Beethoven Returns

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 12

"July 22nd: Words to live up to"

There are words to live by – quotations which we try to embody in day to day life. Then there are words to live up to – the principles which we try to uphold, but which we often fall short of. Pick one of those quotations which you aspire towards. Why do you feel you fall short of its aim? Why is it worth living up to?

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

You could read my post below, or you could just read the quote, take it in, and move on with your life. That's really just the highlight of this all.

Beethoven on my blog is like the four note motif in his Fifth Symphony - he just keeps coming back. A quick search of my blog (Google to the left! i.e. sidebar, top) shows ten posts mentioning him (though now it'll be eleven), including four (now five) of the essay-a-week essays. I will post a word cloud when I get to the end of the summer...

There is much in the composer to aspire towards, but I really don't see the need for a second extensive post detailing how awesome Beethoven is. Great compositions aside, below is a quote by Beethoven that defines the principles I try to uphold:

"Then let us all do what is right,
strive with all our might toward the unattainable,
develop as fully as we can the gifts God has given us,
and never stop learning."

Why are these words worth living up to? Well, seeing that the quote is essentially combining a lot of commonly agreed on ideals, it's hard to say that these words are not worth living up to. Declaring that we should all "do what is wrong, ignore what is unattainable, repress as fully as we can the gifts God has given us, and stop learning" wouldn't be a very positive notion. Simply put, these words tell us to always do our best, and to become the best that we can be. It's a big task, so Beethoven gives us four key tips for getting there.

First, we must do what is right. In my opinion, things that are right are things that improve our lives and the lives of others. If we stay on track with good intentions, people will build closer and stronger communities, and we will be happier overall. Of course, the phrase is easier said than done - doing the "right" thing is often cloudy and our imperfect judgement makes it difficult to choose the better deed, while bad deeds are often tempting. Nevertheless, I try to live up to this phrase by doing things with good intentions, a judgement that improves as I learn from my mistakes. After all, we're reminded at the end of the quote to never stop learning, and as time goes on, it will be easier to know what is right. To do the right thing, however, takes another leap.

With good intentions, the next step is to "strive with all our might towards the unattainable". Throughout Beethoven's repertoire, he explores new instruments and arrangements; each successive piece seems to command greater emotion and energy. His final frontier was music, and he pushed through with his ninth and final symphony. The same applies to us: we each have interests that we are pursuing, and in order to collectively move our respective fields forward, we owe it to our studies to do as much as we can. I don't think I've done very well with this in the last few years - it's so easy to take comfort in the status quo. It takes a lot of effort to set your goals just beyond your reach so that you're always reaching, but in order to truly make a difference in a world (which seems unattainable as well), one must actually set the goal of doing so. [In other words, acceptable is nowhere near good enough - one needs to be exceeding expectations, if not outstanding.]

The next piece of the puzzle tells us to use our natural talents. Everyone has something unique to contribute to a group - there are few things more saddening than seeing great talent go to waste. Plus, if you're doing something that you're naturally skilled at, you feel less stressed and can find a job that makes more out of what you enjoy - everyone benefits. It's just good economics.

Lastly, never stop learning. The world is a fascinating place - I think it's actually much more difficult to stop learning, so why work against it? Just go with the flow and be receptive to new ideas and pick up new skills on a daily basis. I actually find this one the easiest of them all, and it will help you to recognize what is right, find more ways to achieve your dreams, and further develop your God-given gifts.

Arguably, this quote may be too ideal and unattainable on its own front (meta!), but that's what makes these words so worthy of great aspiration (and inspiration). Trying to reach these words by Beethoven is the story of my life. And his ninth symphony is the soundtrack.

Impatiently late

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 11

"July 15th: Vices I admire"

Sometimes you’ve got to be bad to be good. Give a defence for one character trait which you think gets a bad rap.

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

To those on the same boat, you're probably aware of what the following is all about. 30 minutes each, spell check disabled, etc. Hopefully the added pressure of each of these going online will somewhat simulate test day anxiety? And now for hitting two birds with one stone - getting some writing practice and catching up on some essays.

For each prompt, write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks: Explain what you think the statement means. Describe a specific situation that illustrates a point of view directly opposite of the one expressed in the statement. Explain how the conflict in between the viewpoint in the statement and the viewpoint in the second task might be resolved.

Prompt: Sometimes you've got to be bad to be good. 

