Fun With Wolfram Alpha

My apologies for not being the best, and certainly not the most diverse blogger of late. But it turns out that running a second blog, posting for another one, the Great Firewall of China, and you know, real life, are rather large drains on a person.

Another reason for my detachment from this bit of space has been my newest distraction, a wonderful website called Wolfram Alpha. This website if part of a very ambitious project to make the sum of human knowledge immediately computable. Sort of like Wikipedia for the math geek, which makes it very clearly in my territory.

This site has dozens of features, all you have to do is type in any of their many types of inputs, including (but certainly not limited to) measurements, musical notes, geography, colours, anagrams, dietary reference, and of course good old fashion mathematical functions.

After putting in some different inputs I learned the following things about myself:

-My height, 5'10", is approximately equal to 0.97 fathoms, the length of DNA strands of the human genome, and the distance that light can travel in 5.9 nanoseconds.

-My birthday, December 30, 1982, is day number 2 455 334 on the Julian Calendar, it had 9 hours and 18 minutes of daylight in New York, and is 9643 days ago...I know, I don't look a day over 8000, but that's besides the point.

- Currently AIG has a stock value of $1.70 while Freddie Mac has one of $0.79. In the past five years they have had a return of -97.64% and -98.64%, respectively. Economic, what now?

- Swine Flu has 12 107 cases with 87 deaths worldwide

-My first name is ranked 502nd in the United States, with most people who share my name in their 40s and 50s, also there are an estimated 93 538 people who share the name in the US. Making my name 1 out of 2502. Not quite making me the 1 in a million that I had hoped.

-My last name, by contrast, would be ranked 191st if used as a first name, with 267 546 people in the US expected to have that as a first name. That's right my last name is almost three times more common as a first name than my own first name. Can't say that I'm the slightest bit surprised by that fact.

- In world rankings, Canada is ranked 2nd in land mass, 36th in population, 224th in population density, 136th in population growth, 8th in life expentancy, 23rd in median age, 9th in GDP, and the top three languages are English, French, and Plautdietsch. I have no idea what that third one is.

-Toronto (the closest major city to my hometown) and Suzhou (where I'm living now) are 11 460 km apart, with Toronto having an elevation of 85m higher.

-The title of this blog, is sadly not a recognized word, when I entered glen_______ into the crossword feature, I got no recognizable words.

- When asked "How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?", it said "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind (according to Bob Dylan)". Hard to argue with that one.

- However, it does not know the answer to "How do they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar?" or "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?". I guess the developers need to word on that one.

While they need to get to work on answering those last two questions, there is still a lot of fun to be had, and a lot of useless junk to learn. Go ahead and give it a try!

Until next time,

G

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

They say that breaking up is hard to do, and well they sure are right.

With a heavy heart, I would like to inform you that this blog is breaking up. I know that this may come as a surprise to a lot of you on the outside, but trust me, it has been a long time coming. The differences between this blog's rant and rave, nerdy opinions style, and the more personalized travel focus and description of my adventures, has just become too much to bear. As such, from here on out, those two sides shall never meet again.

The opinionated side of the blog won the real estate in the settlement, as such Getting Glenergized will remain focused on my personalized opinions and pursuit of life's nerdy passions, with particular focus on politics, music, sports, and wrestling. While my travel adventures have fittingly moved to a new location, called Reflections of a Backpacker's Soul. The new site has already imported any old travel stories, and has been setting up a nice bit of space. Both sides agree to stay friends, and are going to provide links and feeds to one another, to show no ill will.

More than anything, neither side wants to put you, our readers, in the middle, so please try to make time for both blogs. We understand that you may have less time for either of us, and we don't want to get too needy, but we do love keeping you around, so please stick stay in touch, we'd hate to loose you.

Until next time,

G

(from Getting Glenergized)

and:

Safe Journeys,

G

(from Reflections of a Backpacker's Soul)

Happy Blogiversary to Me!!!!!!

Greetings one and all, today is a very very special day for me, and more importantly, this blog which I am currently writing on, and you are currently reading from. Two years ago on this very day, I typed some very fateful words, which would impact my life from then on:

"Friday, October 27, 2006...a day which will live in infamy. I have officially joined the blogosphere. I don't so much have a concept, theme, or general idea as to what to have here but rest assured it should be filled with awesomeness."

That's right today is my anniversary of beginning to blog!!! Just as I did one year ago, I will once more go through my myriad of categories that I blog about (or blogegories as I like to call them), where I'll highlight one or two of my personal favourite posts on the matter.

The objective of this is to:

a) Get people new to this blog get an idea of what they are in for with my highly distractable nature and desire to write about just about anything.

b) Introduce a bit more of myself to people who I have recently met in this crazy place called the "Real World".

c) Help long time followers get refreshed on any of my older posts.

d) Give me a post to make without having to generate any original concepts.

e) Give my blog a new outfit for its birthday, hope you like it!!!

So whichever reason you are reading this...enjoy!!!

About G: This topic was reserved for stuff that is about me as a person, including my "Glen Facts" and "Insights into my Twisted Mind" which have been mostly discontinued. My favourite post in this category remains "My 2006 (12/19/06)", which chronicled a roller-coaster of a year for me. Since then, my self-centered posts have diminished, possibly because I think that this one would be hard to top.

Cruising on the Information Superhighway: This is a category reserved for information about the information superhighway, also known as the "Internet" to some. Since this has not been a huge focus of mine, this is a relatively small category. The last post that I have made on this topic was back in January, and is perhaps the best of the bunch, "The First 20th Century War (01/26/08)" where I look at the war declared by most of the internet on the Church of Scientology that was taking place at the start of this year. While not much has come of it in recent months, I do genuinely believe that there will be some interesting long-term consequences of this "war".

