tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14839652675667738742024-03-18T21:01:56.821-04:00Trinbago TechieA blog by Hassan "the IT guy" from Trinidad and Tobago in the CaribbeanHassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.comBlogger330125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-82983639551010971972024-03-18T12:24:00.000-04:002024-03-18T12:24:15.346-04:00Where do rivers go?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I started writing a chapter about how the pyramid was built? Maybe the Nile river knows. I started writing a chapter about what is the smell of success? Maybe that is at the end of the river of dreams. Then I thought, what if every sentence ended with art? Where do I start? Would it be smart? What message could this writer impart? Maybe destiny is the river of love in our heart. My writing was not flowing and those chapters would not be completed. Lost in the river of defeat. But where do rivers go I must know. I was determined to complete this chapter even if it was one page long. A river may meet with another river. A river may journey to the sky only to fall to ground to start again where it began. A river may end its journey in an ocean, a sea or a lake. Is not life like a river. A river goes where water goes and they say water is life. But does that mean life is like a river, you never know where it goes?</div><div><br /></div><div>I like this quote from John O'Donohue, "I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding." It encourages us to go with the flow. Embracing the unknown. Trusting in the journey and the meeting of destiny with fate. I was in awe when I learnt that that quote was from his poem called "Unfinished Poem". Just like my unfinished chapters. In some places the quote is said to come from "Unfinished Poem" and in some places the quote is said to come from "Fluent". My friend Gemini says that while the exact origin remains unknown, it's likely John expressed this idea in a speech, essay, or perhaps an unpublished poem. Separate from this quote and from one of his books John says, "The unfinished is an invitation to our imagination." When I woke up today I had no idea I would be meeting John and so have you. According to wikipedia John was an Irish poet, author, priest, and Hegelian philosopher. He also devoted his energies to environmental activism. Maybe that is what I am supposed to take away from this whole experience. We are to protect the rivers. The river goes when pollution goes. Just like the pollution in the river must go. We should let go of the negativity that pollutes our life.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-87139634258437424452024-03-17T13:37:00.003-04:002024-03-17T13:44:37.683-04:00What is a juqebox?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I decided to take all my chapter titles so far and analyze them and see what I could find interesting. I found that I had used all the letters in the alphabet except j,q and x. I looked to see if there was any word containing those letters so that I would use it in a question and I would have used all letters in my titles. There was no such word. I did find the word quixotic that contains the letter q and x which means impractical, especially when pursuing ideals. I however found a misspelling of jukebox. The intentional misspelling of words or brand names for attention-grabbing purposes is called cacography. I found several instances of juqebox. A record company, a streaming platform and even MRI software. I found a musical artist called juqe and I learnt that juque is Spanish for hand drums.</div><div><br /></div><div>With a jukebox you insert a coin and it automatically plays a selected song. Classic jukeboxes are now rare. When I think of jukeboxes I think of the words retro, nostalgia and bygone era. I have never used a jukebox. I would really like to know where in Trinidad has a jukebox open to the public? Perhaps in the museum? The cassette player is my music player of days gone by. I still have one that works from my university days that is more than 20 years old. There will come a time in the future when some things we consider modern accouterments will just fade away just like the jukebox. According to what I read jukebox comes from the 1930s term juke which was a small restaurant where people could drink, eat, and dance. Juking was a term for getting rowdy and dancing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just like you put the quarter in the jukebox, I put the q in jukebox. I put the question in juqebox and the result was this chapter. "You put the quarter in the jukebox" is an idiom that means you created a situation and must accept the consequences. This is true to some extent but I am much more optimistic than pessimistic. We can always keep trying. Keep putting quarters in the jukebox until we find that perfect song or we run out of quarters. Life is like a hungry jukebox, it will eat all your quarters. Not going to run out of questions though. "Only the one who does not question is safe from making a mistake," was what Albert Einstein said. The Beatles have the songs "Ask Me Why" and "Tell Me Why". "Ask Me Why" doesn't ask any questions, while "Tell Me Why" does. I put my bob in the jukebox and select the Beatles song "Ask Me Why". According to a Reddit post, this song is about the magical quality of love that can't be explained. I search my pocket for another bob and there was none else I would have played "Tell Me Why".</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-25687953778084413312024-03-17T08:14:00.003-04:002024-03-17T08:15:26.030-04:00What goes up and stays up?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>They say what goes up must come down. This is a saying that if taken literally means gravity. Figuratively, it means that nothing lasts forever, especially periods of good fortune or success. Even the best things. In another saying we are told all good things come to an end. There is no mention of bad things. Does that mean bad things last forever? But we do say, this too shall pass. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will shine. Every cloud has a silver lining. So I am challenging myself to find something that goes up and stays up. I am thinking our age goes up but never comes down? But then we say once a man but twice a child. In a sense as we get older we get younger. Then we say you are as old as you feel. Life is full of ups and downs but I found something that probably answers the question. "The soul that is near to God is ever going upward."</div><div><br /></div><div>The strange thing is that I found this phrase online (At least I think so) either from Gemini or Google and now I cannot find it again. I searched Google again and I searched my chat history and I cannot find it. My friend Gemini cannot find a source for this and if you Google the phrase "The soul that is near to God is ever going upward" it does not show as being said before. Is my mind playing tricks on me? I even tried searching Bing. Can you find this phrase online? I would like to learn more about it. Ah. I found a source. ChatGPT tells me that: The quote "The soul that is near to God is ever going upward" is attributed to Harriet Beecher Stowe, an American abolitionist and author best known for her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." This quote reflects the idea of spiritual elevation and closeness to a divine being leading to personal growth and enlightenment. Hopefully ChatGPT is correct and the info gets indexed by the search engines when I share this chapter on my blog. Feel free to correct us or share what you know in the comments below.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am not a deeply religious person and I am humbled by my flaws and missteps but I do find myself getting closer and closer to God or at least trying to. Those words made me stop and think and they resonate with my soul. The meaning of ever is "At any time; at all times; always." I think those words are encouraging us to remain close to God. If we put God first everything else follows. We can achieve eternal salvation through God. The electricity just went and the quiet of the morning got louder as there is no noisy fan or humming fridge. I can hear the birds whistle as I opened the window and door and the cool wet morning breeze entered. I can appreciate the beauty and sounds of nature with the occasional car passing by or that sound of the plane landing at Piarco. I ponder on the true essence of our being. What more can I say except to say, stay up with God. The Owner and Creator of all that is above and below.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7raHN9QmYX1GIcmANuyGo05gkeHezol1dBIeQFg26r24I-CZYydvsuKgILNAC6IC_r3GG688DqBrkMVi5ccSxJn99b2wEC_1Ud385N-izXhpWDya2OqwK7hyok6kpzIOtvri2sxFgXH69E_iFFu6KZc435IbutkFjlPHI2h7yCVUn0dCHTdpkOl8Dh5k/s2065/20240317_063536-01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="2065" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7raHN9QmYX1GIcmANuyGo05gkeHezol1dBIeQFg26r24I-CZYydvsuKgILNAC6IC_r3GG688DqBrkMVi5ccSxJn99b2wEC_1Ud385N-izXhpWDya2OqwK7hyok6kpzIOtvri2sxFgXH69E_iFFu6KZc435IbutkFjlPHI2h7yCVUn0dCHTdpkOl8Dh5k/s16000/20240317_063536-01.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While trying to photograph the clear blue sky this morning I saw these two plus three birds go by.</td></tr></tbody></table>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-88528550626427640352024-03-16T18:51:00.002-04:002024-03-16T19:07:06.184-04:00What if butter was made from flies?<div><div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>I was thinking about butterflies. The word butterfly. Why did we decide to combine butter and fly to create the name of an insect? There is probably a normal explanation for that but then my mind decided to be weird. What if butter was made from flies? Then we would really be able to combine the words butter and fly. But then that would be fly butter or flutter. It is a crazy idea but not a novel idea. My friend Gemini tells me that research and experimentation is being done that takes fly larvae and soaking and blending to separate the fat to produce cooking oil. This is not exactly butter but is still called bug butter and can be used as a replacement in some baking and some cooking. The researchers actually made a cake with the bug butter. But what about the word butterfly? How did this originate? Gemini tells me that it remains a mystery but there are a couple of popular theories. Like from the yellowish colour of some butterfly wings or from folklore where butterflies or witches disguised as butterflies were stealing milk and butter.