Deciding that good actions are justifiable and bad actions are not, is often a quickly made judgement. Many politicians campaign on a "do good" strategy, and no one wants to be painted as someone who makes bad decisions. But when dealing with many problems, small or big, one often realizes that making the right choice is often a difficult decision, as getting things done often require being involved dealing with bad people, or making potentially harmful choices. As a result, when bad choices are required in order to achieve good results, these bad choices can also be justifiable.

The common example of needing to be bad involves dealing with an enemy. On the scale of nations, this problem usually involves military or intelligence operations, if not war. War is arguably a bad action - even when fought under the name of justice, war involves murder, the destruction of homes and cities, and invoking fear on other people, including those who are innocent. A country facing a violent enemy, especially when peaceful settlements fail, often has a choice of not fighting, or waging a war. Not fighting could lead to devasting results, making war a viable solution. In order to eliminate or reduce the threat of the enemy, an act of good, countries may have to engage in war, a bad action. Making this choice is often referred to "the lesser of two evils".

[I realized at this point that most prompts tend to use "always"..., as it's weird to argue for the opposite of "sometimes" (would it be "mosttimes"?). I tried nevertheless, and tried to describe an example for "never".]

On the other hand, it is difficult to gauge whether or not the bad deed will ultimately lead to good. For example, the War in Afghanistan, often depicted by western governments as a necessary evil in order to democratize the Middle East and remove terrorist threats. Choosing to wage a war in the area has not been able to remove the influence of the Taliban and has led to the formation of a corruption-filled government, while all sides have been left with several casualities and wasted efforts. Because people cannot predict the future, it can be argued that the safest position to adopt would be to avoid any bad deeds. Instead of trying to solve corruption by being involved with corruptive powers, the best plan may simply be to only do good - eventually, the bad forces will lose their fuel as governments refuse to deal with them. This step is arguably "the greater of two evils", where the country chooses not to engage in war and suffer the consequences, but as  doing evil to escape evil may not necessary work, choosing doing the good thing may lead to the best results without risking any evil in the first place.

Because it is difficult to predict the consequences or rewards of a good or bad action, doing the good action all the time may be safest, avoiding the worst case scenario of doing a bad action that leads to worse results. However, a bad deed is often disguised as a good deed, under the "lesser of two evils" approach. As it is difficult to distinguish a good and a bad action, it's often best to follow the "best" approach, where if the bad deed disguised as a good deed is a better option than even all good deeds, that bad action is justifiable. Thus, sometimes, you've got to be bad to be good, but it must be clear at all times that your ultimate goal is to be good.

Prompt: Impatience is a vice that gets a bad rap, but is a vice that is admirable.

Patience is one of the seven virtues, and is a trait that most people try to display in order to live a morally good life. Consequently, impatience is a vice and is often frowned on by others. Young children are taught to be patient, told to be quiet and wait their turn, and scolded when they ask "are we there yet?" on long road trips. Adults must wait a lot too - for medical scans, returned calls, and at long lines at the supermarket. Being impatient gets a bad rap, no one likes to see a frustrated person tapping their foot and checking their watch constantly, but being impatience can also admirable.

Impatience can result from a bad system, such as an overloaded or underfunded medical system or a bureaucratic government. In these cases, impatience is often the fuel needed to push for reform and making changes to alleviate the long wait times, leading to long term success. One example is the bureaucratic system controlling public education in Washington D.C. Michelle Rhee, appointed in 2007 to lead the city's education department, is a teacher and parent, who was frustrated with the cities public education. Her impatience with the system led to the choice to send her own kids to private school, feeling that the public education system was so poor that the only way to assure her children a good education would be to send them outside the system. Secondly, in her power, she controversially fired hundreds of teachers and principals to remove underqualified individuals. While her predecessors patiently discussed several measures with Unions, government department, and schools, Michelle Rhee took tough measures to get reform accomplished as soon as possible. This impatience that led to reform to improve both public education and her own children's education is admirable. 

However, as a vice, impatience can lead to poor results. Under Rhee's term, reports of teachers adjusting the test scores have significantly increased, indicating that there have been other consequences to the impatience of getting measures passed quickly and demanding immediate improvements. In other examples, impatience in construction often lead to flaws and cutbacks. Impatience may get things done faster, but being impatience places the need for speed as the top priority. When one is impatient, they often put safety and other concerns second. A driver late for work is much more likely to run a yellow light and make tight turns that may lead to more accidents. Thus, impatience on its own is not admirable, only its results, when things turn right, seem to be worthy of praise. 

