10 is the new 11

As you well know, D and me are working hard on our exams. This led me to coin the phrase at the title. If 11 was the right hour to get to sleep when we weren't working so hard, now 10 is the right hour. Unfortunately, just as before, we are unable to get sleep at the right time. Nonetheless, 10 is the new 11!

Hackintosh

Just a quick reminder to one of my previous posts. I said that I can't see a reason why a Mac OS can't ran on a PC.
It seems that some Israeli guy tried it on his old PC, and voila the man runs a legitimate copy of Leopard on his Intel based PC. You can see the demonstration in this link [Note: Hebrew explanations] and if you follow the talk-backs you can read how he did it. I wouldn't recommend doing it unless you know what you are doing and willing to destroy a potentially good PC.

Time is running out

The last week disappeared without notice. I feel that time is running out without me having the chance of catching up with the staff I need to do. First there is work, which takes the usual amount of time, but which I don't do as rigorously as I used to. In addition, there is the GRE, which consumes about two hours a day. I have to improve my vocabulary (vo-cab is the term used in class) immensely. It is unbelievable how many ridiculous, unneeded, and unused words there are in the English language. I have hundreds of words to tackle in the coming few weeks. I also started the GRE course, which has the benefit of sitting me down to study, but requires a lot of home work.

If that wasn't enough, I have to decide a go/no-go on the Calgary option. In order to do so I need to meet the prospective professor. I read a few papers about the subject, but I feel that I lack the grasp of many things. The principals are clear, but the details are not. I doubt if this is a good idea to enter a new field, in which I know so little, just because of my interest in it.

Last week I spent three evening with friends and family. This is a rarity. I met my college friends for dinner in a pub on Sunday, my dad for a movie on Tuesday and my friends from Calgary on Thursday. I doubt if this rare sequence of events will ever repeat itself.

Did I hear someone whisper something about going to the gym? Well, I guess my ears are beginning to trick me in my old age. Or is it just the fat that covers them.

TOEFL is dead, Long live the GRE

I finished my TOEFL today at 12:05. I'm still not sure how well I did in the test, but hopefully it will be enough for me to be accepted to the school of engineering in Cincinnati (i.e. better than 92). I'm optimistic about it and expect to receive around 100, with 5 points sigma and a normal distribution. This means that I have over 90% of chance to exceed 92.
Now that TOEFL is out of my way, GRE is next. Long live the GRE.

TOEFL Here I come

Tomorrow is the date of my TOEFL . I must admit that I didn't study as hard as I should have. I guess that it is just too boring to prepare for this test. Nevertheless, I took a few trials and have a few conclusions. One, my reading and listening comprehension is quite good. I guess that of the 30 points that each of these parts worth I will receive at least 90%, or 54 points in total. The writing part is also quite simple, but I haven't had the chance to assess my writing skills, as they require the evaluation of a human examiner. I would expect to receive around 25 from this part. In total this will bring me to at least 79-80 points out of the 90 points in these three parts.
Unfortunately, the last part is the speaking section. I'm afraid that my speech is not as fluent and as good as my other skills. On the other hand, I am required to achieve 92 in total, so out of the 30 remaining points I will need less than a half. Hopefully, this is something that I can do. Wish me luck!!!!!


By the way, I scheduled my GRE test to March 10. After taking one computer adaptable test (CAT) version and one paper version (for the course) I can say that my quantitative score will probably be high, while my verbal reasoning score will be much worse. I have a problem with the vocabulary part of the GRE. I am not sure how the other people are coping with this part. Let's hope that my Princeton Review course will help me get better at this part.

Sick or exhausted?

Since I got back from the 3rd world I have been feeling sick and exhausted. The feeling varies from sheer exhaustion, lack of concentration to stomach aches and sore throat. It has been 10 days now and still I don't think it is getting better. If anything, it gets worse. Today I decided to take another day off, to regain my strengths. If it doesn't get better tomorrow I will go to the doc.

