The blog of Dave Lahn

Wow. It’s been so long since I posted that there is a drastic change in Wordpress versions. Let’s hope I can even figure out how to publish this. I’ve been keep busy over the last 6 months or so that I haven’t posted. However, I’m finally done school for the year with the exception of taking 1 course in the summer. Here is just a quick overview of the past 6 months, and what I’m currently working on.

• As mentioned above, I’m taking one (1) course, CP317: Software Engineering. I think I’m making a fairly good move by taking it in the summer. There are only 12 people in my class, including me, and the main focus of the course is to use the knowledge taught to complete one large group project. We decided to develop a multi-player networked tank game in Java.
• I’ve been working on a side project through my business EdgeLink Consulting dealing with VoIP and Asterisk. This is a very neat technology with a very wide range of capabilities that I’m very excited to be working with. Expect a post in the next couple of days about Asterisk.
• I was very busy throughout the fall and early winter with the musical that I’m in every year with Laurier Musical Theatre. This year it was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It went very well and I’m looking forward to the musical next year.
• I’m also working on some other side projects that you may or may not hear about in the future.

That’s about it for now. You should see something in the next few days on Asterisk and VoIP.

A few months ago I started using a program called MindManager. It’s a very powerful program used to create very aesthetically pleasing mind maps. I’ve been using it as a primary method of note taking in most of my classes. It doesn’t work so well for math, but for anything else, it’s a great option. I like it particularly because it easily allows me to link ideas together by adding relationships within the map, which aids me in recalling the information later.

There is also a feature that lets you add attachments to topics within the map, so that you can add pictures, or anything else that is appropriate. The reason I started using this to take notes was because I watched this video, which is a very good example of how students can make use of this program.

However, it’s not only useful for students, it can be used for anything. I’ve also been using this program to plan out various projects at work, and the recipients of these maps have been very impressed.

I’ve tried out several free alternatives for mind mapping, including FreeMind, but none of them make the maps look as good as MindManager does. It is definitely worth the investment for the product.

MindManager is available for both Windows and Mac.

Recently I’ve been noticing TD Canada Trust pushing a marketing campaign that they are the superior bank because they have the longest hours. They are open “8 until late”, which is apparently open 50% longer than any other bank. I’m sure this sort of campaign might be very useful for a company like Wendy’s (ughh), with their “Eat Great, Even Late” campaign, but I fail to see the relevance for a bank in 2007.

When is the last time you actually had to see a teller? The fact is, more and more people are doing all of their banking online, or through a bank machine, neither of which depend on a branch’s hours. One of the only reasons to see a person at a bank, is for opening an account. Oh wait, you can apply for that online now too. I think their marketing dollars would be best used elsewhere, such as continuing to promote clients to use online banking. Not to mention, TD Canada Trust has one of the worst fee structures of any Canadian bank. Even students are paying $3.45/mo. if they can’t keep a minimum balance of $1,000. How many students do you know with that kind of money?

Considering they are one of the most popular banks around, it’s hard to believe they aren’t adapting as well as they should be. We don’t want longer hours, we want cheaper banking! Everyone knows that bankers work from 12:00pm-1pm every day.

A while ago on Lifehacker, they did a series called “Show Us Your Go Bag“, where the readers sent in tagged pictures of the contents of their go bag. I never got around to actually sending them a picture of mine, so I’m going to post it here. Clicking on the picture will take you to Flickr where you can see the notes attached to it.

Here is the contents:

• Leather portfolio
• Umbrella (this has come in handy lately)
• Camera
• Large notebook
• Morning newspaper
• Binoculars
• 15-inch Macbook Pro
• Graph paper sticky notes (I got these in highschool, they are fantastic)
• Various pens and pencils
• Calculator
• Ethernet cable (Very thin and small, came with my Fonero)
• Moleskine notebook (to track my to-dos and work)

What’s in your go bag?

A few years ago when I was in England, I decided to start collecting shot glasses from all around the world. These are shot glasses that I either have acquired myself, or ones that have been brought back from various countries by friends. Some of them are very unique, so for the next 35 weeks (or until I run out of shot glasses), I will be posting a picture and description of one shot glass in my collection, as well as I drink you might potentially find in one of these shot glasses.

I think I’ll start off this series with one of my personal favourites that was brought to me from Jamaica.

Since Jamaica is famous for their dark rum, here is a shooter you might enjoy in this glass:

Neutron Bomb - equal parts of the following:
Kahlua
Swiss Chocolate Almond
Tequila
Dark Rum

It’s Friday! Go out, have a good time, and try this shot. Let me know how it is in the comments.