Impatience can be a fuel to get things done faster, a source of motivation. There are benefits to being impatient, but if impatience is the main reason to get things done, there are risks of cutting corners and losing motivation if one is forced to wait. Impatience, though it gets a bad rap, can be a force for good and admirable things, but its role in making those things happen must be evaluated. Impatience must never be a priority, but keeping it mind might lead to virtious results. 

Colloportus!

The search phrase "end of an era" has peaked in recent days, largely attributed to the recent closing of two worldwide phenomena that have inspired two generations - NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the Harry Potter movies. Sure, criticize me for comparing two arguably incomparable* events of great magnitude in their respective realms of science and pop culture, but I'm just describing what I see:

Data up until July 13th. I will update this when more data is released.
(A) is the last shuttle launch, while Harry Potter's premiere is still flying upwards.
(for reference, (B) is the second last shuttle launch, (C) is the closing of Microsoft's Antitrust era)
Interestingly, these peaks pale in comparison to June 2006, when Nightwish,
a Finnish Symphonic Metal Band, premiered its "End of an Era" DVD.

Both series (of shuttle launches and books) captured the imaginations of its fans and supporters, with NASA's space shuttles maintaining the spirit of the Apollo missions and commanding high TV ratings throughout its program. Space travel in the last three decades has created a widespread pop culture movement that would rival the success of Harry Potter, conquering movies, books, and TV shows.

Discovery.

Of course, neither series will be ending their ventures (or adventures) this week. After Universal Studio's recent opening of a Harry Potter theme park, J.K. Rowling is building hype for Pottermore that will bring the Wizarding World to the digital age, showcasing the e-book versions of each book in the midst of a virtual environment filled with elements from the series. NASA's not done either. Astronauts will continue going into space, and new focus is being placed on other projects, including Mars and discoveries outside our solar system.

Granted, I am [at the very least] a bit sad with this weeks' closure of both phenomena. Even as a somewhat late Harry Potter fan (I started getting really into it after the Goblet of Fire was released), Hogwarts has been in my mind for about half of my Muggle life. My passion for the series was arguably highest in my middle school years: I wrote a rather extensive book report on the Order of the Phoenix, dressed up as Harry for Halloween for two consecutive years, and had my thirteenth birthday party a few weeks in advance to coincide with the movie release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Subsequent Potter books were purchased on the release date, if not preordered.

Looking back: hand prints, footprints, wand prints. 

Nevertheless, closure is often happier than sad. It's nice to look back at our Harry Potter years or Shuttle Launch decades (speaking for older generations, I guess) and remember the defining, or most exciting, moments of our younger lives. Like Harry and his friends in final epilogue as well as the movies' actors and actresses, there is much to look forward to in our upcoming years. And for our astronauts and NASA's researchers, there are more places to explore, and higher (or further?) heights to reach.

Personally, I felt the "end of an era" sentiment most strongly in 2007, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released (probably not a surprise since I've previously described myself as "not a movie person"). To be honest, I didn't love it, mainly because my favourite part of every novel was Hogwarts and living the life of a wizardry student - learning spells, exploring the halls, interacting with the paintings, getting points for your house, and those defense against the dark arts classes (minus Umbridge, naturally). Yes, the final battle was exciting, but it seemed to detract from what I loved most about the books (though this should turn out to be a plus for the movie series' finale).

I thought a picture of Fawkes being
reborn would be highly appropriate,
but apparently those are copyrighted,
so here's Phoenix, Arizona.

Not being much of a movie goer or a great fan of Deathly Hallows, I have yet to see (or plan to see) Part II of the seventh movie** (or Part I for that matter, though I have seen up to the Half Blood Prince), but when I inevitably do see it, yes, it'll feel like the end of an era. Yet, with an ending more happy than sad, it'll be nice to finally lock that door on my life and place it in my pensieve for safekeeping and occasional revisiting.

As for the space program, I eagerly await the next technological achievement that will define my generation. As cliché as it might be, the end of an era only paves the way for a start of another one, and hopefully we make each one better than the last.

* huh, so this Spell-checking Quill tells me uncomparable isn't a word!
** to my friends (and sister) who are diehard Potter fans, I am truely sorry for any pain that line may have caused.

beta culture 2.0

Part 1 here: An Introduction to Beta Culture.
Below are seven services and products that Google is currently field testing. Feel free to ask me any questions or share something else in the comments below - with all these new features popping up, it's hard to keep track of them all!