Glen News: Yet another Glen-centered category, which does not get posted too often anymore. While this seemed to dominate my early posting habits, that really has diminished of late. Probably the most relevant is "News on the Glen Front (02/12/08)" where I explain exactly how I came to be living in China in the first place.

Happy [Insert Holiday Here]: I hate to cop out here, but I think that I have two favourite posts in this category, and well, it's my blog, so you're going to damn well like my choices!!! The first one to share is my "Christmas Shopping List (12/04/07)", where I outline my plans for the gifts I plan to give different individuals, a few of which actually happened! The other, is a much older post where I look back at the progress that still needs to be made in honour of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in "What Would He Say Now? (1/15/07)".

Hockey and Other Sports: My most plentiful category on this blog!!! This is one that tends to get posted in furies, especially during playoff, or trade deadline time. As the title suggests, most of my posts have been about hockey, but there remains the occasional post about other sports...but again, mostly hockey. I think that my favourite hockey posts where the two part posts "Eastern Conference No-Star Team (01/13/08)" and "Western Conference No-Star Team (01/14/08)", as due to a well placed link they are among my most viewed posts here. Hoorah.

Muzzak: Another tag that seems to come in spurts, is music. While I Have had lots of fun writing my two "Thumbs Up and Down" posts so far, and my "Empowering Break-up" playlist remains my most viewed post, I am going to have to give my favourite one of these to "Lovers Music (02/14/08)", must be the romantic in me.

Random Tales: Like "About G" and "Glen News" these posts have fallen behind after a rapid beginning. Partly because I have been able to fit any stories into different categories, and partly because I have other things to talk about I suppose. If I had to choose two favourites it would be a pair of posts from my first time in China, where I get myself into two very different situations "The Universality of Kindness (4/15/07)" and "Fall Behind, Left Behind (04/23/08)".

Rants: Last year, this was my biggest category, but now it's far lower on the rank. I suppose that is very telling. In retrospection, I think that my favourite post on this was one that I made just before my Anniversary post last year, so it missed the cut due to its recent nature, "The Outing of Albus (10/24/08)", where I look at Rowling's revelation that Dumbeldore is gay, and how offensive that is, but not necessarily for the same reason that you would think.

Rasslin’: My guiltiest of guilty pleasures, the world of professional wrestling. Posting in this topic usually gets pretty intense around Wrestlemania time, but shows up at other random times. While I have a great deal of fun preparing to write any of my Wrestlemania predictions, or hype posts, the ones that took the most out of me where the pair of posts I made about Chris Benoit. "Shock and Horror (06/27/08)" immedietly after the horryifing incident and "The Benoit Diaries (12/18/2007)" almost six months later. Since writing that last post I have watched a Chris Benoit match, and it made me feel quite uncomfortable. Being a fan of someone who is a known murder is a tough thing to have to deal with, and I don't know if I ever will be able to.

Real Politiking: Now here is one that has been getting a lot of posting recently, with two North American elections taking place. While I received some great comments for my "Outsider's Perspective" back in September in the build up to the Canadian election, I think that I got the most enjoyment writing "Finally (06/04/08)" and could celebrate Barrack Obama being declared the Democratic Nominee for President. In a year's time I know that I am going to celebrate my post celebrating his presidency...

Remixes and Collaborations: The posts where I get a little help from my friends (shades of John Lennon). There have been several other contributors to this blog, but I think that I have to give the nod to "Finals Prediction (05/26/08)", since yes, Jeff went 14-1 in the playoffs last year with many bonus points for correct series length, blah, blah blah.

Teachin and Learnin': Posts about my job tend to come few and far between, but when they come they are usually posts that I put a lot of thought into. Few had more thought last year than "Reflecting on my Vocation (01/20/08)", which was a speech that I made to my school last year and referenced Napolean Dynamite and talked about the Ninja Turtles. You know that makes you want to click on that link...

Travelling Tales: This is one category which I expect to see lots of new posts coming in the new year, given that I live far, far away from home. One to get you set up for the posts to come would be "Logging My Journey (08/24/08)", where I love blog my very long flight across the Pacific Ocean to get to China.

Tree Hugging Hippie Crap: One of the smallest, but most important categories here on this blog. I feel that every post that I make in this category is somehow important. While it was ignored, I had a good time writing (and get a chuckle everytiem I re-read) my "Open Letter to the Minister of the Environment (12/09/07)". Needless to say Mr. Baird has yet to reply.

Vegan Talk: Like the above category, it is small but well intentioned. If anyone really wants to get why I am a vegan, I would suggest that they give "It Ain't Easy Being Green - Take 1 - Pacifism (9/17/07)", a gander and perhaps any of the others that peak your interest.

Videos: Just a label for any posts that contain videos, with this one being my favourite, and the best of the bunch...



As if anything could be better than that....

Why I Love…: A recurring theme that gets its own label. This has a wide range from an album, to a politician, to an author, to a movie franchise, but "Why I Love Bloggin’ (4/16/07)", holds a special insight into why I keep doing this.

291 posts and counting....

Here's to one more year!!!

Until next time,

G

The First 21st Century War

Here we sit eight years into the twenty-first century, and we now find ourselves at a very important, and historically significant juncture, just last week, our world plunged into war for the first time this century. Now I know what you're thinking, that the current war in Iraq is almost five years old, so what war could I possibly be talking about?

Before, I answer that question, I need to explain something. The Iraq war is not a 21st Century War in any way, shape or form. For starters, in a typical US Foreign Policy move, no official declaration of War was made. In fact the United States has only officially been at war four times, the War of 181, the Spanish-American War, and both World Wars. All other times they have taken "Police Actions" or other vague terms which mean that they are not as inclined to follow the rules of war.

