The Bedford Academy (50th post!)

Every so often you pick out a favourite hangout.  It takes a while to find a good one–one that you feel very comfortable at, one that provides an enjoyable atmosphere and last but not least, one that your friends agree is a great place to frequent.  Though I’ve been there before, thanks to my University of Toronto colleagues, the Bedford Academy has become such a place.  Strangely enough, it was its competition across the street, the Duke of York, that my friends and I spent more time at.

The Bedford Academy patio

It’s the outdoor patio, which stretches from a few tables in front, down a narrow stretch to a widening (and remarkably large) back section that makes the experience worth it.  Sure I assume there’s an inside too (ok, I’ve been to its washroom and maybe once for dinner), but the jovial and friendly atmosphere is sitting with a drink in the afternoon sun and evening twilight.

So next time you’re in the Yorkville/Annex neighbourhood, try it out.  Also try out their grilled cheese sandwich.  Yum!

Search the Internet & Be Eco-friendly

Thanks to the heads up from Margaret Atwood, I’ve discovered alternative search engines that are eco-friendly.  Like you’re probably thinking now, I first couldn’t fathom how a search engine could be eco-friendly or “save the rainforest” as most claim.  Then, after a little research, long story short, these eco-friendly search engines donate the majority of profit they receive from ads and sponsors to organizations like the WWF or The Nature Conservancy, which use it for environmentally-sound strategies.  You can set these pages as your homepage instead of Google and/or install the plugin for your browser, which places an unobtrusive search box in the address bar (at least in Firefox).  To hedge my bets, I’ve set done both, but with two different search engines.  Plus, for those stats geeks out there, you can see a running total of how many square metres of rainforest your searches have saved so far.  Sure, it’s superfluous really, but still fun.  I’ve done a number of searches and realized that for the most part, the results are similar to those of Google.

So why not try them out?  What can it hurt?  Not the rainforest, at least.

For more information about how the search engine that I’ve made my Firefox homepage–Forestle, please click the following links:

• How does Forestle work?
• How do I know that Forestle really saves rainforest?
• What does the certificate “GREEN certified site” mean?
• Is Forestle a CO2-neutral search engine?
• How much money does Forestle spend on administration expenses?
• How does Forestle protect the rainforest?
• Where does Forestle protect rainforest?
• Why was The Nature Conservancy selected as partner organization?
• Does Forestle also earn money with other searches like image search?
• Is there also a black version of Forestle?

For more information about the search engine I’ve used as the plugin for my browser–Ecosia, please click the following links:

Watch a video about how Ecosia works:
http://vimeo.com/9186269

• How does Ecosia manage to save about two square meters per search?
• Why is Ecosia the greenest of all search engines?
• Can I help Ecosia by artificially conducting searches or clicking on ads?
• I never click on sponsored links. Do my searches help anyway?
• Is Ecosia for free?
• What share of the revenue goes to Bing and Yahoo?
• Do Yahoo and Bing also emit CO2 with their servers?
• Why doesn’t Ecosia partner with Google?

You, Time-lapsed over a Decade?

Taking a pic of yourself everyday for 3 years results sounds lame, but sometimes what’s lame ends up so cool.

That is one of the most intriguing videos I have ever seen!  See how you change appearance over time is usually only documented by a few photos a year, and almost never in the same exact pose (except for the yearly school photos from childhood).  When I was growing out my hair five years ago, I did take monthly photos of myself (another example of being a geek?) to document how much it had grown.  But this, this is much cooler!

This lead me to find related links on youtube…. here’s one of a guy over 6 years!

Imagine doing this everyday for 20 or 30 year?  Man, I’d better start now.

Incidentally, I found the first video here by searching for “moose knuckles” because it’s on the inside of Ian’s new jacket and we didn’t know what it meant until today.  Quite unrelated, you’d think, eh?