Personal & Culture
What is Libertarianism
Libertarianism is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as its principal objective. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and freedom of choice, emphasizing political freedom, voluntary association and the importance of property rights. Libertarianism developed in the 18th century out of a desire to defend individual liberty from state encroachment. It was influenced by classical liberal thinkers such as John Locke and Jean-Baptiste Say. Libertarianism first became a distinct political movement in the mid-19th century, when it began to advocate for laissez-faire economic policies.
What is the European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 78 member states located primarily in Europe. The EU was created in the aftermath of World War II to promote peace and stability throughout the continent. It has grown over the years to become one of the largest economic blocs in the world, with a combined GDP of over $16 trillion. The EU has several supranational institutions that wield considerable power, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice.
What is the Commonwealth
The British Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 member states. Most are former territories of the British Empire, but several members have never been under British rule, such as Mozambique and Rwanda. The Commonwealth's membership spans the globe, representing 2.4 billion people, making it the world's most prominent political association after the United Nations. The Commonwealth is not a political union like the European Union, and its members are sovereign nations that retain complete control over their internal affairs.
Review of Quip's toothbrush as a service
This blog article is not advertising and is not a sponsored post. Quip is a new entrant in the competitive and packed electric toothbrush space. Unlike many of the larger bulkier electric toothbrushes, Quip is a sleek, shiny and well designed modern looking toothbrush. Like all modern electronic works of art, it comes in different colours, finishes and materials. It also has the seal of approval from the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance. The ADA website explains it as "
26 girls saved from exploitation by Twitter
The media is quick to publish reports about the "evils" of social media. Twitter is a favourite whipping target. Here is a little-told story about 26 young girls (aged 10-14) being saved from the clutches of human traffickers in India because of a simple tweet. Adarsh Shrivastava, a good samaritan, travelling on an Indian train noticed a group of young girls that seemed to be in distress. He twitted the train operator which was the start of their rescue. I am traveling in Avadh express(19040).
Review of the Morakniv Garberg outdoor knife
What is the best outdoor knife? Those who know me well know that I love the outdoors and I love knives. If I were stranded on an island and could only bring one home comfort, it would be an outdoor knife. Having many outdoor enthusiast readers, I am regularly asked what knife I like best. When I first started studying survival skills, I had the misguided belief that the more expensive your equipment, the better it must be. I quickly learned that this wasn't always the case and sometimes even the most basic tool, used correctly, could be a lifesaver.
My history with mobile gadgets
I've been involved in technology for a long time and bought my first real personal digital assistant (PDA) in 1997. It was an Apple Computers MessagePad (Newton) 130, and it was a thing of beauty. It had handwriting recognition, an external keyboard attachment and fueled my geek dreams about what wondrous technologies the future would bring. Along the way, I owned hundreds of devices including Palm pilots, Treos, Handspring devices, Nokias and almost every other portable gadget in between.
Armenia and Christianity
Armenia is a country located in the southern Caucasus region. Christianity is said to have first arrived in Armenia in the year 301 AD, making it one of the oldest Christian nations in the world. The Armenian king Tiridates III was converted to Christianity by St Gregory the Illuminator after being tortured and imprisoned by the king himself. St Gregory is also credited with curing the king of a debilitating illness. Christianity then quickly spread throughout Armenia and became the country's national religion.
Plazmatic USB Rechargeable ARC lighter without butane
SEE UPDATE BELOW ABOUT WARRANTY CLAIM As a frequent traveler, I had always been looking for a lighter alternative that is safe to fly (as long is it is in your carry-on) so I decided to test the Plazmatic X lighter. This is also convenient to users wanted alternatives to disposable lighters or ones that require constant refueling. The Plazmatic X is a well built product made from metal.It is light to carry every day (as part of your EDC) but feels solid and reliable in the hand.