Secondly, and most importantly, this is plain and simply a 20th Century War. The comparisons between this Iraq War and the Vietnam War have been made time and time again. There was no real mission, no clear objective, facts were distorted or ignored to sway public opinion, they were both largely unpopular, really I could go on, but that would be a topic for another post, hopefully you get the point. The "Good Guys Coming to the Rescue" Model which seemed to work in both World Wars and in Korea, failed in Vietnam, and seemed to be a success in the first Iraq War, has failed miserably this time around. The Bush Administration has been using the 20th Century narrative of Us vs. Them, Good vs. Evil, and Freedom vs. Tyranny, to confront a 21st Century Problem.

While this model may have worked very well before, there is something very important that has changed, the access to information. One of the simple reasons that Vietnam failed, was because of Walter Cronkite and the evening news. The harsh realities of the war were broadcast directly to Americans so they became much more open to the realities of the time, and subsequently rejected the notions of the establishment at the time.

Fast forward to 1991 and the next American "War", this time in Iraq. By this point, the establishment had learned how to use the television in their favour and not against them, and were able to twist their message around and ensure that people saw what they wanted to see, and low and behold, we have a popular American war in the name of "Freedom" (i.e. oil).

We fast forward again another decade and a bit, and the world is a very different placeYet despite the different world, we are given by and large the same message to support another war in Iraq. The establishment proved great, yet again, at controlling the spin on television, as CNN, Fox News, and the major news networks in the United States, broadcast news that largely supports the War in Iraq, regardless of what they may say now. But there is one very different thing that the Bush Administration did not take into account, the little machine that I currently type on, and you currently read this blog on. That's right they forgot about the internet. This day and age, information and ideas are able to spread like wildfire. People were able to learn almost immediately that the Bush Administration was lying about the Weapons of Mass Destructions, which anyone with half a brain would have known before, no wonder Fox News never figured it out. Yet it took people a solid four decades to figure out the the Gulf of Tonkin Incident was exaggerated and/or fabricated, making it pretty irrelevant at this point.

So what's my point here? That the Iraq War has been a failure because the United States is busy waging a 20th Century War in the 21st Century. Just like World War I can really be seen as the last war of the 19th Century instead of the first war of the 20th Century, due the 19th century's narrative featuring the rise of nationalism and liberalism, the Iraq War can hopefully be seen as the last 20th Century war, due to that century's narrative of the rise of individualism, shifting public opinion and political dissent.

So while the last war of the 20th Century rages on, without an end in sight, last week the first war of the 21st Century was declared, fittingly, on the internet. With this video, the nature of war has changed.



Yeah it's cheesy, yeah it's weird, but I'll be damned if it's not historically important. A hacker group known only as Anonymous has officially declared war on the Church of Scientology, called Project Chanology. In the past week, since war has been declared, many official Scientology websites have been hacked and crashed, the Church has received many prank phone calls and "black faxes". Anonymous has also obtained many of the Church's official secret documents and posted them on file sharing websites, and has organized many protests outside of Scientology Churches. They have also repeatedly posted these videos of Tom Cruise extolling the virtues of Scientology that was initially removed by Scientology's notoriously powerful legal squad. I'm not sure how long this video will be up, so please leave a comment if it's down and I will find a way to repost them.






Note the lines in the first video of "I don't hesitate to put ethics on somebody else" and "We are the authorities on the mind"...and I really don't know how they come up with this number of 1.037 billion, and I like how they included "...of Earth" at the end. Which needless to say, is pretty interesting, considering their supposed fundamental creation myth.

Scientology has responded by placing a $5000 bounty on the head of the hackers, and have shut down several Anonymous related websites, and have repeatedly relied on copyright laws to threaten the people who host the videos and documents.

Needless to say, this is going to get really interesting in a hurry. This is the first time that we have seen an anonymous (pardon the pun) group declare total war on an established organization in a very long time. Previous wars have started with a shot, but yet this one begins with a click. Both side appear ready for battle for a variety of reasons, and I expect this to be a very long, drawn out process.

What I find so very interesting about this, is just how 21st Century this conflict is. I think that someday historians will look at the beginning of the 21st Century as the "Me Age", characterized by the individuals total empowerment. Because of technology, every day people like you and I, have more power than ever imagined. We can shape the lives of people on the other side of the planet in literally an instant. As shown on September 11th, 2001, a group of individuals can paralyze a nation. Here we are a little over half-a-decade after that event, and people are beginning to realize this fact.

This marks the beginning of the pendulum swing that began in the 19th Century. Then we saw collectives of people fight against the individual tyrants, in the 20th Century we saw collectives fight against one another, and now at the beginning of the 21st Century with this "war", we are seeing individuals fight against collective tyrants.

While this "war" probably has no immediate effect on your life, mark my words, it's outcome is important to all of us. This is a war of The Individual vs. The Collective, which I feel will be a hallmark of the 21st century. However, instead of being fought with guns and bombs, this war is being fought with something far more powerful, information. This war is going to be decided by whoever is able to spin the truth more aggressively, and effectively.

While I assume more "wars" of this sort will be fought in the coming years in grander, and grander style, make no mistake about it, this is something that history will look back on as a defining point in our information age. History is happening right here, history is happening right now on your computer screen, be sure to pay attention to it.

I leave you now with another of Anonymous's videos, this one to the media...enjoy...


Until next time,

G

One Present Delivered

Just yesterday, I started making my Christmas shopping list, and it turns out that Christmas is coming early for Mark Zuckerberg and co. This morning, the founder of everyone's favourite social network, posted on the Facebook blog, that the controversial application, Beacon is no longer being forced upon everyone!