First observations of the 3rd world

As I mentioned earlier, I had to go abroad for my company to a 3rd world country. Today we arrived and I already have some observations. I don't know if they will hold for any 3rd world country, to this specific one, or even not that. Here they are:

1. The roads are chaos by definition. Everyone is yelling, honking their horns, and cutting lanes at all times in all directions. It is a miracle that most of them do not get killed in the first day of driving. I think that the difference between Calgary and Tel Aviv with respect to driving is as big as the difference between Tel Aviv and this place.
   
2. Time is relative. Just like Einstein said in his theory of relativity. When someone tells you it is going to take 5 minutes better ask him at what speed he is traveling, because 5 minutes can most easily turn into 45. Maybe he is traveling so fast that he is at nearly the speed of light.
   
3. The richer getting richer while the poorer getting poorer. I have two examples from the same luxurious hotel we are staying in. An hour of internet access costs 25NIS (never mind the original currency) , a day gets it to 75 NIS. You can get a car, with a driver and tourist guide for 3 hours, for 50 NIS.
4. People here have uniform fetish! Everywhere you look there is someone in uniforms. It may be that he is a policeman, a soldier, a driver or a janitor. They all wear uniforms. Most of them have some kind of medals and ranks. It is hard to tell who is a super-janitor and who is the police chief.
   

Well, tomorrow the meetings start. We have tomorrow and the day after for meetings and then Thursday starts with meetings and end with us getting home-sweet-home.

Abroad on work

This is the first time that I travel abroad on work. Somehow, never before have I been asked to go abroad, although there was one time that the big boss (Mr Z) asked me how come I'm not going to the Paris Air-show.

This week I'm flying to an Asian country. The people, who know me, know my dislike of 3rd world countries. Specifically the one I'm traveling to on Sunday night. I had no choice, no-one else could fly. I took the required vaccines, the hotel is supposed to be a very expensive and western one, and the meetings will be held in the company's offices, which are supposed to be great. So why am I so anxious?

Anyway, I'll be back on Friday morning. D will be missing me, and I will miss her. We will talk on Skype, hopefully everyday.

Wish me luck.

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

As mentioned earlier, we are thinking about studies abroad. This means that we are required to prove our skills in English (only me, D is a graduate from a London university), and other fields. D has been studying for her GMAT for a couple of weeks now, and it consumes almost all her free time. I set my date for TOEFL to 14 December. After that I will probably have to take the GRE. Good night and good luck.

Favorite Add-Ons for Mozilla

One of the best things about Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are their ability to incorporate more and more features, functionality and looks. This blog will detail my favorites in both applications.

Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is, by my point of view, the best browser. Even when working in MS-Windows I prefer it to Internet Explorer, and though I have a KDE based Linux, I prefer it to the default Konqueror, which is a relative of Apple's browser.
My favorite add-ons to Firefox are:

1. Vista-aero theme. This theme gives the Firefox, which I think is quite not pretty, a look which resembles Internet Explorer, which is probably the best thing about IE. Requires Java plug-in to run the install.
   
2. Adblock Plus. This excellent add-on simply blocks most of the adds in a web page. It supports a variety of sites which provide data for the blocker. Let me just say that although there is no Israeli site, it still stopped Ynet from displaying most of its numerous adds. Impressive.
3. Google Notebook. This add-on is distributed by Google and allows saving notes, web pages and comments. It is excellent for reminding yourself of things you see and want to come back to. It is offered also for IE.
   
4. Faster Fox. This add-on helps configure Firefox to be an even faster browser. It has several presets, but also allows the advanced user to customize it. The options are almost limitless, and include caching, downloading of "future links", rendering, number of pipelines, etc, etc. Sure, everything may be configured from the about:config in Firefox (another great feature in Firefox), but why not do it with a nice graphic interface?
5. Google Preview. This add on does a simple thing. It shows a thumbnail of the web page that Google returns. Why do you need it? Try it for some time, and you'll be hooked.
   

