Memory Card Volume Label Lifehack

I’m fantastic at losing things.

A few weeks back I almost lost my camera, which is about the size of a flip-phone and so a prime candidate for being misplaced.

Here’s a trick I thought of while formatting its memory card: set it’s volume label to your phone number.

That way, if you lose your camera and someone pops the memory card in their computer, the first thing they’ll see is your digits:

(At least on Windows; not sure what the UI is on a Mac. Richard?)

Granted, this isn’t as foolproof as writing the number right on the camera (or not losing it in the first place). But hey, it doesn’t take much effort, you can do it once and forget about it, and you might give the good samaritan who found/bozo who stole your camera a twinge of Jason Bourne-like excitement at finding your digits like that. Well, maybe.

Happy photo taking.

2007 – The Last 3 Books

So as not to devote an entire post to last year’s stuff, I’ll make it a 3-for-1 deal. My last three books of 2007 were:

1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle
2. The Now Habit, by Neil Fiore
3. Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul, by Various Authors

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was a fantastic read. My most meaningful experience with Sherlock Holmes stories before that was the Chipmunks version of one of them, so I admit that I didn’t quite know what to expect. But I was blown away.

Aside from the great storytelling and character development, one thing that struck me the most: for a book this old, the writing didn’t feel dated. It was certainly clear that you were reading about an older time, but I felt like it could have just as easily been a present-day author writing about the past.

The Now Habit is a book on overcoming procrastination that, ironically enough, took me two years to get around to reading. Its premise is that procrastination is not some inherent character defect, but a symptom of some general insecurities such as perfectionism in work that can be addressed through establishing good habits. An interesting read, and very highly recommended for anyone struggling with procrastination.

Finally, Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul was Sis’ get-well-soon gift to me when I broke my wrist. I suppose I should criticize this book for being too mushy and not include it on my 07 reading list, but I think it earned it’s spot. For every 4-5 overly emotional and stupid stories, there was usually one that really got my attention and made me feel pretty good. As a way to finish off my first year of reading outside school, I guess that can’t be so bad.

Happy New Year!

Yes, yes, I know – it’s almost February, by now everyone’s stopped accidentally writing 2007 in the date, and we’re already on to Valentine’s Day as the closest official holiday. But bear with me – there’s a reason for the delay.

I actually didn’t intend to start blogging again, because I didn’t think there was a need to. While traveling I used the blog to post pictures and stories, but well-captioned Facebook photos seem to negate the need for that. In 2007 the intention was to blog about the 50 books I’d read, but a final count of 11 didn’t result in a lot of writing. So, by November I didn’t see a good reason for blogging anymore.

But I realize now that one thing blogs are still great for are thoughts and stories. Sure, the best conversations are definitely still in person, but being far from most of the people I care about puts a pretty big restriction on face time. If blogging can help keep us in touch, in a way that people can access at their convenience, then I’m all for it.

Also, I recognize the huge difference writing makes in clarifying your thoughts. Writing in a journal can of course achieve the same thing, but by putting it out publicly you’re forced to be a bit more clear in your explanations, and you make it possible to get feedback and ideas you might never have considered.

So, back to blogging I go. My goal is to post at least once a week this year, and my intentions for the posts themselves are:

• To talk a little bit more about my goals and specific interests, and not just stories and recent events. Inspired in no small part by Craig’s great blog, this ties in to that last bit on getting feedback and ideas from you all.
• To blog not just about books, but about movies albums and other cool “stuff” that I like. This inspiration of course comes from Jamie, but it might also have to do with getting a Netflix subscription for Christmas. Suddenly I can pick what I want to watch instead of whatever the TV stations happen to show, so I’m pretty stoked.
• And on the topic of books, try to actually read something close to a book a week. My new book goal for 2008 is to read half an our a day, which I think in the long run will work better for me. I like having a few books going at once and finishing them when I want to, so regular reading as the goal probably (hopefully) fits my style better.

