Always Travelling
May 28, 2006
LinkedIn profile update
I've updated my profile on LinkedIn, detailing my Local Committee President role in less than 1,000 characters! It's a common joke amongst LCPs... what exactly do we do? I mean, we work hard, but doing what? In many cases we invest our energy wherever the committee needs it most, fighting fires or boosting results short term.
Check it out http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholastrim (click on 'view full profile')
Check it out http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholastrim (click on 'view full profile')
May 27, 2006
The Globalist
On my first day in Sydney I had my first look at the AIESEC office at the University of Sydney. Stacked up next to one wall were boxes containing a magazine called Global Six. I took a copy and didn't really look at it again until on the plane back to Perth. I also had a copy of some gossip mag given out for free at the train stations :) I'm really glad I opened up Global Six again - it provided me with some superb insights across a range of pertinent global issues.
Global Six is the annual publication of The Globalist Foundation, a student group based out of Yale University. Essentially what they're about is establishing chapters at the best universities worldwide, with each chapter to autonomously issue 3 foreign affairs publications each year. A bunch of Yale students won a business plan competition, and with the $50,000 winnings went about setting up what I think is going to be a great, global organisation. Already they've expanded within twelve months to Hebrew University in Isreal, Sydney University in Australia, Cambridge University in the UK, Peking University in China, and the University of Toronto in Canada.
This pic has nothing to do with The Globalist Foundation. It's my favourite pic from a collection of the best press photos of the year.
Global Six is the annual publication of The Globalist Foundation, a student group based out of Yale University. Essentially what they're about is establishing chapters at the best universities worldwide, with each chapter to autonomously issue 3 foreign affairs publications each year. A bunch of Yale students won a business plan competition, and with the $50,000 winnings went about setting up what I think is going to be a great, global organisation. Already they've expanded within twelve months to Hebrew University in Isreal, Sydney University in Australia, Cambridge University in the UK, Peking University in China, and the University of Toronto in Canada.
This pic has nothing to do with The Globalist Foundation. It's my favourite pic from a collection of the best press photos of the year.
May 16, 2006
openBC
openBC is a pretty cool professional networking portal. I also use LinkedIn... and have got in contact with heaps of AIESECers through it.
Check out the wikipedia entry on openBC. A comparison of traffic using Google Trends shows that openBC has recently zoomed past LinkedIn in terms of traffic.
I'm not going to write much more, but if you're interested in networking and utilising the web to do so, then you can join openBC and my contact list by using this link and alternatively you can join without also joining my contact list by using this link. There is an AIESEC group on openBC with over 1500 members, which you can join using this link.
aiesec-alumni-worldwide.org, hosted by AIESEC Germany, is based on the openBC platform.
One of the benefits of active involvement in AIESEC is that you create networks of talented, like-minded people to take through life with you. I use portals like LinkedIn and openBC for that purpose.
Check out the wikipedia entry on openBC. A comparison of traffic using Google Trends shows that openBC has recently zoomed past LinkedIn in terms of traffic.
I'm not going to write much more, but if you're interested in networking and utilising the web to do so, then you can join openBC and my contact list by using this link and alternatively you can join without also joining my contact list by using this link. There is an AIESEC group on openBC with over 1500 members, which you can join using this link.
aiesec-alumni-worldwide.org, hosted by AIESEC Germany, is based on the openBC platform.
One of the benefits of active involvement in AIESEC is that you create networks of talented, like-minded people to take through life with you. I use portals like LinkedIn and openBC for that purpose.
May 14, 2006
On the beach
Taking a discussion group in Pakistan... just (re)found this pic... beautiful..
May 13, 2006
Balance?
Thursday night I was in the office studying till 3:30am; woke up Friday at 11am; met with my mentor from noon to 1pm; Executive Board meeting from 1 - 2:30pm; walked around uni to get some fresh air, printed off some materials in the office for later; headed down to Makan Makan at 3:15pm, ordered a Tea Tarik (big hot milky chi) and chilled out (I needed the mental space) till Julia and Jun Jet arrived for the Regional Board meeting from 4 - 6pm. Headed back to uni and used the computers waiting for Pascaline till 7pm, back to my place to watch a movie and eat pizza, then went to bed.
Was planning to wake at 4am and hit my assignment full on but slept till 10:30am, and it was the one of the best sleeps I've ever had - I really needed it. Yum Cha with Angela and Megan from 1 - 2:45pm, return video, deal with email, now it's almost 5pm and I'm going to indulge my inner geek by watching Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence; then study till 10pm when the FA Cup comes on!!!!! GO LIVERPOOL!!!
After the FA Cup I'll have to knuckle down again. I probably shouldn't even watch it. But who am I kidding.... I wouldn't be able to study knowing that it was on and so I might as well sit down and watch it for real.
Also have to say that last night was Pascaline's night to choose the movie - and of course she wanted to get the girliest one possible. Last time she picked one off the shelf because it looked girly. Well we ended up watching Just Like Heaven, and I actually liked it too. So heads up for the guys out there, if you want to impress you ladyfriend and appear sensitive by watching a chick flick with them, Just Like Heaven isn't too bad.
And must agree with Lobov, Yum Cha is awesome. We had a long winding conversation.... and I ate heaps. Angela isn't much of an Asian though... can't even use chopsticks properly :P
Was planning to wake at 4am and hit my assignment full on but slept till 10:30am, and it was the one of the best sleeps I've ever had - I really needed it. Yum Cha with Angela and Megan from 1 - 2:45pm, return video, deal with email, now it's almost 5pm and I'm going to indulge my inner geek by watching Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence; then study till 10pm when the FA Cup comes on!!!!! GO LIVERPOOL!!!