Other add-ons that have great potential but require more time to get used to:

• Fast Dial, which generates a page with many small pages, like in Opera browser.
• Mouse Gestures, which allows to control many frequently used operations by mouse gestures, as in Maxthon browser. unfortunately, this is not too useful when using a touch-pad instead of a mouse.
• iMacros, which allows to record sequences of operations and then execute them as a single macro. Yes, just like what Apple OS-X Leopard does.

Thunderbird
Thunderbird is an excellent e-mail client. It beats Outlook Express used in MS-Windows. I may agree that Outlook is a better personal organizer, but hey - that's a whole different league. If you want to compete at this level, try Evolution or Kontact. I prefer Evolution in Linux, but Outlook is - for me - a better application.
Nevertheless, Thunderbird is very light-weight, which makes it comfortable, and just as configurable as Firefox. Here are my favorites:

1. Nautipolis. This theme applies icons from art.gnome.com. It is offered in two versions for different versions of Thunderbird: 1.0, and 1.5 to 2.0. As any theme in Mozilla, this too requires Java.
   
2. The most important add-on, as I see it, is Lightning, which adds a calendar support to Thunderbird. After adding this add-on Thunderbird becomes a light-weight personal organizer. Isn't that nice?
3. Provider for Google Calendar. After adding Lightning, why not add your Google Calendar to it? If you don't have one, well, maybe this blog isn't for you. But if you do have one, then this is undoubtedly what you need - a two way synchronization between Google Calendar and Lightning. Did anyone say MS-Exchange server and Outlook?
4. WebMail. With Gmail supported by Thunderbird as a built in, you may wonder what to do with Yahoo mail or Hotmail. Use WebMail as a proxy and then add the extension for your email provider.
   
5. Update Notifier. When you have so many extensions, you want someone to keep track of their updates. This extension does that and notifies you when updates are ready.
6. BiDi Mail UI. If you write emails in Hebrew or Arabic, or other languages which are written from right to left, this Bi-Directional extension will allow you to control the paragraph direction.
   

Conclusions
As mentioned earlier, there are virtually endless optional add-ons. If you find add-ons you like, please add them in the comments so I can check them out. Thanks!

Feeling Down

Sometimes it happens that I feel down. No reason to blame, just the blues.
Today it came down on me. I hate the feeling that I am always trying to keep up with my life instead of enjoying them. Between too much work, plans to study abroad, parents, gym, and, most importantly love, there is simply not enough time in my life. Always something is missing. I'm always late for something, or missing something. Today I felt the effect of not going to the gym for the last two weeks, because of being overworked.

I guess the reason I'm tired of it is because I always feel that I'm letting someone down, not doing everything to the full, slacking. I know that it is me. I'm always disappointed of myself. Even when other people are looking up to me, I feel that they are not seeing the real deal: the fuck-ups, the rounding corners.

The only solution in such cases is to wait for the bad feeling to go away.

Why Apple Hates Us?

Last week Apple shipped their latest upgrade to their world-class operating system: OSX 10.5 Leopard. I guess many of you have heard that already. I guess you already know that OSX now supports Mac computers based on Intel's x86 chip architecture. The same one that runs under the hood of almost every personal computer in the world.
So, the question is: Why not modify OSX to run on any PC and not just Mac? If you wonder about the feasibility of this idea, note that a hacker succeeded in doing it already with OSX 10.4.8. If Apple do that, I guess that many MS-Windows users will shift their preferences to Mac's OSX for various reasons.

1. First, this is a fine looking OS. And it does that without being memory and CPU greedy relative to MS-Windows.
2. Second, it is more stable than Windows, due to its internal kernel which is based on Unix/Linux basis.
3. Third, most (maybe all) of the important software is running on OSX just as well as on MS-Windows. Including some must-haves like MS-Office. This will solve many of current Linux users, who have to settle for less popular software substitutes, like Open-Office.

So, if so many people are likely to leave their Windows in favor of Mac OSX, why not do it? I guess that a move like this may sell millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of licenses, each worth around $129. Why not?

There are only three explanations: One, Apple is afraid of MS. Maybe they are afraid that MS will stop developing for Mac OSX and cut the branch of the tree on which Mac users are sitting. The second Apple are too short sighted and they prefer to sell hardware (iMacs, iBooks, iEtcs.) instead of software. The last one is that they simply hate us, the simple users. Why?

