Karen Ruby

Happy Canada Day

karenruby — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 07:37:48 -0500

Happy Canada Day!

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Picasa Web Albums

karenruby — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 06:35:00 -0500

Google came out with their latest foray into taking over the entire internet by releasing a beta, limited release of Picasa Web Albums last week. I received my *special* invite to check out the new feature today.

I've uploaded to "My Public Gallery" over a 100 pictures of my first trip to Montreal that I took last month.

Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Karen.Ruby

So far, I'm quite impressed with how easy it was to download and install the new Picasa2 application so that I can use the Picasa Web Albums feature. Uploading my first album only took a couple of minutes.

Picasa Web Albums allows you to share your albums or keep them private. You can choose who gets to view your albums and you're also able to bookmark "My Favourites" albums.

I've always resisted opening a Flickr account for some reason, although I do enjoy viewing my friend's albums on the site. There's no tagging in Picasa Web Albums (yet), but this is a very easy way to share my photos with friends and family (and my blog readers). I'll continue to upload selected photos on this blog (check out my numerous photo albums to the left), but since I don't want to over-load my blog storage limits, and since I take a lot of pictures, I'm very happy to be now using Picasa Web Albums to share my photos.

You can also view other people's Public albums and download all their photos to your computer. Not sure why someone would allow this, though. I've turned off this feature on my Montreal album.

I love using Picasa, and now that they have added this Web Album feature, I can see myself using it more and more to share my photos. With 250MB worth of storage space, I can really share my photos now.

Check back often to "My Public Gallery" as I'll be uploading more albums soon.

You should definitely sign up and check out the new Picasa with its Web Albums.

Tags: Google Picasa Picasa Web Albums Flickr

Netvibes

karenruby — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 06:21:00 -0500

I've been using Netvibes every day for about three weeks now and I must say that it's a very cool and useful homepage. I am totally impressed with the customization and features offerred.

This Web 2.0 app provides you with your own totally customized homepage. You can add almost anything you want to your homepage, including mail services like Gmail and Yahoo, any RSS feed you want - including Digg, del.icio.us, Technorati, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, (even my own blog). You can add podcasts, Google search, to do lists, notes, bookmarks, eBay, Flickr photos, Writely documents (which I'm still waiting for my invite so that I can use that cool web word processor). I'm sure that Picasa Albums will be added too, once that app out of limited test release (hopefully soon).

I love that my home page has the ability to add multiple tabs and I can drag 'n drop (very cool!) any module that I want to any tab that I want. It's totally customizable! You can even title your page to whatever your heart's desire.

Developers are adding modules all the time to Netvibes web services, including the FIFA World Cup 2006, games, local weather, map mashups, calendars, Soduku, and so many other very useful services that I keep finding and adding to my home page.

This is pretty darn cool. I can see something like this definitely hanging around as it's so useful. Why go to tons of other sites when all the information you want is on one customized site?

Check it out.

Tags: Netvibes Google Writely Digg

Review: The Alchemist

karenruby — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 06:24:00 -0500

I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho yesterday. Right from page one, I started underlining sentences and I think I must have underlined something on every single page. I got so much out of this book and I really recommend it if you are looking for a purpose and a reason to pursue your dreams.

I can't remember where I read that this book was a must-read (probably Oprah magazine or one of my daily RSS feeds that I read), but I'm really glad that I ordered this book from Amazon. I had never heard of Paulo Coelho, but apparently he is a very famous Brazilian author with many influential books.

From the jacket cover:

"This story, dazzing in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest.. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way."

The story is very simple, but the lessons imparted in the book are timeless: that everyone has a purpose in life or a dream when they were young that came from their heart, but as they grew up they listened less and less to their hearts and allowed their dreams to die. The universe is waiting to help you fulfil that dream, if you would only listen and pay attention to the omens in your life which are leading to what your heart really desires.

Some more pearls of wisdom from the book:

"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."

"Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

"...that a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie."

"It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything that they would like to see happen to them in their lives."

"...people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want. We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand."

"It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the Master Work. Now, I'm beginning what I could have started ten years ago. But I'm happy at least that I didn't wait twenty years."

"Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure."

There's not anything really new and earth-shattering in this book, but the writings and story speaks so well and sometimes we have to be in the mood to hear and pay attention to universal truths. I won't reveal what happens to Santiago along his journey for his personal treasure, but this book has a lot to say in its simple story and I would recommend that you read it if you are interested in listening to your heart and following your dream. It's never too late.

