Asaf's profileLondon news and things o...BlogLists Tools Help

London news and things of muse

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; ..." Samuel Johnson (1709-84)
January 28

Google RSS Reader

Hi All

I've recently started using Google RSS Reader.

You know how tiring it can be going to our sites of interest just to check for new stories. RSS as a technology is not too new, but one can always find new things among 'old' technology :)

What's the biggest advantage in Google Reader? - that one can use it everywhere there's a computer or terminal with an internet browser, no need to install anything, and no need to synchronize syndication lists.

What's the biggest disadvantage in Google Reader? - that one can't search inside the feeds. But, I believe with little effort and requests from users, Google may develop and implement such an option (if it isn't already on the make).

Note: After about 5-10 refreshes in IE the computer slows down and appears as if it is doing much proccessing, and for nothing! In Firefox, on the other hand, it works flawlessly.

(I know, I haven't given any primer on RSS, but you can find it here, there and everywhere :)

Enjoy!

September 07

God Save the Queen Of the Shwarma Eaters

Jessica Baron
 
The coronation took place this weekend.
 
Shwarma is known around parts of the world as one of the most popular fast foods. Just thinking of it make one's mouth water.. Especially if one had just a sandwich from dawn till writing time.
 
 
Four restaurants were serving up shwarma as a part of a fund raising event. 3 in Hendon, 1 in Golders Green.
 
 
August 18

The London Portal

While searching online for some information about London, I came across The London Portal by Wikipedia. It looks one of the most robust information portals about London.

The portal contains more information than could be summed in a blog post, information that surrounds most of every aspect that concerns the capital.

Culture | Economy | Geography | Government | History | Infrastructure | Politics | Sport | Tourism

These are just the head menu items. and I may use Walter Besant's quote:

Portal:London I've been walking about London for the last thirty years,

and I find something fresh in it every day.
Portal:London

I'd bet new information about London can be found via this portal every day.

Happy New Weekend!

August 17

FSI Language Courses - Learn a Foreign Language for Free!

fsi-language-courses.com, is the home for language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute. These courses were developed by the United States government and are in the public domain.

The site is dedicated to making these language courses freely available in an electronic format. It is an independent effort to foster the learning of worldwide languages.

Courses currently on site: Cantonese, Chinese (Standard), French (Original), French (Revised), German, Greek, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish Programmatic and Turkish.

Some of these courses work is still in progress, you can watch their Status.

Fruitful Learning y'all! 

Tags: Free, Language, Course

August 08

Big Brother is watching where you park!

CCTV helps spot illegal parking
 
Parking ticket on windscreen
Getting a ticket in Westminster can cost up to £100
Motorists parking illegally in central London could now be caught using hi-tech CCTV cameras.

Drivers contravening parking laws, in areas like the West End, will be pictured and then sent a fine through the post.

 
 
Another way of getting money from law-disobeying citizens?
 
For the time being, Westminster City Council says that parking attendents will retain their role, but one knowest not what a day may bring forth. 
 
Is this a mere continuation of a the industrial revolution? There is a story in our history where the machine took over people's jobs. At that time it was probably inevitable, is this also the case over here?
July 28

Students 'own hi-tech gadgets'

Apple iPod listener
Students tend to be up-to-date with the latest technology
Students increasingly own an expensive range of personal items such as MP3 players, iPods, laptops and widescreen televisions, a survey suggests.

A study for Direct Line home insurance shows the average value of students' goods rose 50% over the past 10 years.

In 1996, students had possessions worth £1,900, compared with £2,900 now, the poll of 587 students indicated.

 
 
 
Either they earn more or they are more indebted, as it is put in the news item:

Direct Line Home Insurance spokesman Simon Ziviani said: "The wealth of today's students really is proof that times are changing and that the majority now enjoy a degree of affluence."

A survey published last week suggested most parents and students significantly underestimated the level of debt youngsters would accrue while at university.

July 03

Contribute your CPU Idle time to Cancer Research

 Grid.org is a single destination site for large-scale, non-profit research projects of global significance. With the participation of over 3 million devices worldwide, grid.org projects like Cancer Research, Anthrax Research, Smallpox Research and the new Human Proteome Folding Project (running in conjunction with IBM's new World Community Grid) have achieved record levels of processing speed and success.

Grid.org projects are powered by United Devices' Grid MP technology, the leading solution for commercial enterprise grid deployments

 

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

 

July 02

RIBA International Awards 2006

 
The Royal Institute of British Architects has recently announced the RIBA International Awards 2006.
 
On the awards page you may see constructions from all over the world. Africa, Asia, America, Europe, and even the Middle East.
 
You may also browse the Awards by region and Awards by building type, and, of course, the London awards category with beutiful new London buildings and constructions.
 
Congratulations to the winners!

Visa scam on the news

Once in a while there runs a story about visa scams that let immigrants in the country as students. As I understood, the scammer registers to a bogus language school to get his student visa that allows him to work legally, and I guess he just doesn't attend any class, and the registration and payment to the school is just for the visa.
 
I guess it's the time of the season for reporting of visa scams. See also the "SEE ALSO" pane on the BBC report.
May 21

The Fisherman and His Wife

Remember the beautiful Children Story "The Fisherman and His Wife" from the first year/s in primary school?
 
Well, today I came to read it in the course of doing an exercise for my studies. Before I continue, take note of IPL. The Internet Public Library (IPL), is a public service organization and learning/teaching environment at the University of Michigan School of Information. 
 
My task was to find what was the Fisherman's first wish, but I couldn't stop reading it once I started. Few decades after I first heard the story for the first time, I could remember fondly how the moral of the story made it through to me.
 
 
Reading the story just now, I could notice things I couldn't have noticed as a child.
 
Of the most striking things in the story is:
How could the wife, who wouldn't settle for a cottage, castle, monarchy and caesarship, settle for a Fisherman as a husband? - Wouldn't one expect that she should not settle for less than a Pilot who is also a Medical Doctor that knows his way around DIY & Hardware stores and can fix most common and some uncommon household appliances & general problems?  
If only I could turn back time to the story hour when I first heard this story, this would be my question to the story teller.
 
There is much to discuss, but alas,
this isn't a literary space
 
P.S:  
Another version by Pushkin: The Fisherman and the Goldfish
Translated by Louis Zelikoff; Illustrated by B. Dekhteryov 

Book Notice:

Tales and translation: The Grimm tales from pan-Germanic narratives to shared international fairytales. By CAY DOLLERUP. (Benjamins translation library 30.) Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1999. Pp. xiv, 384. (Book Review) (Amazon)