D is going Ubuntu

After many years of MS-Windows D decided to try out Ubuntu 7.10.
Today, after a long back-up process using her Western Digital My-Book, she started the long journey towards a stable, free and fun system: Ubuntu Linux.
Good luck!

Deviant Brainwave celebrates 5 years

Happy birthday to D's blog , which celebrates its fifth birthday today.
We wish it many more birthdays and readers.

How to Restore Your Kubuntu

Well, upgrade didn't go well so I decided to restore my 7.04 version.

However, Kubuntu 7.04 doesn't come with all the features I like out of the box. This is the place to explain how to restore important features after installation.

Step 1: First, let adept_notifier prompt you to install all the updates since the version has been released. Fetching all the updates is roughly 200-250 MB, so be patient.

Step 2: If you have a backup disk of your files, this is a good time to restore it to the correct places. Make sure you edit all the folders from read only to read-write for you and other programs that make use of them. Failing to do so may cause crashes down the line or just some programs to fail. For example, if you configure Thunderbird (see step 4) then Thunderbird will not be able to write mails to all your mail folders.

Step 3: After the updates are installed, I like my browser to be Firefox instead of the default Konqueror supplied with Kubuntu. To do so, use adept. It will install the last tested version of Firefox. Usually it is not the last one Mozilla released, but it is close enough.

Step 4: Quit adept before this step. Use this outstanding script: "installnewthunderbird_3.2.0.sh" from SourceForge to get and install Thunderbird and its dependencies. BTW, there are newer version that I didn't try, so if they are good, feel free to update me. When you have the script ready, open a Konsole using Kmenu->System->Konsole. Go to the directory where the script is and then run the command: "sudo bash ./installnewthunderbird_3.2.0.sh -install". Enter your sudo password and answer the questions made by the script.

Step 5: If you hate the way some fonts are used in Linux, use adept to install MS truetype fonts, e.g. Arial. To do so, simply search in adept for the token "mstt" and install the msttcorefonts package that comes up.

Step 6: You would probably want to have some important features, especially the ones you have in MS-Windows. Media playing is one of the most important things. So get back to adept and do the following:

• Install helix for real player. Make sure you install the plugin to Firefox.
• Install mplayer. Make sure you install the plugin to Firefox.
• Install xmms to get support for asf files.
• Install avidemux to get support for avi files.
• Install totem while you are at it.
• In adept, search for xvid and divx and install any package that seems to add support for these file types.
• If you are using Amarok to play media files test its ability to play mp3 files. To do so, simply try to engage a last.fm stream, provided that you have an account there. If Amarok can't play it, it will request your permission to install it. Make sure you close any adept window before you do so, as it requires access to the packages database.
  

You can test your settings by trying to view clips posted in Ynet. If everything works fine you press the "play" button and somehow it plays the clip. It may takes a few remove / install of the above before everything works.

Step 7: If you want to have Hebrew subtitles you downloaded when playing movies, do the following (from the following link):

• Create a folder in your home/user (~) folder named ".mplayer".
  
• Use a text editor (e.g. Kate) to create a file named "config" and add the following rows to the file:
  

• flip-hebrew=yes
  fribidi-charset=ISO8859-8
  slang=he
  font=/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial.ttf
  subfont-encoding=ISO8859-8
  subfont-text-scale=4

• Make sure that the font line really points to an existing file with the same name in that folder.
• Close the file.

Step 8: Java is an extremely important tool. Many pages have applets that require Java runtime environment. To install a working updated Java runtime environment use adept. Search for sun-java and install the latest version (currently, 1.6.x). Make sure you install:

• bin, the package itself.
  
• fonts, just in case.
  
• jre, Java runtime environment.
  
• plugin, this is used by Firefox and other browsers to run applets using the jre.

You can test this by trying to run a Java applet from the web. If everything is configured correctly, the applet should work.