By now I’ve undoubtedly lost most people – or least left them confused as to how I could go on for this long without posting a picture of my niece – so I thank you for sticking around . I’m looking forward to a great 2008, and I wish the same for you.

Good times with the family

Seattle is a great place to live. But it’s way out on the other side of the continent, as seen here:

Which is why it was great to have my folks, my sis and her whole family in town for the past couple of weeks.

For the first week, Mom and Dad took off for a trip up to BC. They loved Vancouver, and spent most of their trip seeing its downtown. I’m looking forward to going back there once the Green Card stuff gets all sorted out.

Shot of the folks in Victoria

After the parental units came back to Seattle, my sis and her family joined us here. The combined age of my nieces is 4 years and 6 months, and so my apartment went through some natural changes:

• Bottles were removed from the wine rack and replaced with sippy cups
• The cleaning bucket was converted to a diaper pail
• My bed doubled as a diaper-changing station

And so on. But it became normal. And then we started hanging out in Seattle, and the trip became a lot of fun.

The Mountains

 

Vivace

 

The Needle

 

At Home

 

The Falls

Everyone left yesterday. The apartment is quiet again, and I miss my family a lot. But it was nice to spend so much time with them, and I liked watching my nieces grow up and learn new things. Being so far from them sucks, and I hope to change that eventually, but being able to at least hang out with them in the short term does make life just a little bit nicer.

Hope all is great on your end. Have a great start to the holidays!

Lest We Forget

Wearing my poppy proudly today.

Folks are in town

Mom

Dad

Diwali

It’s nice to have family in town .

Closing in on 2007

Hard to believe it’s November already.

October has been really busy at work. But it’s been a good busy, and we’ve had morale-boosting stuff as well. Like the TWC softball awards, where I was very proud to win the not-very-highly-contested “worst injury award”.

(Click to see Jason’s entire set.) 

Along with which there’s been the usual lunches and some getting together after work for movies or hanging out.

But I suppose even the regular, day-to-day stuff is enough to be eventful sometimes. I still feel special when I see an email directly from Bill Gates hit my inbox, even if it’s sent to everyone else in the company too.

Of course, it’s also good to get the regular emails from your non-exec buddies. Like Ahmed, especially when he sends me photos from his trip to Hyderabad.

Those tags are from Touch, which you might remember as Louis and I’s favorite club when we interned in Hyderabad three years ago.

Time is definitely flying by. And it’s only going to speed up this month, with all of my family visiting for parts of November. We’re going to fit five adults, two babies, and all the associated baby stuff in my one bedroom apartment. And have fun in the process I suppose .

By the time that’s over, it’s just about time to head back home to Toronto, after a year of being away. And then it’s hello 2008.

Hope all is awesome on your end. I’ll be visiting Toronto after a year of being away, so do drop me a line if you’re in the area for the holidays too so we can meet up.

Happy niece

Nikita’s birthday present this year was her first trip to Disney World, and part of the deal was a trip to go hang out with Cinderella. Can you imagine what this must have felt like for a four-year-old girl who worships her? I figure that’d be like me meeting Superman… at the age of 25.

Sad news

I’m very sad to say that one of the 10 victims of Sunday’s plane crash in Seattle was one of my teammates at work.

I feel odd talking about it so I won’t say much more, but I just want to send out my condolences to Ralph’s friends and family, and hope they get through all this okay.

Link to article in Seattle PI.

The Wonder Years at Microsoft

Did you watch the Wonder Years as a kid?

If so, then you must remember Winnie Cooper, Kevin’s girlfriend on the show.

Stolen from Wikipedia

What you might not know is that the actress, Danica McKellar, grew up to be a mathematician, invented her own theorem, wrote a book on encouraging girls to get into math, and then came to Microsoft to talk about it.

I was too lazy to go, so I watched live from my desk

It’s amazing, the things you learn at work. It’s always interesting when the answer to a “Where are they now?” question is “They’re in the next building.”