Monday, April 30, 2012

The Church of Kopimism

A "church" whose central tenet is the right to file-share has been formally recognised by the Swedish government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16424659

"It doesn't mean that illegal file-sharing will become legal, any more than if 'Jedi' was recognised as a religion everyone would be walking around with light sabres.

Scariest cable car rides in the world

An interesting list!
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/scariest-cable-car-rides/20841

Thursday, April 26, 2012

I smell in colours

When I smell things I get the idea of a colour in my mind.. maybe this is why!

"This documentary looks at the fact that perhaps one in every hundred people experiences a blending of the senses. Imagine if every time you saw someone called Derek you got a strong taste of earwax in your mouth. It happens to James Wannerton, who runs a pub. Derek is one of his regulars. Another regular's name gives him the taste of wet nappies. For some puzzling reason, James's sense of sound and taste are intermingled.
Dorothy Latham sees words as colours. Whenever she reads a black and white text, she sees each letter tinged in the shade of her own multi-coloured alphabet – even though she knows the reality of the text is black and white. Spoken words have an even stranger effect. She sees them, spelled out letter by letter, on a colourful tickertape in front of her head.
Both James and Dorothy have a mysterious condition called synaesthesia, in which their senses have become linked. For years scientists dismissed it, putting it in the same category as séances and spoon-bending. But now, synaesthesia is sparking a revolution in our understanding of the human mind."

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/derek-tastes-of-ear-wax/

Monday, April 23, 2012

Amazing architecture again

It is the tallest bridge in the world with one mast's summit at 343.0 metres (1,125 ft) above the base of the structure. It has the highest elevated road in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct

Digicel website offline


How embarrassing! 



Monday, April 9, 2012

Identify Faked Photos

Wow the things you can do on thew web! This shows a site that identifies if a photo is photoshopped or otherwise faked!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Caroni Bird Sanctuary Tour



I recently went on this tour for the first time in my life. It was more than worth the price and effort. The tour is offered all year round and on almost every day. The site is on the right heading north by the Caroni exit, Solomon Hochoy Highway. There is a large parking lot which is visible from the highway that is free to use. South of the parking lot is a road leading to the tour operators and to the Caroni Swamp Visitor Centre. The area with the operators has a parking area also that can hold at least 25 cars. The Centre is at the end of the road and is free to enter.

I chose to go with Nanan's tours (http://www.nananecotours.com/). It was $50(TT) a person and left promptly at 4pm. I called in the reservation and paid on entry. There were multiple boats from the company leaving around the same time. A boat holds about 35 people, there are rows of benches along the boat and the seats were comfortable and padded. The floor was soft to walk on, there was some kind of rubber perhaps.We could have carried coolers, snacks, food, anything we wanted to.


Driving out along the river there were people fishing and liming on the banks. The funniest encounter was a little boy who said "Hola!". There was no fee to lime on the river bank and fish. The driver was explaining about the mangrove and birds and crabs along the way. The is an old sluice gate that was abandoned and the broken pieces remain. Further along the trees grew over the river and one of the branches had a sleeping snake. The boat went out deeper into the swamp area and the area was very scenic. There was one bird with a fish in its claws perched on a tree. There were Great Egrets, Blue Herons and of course the star of the show the Scarlet Ibis. We went through the maze of water passages around small islands and saw the natives along the way. There is a large wooden tower that visitors used to climb up but it is now dilapidated and climbing is prohibited.

Eventually all the tour boats parked alongside each other and waited for the birds to come in. The spot we 'parked' in was directly below the flight path of landing aircraft for the Piarco International Airport. When planes flew overhead the birds were disturbed by the noisy engines and flew away. The operators mention 'thousands' of birds, but we saw a couple hundred. We did not park very close to the bank/mud flat the birds were landing on so I was very glad I had my camera. We would see birds coming in overhead and around us. Binoculars and a high zoom camera are a must.

The boat pushed off around 630pm. and we were back on land at about 6.45pm. On the way back I got a couple mosquito bites. Mosquitoes need fresh water to live in and the swamp is inundated by the sea so it is salt water. I suppose as the fresh water is coming down the river they are able to breed there. I was disappointed at the end on leaving the boat about what welcomed me back. There was the same empty shed and benches I saw when I first arrived. There was nobody selling t-shirts, key chains, post cards, stuffed toys, shot glasses etc. I would have even taken some comfort in a doubles man.. but there was nothing at all. Just my car to go back to. This is a major fault and should be fixed. Perhaps in the Visitor Centre there are things for sale, but most people will not go to the Centre and the tour together. Like most other people on the boat, the first time we heard about the Centre was when we saw it from the boat while on the tour and by the time the tour is done it would be closed. There is a large billboard on the highway advertising the operator, and a small blue and white sign mentioning the Swamp. Last year there were brown and white signs put up across the country to point to tourist landmarks. I think this deserves a much larger sign on the highway. Along the entrance road is a billboard about the swamp but you have to look southward to see it, as is it aligned west to east.

 Of the five or six boats that I saw in the swamp, all except one was filled with all foreigners. The foreigners were mostly elderly couples and with a tourist operator. They had their cameras and binoculars, but no brochures, jerseys, maps etc.. what a loss. This was one evening that at least 150 people passed through that one spot and it seemed like just the operators profited. This was very poor Ministry of Tourism.

The tour was orderly and well executed. I felt completely safe throughout the entire thing. The boat ride was smooth, there are no waves in the swamp, except those from other boats in the area. I would definitely recommend this to everyone.





I found this online:



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Topics:
Tour cost price information review experience for boat ride
Caroni bird swamp tour
Caroni swamp boat guided tour
Caroni river ride to see birds
River water tour in Trinidad and Tobago




The Greatest Innings of Brian Lara

Definitely one of the most exciting innings EVER!

How much fuel are you missing

I am able to fill an extra 10 litres diesel after the pump clicks off when fulling up. The nozzle clicks off when the foam reaches it. Most people stop it there and are happy. It took me at least an extra 3 minutes to fill this amount as the nozzle kept clicking off but when the foam went down I could pump again. I will research to check if this is a healthy habit to keep filling.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

3 snakes on a tank stand

Just saw 3 snakes wrapped up together next to a water tank, not sure if they were mating or sleeping, not interested, they are dead now. Definitely not something you want to see while walking around your house. One of them may be the one that got away a couple weeks ago! They were brown and had dark brown yellow spots on the top, each about 15 inches long. All piled together it looked like a serious amount of meat.. I hope the most I see of them again is more snake skin.