For those of you unfamiliar with Beacon, it was a new application recently launched by Facebook. Where third party web-sites that sign up (and presumably give Facebook exorbitant amounts of money) and any actions taken by Facebook users at these sites was posted to their profile. Facebook's business site, mentions "...purchasing a product, signing up for a service, adding an item to a wish list, and more...". So, for anyone wanting to go and do some on-line shopping, it would then get posted to their feed and all of their friends would know.

While this is clearly a fantastic advertising tool, it, of course, raises a ton of privacy issues. In the most assinine of levels, if I decide that I want to add a Nintendo Wii to an on-line wish list (which gets posted through my feed), and then I notice that my mother buys a Nintendo Wii (posted through her feed) then guess what? CHRISTMAS IS OFFICIALLY RUINED!!!!

Of course, there are much deeper privacy issues at stake here, especially with the McCarthy-era-xenophobia that seems to be going on south of the border. If Facebook (or anyone else) finds that I have just bought a few books on horticulture, and then looked at some pictures of Amsterdam, all of a sudden I am clearly housing a grow-op according to the good people of the internet. It really just gives an opportunity for those in power (i.e. governments and corporations) to keep better tabs on people not in power (i.e. me), and I'll be damned if I want that to happen! The UK's Information Commisioner was quoted as saying that we are "sleep-walking into a surveillance society", and this is a great example of our collective narcolepsy on the issue of our own privacy.

When I first joined Facebook (apparnetly a year ago tomorrow judging by that link...) I was worried that it would be too "Big Brother" but was convinced that it wasn't by people who actually used it. It seems that maybe I was right all along after all...

In a less apocalyptic vein, I think that Beacon, and things like, are a great example of the radical paradigm shift that has been taking place on-line recently. The initial appeal of the internet in it's early days (i.e. 1996) was the complete and utter anonymity. If you wanted to tell someone that you were a 23 year old blonde with a smoking body, there was no problem. People loved that about the internet, a chance to leave the crappy real world behind and make your own. However, this seems to be a thing of the past.

While you can still post a model's profile picture, or be that Night Elf Mohawk, you still give out your birthday, your address, your credit card, and so many more personal facts about yourself, that your on-line self is getting closer and closer to your real self. When you add in the fact that sites are tracking down your shopping habits for their own "word of mouth" style advertising, it becomes harder and harder to do what the internet was meant to do, escape.

For example, a solid 10 months ago, I removed all references of my last name here at this blog. I just wanted it to be a little separate from my real life, yet if you do a Google search for my full name, this site is 2nd on the list. I legitimately have no idea as to just how Google tracks down words on this site that are no longer there, unless it links it to my e-mail, which includes my last name, or my personal information, I don't understand how I can still be found so easily. Kind of scares me...

The truly scary, and sad part of all of this, is that we have no way of going back to the Golden Age of Anonymity where we really could be a super stud or half-elf paladin, instead here we are very clearly being ourselves once more. I guess we can all mark down November 6, 2007 (the date of the official launch of Beacon) as "The Day the Internet Died".

Ah well, it had a good run...

Until next time,

G

P.S. For all Facebook users, be sure to go to your "Privacy" tab in the top left of your pane and then to the link marked "External Websites" and tick off the box that says "Don't allow any websites to send stories to my profile", trust me, it'll be worth it someday...

P.P.S. It turns out the Sens won tonight as well...that's TWO presents delivered, now I just need to start working on that anti-zombie-spray...

Happy Birthday to...

...ME!!!

Well, ok, maybe not me as in Glen, but me as in Getting Glenergized. That's right, 365 days ago I made the following post...

"Friday, October 27, 2006...a day which will live in infamy. I have officially joined the blogosphere. I don't so much have a concept, theme, or general idea as to what to have here but rest assured it should be filled with awesomness.

Tune in to find out!!!"

So here I sit, in front of a computer, typing away once more, and my opening post still rings true. I have no idea what the "concept, theme, or general idea" for this blog will be. I began posting quite a bit about myself and any of my adventures, but since then it has changed, as I have tried to make as many posts about politics, sports, the environment, wrestling, or (like the banner says), whatever the heck else I feel like.

Since I can't make a vegan cake for a website, I have decided that in honour of my Blogiversary, I went through each of my categories here on this site and found what I consider to be the best post in each of them. This way, if you are new to me or my blog and want to get a sense of what/who I am then this is your chance, but if you are someone who has been checking this out for a while, you can go on a little trip down memory lane.



About G: We kick of with my most narcissistic category, the one devoted solely to me, and things about my life. I started this one out when I was posting my "Random Acts of Glenness" posts, but it has changed to be a tag for anything where I divulge any insight into my own past/personality. My favourite post in this category was definetly "My 2006 (12/19/06)", where I described the details of a pretty tumultuous year. It probably was the last post where I focused on myself so much, having got all that I needed to say out of my system.

Cruising on the Information Superhighway: Now this is an odd categot, that I don't really post in too much. It's essentially just anything related to this wonderful thing called the internet. My post of choice would be "My Life is Now Over, and I Couldn’t Be Happier (12/6/06)", where I cave into the great temptation that is Facebook. I was right all along, it certainly did take over my life...uggh...

Glen News: Yet another egotistical category of mine. This one about news in my own life, such as graduation, getting a job, or some of the details of my trip to China, including the post "Culture Shock (5/30/07)", where I talk about going through a brief period of reverse culture shock after I get home.

