Sep

23

Mini-Book Review: A Case of Exploding Mangoes

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Book Cover: A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Yikes! This is waaay overdue (sorry about that) The Mini-Book Expo concept is , yet I managed to blow Rule # 4:

Blog it.

* Post something about the within a month of getting it

So, without further ado, here’s my mini !

Title: A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Author: Mohammed Hanif
Publisher: Random House (Canada)

Quick Takes

Pre-read thoughts: This might be interesting. A newsy event (death of Pakistan’s leader) related as a mystery. And other reviews seem to think it mildly amusing. Who knows, I may learn something.

Part-way through: This is one weird-ass .  There’s not enough of a distinction, so maybe the humour is subtle. Yeah, that’s it. Or ironic satire…hmm, but wait, it’s based on reality so maybe there’s something here. I mean, our main character (the son of a disgraced (or not) famous general) is variably infatuated with a military academy room-mate who’s gone AWOL.

Then there’s this crow. A cursed crow. A crow carrying a curse against the dictator of the country!

Basically, there’s a lot of motivation in a lot of characters built up by this point. But the pace of the plot was slow! I could have ridden a Pakistani Pachyderm faster than this developed. Or maybe that was deliberate — an invisible homage to the slower pace of life in Pakistan.

But I’m still engaged, that’s a good thing.

The End: Ok. It’s over. Not a bad read. I learned a bit more about Pakistan. I learned more about the events surrounding the death of General Zia. I learned that I could read a that wasn’t a fast-paced Tom Clancey action adventure, and still pull some enjoyment from it.

My Take: Frankly, not my cup of tea. It was an interesting read, especially over the summer, but not my normal fare. I found myself wanting to skip ahead as the plot unfolded; yet hesitant to do so as there was the promise of brilliance here. Meh, it didn’t happen.

May

13

From the ’so simple why didn’t I think of it’ category

Filed Under How to, Musings | 3 Comments


From the so simple why didnt I think of it category (image: scancard)A friend of mine pointed me to this brilliant post (via iPhone Central)

The concept is ; the front and back of all your barcoded membership cards, and carry them around in your .

To test it out I went to the local store and asked the girl
behind the counter if she could the barcode from my . The
first look I got was pure amazement. To her the physical card was
transformed into a picture on a shiny device. On top of that the
barcode was scanned successfully. The result; a slightly confused girl
and a happy me.

My take: I’m going to try this on my card and see if this works on my Pilot T|X.

Sep

18

Ya Harrrrr! Tomorrow be the day….

Filed Under Musings | 2 Comments


Avast! Get yer eyepatch ready and your Piratitude on! September 19th is the International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Ya Harrrr! Annually, worldwide, workplaces resound to the swash and buckle of wanna-be pirates.

Why? Why Not?

Sometimes you just need to be a Pirate for a day…Arrrrrrr!

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Feb

4

A test of Hello working with Blogger

Filed Under Doing, Musings, Web | Comments Off


A test of Hello working with Blogger (image: P1010047_JPG-01)This is a shot of ’s City Hall and the Court House, in the foreground. The shot was uploaded using Hello -> Posted by Hello

Interesting, it seemed to drop my footer info from the post template.

Dec

2

Do Bloggers deserve the rights of Journalists?

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There’s an interesting piece in today’s New York Times - an
piece - that discusses the Blogger’s right/privilege to maintain the
of their sources. In the US it’s called the First Amendment
right. In :

Freedom of the Press is enshrined in Section 2 of the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982), part of the
Constitution, which states that everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, belief, and expression, including freedom of the press
and other of 
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/index.html.

But, since has such a low ˜barrier to entry’ - Bloggers
don’t have to attend Journalism school, cut their teeth in the boonies
working on weekly papers, work weekends and graveyards covering the
newsroom, learning the , understanding why a story leads (or
doesn’t) - a blogger may have little with (or care about)
the other side of the coin, the Journalist’s responsibility to
objectivity and truth.

Journalists know that there are many sides to a story, and objective
journalists attempt to present all sides fairly, without colour or
prejudice. Journalists report on the facts. Can we say the same about
bloggers? What about hosted by a biased or Marketing company -
do they get the Journalist’s Privilege the same as a Blogger?
Interesting questions that time will .

[Sources: Micro Persuasion Blog | Canadian Connections: Canada and Press Freedom | New York Times (subscription required) ]

Nov

16

Many 30 second moments…

Filed Under Musings | Comments Off


Halo: Combat Evolved (Halo 1) released on November 14, 2001. Three
years have passed (minus a day or two) and Halo2 has been the game de
jour for many Xbox owners. Heck, First Person Shooter (FPS) fans have
even bought Xboxes just to play Halo - the original was that good. But
does Halo 2 live up to the very high expectations placed on it by fans,
fuelled by the Microsoft marketing machine?

For me, right now, the short is no. Here’s why¦ Read more

Nov

1

On Co-operative gaming…

Filed Under Musings | Comments Off


One of the things that my wife and I do together is play games. Yep, we both enjoy them. I’m lucky, I guess.

Halo (the original) was one of the first for Xbox that we both could play the campaign game supportively, co-operatively. This is very important - as our First Person Shooter (FPS) skill levels differ, so we can both play to our strengths - covering each others weaknesses.

As well, there’s something about having a shared in a virtual world - something you can talk about over breakfast, plan strategy on the drive to buy groceries, whatever. It’s a way to share this predominantly male hobby with your significant other.

So, Halo is . Playing Halo campaign with your mate (especially if one of her favourite movies is Aliens) is more . Anticipating Halo 2, discussing it, about it, drooling at the screenshots - you got it - even funner(TM).

Then over the weekend, I’d read that Halo 2 will not support co-op campaign play over the system link, or .

Major Disappointment. We were looking forward to:

Sigh - what will be included with the released version of Halo 2 will be co-op campaign mode playable on a single Xbox - same as the original. After all this time, they’re basically giving us a slightly improved game, but no real benefit to those who enjoy
playing the game with others - rather than against others.

The competitive FPS folk out there will not really miss this feature, but as someone who does enjoy co-op , Halo 2 is already disappointing. We’ll still buy it, still play it, and likely still love it, but this one feature would have made it gold.

Aug

6

Links to other Geocaching sites of interest

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Terracaching - an alternative (splinter group) of cachers that are rabid about rating¦could be a good thing!
Brat&Testy Caching Forums - currently in beta¦children at play
Utopia Caching Software