1) The New Gmail Layout

Click to enlarge.

This feature's probably going to rolled out soon, following the remodelling of Google's home page. The layout appears more spacious, features the-red and-black text side bar, and the new look to their buttons. Two interesting things to note: the function bar (Archive / Spam / Delete) floats, so it is always on the page even when you skim downwards. Also, the ads are now floating on the bottom. How do you enable the new layout? Well, you might see a link at the top right corner ("Preview Gmail's New Look"), but if you don't, simply go to Gmail Settings, click on the themes tab, and pick Preview or Preview (dense). Personally, I prefer the latter.

2) Google+
Google's "social layer", which has been described as a rather competent alternative to Facebook. It's centered around circles, a method of grouping your friends and mimicking the communities of real life interactions. Notable features include Hangouts, featuring video chat for up to 10 people, Sparks, to keep track of topics of interest, and a Following feature very similar to Twitter. The layout is very clean, and it's notifications are integrated with other Google services. Google seems to be making it easier and easier to get signed up - sometimes you can simply sign in with your account at plus.google.com, but you can still ask for an invite from your friends or from me, at ay.savethetigers@gmail.com.

Screenshot, with most personal data removed =). 

Google stays up to date with memes.

3) Youtube's Cosmic Panda
Cosmic Panda is the revamp for Youtube's site, although it doesn't seem as streamlined with the other Google sites. Like Google+, the page layout is very clean, and they've opted for a darker background to help the video stand out more. It's not hard to try this one out, just go to www.youtube.com/cosmicpanda.

4) Google Music Beta

This service is the Chocolate Factory's response to cloud music - hosting your music files on the web. There are some conveniences to this: you can access your playlists anywhere with an internet connection, i.e. at work or at a school computer, and also on your phone, so you don't have to physically transfer any files or even occupy your disk space. Unfortunately, this could drain your internet usage if you've got a cap (like, for almost all Canadians), but services like this are bound to become more popular in the future. Google's Music Player is completely web based, allows you to upload 20 000 files, and also has the feature of auto-generating playlists to match a specific song. You can request an invitation at music.google.com and (from my experience) you'll get in invite in days, but there's a big limit on this one: you must be in the United States. 

5) Blogger (Draft mode)

In keeping a blogging theme, Google has placed their upcoming version of Blogger at draft.blogger.com. Again, the layout is a lot cleaner, featuring the light gray header bar and a white background with spaced out links. The now familiar side bar with links in red and black text streamlines all of the Blogger tabs, and the post editor is much nicer as well. A downside: it's not perfect yet, and after running into a few display issues, I'm back on the old version of blogger (Update: problem found - there were some glitches with draft blogger and chrome canary). You can easily switch between the two depending on whether you log in through draft.blogger.com or blogger.com.

6) Google Chrome Canary
Hopefully, you're familiar with Google Chrome, Google's internet browser. The browser maintains speedy automatic updates, with larger updates every six weeks. Currently, the public release is Version 12, but you can fast track by trying other versions which are freely available for download. Chrome Beta allows you to use a pre-release version (currently Version 13), while Chrome Canary, intended for developers, is at Version 14. You'll get more test features on the about:flags page, and you'll try out key features earlier than other Chrome users. As you can see from the screenshots, you can even hide the url bar (not always ideal, of course). If you're really intense, you can try Chromium, but I'll leave that for the real developers.

7) Chrome OS

This last section is more of an update on my previous post on the Cr-48 prototype from Google, a notebook (or "chromebook") with an operating system based on Google Chrome. It's very easy to use and has become my primary computer for regular 'net surfing. The fast start up, speedy shut down, and frequent updates are comforting, and I've also noticed that it stays relatively cool. Minor problems include a rather weak processor (though it's better in the final models than the prototype), not-so-great speakers, and no delete key (alt+backspace does the trick), but hey - there's no complaining when you're given a free computer. Unfortunately, there aren't really any more opportunities to find a Cr-48, but Samsung and Acer have already started selling Chromebooks in the United States and in select countries in Europe, though a bit pricy. You can expect to have more models in more countries in the coming months, and hopefully with a lower pricetag.