Happy [Insert Holiday Here]: Instead of focusing just on me, these are the posts where I pass on some holiday wishes. Of course the usual suspects like Christmas and Hallowe'en are there, but I also try to include less celebrated days such as Guy Fawkes Night, Holocaust Memorial Day, or my Martin Luther King Day post, "What Would He Say Now? (1/15/07)".

Hockey and Other Sports: In attempt to assert some masculinity I discuss sports here on a semi-regular basis, with the vast majority of the focus being on hockey, including my Fantasy Pool, mine and Troy's Predictaculars, or my personal favourite the newly debuted feature, "The Puck Stop – Episode I (10/15/07)".

Muzzak: And yet another of my nerdy passions comes through. My music posts are generally talkign about how great The Arcade Fire, and Broken Social Scene are. I have made a few attempts at creating solid playlists, with "Music to Break-Up To (12/7/06)", being one of my proudest achievements. Oddly, this has been my most visited post since I started blogging. I guess there are always sad people out there.

Random Tales: This is a big category, where really, I just fill in some random story of my own that may be either entertaining or enlightening. In the past year I don't think that there was any story more personally meaningful than "The Universality of Kindness (4/15/07)".

Rants: The biggest category here, were essentially I just get on my high horse and rant about something bothering me. I have taken many posts out of this category by creating a few more, but these are the ones that slip through the crack. My first official rant, "Hallowe’en – The Critical Analysis (11/1/06)", holds a special place in my heart.

Rasslin’: I originally started hiding my most nerdy of passions from this blog, but then Travis had the idea for a joint post where we discuss wrestling (originally for his blog, which hasn't really been updated...), and hten I just began letting loose with many wrestling related posts. If I had to make one pick it would be "Heel Heat – Episode 3 (9/15/07)", mainly because I'm proud of my Photoshop work on the logo.

Real Politiking: The first splinter from the "Rants" category, and a nerdy historical homage to Otto Von Bismark. I usually stick to Canadian politics in here, but "The Death of a President (6/21/07)", is probably my post of choice in this category.

Remixes and Collaborations: So this one isn't really a category in and of itself, it is just a tag I put on any posts that feature some outside input. The contributors thus far have been McNutt, Travis, Kory and Troy, who have done a great job of stopping me from having to think up original content. I have a soft spot in my heart for "Shades of Wrestlemania – Part I (3/23/07)", because it had three special guests coming together in a pretty great post.

Teachin and Learnin': If the name doesn't tip it off to you, these are posts where I talk about some of the issues I face as either a teacher, or before as a B.Ed student. My favourite post, not only in this category, but that I have made is more than likely '"The Kids Are Alright" or "Why the Hell Do You Want to be a Teacher???" (1/10/07)'

Travelling Tales: A blanket post for anything about travelling, either while I was in China or looking back at any travels in Europe or Asia. A few days after I returned from China and wrote "Why I Love China (6/1/07)", which still rings true to me.

Tree Hugging Hippie Crap: Just last week, after realizign just how many of my rants were about the environment, I realized that I needed a seperate category and here we are. I am a big fan of "And the Counter Attack Begins…(2/01/07)", just because it uses Stephen Harper's own words to show just how little he cares about the environment.

Vegan Talk: Another new addition to the fold. I had made a few posts about animal rights, but they were pretty few and far between. About a month ago, I decided to start a feature explaining why I am a vegan, with "It Ain’t Easy Being Green – Take 2 – The Environment (9/26/07)" being something I'm expecially proud of.

Videos: Ok, so this is actually the biggest tab I have, but it just comes up every time I make a post with a video in it. I'm not going to look through all of them, I'm just going to make a post of the greatest gift YouTube has ever given us...



Why I Love…: This is the only recurring feature that merits its own category, because it really just fits in everywhere, "Why I Love Bloggin’ (4/16/07)", my special 100th post holds a special spot and is probably the best insight into why I keep at this blog thing.

Well that concludes this special birthday post, I hope that you've all enjoyed the past year in cyber-space as much as I have!!!

Until next time,

G

Well Said Albert...

Hey there blogosphere, I have a really random post to make for you to today. I was cruising along the webernets when I came along a wonderful essay by none other than Albert Einstein. It is not about quantum physics, time travel or anything else that I don't understand, no, it's just everyday musing about life in general by one of the greatest minds of all time.

I agree with almost everything that the man says because well, let's face it, I'm no Einstein...but he sure is!

Without further ado...


"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...
"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude..."

"My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the few ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality... The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

-- Einstein, Albert, "The World As I See It", available at aip.org

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Until next time,

G

Further Cosmetic Changes

So I think that I'm finally happy with how my blog looks now. As you probably noticed I have been playing around with the logo at the top of your screen right now, and I like the one that I've got...for now.

Also, if you scroll down a bit and look at your right you will notice a couple of amazing things that I added courtesy of last.fm, which is something that I first talked about several months ago. First off, I have gone back to the "Top Artists This Week" since I am once again regularly connected to the webernets, and I have also added two separate players. The top is my own personal playlist of songs that I have added for your rockin' pleasure, and the seconds is a radio station that the site allows users to set up, I simply decide on an artist and it will play songs by that artist or ones that are similar. So I proudly introduce my first Artist of the week, a wonderful band called The Guillemots, who were recommended to me by a travel buddy, Stephen, back in May, and I finally got around to listening to them. So check back on a semi-regular basis to listen to whoever I have been listening to of late.

I hope that you like the changes I have made to the blog, I think that it will be the end of them...for now....

Until next time,

G

A Tribute to the Web

Hey there, this is just a short post and a tribute to the many great videos that have been posted on the World Wide Web. This song is truly brilliant, and I consider it to be a "We Didn't Start the Fire" for the Web 2.0 Generation. If you don't recognize at least 75% of the people mentioned in the video then you have some serious Googling to do...




