Brain Exercise

Have you ever thought about differences between two things that almost aren't comparable? I use to think about stuff like this all the time. It seems to me that it's like a warm-up for my brain and it keeps it sharp.

Today I have been thinking about Toronto and Calgary. Specifically about the difference between Toronto condos and Calgary suburbs. I live in Vancouver, so finding out facts and comparing them was a little tricky, but I've done it. Now I have let my brain exercise and I can move to other stuff - this time important.

Try to exercise your brain as much as possible!

Christmas Markets - A Sentimental Looking Back

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love Christmas markets.

The whole feeling of it, you know, the atmosphere, people mostly happy and the little chit-chats here and there...

Today I was thinking about how Christmas comes and goes and it occured to me, that maybe even when Christmas 2011 is a thing of the past maybe I can look back at some of the best Chritmas Markets of this year.

So here they are:

Talinn Christmas Market

Skellefteas Christmas Market

Essen Christmas Market

And something about Christmas Shopping!

Visit to Toronto

I haven't been to Toronto a long while, so I decided to visit this business Mecca of Canada and I must say that I'm pretty happy I'm living in Vancouver.

As a Vancouver real estate agent working in the Vancouver housing market my whole life, I find there is a lot to love about Vancouver and hate about Toronto. As a Toronto visitor, I think there is a lot to like about Toronto, but a even more to love about Vancouver (when you get home). If you're visiting Toronto, it's easy to be astounded by the sheer volume of concrete, steel and especially glass. The downtown is just overwhelming. Vancouver has a quite a lot glass and steel buildings, but Toronto is a far larger and higher city and has a condo boom going, so there's no point in comparing the two.

Sure, there are more opportunities for a real estate agent in Toronto as there are in Vancouver, but I think working in Vancouver real estate is the happier option. You work with a city by the ocean and close to great mountains. The value of real estate is greatly influenced by the natural surroundings, so Vancouver is clearly winning here over Toronto. This can also be seen on the high prices of homes in Downtown Vancouver. This area is very popular among wealthy Asian immigrants, so the price keeps going up. Let's hope it won't influence other sellers to make price hikes, as I would like to see a lot of happy home buyers this coming year.

Study finds More Roads to Increase Overall Traffic and Do Nothing With Density

Today I came across a very interesting blog post about a study about the solutions to traffic density. This very intriguing study reveals that more roads leads to more traffic. That's not something completely illogical, yet somehow all of us would say, that traffic jams could be put to an end by building more roads. What these researchers discovered is that, with all other variables accounted for, when you build more roads, you get exactly as much additional traffic as you get roads.

So now you're thinking that the study must suggest that we should rely upon mass transit instead. Not this time. What these honest researchers found out is that more transit has no effect whatsoever on traffic density. Additionaly, the study suggests that the cost of building highways is higher that the profit that society receives from this act. These are very serious findings, but to make further conclusions, I would say more studies will be needed.

Interaction Design - Young Danish Couple Making a Difference

Sometimes you stumble on something completely unexpected in the vast world of internet, something which really makes your day. When randomly browsing and looking for something, the sheer volume of trashy sites and dishonest people writing blog posts and comments makes you sick. And then you encounter something pure, a site that is so clearly designed and run by the most honest and giving people you could imagine, that you just have get in touch with them.

Maybe this was an exaggerated introduction. Nevertheless, I want to share a story about a wonderful project which I much appreciate.

If you want to become a real designer, you have to study a lot, inspire yourself and constantly be on the lookout for new trends and other designers who come up with interesting concepts. Of course, enrolling into a design course at a college is one of the best ideas when you dream about a design career. If you have enough talent, there is a plethora of choices in Canada, public or private.

Not all people are lucky enough to live in Canada. Imagine the talent that is hidden in the rest of the world, in the third world countries. Imagine there are NO courses for you to attend, because you simply don't have the money to pay the tuition.

And then, you find this wonderful website, Interaction-Design, with a whole library of design resources from the world's biggest authorities, most respected designers and college professors. How come something like this became reality? Take a passionate couple, take their dream, sack them, let them live for a few bucks a couple on an island in Thailand for a couple of months, and you have it! Mads Soegaard and Rikke Dam, a danish couple have build the this site from scratch and are now helping hundreds of poor hopefully-future-designers in the pursue of their dream. If you find their cause worthy, donate to the Interaction-Design project!