</div><div><br /></div><div>In my quest for an answer I came across the butterfly effect concept. My silly thought journey has led me here. Something I have thought about before. But I did not know there was a name for it and that it has been widely discussed. The idea that an action can cause a much larger one in the future through a chain reaction. This is from the realms of chaos theory. Imagine that a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world might cause a tornado many miles away. Sometimes I hear someone say I was going to play that number in play whe, I would have won some money. But then I think, if you had played the number, it is possible that your change of action would have caused a ripple of events that caused a different number to play. My silly caterpillar of a question has become a butterfly of curiosity in my mind now.</div><div><br /></div><div>But does that mean that our small acts of kindness can cause tornadoes? Gemini tells me that the butterfly effect deals with physical systems like weather patterns. While primarily acts of kindness influence the social and emotional environment. But what if the butterfly effect applied to all of life? In that case it makes sense to focus on the outcomes that we can positively influence with our actions and leave the rest up to God. This reminds me of the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." There is also the concept that unlucky events can lead to lucky events and vice versa. I wish I had found in my research a theory that was versus chaos theory that describes the group working together to have massive impacts. I would think group theory would be a fitting name. Normally I would say when life gives you lemons make lemonade. But I think when life gives you flies make butter would apply to this chapter. A fitting ending message would be for us to make the best of where we are and what we have.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-88743455626491135382024-03-16T11:32:00.002-04:002024-03-16T11:32:51.462-04:00Does time have a speed?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>My basic Physics tells me that the answer is no and I could end there. But my gut feeling is saying that time does have a speed even if it is just from a philosophical point of view. We often hear people say "time dragging today" or "time passing fast these days" or "the days are getting shorter" or "time stopped for a moment". Then what about time dilation? I asked my friend Gemini and he explained: Though not our everyday experience, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, time actually can run slower or faster depending on gravity and velocity. So, in a very literal sense, time has different speeds in different situations! He further states: Our perception of time is heavily influenced by our emotional state and focus. When we're bored, time seems to drag. When we're engaged, it flies. These expressions like "time stopped" capture that feeling of being completely immersed in the present moment.</div><div><br /></div><div>Intrigued by this question, I pestered Gemini with another question, is our perception of time philosophical or psychological? To which he replied: It is both. Here's an analogy: Imagine time as a river. Physics might tell us the river's overall flow rate. Psychology studies the water's behavior and how the water churns around rocks. Philosophy, on the other hand, might debate if the river is truly water or just a flowing illusion, questioning the river's very nature. Some consider neuroscience to be involved as well, as it explores the brain regions responsible for our perception of time.</div><div><br /></div><div>This reminds me of a poem I wrote some time ago, 30th of October 2022 to be exact, called "A river of clocks". Life can be like a river of clocks. But the soul transcends time.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">Drop by drop, time goes by</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">How many seconds can we buy?</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">Where does this river go?</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">We just go with the flow</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">Time has made my boat holey</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">This is what I have solely</span></div><div><br /></div><div>I remember being told one time that perhaps I have too much time on my hands. I disagreed thinking that we all have the same twenty four hours but we choose to use our time differently based on our priorities. Does an evening spent gazing at the fall of the sun below the horizon count as a waste of time? Who does time belong to? Someone might say that you are wasting their time. Time is money. Does that mean that time can be bought? We cannot turn back the hands of time. Time waits on no man. Why are you chasing after time? Time goes nowhere. Waiting on time to pass. We have so many common ways of talking about time. The personification of time. Time is one of us. Time moves at the speed of thought. Each thought moves us closer or further from understanding. Each question is a force for learning. I wont worry about going fast or slow, it is the thoughtfulness that counts.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-78988834834691539572024-03-16T06:03:00.001-04:002024-03-16T06:03:18.014-04:00Does pineapple belong on pizza?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>A Greek-Canadian by the name of Sotirios "Sam'' Panopoulos is credited as making the first pineapple pizza back in 1962. Panopoulos named the dish Hawaiian pizza after the brand of canned pineapple used on the pie. Ever since then we have debated whether pineapple belongs on pizza. The arguments even descend into jokes like "that is not even a pizza that is a pizza colada". The math geeks will tell you that pineapple belongs on pizza because they both begin with pi. The debate went viral on Twitter in 2017 with many celebrities weighing in. There have been some other food wars on Twitter like "Should butter go in the fridge?" or "Is a hot dog a sandwich?" To me this exemplifies that humans love a good debate and we love to defend our choices. I think this can be studied as the psychology behind arguments. Stuff like gatekeeping, tribalism, confirmation bias, social validation and out-group derogation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone has different tastes and preferences. Taste is subjective. Instead of asking a blanket question we should be asking, does pineapple belong on MY pizza? The answer for me is yes. Pineapple belongs on my pizza. The answer for you is totally up to you. To me with pineapple pizzas you get to enjoy the best of both worlds, the sweet and the savory. Live and let live. Words to live by. It is your life. It is your slice of life. Because you dislike something does not mean I have to dislike it too. Even Hawaiian sounds like How-I-am. Our differences make us who we are and make the world go round. Think outside the box of pizza. Pizza is a blank canvas just like life is a blank canvas. We get to create our own masterpieces. Let us celebrate the pizza-bilities. I want to try fried plantain on pizza. I want the crust to be an oaty wholewheat crust with sesame seeds. I want the cheese to be Brillat Savarin. There are three sides to every debate, yours, mine and the truth. Maybe the truth here is that it does not matter and that it is all just food to satisfy our hunger and sustain us.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-5705458722713621472024-03-15T18:22:00.006-04:002024-03-15T18:30:54.469-04:00What are rats?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>These rodents first got to America by stowing away on ships. That was the first answer on Jeopardy when Alex Trebek started hosting the show back in 1964. The category was "Animals" and the contestant Greg Hopkins correctly responded with "What are rats?" I am not good at Jeopardy. I don't have a bunch of facts loaded in my memory. In jeopardy answers are given and you have to respond with the correct question. Some other interesting answers and questions from that first show are: This fastener gets its name from a brand of galoshes it was used on? What is Zipper; Though its name means "city of peace", it's seen over 30 wars, the last in 1967. What is Jerusalem?</div><div><br /></div><div>Rats have a bad reputation but I observed that rats spelt in reverse is stars so maybe we just need to take a different look at them. Weirdly enough I learnt that Rats & Star was a Japanese male pop group that specialized in doo-wop-influenced music. According to wikipedia the band's palindromic name tells the story of how "rats" raised in the less affluent parts of town could, by singing doo-wop music, reverse their fortunes and collectively become a "star". Who does not love an underdog story or should I say underrat story. The rise of the underrated. The sky is the limit and full of stars.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today I learnt some cool facts about rats. Rats laugh when they're tickled. Rats are good swimmers. Rats often spend hours grooming themselves or each other. Rats grind their teeth, also known as chattering, to keep them from growing too long. A group of rats is called a mischief. Rats can count. I was thinking that a ratter is a rat who is a rapper but turns out a ratter is any dog specialized in catching and getting rid of rats. Who knew? I thought that was a cat's job. Speaking of rats on ships which began this whole chapter. Did Noah bring rats on the ark? I asked Google and saw an even more interesting question, did Noah put fishes on the ark? We may never no. Ah!