Until next time,

G

Makeover!!!!

Hey blogerinos,

I realized that in honour of my season premiere that the ol'blogeroo was in need of a much needed face lift. I was getting kind of tired of the black and weird polka dots, and felt that we needed something a bit more...Glenergizing...so here we are. There will probably be some more changes in the near future, I haven't decided yet, drop me a line and let me know what you think.

But to tide you over, here is a wonderful video about makeovers...if you don't know where this is from you owe it to yourself to go and watch Clone High right now!!!




Until next time,

G

Reality Check...

So in honour of my reconnection to the internet, I figure that I would share some insights into this odd little story I found passing on the webernets.

If you are too lazy to click that link then allow me to give a quick synopsis. Apparently in the immensley popular World of Warcraft Game a glitch in the game came through and people began carrying a deadly, infectious disease. The first players to get the disease were high level and it didn't affect them a great deal, but they began to share it with other players of much lower level who began to die off in droves. The article also proclaims that I am the coolest person alive, don't believe me? Give it a read!

So you may be thinking that this is no big deal or anything, because a) you already knew how cool I am and b) who cares if a bunch of nerds loose their nerdy characters?

Well first off, it is important because World of Warcraft has over 9 million users, so it is not just a few nerds. But more interestingly than that, this story gives scientists a whole new and unique way to study infectious diseases. Whenever scientists attempt to predict what will happen in the event of another great plaque or anything like that, they are always forced to rely on mathematical models, theory and conjecture. I mean sure they know how fast a disease spreads and how quickly it will kill someone, but they don't really know just how people are going to react to it all.

One of the things that they mention in the article is the so called "Stupid Factor" where a number of people decide that they would much rather risk their own (virtual) lives by logging in and going around to see the carnage first hand, as opposed to just playing it safe and laying low. Sure people would be much more reckless when dealing with their own virtual characters as opposed to their own real lives, but it still is an interesting comparision is it not?

It's not like anyone can morally infest a community with the Avian Flu, but they could easily create some program to infect World of Warcraft, Second Life, or any of other MMORPG (or whatever the heck the akronym is...) to get a much better idea to see exactly how fast a disease would spread and just how a society would handle it.

Sure it could lead to some pissed off computer geeks, but that's ok. They need a tan anyway.

Until next time,

G

Why I Love Bloggin'

I know, I know, I should be talking about China and all, but I wanted to take a break since this is my 100th Post on this here blog. Are you excited? Because I sure as heck am!!!!

I had wanted to make my 100th Post a Special Description of my thoughts as a blogger, and also I figure it is as good of a time as any to bring back my irregular feature of "Why I Love...". I first started this blog in October and have had quite the experience since then. Some of the highlights are...

1. Giving Me a Mountaintop -- It's no surprise to people who know me that I tend to like being the centre of attention. I love that there is this entire site dedicated to me and my thoughts. I like to be able to rant about whatever is on my mind from sports to politics to my own random thoughts. I love that I can just come here and post about whatever the heck I want.

2. Easier than E-mail -- Yeah I'm getting pretty lazy these days. This blog is a super easy way for me to keep people updated on what is going on in my life as opposed to e-mailing them or heaven forbid actually talking to someone.

3. Generating Discussion -- It hasn't happened too much, but occasionally there have been some excellent discussions that come from one of my post. It happened so much so that I made this post about replying to comments, which give me a great chance to hear other people's opinions.

4. A Chance for Creativity -- I really like to write. I may not be all that great but I think that I am improving at it with every post that I make. In particular, I feel that I have made improvements in my ability to creatively explain some things which may appear mundane at first.

5. Something Permanent -- That's right, however strange this may sound, I am glad that I have this blog to serve as something permanent that I have done. I can always look back on this to know just what the heck I was thinking at any given moment. It really has made me think twice about what I type, just in case.

6. Compliments -- I know I'm vain, but I love it whenever anyone either compliments or even just comments to me on something that I blog about. It makes me feel like I matter a wee bit, which as you all know, I dig.

Anywho, there are a lot more things about Blogging that I love, but that is about all that I could think about. I just thought that I would share right now. I had best be off now, it's dinner time in this crazy country.

Until next time,

G

Answering the Call

I realized that there have been a number of comments left both on this blog and in my Facebook notes that I haven't replied to at all. Know that I do value your comments and I have occasionally sent someone a message with my thoughts on their comment, but I have failed to publicly address them. As a result, I am going to be answering some of the best ones right now.

First off, way back in January, I was very frustrated and posted "The Kids Are Alright" or "Why the Hell Do You Want to be a Teacher???", which was one of the most commented on posts I have ever made.

I was amazed and relieved to know that I am not the only one who gets frustrated by the attitude that many teachers have towards their students. On Facebook the three Kodiak Bisoners shared their thoughts, they were so well written and expressed that I just needed to post all of their long-winded rants:

Blake said:

"An interesting read Glen, and I've got to say I have exactly the same opinion of the teacher training program here. Sitting in the staff room at my first placement school I was shocked to hear the level of moaning and whining about how terrible the kids are, how rude, how disinterested in school....how things have changed etc... I don't get it? Surely a passion for working with young people and helping them be the best they can is the motivation for working in teaching. If it is such a bad job go work somewhere else. Don't drag the rest of us down. Sure its not always gonna be easy, but we do have a chance to make a difference. We are so privileged to work with young people at the most influential time in their lives and its a huge responsibility to stay positive and try to get the best out of every young person we work with! rant over, thanks"

(My replies in BOLD)

Blake, I don't know if it makes me relieved or frightened to know that this is not just a North American thing. I do consider myself to be privileged to work with young people, I honestly can't think of anything more exciting than being a positive influence on someone and I'm glad someone else thinks the same!

