As a VIA alum, I’d have to say that it was one of the best experiences of my life. Like all “one of the best experiences of my life” stories, I met new friends whom I still keep in touch with, saw things that I never thought I’d ever see or even knew existed, ate some of the world’s best foods, struggled with new cultures, struggled with myself, fell in love, got lost on a new adventure, shared in laughs and tears…

It was amazing.

Now is the recruiting season for VIA. If you are looking to do something abroad- whether you know what you want to do or not- take the time to look at the below links and see if it sparks your interest. There’s so much of the world to see. There’s so many wonderful people to meet and get to know. Take that chance and live out a new story in your life. I’ll do my best to share some of the ones I’ve had in a new category called “Volunteer in Asia with VIA”.

Brief VIA Information Page

VIA Website

If you have questions, feel free to leave it in the comments section or contact VIA directly. I had tons- and they answered them all.

I think I was too hyped up to see Borobudur that when I got there, I found myself wandering around asking myself, “There’s got to be more than this.”

Not to say that it’s not impressive, but I thought that- it being a temple meant that- you could go inside it. Nope.

The stone carvings- from lava rocks- were impressively detailed. It was sad to see that some of the Buddhas had either been completely stolen or had their heads taken off. Most likely to be sold to a collector.

Technology is great. I love it- when it works.

I think that’s how we all feel about technology. We’re so use to it in our lives and on most days, it seems to work seemlessly. But on the days that it’s a tad slow or worse, not available, it just plain sucks.

One of the great movements of technology into our daily lives is the sharing of information. Rather, allowing for the greater access of digital files. In the past, and sometimes today, it was something of a mystery to get or share files. One way around it was to attach a file to an email, and email yourself. (I still do that from time to time.) Another way could be to use Google Docs. Even when you have your file “up there”, you may want to share it with someone else. This usually happens, per file. Yeah, you could arrange to share a folder, but that’s a few more steps than the average person wants to take. Next thing you know you have dozens of different web services accounts to do a little bit of everything. Think about it…

Gmail, Yahoo!, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogger, Wordpress, Flicker, Kodak, Picasa, DropBox, etc…………….

Multiple accounts because not everyone you know uses the same thing, and not every service provides what you want.

I know that not every service is supposed to be used for everything, and that we don’t want to share everything with all of our “friends” on Facebook, but you probably have 5 close people you want to share things with. Let’s narrow that down some more. Say you have 5 family members that you want to share things with, or a group of 5 close friends. You’re spread out all over the globe- heck, you could even be a small company- and want to share files, but also music, pictures, and recipes.

Technically speaking, the simplest solution would be to implement a file server that gives access to multiple users. Linux would be the cheapest solution, using Samba and SWAT. Yes, but not as pretty or as aesthetically pleasing as what the average user is accustomed to when it comes to installation, setup, and management.

Enter the HP solution.

HP EX485 MediaSmart Home Server (2.0 GHz Intel Celeron 64-Bit Processor, 750 GB Hard Drive, Windows Home Server)

And it’s cheap, too.

Links:
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OI2ZG4
- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

I’ll be setting up one of these bad boys next week at an NGO, and I am excited! I think every household, small business, or NGO should have one of these.

However, I do say this without having ever used Windows Home Server and can say that I am influenced by the hype and reviews online. But the potential in what I’ve read sounds exciting. I’ll have a post-op published at the start of May to validate or smash down my high hopes.

Action stations.

I rang in 2009 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Here’s how it went.

The streets were crowded; motorbikes everywhere. The closer we got to the lake, the more dense the crowd got. There’s 10 minutes to midnight and I’m exchanging text messages with friends to meet up before the countdown starts. There are so many people at the lake and I’m expecting, at least, a very big fireworks show. Along with the New Year’s Eve, there’s also a flower festival going on at the lake, and this is it’s first day. Many displays are set up like artwork along the street and people are posing for pictures. I try to meet up with my friends but it’s impossible to catch anyone in the crowd.

By now it’s 11:57 so my girlfriend and I move toward the lake to get a better view. Everyone seems to have the same idea. As we wait, we watch lanterns being lit and flying higher into the sky.

11:59. We’re all waiting and looking around for a sign of some announcer, countdown, or sign of fireworks.

I look at my phone. 12:00. Then I look at my girlfriend and everyone around, but they look as confused as me. Then I thought, “Well, this is Vietnam. Things do start a little late, here.”

12:07. Hmm… I’m really confused at this point. The couple next to us basically says, “Well… nothing’s happening. Time to go home.” And they left. Soon after, everyone had the same idea and the crowd started to disperse. My girlfriend in her infinite wisdom says, “Because of the inflation, Vietnam is too cheap to spend money on fireworks. You have to wait until Tet (Vietnamese New Year’s). Poor you.”

After a few more minutes of standing around, we start walking up the street to look at the flowers and finally meet up with my friends. The night ends with some food and drinks. No countdown, but good enough for me.