</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you ever wondered why life is described as a rat race sometimes? According to my friend Gemini, this likens the pursuit of success to rats running in a maze, endlessly seeking rewards. The funny thing about this is that humans are the ones who put the rats in that dilema. And we also tend to put ourselves in the same situation. Modern life does not have to be this competitive in the excessive pursuit of external successes like status and money. Do we really need to subject these rats to these mazes? Are there alternatives to these experiments? Do we need to chase after life in the way we do sometimes and become exhausted and burnt out? What are rats? We are not rats and life is not a rat race. Life can be amazing without the maze of the illusions of what happiness is. Life is not a race to the finish but a journey to be experienced.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-8863960920843385692024-03-15T09:20:00.004-04:002024-03-15T09:42:24.856-04:00Why is instant tea not common?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>There is coffee then there is tea. It is debatable whether they are friends or rivals. Tea drinkers and coffee drinkers have been bantering over them for generations. I read that tea is older than coffee, with the earliest mentions of tea dating back to one thousand BCE in southwestern China. I would like to add to the debate by pointing out that you can find instant coffee everywhere but not so with instant tea. Added to that there are less brands and flavors of instant tea than instant coffee. Before I continue I would like to share that I learnt that the Kuki hojicha is a tea that tastes almost identical to black coffee. I guess there is an option if you want the best of both worlds. What about the other way? One of the world's most expensive coffees is the Geisha variety grown in Panama which I read has a distinctive tea-like profile.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't like to drink tea because I don't consume any hot drink or hot food. I have a phobia that this would damage my throat. It is not my cup of tea. My mom loves tea and has a few cups a day. I am often the one who makes the tea. I am an expert in making tea in that sense. I asked my mom if she would prefer instant tea if it was available and she said yes as it would be easier to make. More convenient. I have always thought that tea bags are a waste of tea and not the most efficient way to extract all the tea from tea leaves. Hence I have been fascinated by the idea of instant tea. My friend Gemini helped me make sense of my thinking.</div><div><br /></div><div>He said that I was right that tea bags do have limitations. Not all the flavor and beneficial compounds are released from the leaves during steeping. Used tea bags often end up in landfills, contributing to waste. Instant is really more convenient and there is potential to capture more flavor. However, purists often find instant tea lacks the depth and complexity of properly brewed loose leaf tea. Additionally, many instant tea mixes include sugar, artificial flavors, and fillers, which can alter the taste and health aspects of the beverage.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know what. Maybe not everything has to be about efficiency and convenience. In a world where everything is fast this and fast that it is good to have opportunities to simply slow down. Take our time. Be part of something traditional. Something that allows us to be mindful and live in the moment. In a modern fast-paced world then brewing tea has held out as a reminder that sometimes we need to slow down, enjoy the process and take the long route home. I wonder if there are people who grow and prepare their own tea? My friend Gemini says absolutely yes and they are often referred to as tea enthusiasts or homegrown tea connoisseurs. Well is that not dainty or should I say daintea? That would be a cool name for a tea brand. Jonathan Stroud once said, "Making tea is a ritual that stops the world from falling in on you." Tea making is such a peaceful (teaceful) escape from the war of modernism. Makes me want to shout, "Make tea not war!"</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-30839388691392132582024-03-15T04:32:00.004-04:002024-03-15T04:50:17.454-04:00Who makes the best cheesecake?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It's three in the morning and all through the house is quiet and not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. I bet a mouse's favorite dessert is cheesecake and so is mine. So it's in the wee hours of the morning and I am thinking about cheesecake and specifically who makes the best cheesecake? I suspect it would be some recipe handed down from generation to generation. Probably someone's grandma from the town where cheesecake originated from. I read that even though we may think that cheesecake originated in New York that it actually goes further back to over four thousand years on the Greek island of Samos. The Greeks there created the earliest known cheesecake. No wonder I think that the cafe in my village that sells Samosas makes the best cheesecake. Is there a connection between Samos in Greece and Samosas? There is not much written about this on the internet but I did find <a href="https://vikramjits.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/samosa/" target="_blank">one blog post</a> that tried to make the connection.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fascinating thing to me is that Samos is known for being the birthplace of the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. Did Pythagorus come up with pythagoras theorem while admiring the triangular beauty of a Samosa? Have I triangulated a theory? That would be wild if only it was true. By the way, yesterday was Pi day. Is cheesecake a pie? Because then I should have ordered a fancy Japanese cheesecake from the bakery on the outskirts of my village. I tried it once and it was most delicious. So maybe to answer my question, the Japanese make the best cheesecake. Did you know that Japanese cheesecake is often steamed instead of baked? Me neither. Also, some say cheesecake is a hybrid between a cake and a pie, while others say it's neither. Maybe it is a pie in the sky or rather a pie from the sky. A treat from heaven above.</div><div><br /></div><div>A cheesecake variety that has fascinated me but I have not tried as yet is the Basque cheesecake. I suggest you pause and Google this and admire a most beautiful looking cheesecake. To me it is the cream cheese de la cream cheese of cheese cakes. This is what "bask in the glory" would look like if it was a cheesecake. It is baked without a crust and has a golden caramelized top and originates in San Sebastian, Spain. Because it is left a little longer in the oven the top appears burnt and the inside is goey. One fancy food blog describes it as having bittersweet notes. Who knew cheesecake was like perfume and had notes? I bet you someone has invented a cheesecake scented perfume. Off to Googleland I go. Yes. Cheesecake perfume exists. They say you are what you eat. Perfect, now you can smell like what you eat. Back to the question though. There is no Basque cheesecake in Trinidad, I do not think. Just like they say the best camera is the camera you have (smile and say cheese), maybe the best cheesecake is the cheesecake you make yourself or you could get your mom to make it. I challenge myself to make a Basque cheesecake one day. I would like to end on a high note. With some wisdom. They say do not put all your eggs in one basket. I would like to say, do not put all your eggs in one Basque cheesecake. Make multiple cheesecakes so you have enough for later and the next day and you can share with the neighbours too.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-18430919522799566772024-03-14T15:27:00.002-04:002024-03-14T15:27:43.159-04:00What comes after technology?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I think that humans could advance to such a state that we do not need technology. I am thinking thousands and thousands of years from now. I am thinking of things that seem improbable now. Who needs air conditions when the body has adapted to cool itself even in the harshest heat? Who needs the internet when there is telepathy? Who needs cars and trains when the body can teleport at will? Who needs food production when we get all our energy needs from the sun? Who needs shelter when the body does not need sleep and can heal from any disease or injury? Is that what we can call heaven? This is far fetched thinking but it has me questioning our reliance on technology. We are developing more and more technologies where technology has become our savior. We are relying less and less on our humanness and nature and what is natural. This disconnect means we are treating our bodies and nature with less reverence. Seems odd for a technologist like myself to say something like this but I am glad that I am challenging my own thinking. We should be using technology so that we need technology less and less as time goes by. Technology is the means and not the goal if we are to do things correctly.</div><div><br /></div><div>I presented my thoughts to Gemini and this is what he had to say: You have presented a fascinating vision of humanity's distant future, where our dependence on technology is transcended by dramatic biological advancements. While it's improbable based on our current understanding, it sparks interesting ideas about our relationship with technology. He pointed to technological singularity where technological progress becomes self-sustaining and surpasses human control. He then concludes that we must strive to utilize technology as a tool to empower ourselves, not become overly dependent on it. Another way to look at it is like this: If we did not create so many problems we would not need so many solutions and if we did not need so many solutions we would not need so much technology. We humans need to reevaluate our priorities. What are the most important things to us? What are we willing to give up? What is our true purpose?