Speakers, Woah!

One of the best things about Oxford is the large amount of wonderful and famous speakers that visit. Last week I listened to speeches by Phil Smith (the VP and CEO of Cisco Systems UK) and Shimon Perez. Then on Sunday and Monday, Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford took place, with speakers like Elon Musk and Philip Rosedale. The conference itself had a large number of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and researchers.

I'm really enjoying all these events, and wish I had photos to go with them. Maybe next time!

Oxford's Colleges

I've been visiting quite a few colleges lately, so for those who can't be here, I wanted to share a few photos. A lot of the older colleges are quite beautiful, and definitely worth a trip if you're ever in the UK.

First up is Lincoln, then St. John's. Unfortunately I just have photos from by the porters' lodges for these.


Aaron and I visited Magdalen College today while looking for parks to walk in (the college has a great deer park), so the rest of the photos are from there. Enjoy!

The Dorset Naga

Rumour has it that the Dorset Naga may be one of the hottest chilis ever grown. As someone who enjoys his food spicy, I decided to drop by The Mission, a local burrito place here in Oxford, as they're currently serving their food with the option of having salsa made from this wonderfully spicy pepper.

So how spicy is it? I still don't remember the name of that hot sauce with the rooster on the front. You know the one -- it has a green cap and is in virtually every Chinese restaurant in Toronto and New York. I go through a bottle in a month or two... I put it on everything.

And yet, eating that burrito yesterday made me want to cry. I almost lost the battle, and having won once against the salsa, I'll gladly say I'll likely never fight it again. I'll still to the rooster variety of chilis. :)

Random Photos from London

Just a few photos from the phone...

A Copyright Call to Arms

I mentioned a while back about political things I'm getting involved in, but didn't want to share. So the "project" isn't as big as you might have thought, but Jesse Helmer and I wrote a piece for the Globe and Mail's Technology website. The article, A Copyright Call to Arms, provides an overview of what to expect with regards to intellectual property and copyright now that the Canadian election is over with.

There are lots of comments on the topic, so be sure to check those out as well!

American Elections

One of the things I really like about Oxford is the massive amount of interest in politics... It's American Election night and there's parties, events, and public screenings of CNN in quite a few colleges. The photo above is just one example. Really awesome atmosphere!

London Calling

This past Friday I finally had a chance to visit London! Not only that, but Kate (a fellow scholar from the US) joined me and we made a nice day of it. I was thinking of what to write here, but the event boils down to good conversation, eating dumplings and drinking bubble tea in Chinatown, and making our way to the a Halloween party thrown by Google.

What more can I say? Here are some photos, and text thrown in every once in a while.


So the dumpling place is called Jen Cafe and I recommend to everyone. Totally felt like discovering a new part of the city, and made me happy. That's Kate in the front, who recommended this place! (Bonus points for anyone who recommends good places for food.)

... and last but not least, the Google Party. Okay, I don't have much photos here, just the after-effects, courtesy of Glenn and Emma. The party was over at 12 am, but we wondered the city until about 2 am, looking for things to do. With bus ride and all, Oxford greeted us at 4:30 am. Long night!


I'm hoping to make my way into London a few more times in the coming weeks. Dorkbot is holding events, and there's a few conferences that I would love to attend. I'll keep everyone posted. Next time I'll also write something more substantive.