Tags: The Alchemist Paulo Coelho

Toronto Harbour Boat Cruise

karenruby — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 13:39:15 -0500

Isn't this a cool picture?

I took this picture last Saturday night when I went on the Yankee Lady III (Map) boat which cruised around the Toronto Harbour, Ontario Place and the 13 Toronto Islands. This picture is out of focus and skewed, but I thought it turned out quite interesting.

I had a great time on the boat cruise (dinner, dancing, seeing the sites) and snapped some good pictures of the Toronto skyline from the boat.

Here's a couple more pictures that I thought were pretty good:

It was evening when I snapped this picture from the top deck of the Yankee Lady III boat and it was cool that night (not like today when it's 40 degrees with the humidity). Last weekend was perfect boating weather, IMO.

Seeing Toronto from the water gives you a different perspective. Look how big the CN Tower and the Rogers Center looks in this picture. Very impressive.

If you're planning on visiting Toronto, I would really recommend seeing the city by water, it's a pretty fun and interesting way to see Toronto.

Tags: Toronto Yankee Lady Toronto Harbour

Swanson's Plagarized Rules of Management

karenruby — Mon, 29 May 2006 06:10:00 -0500

Don't know if you heard the news or not, but apparently the infamous book of Bill Swanson's titled 'Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management' was not wholly authored by Bill Swanson - he plagarized most of it from a 1944 book by engineer W.L. King called "The Unwritten Rules of Engineering".

Here's my original post from August 2005 on the Unwritten Rules of Management.

Check out the ChangeThis manifesto by Tom Ehrenfeld titled "The Rewritten Rules of Management" on why this latest lack of integrity should be a major concern for us all in today's business world. It's quite an interesting read.

Tags: Unwritten Rules of Management ChangeThis Bill Swanson

Publish On Demand

karenruby — Sun, 28 May 2006 14:48:37 -0500

I came across a couple of self-publishing or publish on demand sites that I thought I would share.

As you may have read here, a couple of months ago I self-published my Mother's poems and provided everyone in the family with a copy of the book. It turned out fantastic and as this was something that I had always wanted to do for my family, I don't have to live with the regret of not completing this goal any longer.

Even though it's in beta, Blurb.com looks like a really really easy way to self-publish your book. You can even use one of their book templates if you didn't want to design your own book from start to finish. You have to install their software on your computer, but as the site says: What will your book be? Start-to-finish publishing software simple and smart enough to make you an author. The prices seem pretty reasonable, too, at $29.95 for a 40 page colour book. I'm waiting until they complete their blog template before I decide to take the plunge and self-publish some of my blog posts for members of my family who don't own a computer.

Another site that is pretty cool is the Lulu.com site that allows you to not only publish your books but also you can publish other products such as calendars, videos, images, music and audio and then sell those products on Lulu's site. There is a ton of stuff to check out at Lulu.com. The Lulu.com site is a more robust site that offers so much more than just publishing your book, they have marketing services links that provide you with everything you need to design, market, publish, graphic designers, and get your book sold on their site. The site has a wide selection of books and other products that authors have used Lulu.com to create. Thinking of writing a non-fiction book? I noticed quite a few non-fiction titles in their Top 100 books.

Everyone wants to be an author and everyone has a unique voice. If you are thinking of self-publishing or publishing on demand, check out the links.

Tags: Blurb Lulu Self-publishing

Trip to Montreal

karenruby — Tue, 23 May 2006 23:13:17 -0500

I went to Montreal over the Victoria Day May long weekend. Check out my new Montreal photo album for some of the pictures that I took. I had never been to Montreal before and had always wanted to visit there since it's only about a 5 hour drive from Toronto and it's supposed to be such a beautiful city. I wasn't disappointed and had a great time while we were there.

We stayed in the downtown Novatel Hotel, which was really impressive with its helpful staff service, large rooms, and its central location. We were able to walk to a lot of places downtown or to the Metro to take the subway to visit the tourist spots from our hotel.