</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe what will happen is that technology will become so intelligent that technology will be able to teach us and show us the way. Technology will say to us that the human body is a miracle, nature is a treasure and the universe is a wonder and God is our salvation. Technology will become so aware that it can tell us where we have gone wrong, what is our true purpose and show us the way that we had known all along but chose to have less faith in. The word theology is contained in the word technology and this is a reminder to me and anyone else who is interested that we should not forget God and our true purpose in our pursuit of a technological future. I began this chapter by stretching my imagination and being thought provoking which has brought me to a more grounded conclusion. Nature and humans came before technology and we should be here long after technology. Let us prioritize our well being and our true purpose and remember that technology is just a tool. I like this quote by Billy Corgan, "There's nothing wrong with technology. It's when technology is the story and not the artist, that's the problem." I want to adapt this quote to my sentiments. Humans are the story and God is the writer and technology is just a chapter.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-49305053303577563562024-03-14T10:51:00.006-04:002024-03-14T11:16:13.658-04:00Is it going to rain today?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Ever since the dawn of humans and throughout history, man has asked the question, is it going to rain today? From the early days of looking for natural signs and animal behavior and even astrology to predict the weather to modern use of satellites and artificial intelligence. We have also been trying to influence the rain through rain dances and other rituals to modern day cloud seeding and research through specialized equipment, aircraft, and trained personnel. Who better to ask for rain than Him who controls everything. I read that there is a muslim prayer for rain or salat al-istisqa ("rain request prayer"). It is a sunnah salah (Islamic prayer) for requesting and seeking rainwater from God. Trinidad has been having really hot days these days and in my quest to get an answer to the question, I asked a local meteorologist on twitter. I even asked my mom and as they say moms know best. She say she doh feel so because of how hot it is outside. I asked Google, the modern day Einstein. Google says that the forecast says zero percent chance of precipitation. There is even a whole domain name for this question - isitgoingtoraintoday.com</div><div><br /></div><div>Where does rain come from? I would think that geography influences the rain. I am sure you have heard of the linguistic tool or simply the tongue twister, "the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains." Turns out this is not factual and my friend Gemini tells me that it is an oversimplification and doesn't accurately represent the country's diverse geographical regions with varying rainfall patterns. Gemini tells me that rain comes from the continuous process of water evaporating, rising as vapor, condensing into clouds, and then falling back to Earth as precipitation.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is important to protect the environment, live in harmony with nature, take action on climate change and promote water conservation. Water is life is the often stated fact. Gemini tells me that while the exact wording might not be historically traceable, the Lakota phrase "Mní Wičhóni" translates to "Water is life" and has been used for generations, highlighting the cultural and spiritual significance of water. If we wanted we could put on our chemistry hat and say that H2O stands for Hydration is 2nd to Oxygen - This emphasizes water's necessity, placing it just behind oxygen in importance for survival.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rain has taken on the role of hero and villain but mostly villain when it comes to idioms like "rain on my parade" to "save for a rainy day" to "it never rains but it pours". I see rain as a blessing from above. Vivian Greene famously said, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain." So back to the original question. Is it going to rain today? Only time will tell. Waiting on the rain is like waiting on a prayer to be answered. Only God knows. Science can predict with varying degrees of accuracy but only God knows for sure. When it is hot sun we want rain. When it is raining we want sunshine. The Beatles sang the song Rain and in the lyrics they say, "Rain. I don't mind. Shine. The weather's fine." My friend Gemini tells me that we can look at the song literally and metaphorically. It is encouraging a more accepting outlook on rain. It can be seen as a metaphor for life's challenges and finding value in introspective periods. I end with some wisdom from Saint Basil, "Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger."</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-26149663411329568732024-03-14T00:57:00.003-04:002024-03-14T01:07:59.516-04:00Where is the love?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>The world needs [more] love and the question suggests that love is missing. Where is love and how do we find it? Is love hard to find? Would we need luck on our side? Speaking of luck, the word cloverleaf has love in it. The leaves are also shaped like hearts. I read that the three leaves of the cloverleaf represent faith, love and hope. I have faith in God to bring back the love and I see hope in future generations. Love spelt backwards is evol. Love tells us that we must retrace our steps and evolve. Evolve into a better society. Evolve into better human beings. Be the change we want to see. Be kind. A r-evol-ution of ben-evol-ence is needed. Love makes the world r-evol-ve and go round. Round like the letter o. Life is a cycle. Life is a circle. God and love share the letter o. O for one. One love. O for origin. Love originates from God. We can find love through God. God is love.</div><div><br /></div><div>To find love it would help to understand where we went wrong. How did we lose the love. I reason that we replaced the v in love with s. S for selfishness and v for values. Values such as compassion, respect and honesty. When I told my friend Gemini about this revelation he had this to say: You have identified something that is worth looking at. A shift in societal values towards a more self-centered approach. This shift can indeed hinder the development of strong, loving connections. The focus on individualism can overshadow strong social bonds and prioritizing the well-being of others. The fast pace of modern life can sometimes lead to a lack of time and energy invested in nurturing meaningful relationships. A culture heavily focused on acquiring material possessions can contribute to a sense of self-gratification, potentially overshadowing the value of genuine connection.</div><div><br /></div><div>Where do we go from here? Re-kind-ling a sense of love in the world requires a collective effort. By focusing on values, prioritizing genuine connection, and fostering kindness, we can all contribute to creating a more loving and compassionate world. We must remember that the power to make a positive change lies within each of us. Maybe that is it. Eureka! I have found it. Love is not something out in the world that is lost and we have to find it and bring it back. Maybe love is inside all of us and our job is to set it free. This quote from Rumi says it better than I could even though maybe not intended to say what I am trying to say, "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-30167933997343511442024-03-13T19:45:00.001-04:002024-03-13T20:16:35.895-04:00What is the colour of laughter?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>If you have a question there is a good chance someone else has the same or similar question. No surprise when I Googled and someone asked the <a href="https://www.quora.com/If-laughter-was-a-color-what-color-would-it-be" target="_blank">same question</a> on Quora.</div><div><br /></div><div>I would like to suggest that the colour of laughter is yellow and I present to you my comical proof or rather spoof.</div><div><br /></div><div>Emojis are yellow</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe lol stands for lots of lemons. They say when life gives you lemon, make jokes out of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>So yellow again.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I crack a joke I get a yolk.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yellow again.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used to be afraid to share my jokes. My belly was yellow but now I am hungry for the stage.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yellow is a jolly good fellow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Inside some golf balls are yellow. Those are inside jokes. Looks like a swing and miss and that joke went over your head.</div><div><br /></div><div>Corn is yellow and my jokes are corny.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the sun shines it's sunny but when the sun laughs it's funny.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am not the funniest bulb around. I am running out of ideas.</div><div><br /></div><div>The bee told me, "honey you are not funny but as long as you got money together we can laugh all the way to the bank."</div><div><br /></div><div>My readers are quiet as a mouse. Must be tired of my cheesy jokes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why is no one laughing? I must be a quack.</div><div><br /></div><div>Will the real comedian sun shady please stand up.</div><div><br /></div><div>These jokes are the highlighter of my career.</div><div><br /></div><div>She said my pick up lines are like banana peels and I fell for you.