Life At Google

I've talked about perks before, but here is a great set of 11 pictures that sums up what's it like to work at Google.

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/inside_google/index.html

Tara Conner Prepares To Hand Off Crown

Tara Conner Or Suzanne Sommers?

Fifty-one new hopefuls are gathering in Los Angeles in preparation for this Friday's Miss USA 2007 pageant. So far, this year's pageant has been largely overshadowed by last year's titleholder, Tara Conner. Conner hung on to her crown after Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe and Miss USA contests in a partnership with NBC, decided to give her a second chance. She underwent a stint in rehab in Pennsylvania for her drinking.

"I'm really happy with the way the rehab went, and my addiction to gin has been completely eliminated.", said Conner. Conner's amazing success has been attributed to substituting scotch and white wine for her former master, gin. "I find the scotch and white wine combination quite relaxing". Asked if she felt any pressure being a role model to millions of young American girls, Conner said, "Not really. But I do hope that young girls around the country will realize that alcoholism can occur at any age, and that there are other things to drink besides gin."

The 56th Annual Miss USA Pageant will be televised Friday live from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

Zoom Zoom Boom

My car broke down again, 3rd time in 4 months. I have a 2001 Mazda 626....I bought it (used) because I thought Japanese cars were reliable? What's the deal?

No Chance In Quebec

I've always wondered why contests are never open to Quebec residents. In case you are curious too, here's the answer.

Michael Moore Exposed - A Documentary About Him !

Read link --> Documentary Questions Moore's Tactics

Thank god someone finally called bullshit. I should start off by saying that I like Michael Moore, and I think he's made some great films. (Roger & Me is one of my favorites) Plus Moore was the only guy on the planet saying don't go into Iraq after 9-11. Remember his brilliant 2003 Oscar quote, "we live in fictitious times, with a fictional war led by a fictional president for fictional reasons" (his microphone was basically disabled at that point). Now that was an interesting Oscar show!

All that said, I can get uncomfortable watching his movies, because some of the scenes in his movies smack of being "staged". And some of the "facts" seem just a little too perfect. Of course, I could never prove it....I'm just a cheese eating Canadian boy.

But I always got the feeling that Moore would rather go for the big impact at the expense of telling both sides. So essentially, I think of him as an entertainer, but not necessarily a reliable source. I haven't actually seen this documentary yet, but I eagerly await it's Toronto debut.

Wow, technology !

SEE THRU CONCRETE !!!

Optical fibers are mixed with the concrete to let light pass thru



AND BONUS TECHNOLOGY....check this out!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZNTgglPbUA

Perk Followup - Google

I last posted about Facebook.com's perks for employees. Now I see why their perks are so good at Facebook, they have to compete with Google.

Story On Google Bus

Facebook Has Great Perks

Katrina (you may know her as Little Miss Sunshine) made me join Facebook.com, so I was reading their Jobs page. Check out these benefits!

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Facebook rewards its engineers with great salaries and options packages, plus numerous benefits and perks:

* Medical, dental and vision plans with no premium for employees
* 401(k) plan
* 21 vacation days per year, plus 8 company holidays and 2 floating holidays
* Complimentary catered breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
* Complimentary beverages and snacks
* Dry cleaning and laundry service onsite
* Free downtown parking permit
* Subsidized gym membership
* Catered Friday Happy Hours at the office
* $600/month housing subsidy if you live within one mile of the office
* Standard-issue 24" LCD monitors and your option of 15" Apple MacBook Pro or IBM ThinkPad
* Worldwide notoriety by having your face on sample Facebook flyers

Filler Time

I have nothing to say, but I need a new post. So how about them Raptors? Ummm, that won't work, I don't watch basketball. So here's some random crap....

Aeroplan sent me an email telling me that my 16,000 points are going to expire if I don't use them by July 1. In case you're not familiar, 15,000 points is enough for one, short haul flight. So I can go as far south as Georgia, or to New York, or to Newfoundland. So that's cool, but I'm not sure I want to go anywhere. Any suggestions?

I will be doing yet another inner city move at the end of May, but I know I'll end up paying more rent than where I am now. Not that I can change my mind, I already told my landlord. I would buy something, but all I could afford is a newer, tiny condo that's way too small, an old condo with ridiculously high condo fees, or something not in Toronto. All 3 choices, I find non-appealing. Plus I keep waiting for this recession to hit, dammit.

I found out that I like cross country skiing quite a bit by going out with a local outdoor club a few times. Plus x-country is cheap, and a lot more challenging than one would think.

The government announced $1.5 billion for a new Toronto subway expansion. Who plans cities? They suck cock. The subway expansion plan blows almost as bad as the dedicated St. Clair streetcar plan, or how about the "let's tear down the Gardiner and put traffic lights" idea. The problem with the subway expansion is they're assuming everyone wants to go from the suburbs to downtown, and back again. But people ain't goin' downtown. Ask anyone who works in a business park. The one I work in Mississauga is expanding like a mofu, and people are driving to it from places like Orangeville, Barrie, and Ajax. How's this subway going to help them? Oh yeah, it'll ease the congestion. Right.

I find that actress from Grey's Anatomy, Katherine Heigl, to be the hottest new chick going. She's the quintessential blonde bombshell. Heigl, what is that....German? Maybe she should change it to Himler.

Heigl Pic

Well, that's enough filler. Have a nice day.