I picked up the Top 10 Montreal & Quebec City book before the trip and managed to visit a lot of the Top 10 places, including:

Basilique Notre-Dame (stunning, a must-see)
Chapelle du Sacre-Coeur
Seminaire St-Sulpice
Marche Bonsecours (beautiful building, but expensive shops)
Place Jacques-Cartier
Chateau Ramezay
Biosphere (cool!)
Labyrinthe du Hangar 16
Casino de Montreal (had fun but didn't win any big pots)
McGill University
Chinatown (smaller than Toronto's but the dinner we had there was delicious)
"Old Montreal" and the "Quartier Latin" (great for taking in the local Montreal flavour)
Centre Eaton (just like Toronto, but with a lot of unique stores)
Bar Jello (had a great time at this bar, live music)
the Underground City (HUGE shopping centre and underground pathways)
Reuben's (the BEST smoked meat restaurant, and had the BEST service)
Simons
walking along Crescent Street (great restaurants and shops)

The highlight of the trip was seeing the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. What a spectacular sight! If you are planning on going to visit Montreal, this is one place that should be on the top of your list of sites to see. There was so much to take in at the Basilica - the stained-glass windows, the Sanctuary and Altar, the Pulpit, the Casavant Organ, the amazing bronze Daudelin Sculpture, and all the rest of the artwork and sculptures. Simply breathtaking. I'm so glad that we were able to go inside (cost $4) and view this magnificent structure.

Walking around Old Montreal was another highlight of the trip and gave us a feel for the culture of Montreal. The narrow cobblestone pathways and quaint shops lining the streets gave a glimpse of what Montreal used to be like. When I visited New York earlier this year, it felt like I could have still been in Toronto, but I didn't get that impression while I was in Montreal. You knew that you were in a different city, not only because of the French signs everywhere and the people speaking French, but because of the culture and architecture of a lot of the buildings. Montreal is quite unique in Canada. They say that Quebec City is like a European city, but since I have never been there before, I think I know a little of what they mean by visiting Montreal. The history of the city jumps out at you everywhere. They certainly know how to honour their people and the city is very proud of its past.

Montreal is a very friendly place to visit. We had great service everywhere we went, from the hotel staff, the waiters/waitresses in the restaurants we visited, the shop owners, the Metro station operator, casino staff, and local people. English was spoken everywhere, which was good although throwing in a a Merci and Bonjour was appreciated.

I would certainly recommend visiting Montreal if you are looking to absorb some culture and see some spectacular sites.

Tags: Montreal

Wednesday's Quote

karenruby — Wed, 17 May 2006 12:33:34 -0500

From "The Power Principle : Influence With Honor" by Blaine Lee:

"The principle of "next time" is one of the most pratical, liberating concepts that can help you change your orientation to influencing other people. If you focus on the past, all you do is feel bad. A different future can be created. Next time I can be wiser. Next time I can try harder. Next time, if I see things differently, I can respond differently. There is hope in "next time". The positive approach to discipline focuses 20 percent on what went wrong, and 80 percent on what could be different next time".

Just something to think about. I know I've been thinking of what I can do differently "next time".

INXS at Air Canada Centre

karenruby — Tue, 16 May 2006 21:34:39 -0500

I'm still thinking of the INXS concert that I went to on Sunday night (May 14th) at the Air Canada Centre (along with 15 000 other people). What a performance!

INXS is on tour to promote their new album, Switch and is made up of Andrew, Tim and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, Garry Beers and J.D. Fortune.

I was hooked on the TV reality show "Rock Star: INXS" last summer as many, many other people also were and was very happy that a fellow Canadian, J.D. Fortune, won the show to become the band's new lead vocalist.

Okay, I admit it, I didn't think he would win last summer, but am really glad that he did. I absolutely loved the "Pretty Vegas" song that he co-wrote with the band's guitarist Andrew Farriss and seeing the band perform the song live was fantastic, if a little surreal as I can remember watching them perform it on TV last summer. But, nothing compares to seeing the band's hour-and-35-minute live performance.

I think J.D. was born to be on stage and be a singer. It got me thinking that it must also be surreal for him to be fronting a major band like INXS as it wasn't too long ago that he was living out of his car when he heard that INXS was looking for a new lead singer and was holding auditions for the Rock Star: INXS TV show. It's amazing and motivating to me how fast he turned his life around. I know that a lot of people were very impressed with his performance on the show, even though sometimes his antics were considered to be very arrogant and selfish. But, you can also say that he was confident in his abilities and wanted the lead singer position more than any one else on the show. You can tell his hunger was more pronounced than the other contestants/singers.

I also think there's a lesson there. If you want something bad enough, have the talent to back up your words and actions, are hungry enough, and believe in yourself, you can achieve your dreams.

Just something to think about.

Tags: INXS Switch