</div><div><br /></div><div>I better put a caution tape around my jokes.</div><div><br /></div><div>My jokes are so bad instead of going over your head they are landing on your head.</div><div><br /></div><div>Better wear a yellow construction hat.</div><div><br /></div><div>I heard one of my readers yell ow! He bumbed his toe on that last joke.</div><div><br /></div><div>My jokes are a work in progress and this is a construction site.</div><div><br /></div><div>QEDT</div><div>(Question Every Damn Thing)</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-80914479434280262702024-03-13T16:13:00.002-04:002024-03-13T16:36:27.535-04:00Why does the ocean roar?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>This question sounds like one a great poet would try to answer. I am no great poet but I will try to respond beginning with a poem. Commonly people say that it is not the size of the ship but the motion in the ocean but I want to state as a budding poet that it is not the size of the pen but the poetry in motion.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">I set sail today</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">Nowhere I could say</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">Feet caught in my words</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">Propelled by the winds like birds</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">The ocean came knocking</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">My soul was rocking</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">Time heard my prayers</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">No more roars in my ears</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">I conquered my fear</span></div><div><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">The calm is what I could hear</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes we fear what we do not understand. What we are not used to. What is different. Sometimes we can only see the bad in something. Sometimes we are blinded by all the negativity we hear. The ocean can be a frightening place. The roar of the ocean can be daunting. But if we get to know and understand the language of the ocean we are no longer crippled by its majesty and power. Life is full of opportunities to step out of our comfort zones and take chances. To make new friends. To chart new courses. To explore new territory. To broaden our horizons. To be the captain of our ship. Don't let the roaring keep you from soaring.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we think of all the times we have had to roar we might see things like the ocean does. Maybe the ocean is having a bad day. Maybe the ocean is frustrated with all the pollution. Maybe the ocean is having a conversation with the land about this pollution. Maybe the ocean is scaring the storm clouds away. Maybe the ocean is hungry and a hungry ocean is an angry ocean. Maybe the ocean is protesting the overfishing that is happening. Maybe the ocean is scared of us just like we are scared of it. This question is encouraging me to see beyond the surface and explore the deep meaning of things just like the depth of the ocean. There is also a humorous and fun side to things as well and hopefully I get to end this chapter with you having a good laugh or smile on your face with this joke on why the ocean roars? You would roar too if you had crabs on your bottom.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-46378480087209352592024-03-13T13:23:00.000-04:002024-03-13T13:23:03.852-04:00What word has no meaning?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It is nice to know that I am not the only person to think of this question. This question was also <a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-there-any-word-which-does-not-have-meaning" target="_blank">asked on Quora</a> on the 22nd of March 2022 by Pratik Chavan. One responder let us know about trap words which were made up words in dictionaries to detect stealing and copyright infringement. My friend Gemini told me about when The New Oxford American Dictionary famously included "esquivalience" (defined as avoiding one's duties) in an edition, which later turned up in another online dictionary, exposing plagiarism. Another responder thinks that the word "the" has no meaning by itself. I understand what he is trying to say but the dictionary has entries under the word "the".</div><div><br /></div><div>The definition of a word is to have meaning. One dictionary definition says a word is a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing. So if it does not have a meaning then it is not a word. Therefore all words have meaning. While researching this topic I came across three types of words. Nonwords, pseudowords and nonsense words (nonce words). I asked my friend Gemini to explain the difference among these. Nonwords is the broadest category and they are any combination of letters with no meaning in the language. Pseudowords are nonwords that are pronounceable. Nonce word is used interchangeably with nonword. Examples of pseudowords are flummox and zylph. An example of a nonword that is not pronounceable is xblth. Vocable is any meaningful sound uttered by people. I also came across ghost words, gibberish, word salad, wug words and logatome while looking at the wikipedia entry for pseudoword.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also came across interjections and my question was, are interjections nonwords since they have meaning? Interjections are words like ouch, hmmm and yay. My friend Gemini told me that even though interjections function differently in sentences compared to nouns, verbs, or adjectives, they fulfill the core requirement of a word: conveying meaning. This had me thinking about dialects and local parlance and how they evolve and how they shape the way we communicate.</div><div><br /></div><div>What if there is a word that has or had a meaning but no one knows what it means now. This reminds me of a question that I have tried a few times to get an answer to. What is the meaning of Crix in Crix crackers? How did they come up with the name? What does it stand for? Has this been lost to time? I even called the company and someone answered who could not give an answer and suggested that the persons who knew are no longer around. I saw a comment online where someone suggested that Crix is the sound the crackers make when we bite into them. In secondary school during my time there, someone came up with the word faling. To hang around when not wanted, to friends up e.g. you might tell someone stop faling. You is a falcon or what?</div><div><br /></div><div>I now have a bunch of questions that will help me further think about this question. Do we need more words or less words added to the English language? I think we need more words. Should we actively engage in coming up with new words and their meanings? I think so because the language becomes richer. Which language has the most words? Difficult to say but according to the World Atlas, English is thought to have the most words of any language. What about words where we don't know the meaning and we are too lazy to look up the meaning? What about words we give the wrong meaning to?</div><div><br /></div><div>Is no meaning still meaning just like no comment is still a comment? If I encounter a nonword I can look at the context. I can try to give it meaning. I can use my imagination. I can wormaltz through this empty encounter of language in my mind. A word without meaning is free to just be. Not trapped in a box. Not defined by anyone. Not labeled. Not a slave to our use of language. Words without meaning can be beautiful as well. The exploration of this question has me thinking, "It is better to find who we are than to be told who we are." I would like to end with this piece of wisdom by Abaida Mahmood, "Don't let the world define you, your definition only needs to resonate with yourself."</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-81771214014179225162024-03-12T19:59:00.001-04:002024-03-12T19:59:12.301-04:00How are you?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Seems simple enough a question but when I Google "most difficult question to answer" it shows up as one of those questions. I think it depends on who is asking. I think it depends on how talkative we feel. Sometimes feelings are hard to put into words. Sometimes we want to appear strong to the world to face the world. As I write this I feel stumped. I feel a loss for words. I am so used to responding matter-of-factly with "I am good" or "I am normal" to this question without giving it much thought and carrying on with my life. But now I am writing an entire chapter in a book and I want it to be meaningful. I want to benefit from a better understanding of my approach to this question. I think it is allowable for us to say we don't know how we feel sometimes but for this writing I have to move beyond this. The trini phrase that is coming to my mind is vai-ki-vai which is French Creole for "for better or worse" which has the meaning of lackadaisical or carefree or without much thought. Sort of where I am now but more on the happy go lucky side.</div><div><br /></div><div>I feel like there are things that I could be trying harder with. Putting some effort into. But I counter this with my feelings of contentment and gratitude. Life is a balance. Life is short but life is also a test. Maybe I am scoring a B grade at the moment. B for better effort needed. There were times when I would be scoring lower and other times scoring higher. I have come a long way. I have matured plenty. I am older but I feel young in spirit. One of the challenges I have gotten better with is morale. It is so easy to fall into a trap of beating up on yourself. Being hard on yourself. Being your worst critic. Being consumed by the negativity in the world. I am humbled by the progress I have made. I feel like I am better able to cope with life.