Step 9: Localization and languages. I use Hebrew in many cases. To have multiple selection of languages in Kubuntu, do the following.

• From the Kmenu select System Settings.
• In general tab, select Regional & Language.
  
• If the list of languages does not have the language you want, select install new language.
• In the new window that opened find the language, select it and install it.
• Use the list of languages to select which language is default.
  
• In the same window select the Keyboard Layout sub-window.
  
• In this menu make sure all the keyboard layouts you want are listed. To add a missing one simply find it in the available layouts list and add it to the active list.
  
• If you have more then one layout it is advisable to have an icon which tells you which layout is used. To do so, go to the "switching options" tab, select "show country flag". While at it, see if the "switching policy" matches the one you like. I prefer that each window has its own policy, so I selected the last policy.
• I guess you would like to be able to switch layouts using a keyboard "hotkey". If so, return to "System Settings" and select "Keyboard & Mouse". Select "Keyboard Shortcuts" and in the first tab scroll down to "Keyboard" (last one). Select it and modify the default (alt+ctrl+k) to whatever you want. Note that the MS-Windows alt+shift can not be used. I use alt+<, which is the one closest to the left shift in my keyboard.

Step 10: Additional extras:
I like to have some non-Ubuntu packages. I installed the following:

• Skype, the free voice over IP phone. Simply go to Skype webpage, select download and download the package. Then make sure that the adept manager is closed and using right-click select the downloaded file. Select the Kubuntu packages install, approve the required password and that's it. You'll find the Skype installed and ready in your internet menu entries.
• Picasa, the pictures album manager, from Google. Use this link to select the download. When the file is ready, simply do as written above for Skype.
  

Step 11: Evolution and exchange. I guess that you are using some kind of exchange server, probably in work. You may have exchange over the web access, but you hate the way it is managed by Firefox. The solution is named Evolution, from Novell, but it is a bit tricky to configure and run. Do the following:

• First, in adept search for evolution, select evolution and its exchange plug-in.
• Now, evolution is a bit tricky sometimes to run in the first time. Try to run it from the Kmenu->Internet menu. If does not load, open a Konsole using Kmenu->System->Konsole.
• In the Konsole write "evolution" and press enter. If the last line is "segmentation fault (core dumped) run: "evolution --disable-eplugin" instead. Most probably that you are able to run evolution. In evolution window, use "edit-preferences" and add an e-mail account. It does not matter which one of your accounts you add.
  
• Now, close evolution, exit the Konsole and open evolution from the regular Kmenu.
• In evolution, add your exchange account. When selecting server type, select Microsoft Exchange.
  
• Enter your user name. Note that user name is not email address. User name is the one you use to log in to the network.
  
• Enter your over the web access URL. It would probably look like: https:\\owa.company.com\ecxhange\
• Authenticate it using your login password and now you have a window of properties.
• In "identity" tab enter your required information.
  
• In "receiving mail" tab make sure everything is correct.
• In "receiving options" tab you configure how often to check for mail in the server and other staff. Select whatever you like. The most important thing is "Global Catalog server name". This is where the server saves the global directory of email addresses. Look in your outlook address book settings in MS-Outlook to find that out.
• Defaults tab usually needs no adjustments.
• In "exchange settings" you can add "out of the office" auto-reply or set passwords.
• In "security" tab I have nothing crossed, so probably everything is not required there.

Congratulations, Kubuntu is configured now. If you think the time to configure it was too long, ask yourself how much time it took you to configure Windows correctly, does it work properly and quickly and are you happy with it? If the questions you answer are pro-Windows then don't bother switching to Linux.

Upgrade problems

As I wrote in my previous blog, I upgraded from Kubuntu 7.04 to 7.10.
First, I have to say that at least all my data was saved, and I didn't have to restore it from the backup CD.

But, I detected the following problems:

• Adept_manager can not connect to the internet. I don't know why, because most of the other applications do it without any problems, including Konqueror, Firefox, Thunderbird, Amarok, and Kopete.
  
