Gheorghe Curelet-Balan Blog

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Canada on fifth place in the global tsunami relief effort.

This is old news that I missed: Canada raised its aid to $425 million taking the fifth place among nations that contributed to the global help.

Other related Canadian stories:
- 5 million dollars donation by the Pindoff family.
- eBay story of Samantha Bakker's crayon drawing. After some fake bids that pushed the price to $10000, her drawing found a real bidder in Toronto's Don Darroch who wanted to send a message that "there are more good than bad people in the world".
- CHUM campaign raised $4.5 million.
- CTV.CA stories.

Beware of Tsunamis!

When I first heard about the tsunami event I was thinking at the Giga-Waves article published on December 12 by NY Times in its compendium of ideas in 2004 about which I talked here.

Year 2004 in Review.

Ok, if we go by the saying that every day should feel like Christmas Day then it is never too late to review the past year from the Canadian perspective:

http://www.canada.com/national/features/holidayguide2004/yearinreview/index.html

Local Pictures of 2004.

I just found out: the Kitchener-Waterloo local newspaper The Record published the Year in Review album with local images of 2004.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Healing my Windows XP PC.

While recovering from my sickness wasn't quite pleasant, healing my Windows XP PC worked like a charm. Thank goodness for the Microsoft's beta release of the AntiSpyware Software. Now my PC is protected from unauthorised intrusion!

Microsoft's idea to bust spyware by building a worldwide network (SpyNet) of genuine Windows users is great. Having a community of users that vote NO to spyware and agree to share any of spyware attacks is a definite step to stop intrusion. If you care about your online privacy and don't like that others spy on your PC data without your permission then I strongly recommend that you install the current beta version of Microsoft AntiSpyware. Check first though the system requirements for the installation and find that Product Key of the Windows operating system software (the installation procedure clearly explains where it could be found; mine was on the back of the PC). I suggest that you go with the default installation settings that provide: real-time spyware scanning and the invitation to join the SpyNet network.

To learn more about spyware check out this cool video http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/video1.mspx.

Cold weather.

Just a sample of how capricious is Ontario's weather...From +18 Celsius last week to -28 last night. No wonder that now is the flu season. Check http://www.theweathernetwork.com for current info on Canada's weather.

Sick

Ok, it could have been worse than this: I was sick (just an uncomfortable cold), my car needed repairs and my computer was in trouble. I managed though to bring everything back on track. I was lucky that I didn't get a flu . Here it is what I learned from my sickness (some of these could be New Year Resolutions):
- strenghten the immune system, to better cope with potential biological pathogens
- try to stay away from public places to avoid infection
- be prepared to cover your mouth and nose if the surrounding environment is potential infectious
- achieve and maintain the cardiovascular fitness (CNN reported on Sunday that 10000 steps a day will do it:)

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Corruption Concerns.

While the tsunami relief effort totals more than US $4 bilion, people start to be concerned on how much of this aid will reach those that realy need it. For more information click here.

Disturbing Banda Aceh tsunami video.

The video was distributed worldwide today by the Associated Press Television News. You can find a commentary on this page and an edited version by following this link.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Canada mourns the tsunami victims.

Tomorrow Canadians will remember those that lost their life in the tsunami disaster. For more Canadian news about Asian tsunami click here. You'll also find on that page information about donations made by some celebrities.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin will visit the tsunami zone and the Federal Goverment is working towards matching the $60 million donated by the Canadians.

Debate.

Canadians are debating whether the tsunami aid taxpayers money should be better spent at home. While the question is kind of shocking, the diversity of opinions shows on one side the Canadians compassion and generosity and on the other one their solidarity in trying to build a better society at home.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

More than $3 million raised in a day!

Happy New Year! For the entire world the New Year was marked by the tragedy of the tsunami disaster. As with other crisis, Canadians want to prove that they care about those in need and are stepping up in helping them. A media campaign organized by CHUM Limited corporation raised more than $3 million in a day. This is just one of the many examples of the Canadian generosity. The Canadian government already made the initial donation of $80 million and more help will come soon.

We already made our contribution for a good cause.

For information on how you can donate, click here. Your help is much needed now. Moreover, your donation will be matched by the Canadian government and there are also tax advantages associated with it.

Here are other links on the Canadian campaign in the aid for the tsunami relief effort:
1. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) mission.
2. Tsunami Concerts in Vancouver.
3. Toronto’s youngest philanthropist to meet Canada's Prime Minister, Paul Martin.
4. Ontario Liquor Stores campaign.
5. Firefighters campaign for tents and cash donations.
6. Canadian Red Cross initial help.
7. Canadian musicians aid.