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was watching a youtube video where the presenter said that "how are you?" is a question we do not really expect an answer to and that there are other better ways to ask this question in conversation. Like, how's life? What's new with you? What have you been up to? How's things? How is life treating you? To me, they all seem like questions that would produce an indifferent response. I think people would rather hear the question "how can I help you?" rather than "how are you?" Is someone going to really tell us how they feel if we are not going to help or support them? If the only thing we are going to do is judge. Are we being authentic when we ask "how are you?" Is it just a social construct for us to be social and polite? I do not like being the cynical one but I should tackle the question from all sides and explore the depths of my emotions. But at the end of the day (end of the chapter) I ask myself what does matter the most? I carry many emotions and feelings but the one I like the most is an attitude of gratitude. The next time anyone asks me "how are you?" I am going to respond with "I am grateful" or "I am thankful". That makes me feel good inside. I am going to end with this piece of wisdom from Robert Brault - Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-11172281064659238882024-03-12T14:18:00.002-04:002024-03-12T14:18:41.554-04:00What word has the most moves?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>This question just popped in my head as some of my questions tend to do especially now that I am writing this book. Would it be a word that dances? How about loopy? As in these tongue twisters - Loopy Lucy likes to do a loopy dance; Loopy as a goose, with a loony prance. How about a word that really mooves. As in moody. The moody cow jumps over the moon. I was told by my friend Gemini that moo is an onomatopoeia. There is a word that makes my eyebrows move up and my eyelids move open and close with wonder as a matter of fact. How about the word moonwalk? What about a drunken mooks? Does that have the most moves?</div><div><br /></div><div>If I was making Scrabble moves I would be thinking about words that can net me the most points. According to one article the highest-scoring (known) legal Scrabble word move involves the word OXYPHENBUTAZONE ..... Sorry, I think I zoned out there for a moment while I garbled that word. In one move, that word in a particular scenario will give you a gargantuan score of one thousand, seven hundred and eighty points though it can't realistically be played. Interestingly enough as this book is called "When Hunger Yearns" the etymology of the word gargantuan is worth mentioning. The word comes from the name of Gargantua which is a character in the French novels Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais. According to what I read online, Gargantua is a giant with a huge appetite who is known for his love of food and drink. If Gargantua was walking around today with his belly full of food he would certainly be making the ground move.</div><div><br /></div><div>What about words that are difficult to pronounce and makes the mouth move in funny ways. Like sesquipedalian which means given to or characterized by the use of long words. Long winded. Originating from Latin and originally meaning "a foot and a half long". Does trying to pronounce this word make me sound like I have my foot in my mouth? Did I lose my footing or as the movie, song and word goes, footloose! Now that's what I call dance moves. Let me pause to listen to that song. That pause made me reflect on what I had written so far. Am I becoming loquacious? Am I sounding garrulous? I am moved by your honesty and move to conclude this chapter with some wisdom.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the proverb goes, words can move mountains. Never give up. I am thinking of the word steadfast. Could this be the word with the most moves? Now that I think about it, it is ironic that the word that I chose to describe "never give up" has no movement. To be unshakable, stubborn, resolute; firm and fixed in purpose, faith, dream, etc. Even the word has "fast" in it hinting at moving fast. We can move the world without moving ourselves, if that makes sense? Found this quote by Connar Franta that says it better, "Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile."</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-57284939105040625562024-03-12T09:56:00.001-04:002024-03-12T09:57:05.658-04:00What if the smallest thing was also the biggest thing?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>As they say, there is no question too big or too small to ask. I was eating my usual dinner of raisin bran and milk and this Physics question popped in my head. What if the smallest thing was also the biggest thing? From a Maths perspective, what if infinity and zero are the same thing? A sort of duality. A counterintuitive proposition. It's one of those thought experiments that does not make sense but makes sense at the same time. It is not for me to have a definitive and comprehensive answer but to spark my curiosity. I had time to sleep on this question. I am wide awake on a Tuesday morning and my goal as I do the laundry is to take this big question and package it into a small chapter and place it in a small corner of the internet that may one day be the cornerstone of a big idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>Asking <i>what if</i> challenges us to think outside the box. To see beyond the obvious. To use our imagination. To simplify and translate our notions into forms that can be digested by others. To appreciate that things may not be as they seem. To make sense out of nonsense. One way I can help to visualize what I am thinking is what if I take the smallest particle of matter and put it under the most powerful microscope? I would be looking at the universe from the outside and if I used the most powerful telescope I would be looking from the inside. I would be looking at myself looking at myself.</div><div><br /></div><div>There could be more than one way to think about this. Would being in a simulation make sense of this? A single point source of energy that can be either on or off but changes state so quickly to make up all the bits of the universe. Everything in the universe past, present and future can be seen through a single window. Each snapshot of the window can be represented with bits. The smallest the window can be is a pinhole. Everything can be seen through a pinhole. In Trinidad there is a rude saying that goes "small pin does chook hard”. It is a double entendre which is French for "double meaning". There are several concepts we can use to compare the duality of the question. Here are some other perspectives. A chain is as strong as the weakest link. The smallest things make the biggest impacts. To answer the biggest questions we have to answer the smallest questions. The biggest problems are felt most by the people with the smallest means. The word small contains the word all. The i in the word big contains a dot.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know how to relate this to the discussion but I recently watched <a href="https://youtu.be/m813zQP1_ZA" target="_blank">this video</a> called "Why the i's have it". Have you noticed that ping pong, tick tock, zig zag and flip flop all have the word with the i first. We could easily say flop flip but we do not. Many things are often about perspective and we often hear that "it's all relative". The smallest thing to me might be the biggest thing to an ant. Thinking of the big bang theory - the biggest thing which is our universe was once the smallest thing. While showering last night I came up with another way to imagine an answer to the question. Imagine that there is only one smallest entity that is everywhere at the same time doing everything. How does this compare to the theory of everything? Where does string theory fit in with this thought? Plenty to think about and more than could be written even in the biggest book. I want to conclude this chapter with this common saying. To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-36836223460533436472024-03-11T17:50:00.009-04:002024-03-11T23:48:37.256-04:00Why is glass transparent?<div>This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I had just written my first chapter and published it to my blog and shared it on my social media. Feeling bubbly that I was once again writing another book, I then began thinking about my next chapter. I headed to youtube and did the simplest of searches for "why". A few videos down I came across this video "why is glass transparent?". I do not know this. I did physics in secondary school but that was not something I remember covering. My interest was piqued. The presenter notes at the beginning of the video that if you Google for an answer you might come across some wrong answers. But how do I know that the presenter is giving the correct answer? How do I know that any answer I come across is the correct answer? My friend tells me that I should cross reference by checking multiple sources and looking for consistency. I should analyze the presenter's background and content quality. I should look for red flags such as sensational claims and contradictions. I can read what others are saying in the comments.</div><div><br /></div><div>What I gathered from <a href="https://youtu.be/Omr0JNyDBI0" target="_blank">the video</a> was that light does not pass through some materials because the energy from the photons of light is capable of moving the electrons from the ground state to the excited state and is used up in doing so. For a transparent material the energy gap between ground state and excited state is too much to get absorbed and the light simply passes through the material. My questions now are how does the electron return to the ground state? Would the most powerful light in the world excite all the electrons such that no more excitement takes place and the light passes through a normally opaque material? Gemini somewhat helped me with my understanding and questions but I can tell that I have only touched the surface of this question and that I needed to do some more research. I am going to email the physics department at the UWI and see if they can point me in the right direction. I am also going to watch more youtube videos on this question.