idiosyncratic/routine

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Summer Starts Now!

Fall is almost upon us, but Summer does not go gently into that good night, and there are tons of stuff to do before school season starts. Unfortunately for me, that means only a week of fun but the list of things to do goes on even after students are sober again after frosh. So, here are some things going on around Toronto that I’m excited about. Feel free to add yours in the comment section below.

TIFF ‘07. If you constantly dream of becoming the next Egoyan, Scorcese, et al. then it’s a definite must that you attend. Unfortunately for me, it’s start of school *sigh* again and that means skipping a few hours of intro lectures to get a glimpse of some of the more profound movies this year. I’m personally excited to see Across the Universe (which unfortunately got some bad reviews) and George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead, to name a few. Runs Sept 6-15.

The “EX”. Even though it’s already in it’s final week, it’s not too late to enjoy some strolling and cotton candy while your at it. Even if I haven’t been there personally there’s tons of shows to be excited about such as Aquarêves, a pyromusical acrobatic street performance, or the ever popular Canadian International Air Show. Ongoing till Sept 3.

Chinese Lantern Festival. I’ve been desperately looking for discounted tickets at the Toronto IBM Club and can’t find any, so it must be a good sign that the show is indeed a hit this fall. With a not-so-cheap price of $25 a pop, the sights are definitely worth it, including acrobatic performances and…well, Chinese food. Just make sure that you stay after sundown and wait for the lights to go up and see the lanterns the way it should be seen. Ongoing till first week of October.

Virgin Festival Toronto. What better way to start the first week of school than to rock your face off and party like it’s 1999. Even though tickets might be out-of-reach for some students, with a boasting lineup such as Metric, Tokyo Police Club, Arctic Monkeys, Stars, Smashing Pumpkins (for the first time in decades) and lots more, it basically boils down to almost $4/performer, which really isn’t bad considering iTunes sells songs for a buck per song (if youwant to be pragmatic about it). $82-one day pass, $125-two day pass, both incl. ferry ride, Sept 8-9.

Nuite Blanche Toronto. Although this might not be in for another month, it’s an event I’m totally hyped up about as well, considering I missed all the fun they had last year, which included a city-wide capture the flag. I don’t really care if there’s a midterm the following Monday, just be sure to count me in, coz’ I’m already there. Sept 29-30.

Filed under: TOronto, summer

It’s Not a Bug…

Feature

Filed under: Uncategorized

GE.EK

The Movie

Now, who woulda thunk that you can create interesting plot points and character development around minesweeper? From the producers of College Humor, Minesweeper: The Movie is a 90-second heroic tale of a minesweeper player that’s just..well, really bored.

Master Sargeant: That clock’s gonna keep ticking until it hits 999.
Soldier: What happens then?
Master Sargeant: Nothing…you just suck.

Instant classic.

On a side note, see if you can find yourself somewhere on this geekdom hierarchy.

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Filed under: ge.ek, minesweeper

LIFE in Eight Easy Steps

Makes you think twice about reincarnation…

chickenwaste1.jpg

Filed under: life, sucks

Virii, Lies and Videotape

Given that it was “security week” with DEF CON 15 and Black Hat Conference kicking off last week, I’ve decided to cover some hacker news going around this past week:

MP3-munching virus spotted in the wild. Appropriately dubbed W32. Deletemusic, this mp3-eating worm goes through all of the user’s files deleting any mp3 it sees on its path, including external HDs and memory cards attached to the machine. I guess I should start backing up my pirated, I mean RIAA-approved mp3 collection. One good thing about this though is you can now use the “the-virus-ate-my-legit-mp3″ excuse if the RIAA ever catches you downloading.

Undercover reporter flees DEF CON. An NBC Dateline reporter has been uncovered trying to catch some hackers attending DEF CON to admit wrongdoings. After allegedly numerous attempts by DEF CON organizers to make the reporter identify herself and be properly recognized by getting a press badge, she was eventually outed through a game of “spot the undercover reporter” and taking the walk of shame. I bet they found her using an nmap port scan of her cellphone and triangulated her position using kismet..or probably because of the “NBC Reporter” tag she was wearing. I guess we’ll never know.

Netflix hacked. Hackers have now found a way to store permanently the company’s downloadable “Watch Now” movies. I’m not sure why hackers would waste their time hacking the DRM just to watch a movie that they’ve paid for anyways. Bittorent, anyone?

Filed under: defcon, hackers, security

“quote”ations

" I would like to change the world, but I don't know where the source code is. "

moi?

Geofrey Josef Flores is a Software Developer at IBM Toronto. He is finishing with a Software Engineering degree at University of Toronto on June 2009. As a frustrated artist he occasionally shoots with his Nikon D40x , and with music inclinations that includes playing guitar and singing. He apparently likes to talk about himself in third person as well.

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