After the FA Cup I'll have to knuckle down again. I probably shouldn't even watch it. But who am I kidding.... I wouldn't be able to study knowing that it was on and so I might as well sit down and watch it for real.
Also have to say that last night was Pascaline's night to choose the movie - and of course she wanted to get the girliest one possible. Last time she picked one off the shelf because it looked girly. Well we ended up watching Just Like Heaven, and I actually liked it too. So heads up for the guys out there, if you want to impress you ladyfriend and appear sensitive by watching a chick flick with them, Just Like Heaven isn't too bad.
And must agree with Lobov, Yum Cha is awesome. We had a long winding conversation.... and I ate heaps. Angela isn't much of an Asian though... can't even use chopsticks properly :P
May 11, 2006
Letter
May 09, 2006
Hacktivism & internet censorship
Hacktivism: "Hacktivism is the melding of hacking and social or political activism. Hacktivists have a common enemy... the repressive use of laws and technologies by private corporations and governments to increasingly monitor and control the Internet."
From Revenge of the nerds in the Toronto Star
From Revenge of the nerds in the Toronto Star
A proxy is a computer server in a free country such as Canada that a user in a censored country can tap into to access censored information and relay it back to the user. For years proxies have been considered a kind of ladder to cyberspace freedom.The problem is that in order to use a proxy, you have to know about it. This means the proxy's IP — a set of numbers that is the computer's actual "address" on the Internet — has to be publicly advertised. This is usually done on websites and through email. So, it's only a matter of time before the censors also catch wind and cut off access.
Enter Psiphon. The program effectively turns anyone's personal computer into a proxy server. Once the software is installed on a computer in, say, Canada, that person creates a contact list of trusted friends or family members in censored countries and sends his or her IP address to them. No advertising needed. The censored user then connects to the computer running Psiphon and accesses banned content from there, all unbeknownst to the censor. Deibert says that Canada and its many diasporas, with links to Asia and the Middle East, is a perfect place from which to build these trust networks.
But Psiphon doesn't stop there. Unlike most Internet traffic, Psiphon data is encrypted and shoots around the world on a network reserved for secure financial transactions, so a censor cannot see what the person is accessing. And a censor wouldn't be able to tell a Psiphon request from a MasterCard purchase.Another benefit is that most other proxy-type anti-censor programs have to be installed, so if a user is being watched, evidence is on his computer for the taking. With Psiphon, the censored user installs nothing, so it leaves no trace.
Enter Psiphon. The program effectively turns anyone's personal computer into a proxy server. Once the software is installed on a computer in, say, Canada, that person creates a contact list of trusted friends or family members in censored countries and sends his or her IP address to them. No advertising needed. The censored user then connects to the computer running Psiphon and accesses banned content from there, all unbeknownst to the censor. Deibert says that Canada and its many diasporas, with links to Asia and the Middle East, is a perfect place from which to build these trust networks.
But Psiphon doesn't stop there. Unlike most Internet traffic, Psiphon data is encrypted and shoots around the world on a network reserved for secure financial transactions, so a censor cannot see what the person is accessing. And a censor wouldn't be able to tell a Psiphon request from a MasterCard purchase.Another benefit is that most other proxy-type anti-censor programs have to be installed, so if a user is being watched, evidence is on his computer for the taking. With Psiphon, the censored user installs nothing, so it leaves no trace.
May 06, 2006
My Gmail is nearly full!
You know you use your email too much when you have over 2.5 gigs storage and still need to refer to posts such as this (which actually has some very useful tips - take a look). So much for never deleting anything... I delete 75% of the email I receive!!! Seriously I need a corporate account.
It does also have something to do with how I use my gmail - I send myself documents as attachments and add some text labels in the subject and/or email body, so that I have the documents handy by search. I use that method far more than my flash drive.
It does also have something to do with how I use my gmail - I send myself documents as attachments and add some text labels in the subject and/or email body, so that I have the documents handy by search. I use that method far more than my flash drive.
May 04, 2006
World's Greatest Shave
Today I got my head shaved to raise awareness and funds for leukemia research. I'm sorry that the video is sideways... I don't think I can make it upright!
Update: hmmm should clarify that the event was called The World's Greatest Shave, find more info here.
Update: hmmm should clarify that the event was called The World's Greatest Shave, find more info here.
May 02, 2006
Long hours
I've been putting in some long long hours recently... and as a result was asleep at 2pm today. I didn't last long - woke at 7:30am, headed into uni, 3 meetings done in the morning... organised a few more things, then went back to bed. It's 7:30pm, I've just had dinner, and about to head back into the LC office to tackle some more work (and do some uni work too). The office is the perfect working environment after hours; fully stocked kitchen, dead silence with no one around, isolation, fast computer, unlimited printing facilities and a T1 internet connection. You can be very efficient in this environment. I find that I cannot be efficient during the day in the office in terms of any one specific task - I'm always talking to someone, but I'm not complaining as this is part of fulfilling my role in the LC.
24 hour access to the office was promised and has been a long time coming, with many frustrating delays, but I believe it has now been fixed. If not - I'll be working in the computer labs.
Take care all and send me a message, I feel the need to connect more.
Nic aka Zombie
24 hour access to the office was promised and has been a long time coming, with many frustrating delays, but I believe it has now been fixed. If not - I'll be working in the computer labs.
Take care all and send me a message, I feel the need to connect more.
Nic aka Zombie
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