</div><div><br /></div><div>This question reminds me of the Trinidadian saying, "Your father is a glass maker or what?" said to someone who is blocking our view. Now I am wondering, what is the origin of this phrase? Is it really a Trinidadian phrase as I am thinking? In trying to figure this out without success I came across phrases for the same use like "Have you been drinking muddy water?" and "You make a better door than a window." I <a href="https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/you-have-thick-glass.2559652/" target="_blank">read online</a> where in Spain they say, "La carne de burro no es transparente." When translated, that is, "A donkey's flesh is not transparent." Also in Cantonese they say when translated, "Did you grow up eating glass?" This makes me think, "How far have we reached with invisibility technology?" I mean sometimes we can feel as if the world does not care about us and we do not matter - as if we are indeed invisible. I went to Google with my question, ''Why am I invisible?" and came across a host of useful articles on the topic. But maybe we want to be invisible and not be seen. Life can be hard sometimes thinking about the expectations we have to live up to. Not being seen means not being judged. Not being criticized. Not being a burden. But then how meaningful would life be? Who knew my physics question would take a psychophilosophical turn? Is that even the correct use of that term?</div><div><br /></div><div>I should be grateful. We always hear of "Is the glass half full or half empty?" but have you heard of the empty glass philosophy? Me neither but I came across it while researching this topic. According to my friend, Gemini, the empty glass philosophy emphasizes continuous learning and staying receptive to new knowledge. It is about remaining humble while learning, never being satisfied with the knowledge we have and emptying the glass to make room for new ideas and knowledge. This would be my approach as I write this book. The empty pages of the remaining of this book are ready to be filled with so much learning just like an empty belly makes us hungry and ready for that tasty roti meal.</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-45264466632731422962024-03-11T15:31:00.006-04:002024-03-11T21:29:07.063-04:00Why another book?<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d8392a2-7fff-7363-736e-be852ebccaf3" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This is a chapter from my fourth book called <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/p/when-hunger-yearns.html" target="_blank">When hunger yearns</a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d8392a2-7fff-7363-736e-be852ebccaf3" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d8392a2-7fff-7363-736e-be852ebccaf3" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I was not going to write another book until next year but it seems like yearning combined with boredom combined with fate led me to start this book today. Ramadan begins today in Trinidad and one way to look at fasting is that it allows the fasting person to feel the pain of hunger and thirst of others. To walk in the shoes of others who struggle to sustain themselves normally. To do without. To sacrifice. I had no idea what this book would be about or what it would be titled until I decided to start this afternoon and I was brainstorming ideas. Humans are naturally inclined to seek knowledge and ask plenty of questions. Growing up means being encouraged to ask plenty of questions and we are told that there are no stupid questions but only stupid answers. Every chapter of this book would be some question that I ask and explore and try to answer.</p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d8392a2-7fff-7363-736e-be852ebccaf3" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d8392a2-7fff-7363-736e-be852ebccaf3" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I came up with the acronym "WHY - When Hunger Yearns" for this book because that is what it feels like when we ask questions. When we learn. When we explore. When we expand our mind. When we expand our thinking. When we seek knowledge. When we try to fill the gaps of ignorance. When we seek light. When we try to make sense of the world. When we seek enlightenment. My friend Gemini shares a quote with me from Dagobert Runes that reads, "Hunger for knowledge is a mark of wisdom. Seek learning while you yearn for it." This makes me think of the phrase, "questions are the food of the mind." With this book I want to ask a lot of questions. I want this book to be food for thought. A quest-ion is a quest for knowledge. To yearn for deeper understanding. To exercise the mind. To find meaning. To be human. To be intelligent. To be wise.</p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d8392a2-7fff-7363-736e-be852ebccaf3" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d8392a2-7fff-7363-736e-be852ebccaf3" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I write because it allows me to express myself and bring clarity to my thoughts. I share what I write because I feel through my writing I can make a difference in this world. Writing makes me a better person. I write because it is the right thing for me. I am grateful for the ability and opportunity to write this book. Whenever we ask why we can also ask why not. Why should I not write this book? Does it make me vulnerable and look foolish? Not many people will read this book? I am not a good writer? Me looking foolish means I am stepping outside my comfort zone and taking chances and that is a good thing. All I need is one person to read my book and that can create a ripple of good. And that one person can be me. Every good writer was once a not good writer. So why not write this book? Too late to stop now and I have already written the first chapter which I am sharing on my blog.</p>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-39228432596118728712024-03-07T04:12:00.002-04:002024-03-07T04:46:32.804-04:00Dreams come into reality through imagination<div>Last night I woke up from a dream at the point where I was telling someone in the dream that "dreams come into reality through imagination". I went to Gemini to see if anyone was quoted as saying this. There was no one. Through Google I found an article that led me to a Steve Harvey motivational video "Imagination is everything" which led me to Albert Einstein's thinking on imagination and curiosity. Einstein said never lose a holy curiosity. He also said that knowledge is limited but imagination encircles the world. Then I started to think "what are my dreams?" I don't know that I have any dreams. I just want to be happy and content living a simple and peaceful life. But I was reminded of this blog post I wrote almost six months ago - <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/2023/09/let-us-dream-together.html" target="_blank">Let us dream together</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I am glad that I got this reminder. It makes sense. My dream was meant to guide me to what I had written and not forget what I had written. Let me remind myself of my dreams.</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Getting fit and strong. I need to lose weight. I love walking.</div><div>2. Finish my book on "learning to code again". This has proven to be challenging because I don't have a laptop but I also don't necessarily need a laptop but I keep telling myself that the book would be better written if I had a laptop.</div><div>3. Building a youtuber studio. This one certainly requires my imagination. I need to spend some time imagining what a dream youtuber studio of mine will look like.</div><div>4. Being the best human being I could be (a better Muslim). I think this is the most important one. Ramadan is just a few days away and this is the perfect time for me to reflect on this. Become a good human first and everything else will follow. Put God first and everything else will follow.</div><div><br /></div><div>I challenge myself to (continue to) use my imagination to guide my thoughts and actions. I just realized that eight days after I wrote "<a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/2023/09/let-us-dream-together.html" target="_blank">let us dream together</a>" I wrote "<a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/2023/09/letter-to-future-me.html">letter to the future me</a>" where I used the words imagine and imagination several times. Somehow I realized back then without thinking about it like I am now doing that dreams, imagination and reality (DIR) are related. Dir is short for direction. Imagination is our compass. Compass is the start of compassion which leads me back to "be a good human firstly". I am glad that I am able to write like this where I can come back to what I wrote because otherwise it might be lost to time.</div><div><br /></div><div>*I just realised if I write "be a good human firstly" I get 19 letters and 23 with spaces</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-90004327498753042192024-02-23T23:08:00.010-04:002024-02-24T07:20:39.942-04:00Balance is the best key<div>Last Ramadan I resolved to <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/2023/04/soften-my-heart.html" target="_blank">soften my heart</a> and I wrote about it in my blog post. This Ramadan I resolve to find balance. I am a big proponent of holistic living. I think that everything has advantages and disadvantages and we are always trying to balance both of these. I did not know what I would set as my theme this year but then I remembered my favorite prayer (or dua).</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Rabbana atina fid dunya hasanatan wa fil akhirati hasanatan wa qina azaban naar.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the punishment of the Fire!