The Savvy Boomer

Why does your computer or other gadget freeze?

At least once a week one of my electronic devices seems to freeze.  The only thing that doesn't is my old-style cell phone and when I watched a video from BBC I understood why.  Because all my other gadgets have a lot of sophisticated software and sometimes that software gets confused.  What to do?   Think of the problem as your brain slowing down after a day's activity and after a good night's sleep it works well again.  Well, an electronic gadget doesn't need 8 hours sleep, the off/on switch seems to fix a lot of problems.  Check put the full video on BBC Click.

 

 

My daughter finishes her first full marathon.

I have never really posted much about my family but today is an exception.  My daughter Erika ran in the Toronto marathon in memory of her late cousin Ian who died suddenly at the age of 23.  Moments like this are bittersweet but her family and friends are incredibly proud of her.  Way to go Erika, you'll remember May 6 2012 the rest of your life.

Erika crossing the finish line

Tunnel Bear lets Canadians view country restricted U.S. and U.K. programs

Living in Canada has a lot of benefits but sometimes we get USenvy.  For example I used to listen to a great music streaming service called Pandora until I got an email from the President (not Obama) one day telling me I could no longer listen to it because I lived outside the U.S.  Then when Hulu started up, I tried to watch and was told in so many words-no foreigners allowed.  I tried to watch some BBC TV shows and again-no one outside the U.K.

Enter TunnelBear.  This sleek little program is so simple and what is great is that it just works.  After you download and sign up, turn it on, select either U.S. or U.K. and after about 10 seconds - voila- then sign on to HULU, Pandora, BBC and other restrictive sites and you have complete access.  It comes with 500MB free and if you Tweet about it, another 1GB.  That is equal to about 3 hours of viewing but if you want more, then it's $4.99 a month.  Be sure to turn it off once you are no longer using it.  I've tried other methods of accessing these sites but this one is by far the easiest and like I say-it really works.  Try it out and be amazed at what you are missing.

Oh yeah, you can use it in any country, not just Canada.

 

A map of Canada that will help you understand the people of Canada

Whenever I travel in the U.S., people think they know all about (aboot) me because all Canadians are the same right?  WRONG!!  It's difficult to explain to an outsider (ootsider) that we have 10 Canadian provinces and 3 Territories (like Puerto Rico only much much colder) and that while we are all 1 nation, just like in the U.S., where you are from says a lot about you.  The infographic below (I don't know who did this, so I can't give proper credit) has gone viral in Canada because it comes as close as possible to defining what it means to live in the various areas of Canada.  There really isn't much to argue with here except for the part I live in, Vancouver Island which is labelled "Hippies."   That was true up to 20 years ago but I think "old folks" may be more appropriate now as this is the place many Canadian retirees are moving to including me.

7 websites helpful for boomers

Consumer and money saving expert Andrea Woroch sent me these 7 websites and 5 of them are of interest to me (you can guess which 2 aren't) so I thought I'd share them with you.

Dick Clark helped me get my first date

The news about Dick Clark's death is a sad moment for millions of boomers who grew up watching American Bandstand.  Dick Clark touched and probably helped to change a lot of lives in some way like he did mine.

In 1960 I was in grade 9 in Woodstock ON (pop about 10k then)  and the entry to high school introduced me to the world of Friday night dances.  I loved the music but had no idea how to dance and knew if I tried, I would look like the clumsy gangly teenager I was.  I'd stand there watching mainly girls dance with other girls because all the other guys were just like me-we had no idea what to do.  Oh sure, the older guys danced with girls but they were cool because they weren't freshmen anymore.

Kobe beef-only in Japan you say?

Recently I overheard someone going on about how they had eaten a Kobe beef steak.  Apparently he paid over $100 for it in a restaurant but felt it was worth every penny.  I must admit I was envious because I once ate it in Japan and as I pointed out in my post about Costco selling it a couple of years ago, I thought it was incredible.  Well, it turns out that Costco no longer sells it and never did, because Kobe beef isn't distributed outside Japan for several different reasons that you can read in this article titled "Foods Biggest Scam-The Great Kobe Beef Lie" in Forbes magazine.  Makes you wonder about all these companies that sell it online for upwards of $75 a pound.

Kobe beef: fact vs. fiction (source-Japan Times Online)
Kobe cows are fed beer. False. Yoshinori Nakanishi says this myth started 30 years ago when a restaurant did a promotional stunt in which a Tajima cow was fed beer.

Kobe cows get regular massages. False. "If I massaged my herd of 170," says Nakanishi, "I'd have no time left for sleep."

Kobe cows listen to classical music. False. Nor do they listen to any other genre.

Kobe beef is sold outside Japan. False. No authentic Kobe beef is exported, mainly because of limited supply. Some restaurants abroad offer a cross between Wagyu and Angus cattle, which may amount to a Kobe-style beef.

There is no way to be certain that a piece of Kobe beef is genuine. False. This can be checked, using the 10-digit serial number that each animal has been issued, which can be checked on the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association's Web site: www.kobe-niku.jp

U.S. basketball player Kobe Bryant is named after Kobe beef. True. (And not vice versa.) The story goes that Kobe's father saw the item on a menu, thought it sounded cool and gave the name to his son.

Kobe Bryant sued the city of Kobe because he felt the beef's name harms his own brand. False. Our original story cited an April Fool's joke, published on LA Weekly's blogs. We apologize for the error.

Farmed salmon Download Briefing on Three Viruses

Download Briefing – three viruses.pdf (1697.2K)

via alexandramorton.typepad.com

Read my earlier post about farmed salmon.