Infinity Blade for IOS Free for 4th of July
I don't normally post about games on my blog but a game I really enjoy is free today on the iTunes AppStore for IOS devices. Not 1 but all 3 games in the series are free today so download them fast: Infinity Blade I Infinity Blade II Infinity Blade III Great way to spend some time unwinding with a good game.
McDonald's FrenchFry Gloves as a marketing campaign
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1160”] Images courtesy of AOTW [/caption] Feast your eyes on a marketing idea(link) dreamed up by Moroch (Dallas based marketing company) for McDonald's. We don't know the who, what, when, where and why but it's an interesting idea. Give people McDonald's gloves and they'll market the fries for you while staying "toasty" warm. Are you crazy those warm, salty, crispy McDonald's french fries yet?
Watch a 325ft roller coaster POV video
It's Tuesday morning and you need that fresh cup of piping hot joe to wake you up. Instead of coffee, why not watch this Point of Vue video of the Fury 325 at the Carowinds amusement park. What's so special you ask? It is a 95 MPH roller coaster with a 325 foot drop. Enjoy and welcome to Tuesday
Play 2000 DOS Games for Free
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Image by Jeramey Jannene used Under Creative Commons License [/caption] If been in the computing business for a long time. I remember the old "classic" DOS based games that provided hours or days of senseless fun. Sure you could download an emulator, find the games and run them but most people would quickly give up. The Internet Archive has just added over 2,000 classic MS DOS games that will bring back memories of years gone by. The great thing is that you play these games via your browser instantly.
Download the "Here's the Metal Compilation" for free on Google Play
Google Play Music is offering the "Here's the metal compilation" for free. It is a 13 track album of heavy metal songs. Download it for free here (Link)
OLight S15R Baton rechargeable pocket flashlight review
Flahlights are very important to me. They are incredibly useful when camping, travelling or for survival situations. I carry a small pocket flashlight with me as part of my EDC (Everyday Carry) kit. Until recently, my favourite brand of flashlight has been Thrunite. Thrunite offers well built flashlights at competitive prices. A friend introduced me to OLight and these guys make incredible products. This review is about their S15R Baton pocket rechargeable flashlight. The R means rechargeable (as you probably guessed) and the unit comes with a magnetic USB powered charging dock.
Upcoming events in 2015
I will be a panelist at the CIO Summit in Montreal on Feb 9 talking about "Cyber Espionage and the Advanced Persistent Threat" (http://www.ciosummit.ca/agenda.php) . I will be moderating the CIO Event security panel in San Francisco Feb 17-18 about Espionage and Cyber Security (http://sanfran.cioevent.com/site/HomePage/) I love meeting all of you . If you are attending or will be in the area, pass by and say hi!
Buy a Burger King burger on eBay
Buy what ? Where? hun? You read right... Burger King is opening its first restaurant in India and is hoping eBay will help drive sales. You were able to pre-order a Mutton Whopper on eBay or 128 rupees ($US 2.08 - $CAD 2.38 - £ 1.31). Pre-ordering one meant you got a voucher for a burger and a Whopper TShirt. Link to auction page (link)
Diversity coming to Unicode
Tech companies are working with the Unicode Consortium to implement a new skin tone control for character emoji to allow users to more accurately express themselves (and their identity). We now learn how these companies propose Unicode implement this change using a skin tone modifier. The technique being proposed is simple enough to be implementable and usable on a phone. Additionally this technique is backward compatible with devices that don't yet support the skin tone modifier (i.e. the emoji would fall back to the original non skin tone adjusted version).
Pac-Man Friends Free iTunes app of the week
This weeks iTunes free app of the week is a modern twist on the old classic of Pac-Man (aka Pac-Man Friends). The price for this app has ranged between $1,99 and $4,99 since release but this is the first it has gone free. You can download it from iTunes now (link)
Groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons and Scottish independence
The ever popular Simpson's character groundskeeper Willie presenting his "unbiased" opinion about the upcoming Scottish independence vote.