I am Not Alone

This story at CBC.ca describes that 10,942 Americans moved to Canada in 2006. I was one of them.

It is kind of strange knowing that I am one in 11,000. It would be interesting to learn why all those Americans moved to Canada. Judging by the conversations I have had with Americans in Vancouver, it boils down to two reasons:
1. Their spouse or partner is a Canadian who returned to Canada
2. They are a same-sex couple seeking benefits, rights and privileges that are not available in the US

Why would an American move to Canada?

It all comes down to love!

Look Who

Look who is on the cover of wired.com!

(Hint: she can bake you a Wii cake with a metal file inside.)

How Do Airlines Decide Their Ticket Prices?

My flight to Chicago from Vancouver was expensive.

A direct flight from YVR to ORD started around $500 dollars (I ended up using frequent flyer miles to book my flight). When I was shopping around for fares, I saw advertisements for flights to London for less than $500. How do airlines come up with their price schemes?

The writers at Wired blog have attempted to answer this question in a geek-friendly way. They have composed a short, dense article with a cryptic schematic that describes how complex the fare schemes are. It turns out that the ticket pricing protocol is so complex that it is mathematically impossible to predict a fare.

Basically, we will never know why flying from YVR to ORD via London is cheaper than flying direct. But if you are able to put in some brainpower to construct a circuitous route, spend the extra time on an airplane, and enjoy a silly movie on a tiny screen, then you can find some real good deals.

41 Flags

It is funny how you don't notice American- flag fanaticism until you move to a country like Canada, where the flag is more inconspicuous. I am home in Chicago this week, and yesterday I went for a walk and counted FORTY ONE American flags in the neighborhood. Most people had only one or two flags in their yard, but a few houses had multiples. One house had seven flags and another house had a pinwheel made of American flags, so I counted that as six flags. The gas station had six flags on the roof and a billboard that read "FEEL THE PRIDE"

Oh, I feel the pride!

Random Sexist Observation

I did a lookup on Thesaurus.com for female and this is what I found:

Main Entry:	female
Part of Speech:	noun
Definition:	woman
Synonyms:	amazon, babe, beauty, broad, cheesecake, chichi, cupcake, cutie, dame, doll, dowager, duchess, femme, filly, fox, frail, gal, gentlewoman, girl, hussy, kid, lady, madam, mama, matron, old bat, old lady, old woman, petticoat, piece, pinup, seductress, she, she-stuff, shrew, siren, sis, skirt, temptress, ten, tomato, weaker sex*, wench, wren
Antonyms:	boy, male, man
Source:	Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1) Copyright © 2007 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

WTF? Why is 'weaker sex' flagged as slang but chichi and she-stuff etc. not slang?

Naturally, I did another search, this is what I found for male:

Main Entry:	male
Part of Speech:	noun
Definition:	man
Synonyms:	ape, beefcake, boy, bruiser, buck, bull, chap, dude, father, fellow, gent*, gentleman, guy, he, he-man, hunk, jock, john, macho man, papa, stud, tiger, tom, wolf
Antonyms:	female
Source:	Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1) Copyright © 2007 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. * = informal or slang

Gent?!?! 'Gent' is the slang listing for 'male'?!?!?!?!?!

Grarrar!!!! I am screaming at the insanity!!!!!!!!!!!!