GMAIL goes iMAP

Ok. So this sounds a bit geeky but from a practical point of view, GMAIL's launch of a free iMAP service is wonderful news.
iMAP is a protocol for hooking up your e-mail software (like Entourage or Outlook) to a e-mail server or service (like GMAIL). Previously GMAIL used a protocol called POP. This POP way downloaded a copy of the e-mail to your e-mail software and that was about it.
iMAP is cool because it basically keeps whatever you have on GMAIL synced with what you have on your e-mail software. AND it does it with multiple computers or PDAs or iPHONES or whatever.
What this means is that you can have a laptop and a desktop and have exactly the same e-mail on both. If you read an e-mail on the laptop it will mark the e-mail as read on both the laptop and the desktop. If you send from the desktop, a copy of the sent e-mail will be on the laptop. Completely synchronized.

This all makes GMAIL vastly superior than what our local ISPs like paradise provide in NZ and very useful for the way I have our computers set up.

Instructions are under help on www.gmail.com

Zaoui

This image from the NZ Herald is very important for New Zealand. It represents the closure of one of the most embarassing chapters of New Zealand history. At last Ahmed Zaoui and his family are reunited.
One can but hope that a picture like this... of a family reunited after so many years... so many years that New Zealand tax payer funded officials have contributed to... might just make some of these tax payer funded officials realise that the cost of "security" can be too high.
In many respects the terrorist movements have won in countries like New Zealand... even though we have not seen the carnage of a 9/11 event... by the very fact that we have turned paranoid and surrendered some of the stuff that makes us who we are as a nation. Perhaps the only way to beat the terrorist is to ignore or forgive them.

Siberia

So we are heading back to Siberia. After three years of visiting during the lovely hot 30-40 degree Siberian summer, we are going during the Siberian winter. This may seem a little bit crazy but I am very excited about the idea of having a white Christmas.

Actually this year we will get two Christmas'. One will be on the 25th Dec in New Zealand in Northland. The other will be on the 7th Jan (the Russian Christmas is on the 7th) in Irkutsk. It will be wonderful to be able to celebrate Christmas with all our Russian friends.

We will also get to introduce Katya to all our friends. Last time we were in Irkutsk Katya was inside Claire.

This year we will be taking a different route. We have a 12.5 hour flight to Shanghai. A short hop up to Beijing. Then the flight into Russia. Because it is winter we will be on a Russian Tupolev. The Boeings and Airbus' don't fly in winter because they can not handle the winter.

The specific timetable is:

Leave WLG 21st Dec
Leave AKL 27th Dec
Arrive Irkutsk 29th Dec
Leave Irkutsk 25th Jan
Back in NZ 27th Jan

One of the most crazy things I have seen...

A new swing

We have bought Katya her first swing. After some slick handy man work, it was all installed and works very well.

Simpsonizing

Check out http://www.simpsonizeme.com/
It is quite a lot of fun. This is a Simpsonized version of me.