• Similarly, evolution can not connect to my exchange account at work using over the web access.
• Firefox, which was able to play streams posted in Ynet using a rather complicated configuration can not do it anymore. Interestingly, though, Konqueror can. I would suggest that both use the same plugins, but somehow only one of them succeeds in doing so.
  
• Kopete crashed when connecting to my MSN messenger account. This bug apparently was reported and fixed already, and it has to do with KDE 3.5.8. Use this link to download the fix and install it. At least now Kopete is working fine.

I am still not sure if it was a good idea to upgrade.
BTW, KDE 4.0, when it is finally released, promises to be a significant improvement to the user experience.

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?

Ubuntu 7.10 is due to be released tomorrow (18 October). I have been using Kubuntu 7.4 (the KDE version of Ubunto 7.4) for six months now. During this time I found that this Linux distribution is a very stable, user-friendly and beautiful system. In the last two months the new 7.10 version has been finalized and some test versions were made available for brave users. Of course, I tried the Alpha and Beta versions. I was a bit disappointed, because many packages that I used were not part of the distribution and internet connection was problematic.
The worst was that upgrade required me to format my Linux partition and each time I had to restore my files. I hope that the official distribution will be kind enough to allow me to keep my partition.

So, I think I'll upgrade my Kubuntu to 7.10. Come again to see if I recommend to do so.

Earth Blog Day or Why The Noble Prize Is Wrong

As D mentioned, the 15th is Earth Blog Day. This is an important day, and everything that can help us save the world (without saving the cheerleader) is important. I recycle whatever I can. Unfortunately, Israel is not as developed in this area as other western countries.

This brings me to another thing. Al Gore was announced to be among the new Peace Noble prize winners for his work in raising the public conciousness to the issue. I think that this is a very poor choice, and I know that I am on the minority about it. The reason I object to this selection is that Al Gore's interest in this subject is relatively new, whereas numerous people and organizations operate in this field for years and were not selected. True, he used his name and money to fund a movie about the subject. But, I can't help thinking that he "joined the club" or "rode the surf" rather than had a genuine interest. I tend to suspect him of having political agenda to become a president. If not in 2008 then 2012. I don't think that there is something that I would like more than to be wrong.

Dani Pinchas Is Dead

I woke up today with the bad feeling that this great man died. Dani Pinchas was a brave man. He was diagnosed with cancer, underwent treatment, and when he realized that he was not going to win this battle for life, he asked to stop the treatment. He wrote the most personal blog in Ynet, which each Monday hundreds of thousands of Israelis read. He wrote about the good times, the bad times, the pain, the misery of his wife and family, the love. He made me, and I guess everyone else, love him a bit. For his huge heart, for his bravery, for his ability to find the good in every evil. Last Monday morning his blog (or maybe I should call it a column) was not published. Ynet officials said that his situation deteriorated. He died tonight in his home.

Everyone who has seen cancer from up close knows that this disease is one of the worst. Perhaps only Alzheimer's disease is worse. It chew you up from your inside, makes you weak, and causes your loved ones to feel impotent. Everyone who read Dani's blog knows what kind of a person he was, taking care of his family of friends while being so weak. I wish his family the ability remember him as the great man that he was. I wish them no more sorrow. My condolences.

Yes is no, say no to Yes!

During the last month the Israeli satellite TV company have experienced numerous occasions of signal loss. At first, I was patient with them, because they are usually very good, and their business competitor Hot are not. But, after a few weeks of having a hard time watching TV, I decided to talk to them.

That made me angrier and angrier. First, they refused to compensate their customers, in particular me, for this. They said that only after the problems are resolved, they will decide how to compensate the customers. Since it was already a month into the period of signal problems I thought it was unlikely that it will ever be resolved. Then they gave all their customers access to view the pay-per-view video channel. Only problem is - how can you watch a film with no signal?

I asked to be disconnected, but they demanded 400 NIS for contract breach. I said that they were the first ones to breach the contract, when they failed to provide the service I was paying for. This soon turned into a huge argument with harsh words from both sides. They were willing to compensate me for a week of signal problems, claiming that I called for the first time only a week ago. This infuriated me. I was trying to reach them for weeks, but their customer support services was overwhelmed.