Jeff said:

"even though you have not commented on my nancy grace post i still feel compelled to reply to this.

anyways, i agree with you, i believe that there are many teachers both in the profession and in teachers college that just don't get it. they really do not belong in teaching because they do not seem to make any sort of connection to the fact that they are the most important people in most of these children's lives. although i do have a problem with some aspects of Windsor's teachers college, i have to be honest and say that i have learned a lot. i might not learn a lot from every class, i mostly find my learning comes from a from a few select teachers, and simply observing the way they teach, or taking in some of the things they say when others might not even care to listen. i actually have a number of teachers teaching me right now that i am in awe of every time i am in their class.

as for my classmates, there may be a few that i do not agree with sometimes, but my section is full of some excellent teachers in the making. its really helps get through the weeks knowing your going to class with some very smart people, and some people who will make a great difference in many students lives. maybe its the difference between P/J, J/I, and I/S. maybe the difference is that windsor based their admissions on experience only for the P/J group (as long as you met the base average, which was like 70%). in some cases the people that get into many schools are the people with the highest grades, which some people believe to be the best measure of how good one can be as a teacher. sadly, i have fallen victim to this thinking as i have a borderline average and a general degree. 2 strikes against me. i have no doubt that if it were not for windsor trying something new i would not be in teachers college right now.

anyways, enough from me, hang in there man."

I had no idea about Windsor's acceptance policy. That's a really awesome thing, to be honest, I think that all of them should be like that. I really don't think that how good your grades are (especially at University) have anything to do with how caring, supportive and engaging of an individual you are. Stupid elitist Universities.

Bisoner #3 (who I am not naming since he complained to me that I have never written a blog about him and I don't give in to whiners) said:

"I have to say that unfortunately I agree with everything that has been said. My education program is a little different in that we have placement Monday and Tuesday, and class Wednesday and Thursday. While this gives me an opportunity to be with the same class for 4 months, it also means that every Wednesday many of my classmates come in with complaints, horror stories, and at times, looks of distress. I of course enter and try to share some witty or delightful story, and others complain about the kids who didn't understand the lesson. I really don't mean to be mean, but I am not really sure why some of these people have chosen to become teachers, or how they have made it so far. I know of some people who I believe would make excellent teachers (my sister being one of them) and were not accepted to the program, while I see people in those seats who really don't belong.

That ratio exists in the schools as well; there are many teachers who have lost sight of the reasons they entered the profession. This has really instilled in me a desire not to become "just another teacher." I don't want to be like them; dreading my students, or working for the holidays. I'm starting to wonder if this means I will have to look for employment outside of the school boards, but thats another story for another day. The point is teachers need to hold on to the reasons they became teachers. If I ever lose my edge, which I hope to never lose,I hope someone tells me so I can let someone who really wants to teach and can offer the kids something more a chance. Well it looks like we all have the same rant, maybe we should start our own school..."

I don't know what else I can add other than I totally agree with everything that you said. Especially about your sister being a great teacher and starting our own school. Haven't we talked about doing that before? :)

And on the Blog, my prof, Jason said:

"Dr. J here. I have been glenergised(canadian spelling). In fact you have enriched our program from the first day of classes. I understand and share many of your concerns with the popular discourse that demeans and degrades our youth. However, I pray that you will continue to engage with, challenge and when needed interrupt and interrogate your colleagues and the "system." You have been given the gift of a lucid intelligence,vision and kindness and I am confident that you will soon be able to put other teachers on a better, more promising path. Keep on keeping on Glener"

I just wanted to post that bit of advice for any other current/future teachers out there, just change the name to yours and I believe that it will fit.

On the anniversary of The Beatles playing the Ed Sullivan show I ranted about the death of Rock and Roll. Not surprisingly, McNutt, my Musical Messiah, posted a comment. It was rather long so I will just post a snippet.

"Absolutely true. And not surprising. Let's keep in mind that rock and roll came to popular fruition at an incredibly unique time, when two key developments intersected:

1. The baby boom generation, creating a society organized around and catering to young people.
2. The early rise of mass communications (national radio and television).

Because of these, rock and roll transformed from a backroom fusion of country and blues and into a cultural revolution. Rock and roll music was the soundtrack to an entire generation, from Elvis to Woodstock.

Then, as mediums of communication - radio, television, and now the internet - became demassified and more diverse, so too did rock and roll splinter: into folk rock, into punk, into the early years of hip hop, into alternative rock, into new wave. The children of the Reagan Revolution were living in a more individualist age, and Napster, the iPod and the decline of radio all signalled the end of rock and roll as a singular movement.

So of course rock's glory days are over. Rock and roll's ability to change the world died with the baby boom. Now, rock and roll can only change yourself. Which, I suppose, is still worth a damn."

I can't believe that I never thought of the influence of technology on the splintering of Rock. I guess it's another sad sign of the times that we live in. The rise of individualism is an interesting modern phenomena.

It is really very interesting that collective expression and communities ties are now more possible now than ever with the rise of mass communication. However, due to this mass communication an increased sense of alienation has occurred and a result individualism is on the rise. Interesting how music reflects this as well.

Also from McNutt (I realized that I have more Notes tagged of him in Facebook than his girlfriend does...that's not weird or anything) had this to say about my thoughts on David Beckham coming to America:

"How fascinating that you wrote this entire post without bringing up the name "Wayne Gretzky." I think that's a big oversight on your part, especially considering that he's probably the best point-of-comparison for what the Galaxy are trying to accomplish here."

Alright so I didn't mention Wayne. But here's the thing...I think that Gretzky going to LA is massively overrated in terms of a long term impact.