Final word: if you're in for a fun read, see the Chromebook's Safety Guidelines, via Gizmodo since I'm too lazy to scan it myself.

beta culture 1.0

Beta culture. When I hear the word "culture", I no longer think of tradition and heritage - I think of the flasks and vats of E. coli and the smell of LB. "Beta"'s just a part of nomenclature, like DNA pol β or beta-galactosidase. Put the words together, and you get a phrase that defines one of the most influential companies in the world - Google.

Forget "don't be evil", that's more of a guideline or rule telling the company what not to do. When it comes to actually doing things, Google approaches problems with its "beta culture", unveiling a service or function to the public well before it is polished. This method is a huge contrast from Apple, which tends to fine tune their product to exact qualifications, before launching the next glorified iThing to endless lines wrapping around the Apple Store. Each philosophy has its pros and cons of course, and varied success.

A good example of Google's "beta culture" is Android, the company's mobile operating system. When Android debuted two and a half years ago, it was slow and buggy with few adopters. Few people want a phone that sometimes struggles with even basic tasks with an unpolished finish, but the early adopters were rewarded with a rapidly improving Android environment that would respond to user demand - engineers would look at both stats and feedback to determine the problems that needed to be fixed, and the features most desired. It's like raw denim - the software, though rough at first, eventually adapts to fit the user and more and more. Android is now the top mobile operating systems worldwide, and is expected to have a smartphone market share of nearly 50% by sometime next year.

When Google tries to optimize its search result page, they test it out first with small subsets of their users. This system includes using dozens of slight variants of blue on their results, or offering more than 10 results for certain users. They keep track of time spent on each page and advertisements clicked, and try to reduce the amount of time it takes to find a result while attempting to maximize ad revenue. The "beta culture" reminds me of natural selection: create multiple variations of a product (or a rapidly variable product) and see which ones are most successful over time.

Several of Google's major product debuts start out by invitation only, like Gmail, Google Wave, and the newly released Google+. These allow a smaller circle of users to give feedback and an opportunity for engineers to iron out the bugs before opening up their services to the general public.

Google also allows its users to test up and coming features through "Labs", available for services like Gmail and Google Maps. The most popular and successful labs are often incorporated as standard features, such as its forgotten attachment notifier. Use Google Chrome? Type in "about:flags" and see what interesting features you can enable.

"Beta culture" takes some getting used to - it's not always easy using beta-products all the time. I once had the formatting on an assignment (with lots of graphics) completely ruined when testing out Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office with a lousy internet connection. The media often calls Google products "half-baked", and well, it's true. But when cooking, I like to taste test along the way (assuming it's safe to eat) so I can customize the food to my tastes.

Perhaps it's the cool and not-yet-public features that keep me embraced with the beta track. I'm currently typing away on my Chromebook on the draft version of Blogger, listening to the Beatles via Music Beta, and occasionally checking Google+. I'll give each of these products (and a few more) a quick run down in part two of this post, and instructions on how you can test them out yourself!

In confidence alone

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 10

"July 8th: Virtues I abhor"

Face it. The “upright citizen” can be a real prick sometimes. Pick that one character trait which you think is totally overrated, and tear a strip off of it.

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

I believe that any virtue, or any vice, is good with moderation. Even the "best" virtues can steer one in the wrong direction if over-practised, and there are situations for vices to be appropriate (i.e. A Time for Everything). While it's easy to deride an overdone virtue, which is often what defines said "prick", picking a character trait that is overrated, even in moderation, is a rather challenging task.

I first looked at the seven heavenly virtues and realized I could not honestly write this essay because I don't find any of them to be overrated. Patience and diligence probably being my favourite two, it's also hard to appreciate those who are humble, kind, generous, and tempered. I suppose chastity can be argued as being overrated or irrelevant to much of today's youth, but I see the term as an embodiment of honesty - to oneself and to others - as well as following a healthy lifestyle.

Broadening my search terms for virtues, I found a long list of them and came across confidence. I'm not sure why it stood out - perhaps because Julie Andrews voice has not left my mind since the Mary Poppins post - but I had found my victim. I'm not sure if I've always considered confidence to be a virtue (Wikipedia seems to), but a virtue is defined as a quality or trait perceived as morally good and I would agree that having confidence (thus belief in one's own abilities) is a part of building a strong moral character. I will note that I'm using "confidence" synonymously with "self-confidence"; confidence in others is often referred to as "trust".