Finally, I found a loop-hole in their system. It appears that they allow a customer to freeze his subscription for a period that ranges from 1 month to 4 months. I froze mine for a month. No questions asked, no problems. This allows me to be able to watch Israeli TV channels, without the other channels, at a rate of 15 NIS. At least now if there are problems with their signal I know that I don't pay hundreds of shekels for dozens of unwatchable TV channels.

By the way, Hot are doing everything they can to lure Yes customers. Yes high rank official said it would probably collapse if the signal problems continue for another month. This will leave Hot as a sole provider of multi-channel TV in Israel. I guess they will be cruel with their rates when this happens.

After the Holidays

The term "after the holidays" in Israel is usually used in the context of "things we have to do..."
Well, after the holidays is now! And I have so many things to do:

1. Work. Today I spent almost 10 hours in meetings;
2. Study, first for the TOEFL and then maybe the GRE;
3. Go to the gym and try to lose 3-5 KGs;
4. House chores, as always;
   

This is besides of being with my family and friends who need me.
And be with D, of course.

Too much to do, so little time.

Searching for a University

As some of you may know, I was offered a Ph.D. with full tuition and allowance at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA. While this offer is certainly a very good one, D and I are still not sure if Cincinnati is our kind of town. We used the trip to Canada in order to see some more options. First, I would like to say that the immigration policy in Canada is much more inviting than the US one. So, here are our impressions from five Canadian cities:

• In the fifth place, without doubt is the University of Victoria. It is too far from town, and Victoria itself is impossible with all the BC ferries. We will just pass on that one.
• In the fourth place, the University of Toronto. The university itself seems very nice, but the city is too boring. Sorry, Toronto, "nothing here to see, move along".
• In the third place, the University of British Columbia (UBC). We liked UBC, but then again, who doesn't. A university that lies within a park in a nice part of Vancouver. What can go wrong? Well, only that I have nothing to study there.
  
• In the second place, with Shahar's recommendation, is Mc'Gill's University in Montreal. The university campus seems very nice and is located in the centre of downtown. But although the university itself is an English major university, this is still a Quebec city. This means that out of town we will still use French. And I guess you know how I feel about that.
• This leaves us with the winner - the University of Calgary. Residing near downtown Calgary, which is a city that boosts economically, and with driving distance to the Rocky Mountains, it seems like a good place to mix pleasure with studies. The only problem is finding something we both can study.
  

D's blog

I forgot to thank D, whose blog has been the inspiration for this one.
Please have a look at her blog.
You'll find many stories and photos of Canada there.

Chance meeting in Calgary

This story begins almost ten years ago. In my first years in IAF I was an aerodynamics instructor. I had a friend there called Shahar and people became accustomed to seeing us together. When in 1999 we left the flight academy, Shahar became a full time Master student and graduated three years later, while I was still in the army and struggling with my studies. When he graduated I lost track of him, and the rumor was that he immigrated to Canada.

During the four years people who knew us from those days asked if I know where he is and what he is doing. They were quite surprised to hear that I don't. When we were in Canada in August, Alex, who had been with us in the flight academy asked about Shahar, and I answered as always: "I don't know where he is", and added: "rumor has it that he is in Canada". We laughed that it will be interesting to meet him there. Later that day we did! We met him at an Indian restaurant in Calgary.

It was such an impossible event that I don't think anyone can believe it:

1. We didn't know where he was.
2. We intended to go a restaurant a day before, but somehow didn't do it.
   
3. We intended to go to an Italian, but Alex thought that since he has stomach aches afterwards he prefers to go to the Indian. So we did.
4. We arrived at the restaurant exactly when Shahar and his family were getting their bill. If we had arrived ten minutes later this meeting would never have happened.
5. Finally, the only reason I glanced at the direction where his family was seated is that his father wears a Kippa. I noticed that and looked to that direction while waiting for the host to guide us to our table.

The meeting itself went very well. We caught up about things. We also exchanged email addresses so we will be able to contact one another.