Pete Goes Walleting

So... After a bit of engineering and re-engineering, I designed and prototyped a mini-version of this wallet for a homework assignment in Business Creativity and Innovation.



Features:

• Elegant view of 2 full-view pictures IDs
• MagicLock panels: capacity = 8 cards + business cards
• Anti-theft retractable high-tension wire (for traveling in crowded places)
• MagnetiClean: Kills germs that live on paper money
• SafeTrack: Alarms when wallet is too far from a set reference point

Brain-storm                                                                                           Design

Prototype

The Secret Secretary

I didn't get into this whole "smart phone" business until this past January. I gave it a try after my faithful  and tank-proof Nokia went M.I.A on my way home for Christmas. Ever since then, my phone is on me almost 24 hours a day... minus the time I spend in the shower.

One of the great features about smart phones is their Wifi capability. I'm sure this is a feature we've all appreciated at some point. For those of us who's made the leap of technology, WiFi, in a way, brings us to a new dimension when we are in need of a change in time and space; be it on a bus, a café, or at the airport as you ponder about how your life will unroll in the next lil while.

But, I like the Wifi feature for a completely different reason; it quietly records my life, where ever I go.

Every time I connect to a network, my phone makes a note of the network name. Scrolling through the list, I recalled the places I've been to. I put myself back in the times I've wanted to reach out to someone or something through the World Wide Web. From JP's hostel in Taipei, wpa.mcgill.ca at McGill, Athletic Lobby in Guelph, Megabus42450 somewhere between Toronto and Montreal... those places, those times...

As life continues on and more places I go, the number of "D-Links" and "FreePublicInternet" and "Starbucks WiFi" piles up and overlaps, and someday, I will no longer remember which name belongs where. I'll forget where "ICOFFE" is at, or whose apartment "BELL242" belongs to.

But my phone will.

One day, the little bars in the WiFi icon will light and tell me: I was here. And someday, it'll let me know I'm home before I realize it.

A Father-Son Rivalry

I recently did some counting, in the last 3 years, I've spent about 3 weeks at home with my family. Time has the sort of power to create distance between people. But ever since the beginning of summer, my father and I have gotten quite close. As I've written before, we'd go fishing almost every weekend and once in a while during the week, after we get off work. The fishing trips near and afar bonded us as father and son.

But something else came out of those good times - a rivalry. Dad and I have been competing to catch the biggest, rarest fish. The score goes back and forth, but on our last trip, which was the day before I departed for South-East Asia, I took the lead - I thought that sealed the deal, like scoring in the final period of Stanley Cup Game 7.

But apparently not.

Since then, mother has taken my place in the shot-gun seat of the car. They've been going to cottages and lakes as the Canadian summer rolls into autumn. Last weekend, I got an email with a photo attachment. With a single line, our rivalry renewed.

Nope. It doesn't end.

Next week I'll start my travels in Vietnam;
I've got some "catching" (up) to do ;)