Don't get me wrong, confidence is a good thing (and I definitely don't abhor it). It is a trait that's practically a must in the workplace and in leadership. It is a quality we seek in others, and a quality we constantly try to build in ourselves. Confidence is also a dangerous virtue: too much of it can lead to over-confidence, or even arrogance. Confidence is a virtue that must be closely monitored.

In moderation, confidence has become a virtue that everyone expects of you. An impatient person can be seen as a politician who gets things done, a lack of generosity can be seen as a plus in the business world, and humility can often lead to being overlooked in a room of outspoken people. But no confidence? You probably aren't going anywhere.

Confidence is overrated because it is not necessarily reflective of one's actual skills, and society forces people to appear confident even when they are not. Often the confident person will be hired over a less confident person, even if the second person is more qualified. Because of the weight that society places on confidence, the employer may have to use more resources to train the more confident individual, while the second individual's skills go to waste. A rather inefficient system if you ask me.

The latter can be dangerous - pretending to be confident often distorts one's real personality which will emerge in due time anyways. The false confidence not only brings a level of uncertainty and worry to the individual, others may also make assumptions or assign tasks that the individual may be incapable of doing. Yet, putting on an air of confidence is relatively common, if not expected, for job interviews, first dates, and at school. False confidence is not an example of a virtue, nor is it over-confidence, but it is a quality that exists because confidence is so positively viewed, or overrated.

Ultimately, confidence is a good thing, if not great - it can greatly enhance one's ability to perform and it helps to build trust in a community. But as an overrated quality, confidence easily shadows other virtues and can direct focus away from other important traits. Perhaps most of all, everyone has a different level of confidence.  In order to build confidence in everyone while avoiding arrogance or false confidence, people must be patient and diligent and give everyone a chance to shine and build their other skills.

As I see it, confidence is a virtue that comes with the others, but viewing it above the others as it is currently overrated, will only lead to more problems.

Number 9

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 9

"July 1st: Ideas I've Outgrown"

No one goes through life without revising some of their opinions. Take some time to reflect on some of the beliefs you’ve had to revise in your lifetime, and the importance those beliefs held for you at the time.

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

Nine weeks ago, I had the opinion that the best way to take on this challenge was one week at a time, finishing each topic in order. But then I came across this challenging topic (for me, the hardest out of the 16... I think) and have stalled for a week, though I did give myself a break for an awesome (repeat: awesome) weekend at the Taiwanese American Next Generation conference.

I've thought about the topic for about two weeks now, and while I have had some ideas (for ideas), none of them have taken off. So I'm going to revise my earlier goal to finish the challenge as is, adopt a "better late than never" position, and hope to have Week 9's essay out before the challenge comes to a close. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in nine days, or maybe right before school starts. We'll see.

Meanwhile, Essay 10 should be out by tomorrow - I promise!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 144 years, Canada! Sadly, I'm not in the country to take part in the festivities... the people here seem to be more excited about some "Fourth of July" weekend. But that's okay, four day weekend for me!

I'll be spending both independence/confederation days (along with the weekend in between) at the Taiwanese American Conference (East Coast division), taking part in the TANG program (Taiwanese American Next Generation). I probably won't have much computer time there, so you won't see my next essay-a-week post until some time next week. Actually, I'm quite behind on a few posts - I've promised that I would blog about:

• Broadway (Day 2 of New York)
• An update on my Chromebook (which is still wonderful, I'm typing on it right now)
• Essay-a-week post for July 1st

I have also planned to write something about Washington DC, which I visited last week, and now perhaps something about the TAC/EC conference. But that will all have to wait. In between lab time, MCAT studying, and learning HTML as I try to build a new site (coming soon!), there isn't too much time leftover, but of my blogging duties, Lizard Tales will remain a priority.

Also, I would love to write a post about Google+, but I'm not in the loop yet. If you or someone you know has a Google+ account, I would greatly appreciate an invite! UPDATE: with many thanks to the inviter and everyone else in the chain of plus invites, I can now be found on Google Plus, but will do much of the fiddling once I get back from the conference. Hope to see you on Google Plus in the near future!

Anyways, I hope you're having a wonderful Canada Day Weekend, or Fourth of July Weekend, and I'll leave you with two wonderful pieces of music with the term "maple leaf".

The Maple Leaf Rag, written and played by the Great Ragtime Composer himself, Scott Joplin.

The Maple Leaf Forever, our unofficial anthem written by Alexander Muir 144 years ago,
sung by Michael Bublé during the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.