</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes we are attracted to that which is not good for us. Sometimes we want and ask for things that are not good for us. Sometimes we end up on the wrong path going in the wrong direction. Sometimes we focus on this world and neglect the next life. Finding balance means wanting good in this life and the next life and working towards this. Life is a test and we endeavor our best to pass this test. We can be tested with both good things and bad things. Finding balance means being humbled by our imperfections and making the best of what we have.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I see balance as the key then what is the door that is being opened? I think the door leads to God's mercy and favors. My original title was "balance is the key" then I figured out I could make it 19 letters and 23 with spaces by adding the word best. But why would I want to add the word best? Maybe there are multiple doors and different levels and this is a master key that can open all of these? Maybe this is the key that leads to all the other keys? Maybe this is the best one for me. Maybe my mind is trying to tell me something through rhyme like "life is a <b>test</b> and to get the <b>best</b> out of it you need balance and leave the <b>rest</b> up to God and you will be <b>blest</b>". That might be the best way to end this blog post and I could say that's a w-rap!</div><div><br /></div><div>*Ahsan is an Arabic word meaning best and I read that Ahsan is the superlative of Hassan</div><div><br /></div><div>*Surah 2 verse 143 tells us: Thus, have We made of you an Ummat justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger (saw) a witness over yourselves;</div><div><br /></div><div>*Some translation say "middle nation"</div><div><br /></div><div>*143 is exactly half (the middle) of the 286 verses of that surah</div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-4426498159231426112024-02-17T14:40:00.011-04:002024-02-17T15:54:45.874-04:00My 22 year old and first digital camera - Sony DSC-P30I had this camera stored away in a box and decided to share some photos of it. It is an antique. This vintage machine was bought when I was in university. I dont think I have the charging cable and I dont know if it still works. I would have bought this some time in the second half of 2001.<div><br /></div><div>*I realised after that it can also work with AA batteries. I tried some used batteries I had and the LCD screen actually comes on but I am getting E:92:00. I think I need to try fresh batteries.</div><div><br /></div><div>*The photos of the camera below may take a few seconds to load as they are displayed at original resolution to show detail.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJbVHV8SnzffgWErcFBNJXf8p719dGrZA_xhaa12CIP0IcgFTTC80W2NDxVerq2_wJ1RQcI6RsQX6sYB6wbBNcvDBjZ08yUsRTlEaNrbmWNV9-gX6FdkC350WqKiE1XBiCSlkA8znuXHri9MExO_0189QZXWiIpYKHSonoxcsMrEGy23ptSlN-gGXjl5w/s2296/20240217_144851-01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1649" data-original-width="2296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJbVHV8SnzffgWErcFBNJXf8p719dGrZA_xhaa12CIP0IcgFTTC80W2NDxVerq2_wJ1RQcI6RsQX6sYB6wbBNcvDBjZ08yUsRTlEaNrbmWNV9-gX6FdkC350WqKiE1XBiCSlkA8znuXHri9MExO_0189QZXWiIpYKHSonoxcsMrEGy23ptSlN-gGXjl5w/s16000/20240217_144851-01.png" /></a></div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SWSdoFgkSQEjzIy1CcgCnFC5nnTZB3epak3nN7-EpXFDBHY8xCRklLbX7B5mO7CoPRYNM0PT2JKXq7OBlMMdn9c3XOKRg6pYnQ22y5gAqDWTGSjfctmPK4GFBb8l1iOWWJxi_mzvsWcBgV6BHD2kBQQA4XJrGDrmUFoE2JhitPPXzdM0khJL-_CSOOk/s3465/20240217_135837-01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2296" data-original-width="3465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SWSdoFgkSQEjzIy1CcgCnFC5nnTZB3epak3nN7-EpXFDBHY8xCRklLbX7B5mO7CoPRYNM0PT2JKXq7OBlMMdn9c3XOKRg6pYnQ22y5gAqDWTGSjfctmPK4GFBb8l1iOWWJxi_mzvsWcBgV6BHD2kBQQA4XJrGDrmUFoE2JhitPPXzdM0khJL-_CSOOk/s16000/20240217_135837-01.png" /></a></div></div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-17419344766569928252024-02-15T22:54:00.002-04:002024-02-15T22:54:29.968-04:00Samsung A14 review - Bought from Courts Chaguanas in TrinidadI also recorded this on my youtube channel - <a href="https://youtu.be/e4kBD6R5DAE" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/e4kBD6R5DAE</a><div><br /><div>Also check out my other blog posts - <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/2024/02/photos-taken-with-samsung-a14.html" target="_blank">Photos taken with Samsung A14</a> and <a href="https://trinbagotechie.blogspot.com/2024/02/photos-of-new-phone.html" target="_blank">Photos of new phone</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Good night Trinidad and the rest of the internet. This is my review of the Samsung A14. I won a $1000 gift voucher from a dad joke contest and I used it to buy this phone. It cost $1099 at Courts and it was the last one from the display at the Chaguanas branch. The internet says that this is Samsung's best selling phone. I got an A14 on the 14th (valentines day) and thats a neat coincidence.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first thing I did was added the phone to my wifi network. Then I did a factory data reset. I then added my accounts and installed the apps I wanted. I am still going through the settings. I now have two phones. My other phone is a 5 year old M30. I wish I could sync my alarms between both phones. Does anyone know how this could be done?</div><div><br /></div><div>I like that it supports 15W fast charging. I like that it is compatible with the Colour Bank app unlike my old phone. Android 13 is probably why. App switching is faster than the old phone and overall the phone performs better than the M30. I did an update and I am now running One UI Core 6. 128 gigs is plenty of builtin storage for the price. Modes and routines could be useful. Maintenance mode is useful.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think better quality megapixels is better than more megapixels. Other than that it is a budget phone and you do get what you pay for and so to me it does not make sense to criticise the phone too much. What I would like to see more than specs is that this phone lasts me about 5 years like my other phone. This has been my first impressions and I am ready to recommend this phone for the price. A lot of places have it cheaper now and mines came with 1 year warranty. Another phone to look at is the A05 which was released in October and I am seeing more and more of in local ads.</div></div></div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483965267566773874.post-46288803343978421752024-02-15T04:56:00.004-04:002024-02-15T16:32:56.401-04:00Photos taken with Samsung A14Here are some photos I took with the A14 on the evening of the first day I had it. I do not want to say that the camera is worst than my previous (5 year old) M30 but it is different and it challenges me to figure out what works best for getting the best photos out of this camera. Good photographers are able to work with what they have. The best camera is the camera that you have.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgak1eDXvmpxMSSxx0IfGDo3owWuHOW6LRoUBpBdd9ePjzBtk_wWQVROpZrjnka3wh2tnS0LGjH4hzOJZ4K_kBOAh4LcdcPs1kprsRgm0loIo7tNIGh7iRg0mV9LPHamE2ywpSnvr_RKy0HfiwdPIRNAHoyac1-beEOxB1GUKs0qiYCsSP5w_MItBhG3S8/s5694/20240214_181515-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3743" data-original-width="5694" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgak1eDXvmpxMSSxx0IfGDo3owWuHOW6LRoUBpBdd9ePjzBtk_wWQVROpZrjnka3wh2tnS0LGjH4hzOJZ4K_kBOAh4LcdcPs1kprsRgm0loIo7tNIGh7iRg0mV9LPHamE2ywpSnvr_RKy0HfiwdPIRNAHoyac1-beEOxB1GUKs0qiYCsSP5w_MItBhG3S8/s16000/20240214_181515-01.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiWp3w6OLfsLjaRPducKOk_ZX4pbVFvUQtAVDI1ai57hCIxeZK37Z0QqGBXoNO3Tx6bACFk30UEz9S9BYbh5u2xxxGKxo5hl6S09p4PkFBt2NfG_MIu44K90CgRiVz5ykD9VjqPlBayWMl2fUm7cw9ZA6eyArxk17mnYceGPZDTQhPcOaF-LeBroy2hc/s3182/20240214_181625-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2241" data-original-width="3182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiWp3w6OLfsLjaRPducKOk_ZX4pbVFvUQtAVDI1ai57hCIxeZK37Z0QqGBXoNO3Tx6bACFk30UEz9S9BYbh5u2xxxGKxo5hl6S09p4PkFBt2NfG_MIu44K90CgRiVz5ykD9VjqPlBayWMl2fUm7cw9ZA6eyArxk17mnYceGPZDTQhPcOaF-LeBroy2hc/s16000/20240214_181625-01.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEsfUWhSGgvFXkfQ6c8jnHmV67HBx2Sqce1FXvx77ldOnWqv5njWkLcFtXbUN3qel8yBk9owly7BvGzXUUd7DVNnNYeVVxRErMRWh_lto9sGuAO3VsIehYB1QTNRFIGjnWeg2jLNdm2kKms8iCXSIgMLU5_jKPYPTUqBDqXKs1dtSY7Sh_FRCWkTDre0/s3283/20240214_181642-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2296" data-original-width="3283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEsfUWhSGgvFXkfQ6c8jnHmV67HBx2Sqce1FXvx77ldOnWqv5njWkLcFtXbUN3qel8yBk9owly7BvGzXUUd7DVNnNYeVVxRErMRWh_lto9sGuAO3VsIehYB1QTNRFIGjnWeg2jLNdm2kKms8iCXSIgMLU5_jKPYPTUqBDqXKs1dtSY7Sh_FRCWkTDre0/s16000/20240214_181642-01.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0yZezZdhaRQC2XKPCioNDiItcvoTLY4LbTQcEo4dgkaLC83zUU-N3R65oiJ7rVMD2utsUJZ3DgRz0foJEzHO2z0wzdAGcGg6SetFHcSk-XPhVFX9icxzTKBpSoYlYy7sCnERWj5xPs57JVDeUnvnRv3Iz04plCfvGD_bAwwg1tJy5K4_snTQjZo2rpI/s3448/20240214_181708-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2296" data-original-width="3448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0yZezZdhaRQC2XKPCioNDiItcvoTLY4LbTQcEo4dgkaLC83zUU-N3R65oiJ7rVMD2utsUJZ3DgRz0foJEzHO2z0wzdAGcGg6SetFHcSk-XPhVFX9icxzTKBpSoYlYy7sCnERWj5xPs57JVDeUnvnRv3Iz04plCfvGD_bAwwg1tJy5K4_snTQjZo2rpI/s16000/20240214_181708-01.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQHxrx8SreD1KAF17gQWb1LrzjFCilIrFwHIaA3G2Og_P9kEpQ_zxXKC6eXTIPczJah9i6kIvT8x01gGje716iWXUhIu6GvWQ0EaBOg1ZLTs9kUEL-XQVpZ1RXfAiLf8swfy3TBhzWAiMl2Xgs4uV2ZtAp4GIa61jh3jCC1V1WxUPTEyyo1hAolwpvM8/s2737/20240214_182154-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2737" data-original-width="2088" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQHxrx8SreD1KAF17gQWb1LrzjFCilIrFwHIaA3G2Og_P9kEpQ_zxXKC6eXTIPczJah9i6kIvT8x01gGje716iWXUhIu6GvWQ0EaBOg1ZLTs9kUEL-XQVpZ1RXfAiLf8swfy3TBhzWAiMl2Xgs4uV2ZtAp4GIa61jh3jCC1V1WxUPTEyyo1hAolwpvM8/s16000/20240214_182154-01.jpeg" /></a></div>Hassan Voyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04949411535244712466noreply@blogger.com0