Over the past 18 years the NHL has expanded greatly into the Southern US. But the NHL is still a very low priority in just about all of the southern markets with Dallas and San Jose being the only two real exceptions.

The last two Stanley Cup Champions are Carolina and Tampa Bay, but both teams still suffer attendance issues and are maybe 5th in their respective markets in sports. Two of the best teams in the NHL right now are Anaheim and Nashville, but guess what? Nobody cares. It seems that the only reason that teams like Phoenix and Florida have any fans is because they are havens for vacationing Canadians.

LA was a hot hockey market for a while when Gretzky was still in his prime, but after he started to go downhill and then move on the interest level in the city faded fast. There are not exactly kids on the streets of LA playing road hockey like the NHL had hoped.

Sure Beckham may generate some short term interests but his contract is only for 5 years and he is not nearly the player he once was. I really don't see this having much in the way of long term impact, just like Gretzky.

There are a lot of other great comments that have been made on this blog and in Facebook but this entry is getting really long and I want to maintain people's interests so I had best stop. Anyway, I just wanted to make this communication a two way street.

Until next time,

G

My Life is Now Over, and I Couldn't Be Happier

Today, I did something I swore that I would never, ever do, and I really feel terrible about it. That's right, I signed up for Facebook. From the second I signed up, I felt so...dirty...on the inside. I could not believe that I joined a trend that I was doing such an excellent job of bucking. But yet, here I am a full fledged Facebook member (by the way, if you are reading this on my Facebook notes, click to see the real deal).

I resisted Facebook vehemently for several months. I claimed that it was too "Big Brother", I hated the idea of the site knowing so much about me for just about anyone to find out. I hated that it was such a trend. To be honest, I hated just about everything about it.

Keeping with human nature, we hate what we don't understand the most. I decided that I had finally heard enough of the hype and joined Facebook. After navigating the site for a brief amount of time, I became an instant convert. I simply love how user friendly it is. What I realized even more, was the fact that it is so incredibly popular is the best part about it. Everyone is on Facebook, therefore I can get connected to just about everyone I have ever met!!! After being a member for a solid 7 hours now I already have connected with 85 friends!!!! Including many that I have not spoken to in a very long time (you know who you are). I have joined several groups including the Aidyn Fan Club (Aidyn is the son of one of my Acadia friends, and a super awesome lad), and a couple of Camp Kodiak groups, one of which I was made an Officer for just being me. How hilarious is that?

To help me express just how widespread the popularity of Facebook is, here are some of my cyber-heroes Barats and Bereta talking about how one of them has Facebooked God.





However, I am rather concerned that Facebook will ruin my life. I have spent a long time on that site today, and assume that I will continue to do so. Ahh well, I suppose I never had much of a life to begin with. Hey it looks like someone just poked me...I gotta run.

Remember, Freedom is Slavery and 2 + 2 = 5.

Until next time,


G

The Greatest Bit of Spyware I Have Ever Installed

The more astute ones of you out there will notice some slight cosmetic cosmetic changes to the ol'blogeroo. If you look to your left you will notice some more information on the sidebar. For starters, I added a few more Bloggy Friends, including one of my professors, Jason Price. Secondly, I went to some painful details of adding the Blogegories over there, so if any of you feel like reading about say any of my Political blogs you can click on "Real Politiking" (a delightful 19th Century history reference), or if you want to find out any of the embarassing situations I may have gotten myself into simply click "Random Tales" and they should be there. Lastly, there is the "Who I've Been Listening To This Week" table on the bottom of that sidebar, it is the product of my latest addiction, last.fm.

This is simply one of the coolest sites/plugins I have ever came across. You simply go to the site, create a profile and download a special plug-in. What it does, is it tracks the songs you have been playing in your iTunes, Media Player, or whatever the heck else you use and logs them down. Sounds creepy eh? Well it sort of is, but here's the coolest part. When you are playing a song, you can open up the last.fm plug-in and it will give you all sorts of information on the artist you are listening to, and even cooler, it will recomend similar music. As a psuedo-indie-geek I simply love this!!!! Why I was just listening to my latest musical love TV on the Radio and the recomended all sorts of different bands, and as a result I went and looked up Animal Collective who I am listening to and loving as I type here. Cool eh?

It tracks all sorts of things that I listen to and I only have the "Top Weekly Artist" thing on this blog due to space constraints. I will try to add a bit more later on, since I think it is just so incredibly cool. I have been told that the part on my blog will only update every couple of days, so I expect it to look very different than it does now on it's next update.

When you create a profile on the site it lets you check your musical compatibility with anyone else, so you can really see if you and a friend have similar tastes in music. How cool is that?There are also entries on pretty well every band under the sun and you can go and check them out and stream some of their songs to see if you will like them before pursuing them a bit more.

Now I know that I am someone who is normally so concerned over Big Brother watching him that I would be reserved to signing up for something like that. After all, I still refuse to join facebook. But yet, I find myself loving this little bit of spyware!!! I highly recomend that you all go and check out the site by giving me a click and when you do go check out my profile and add me as a friend so we can see our compatibilty. It will be fun!!!!

Lastly, many of you are probably wondering just who the heck this Danny Elfman character is at the top of my list right now. Well, he is the brilliant composer in charge of The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, something currently making the rounds on my iTunes.

Just in case you forgot how brilliant it is, here is the opening scene. Enjoy!!!!





Until next time,

G

Welcome All

Friday, October 27, 2006...a day which will live in infamy. I have officially joined the blogosphere. I don't so much have a concept, theme, or general idea as to what to have here but rest assured it should be filled with awesomeness.

Tune in to find out!!!