of those odd Google search results was brought to my attention. Try googling the word failure. The results are pretty funny for those of a certain political position.

As for the good old searches on Google? It looks like the “weapons of mass destruction” search doesn’t work any more, but French military victories does.

A hint: All of these are much more exciting with the “I’m feeling lucky” button. Go ahead, try them out!

Academy Awards – the real scoop

The Academy Awards have just wrapped up and here is what happened by my count:

  • Five mothers were thanked
  • The Academy was only thanked five times, (I thought everyone would do this)
  • A couple of people kissed their presenter
  • the word “crash” was said thirteen times
  • AND the word “brokeback” was said seventeen times
  • The show was thirty minutes longer than my TV guide webside said it would.

I counted as best I could – the show was kind of long. Correct me if you think I missed anything.