Category Archives: blog

Geocaching

I think I may have heard about geocaching sometime ago. But it was not until I went on a Cub Scout trip a couple of weekends ago that I actually had an opportunity to experience geocaching.

For those of you who don’t know, geocaching is a worldwide phenomenon. Geocaching is a real-world treasure hunt using GPS-enabled devices (most smartphones). Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates (or use their smartphone like I did) to end up at a specific location. They then attempt to find the cache (a hidden container) hidden at that location. Obviously, someone had to place the cache at that specific location and upload the coordinates.

I’ve only just begun – I found a cache in Guild Inn Park in Scarborough! But I can already imagine the amount of fun I will have.

If you’ve experienced geocaching I’d love to hear/read your comments.

Watch this simple video to better understand geocaching.

Visiting the Big Nickel in Sudbury

I never thought I’d visit Sudbury. Why? It’s so far north! But when we found ourselves an hour away from there we decided to make the trek and spend the last day of our mini vacation in Ontario’s “north”.

We hiked the Bell Park Boardwalk, visited Science North and even took pictures of the “Big Nickel”. We ended up in Sudbury after camping for a few days in the beautiful Grundy Lake Provincial Park.

Bell Park Boardwalk | Science North | Sudbury

Bell Park Boardwalk with the Science North building in the background. On Hermit’s Bay.

Smilodon | Science North

Kahzmir posing with a Smilodon (from the last Ice Age)

big nickel | sudbury | karim kanji

An End of an Era

Nothing lasts forever.

Stephen Colbert left The Report to play the straight man in late night television. Jon Oliver took his talents to HBO. And even household favourite David Letterman is leaving late night.

Today, Jon Stewart announced his retirement from The Daily Show. This dramatic change in the television landscape opens the door for both fresh new voices as well as his “conservative” critics to fill the void.

Top Articles of 2014

2014 is almost over. And 2015 is just around the corner. In this post we take a look back at some of the more popular articles of 2014.

Coffee Lounges

I attended a few coffee lounges at Willowdale this past year. After attending I posted some thoughts and pictures here. The most popular article that was written in 2014 was the Lounge that featured former Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed. The second most popular article from this past year featured the CEO of Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Khalil Shariff.

Toronto Politics

If you lived in Toronto in 2014 you know that politics took front page on almost a daily basis. And not because of anything good. Mostly. The third and eighth most popular articles from 2014 highlighted two personalities from Toronto politics. Third place (coincidentally) features Olivia Chow. I met Chow over the summer at a friend’s backyard barbeque. I also read Crazy Town by Robyn Doolitle which ended up as the eighth most popular article of karimkanji.com this past year. The book detailed the various shenanigans of Rob Ford and his dysfunctional political family. I also wrote about meeting eventual Mayor of Toronto, John Tory.

Social Media

The following three articles also ended up in the top ten most popular articles of 2014:

The Problem with LinkedIn;

How To Block Promoted Tweets In HootSuite;

I started teaching a couple of social media marketing courses at George Brown College here in Toronto.

Wearables

On itbusiness.ca, I started writing more about wearables in 2014. However, the most popular article I wrote on itbusiness this past year was my digital technology forecast for 2014.

Catalyst Blog

My writing can also be found on the Catalyst blog. The most popular piece from this past year was a look at the future of mobile banking.

YouTube

Did you know I also have a YouTube channel? I do. And you should subscribe! Here was my most watched video from 2014:

 

That day I met Tin Lizzie in @StratFest

Tin Lizzie is the affectionate name given to the world’s first mass-produced car: Ford’s Model T. Made in the first few decades of the 19th century, the Model T was also the first car to be made on Ford’s assembly line. Today, all mass-produced cars are made on an assembly line. And many other industries use the same assembly line process in their factories and warehouses.

Last weekend, I went back to my favourite Ontario town that’s 2 hours away: Stratford. There was a classic car fair just outside City Hall.

And that’s where I met Tin Lizzie. Allow me to introduce you all to this piece of history:

 







Photos: Visiting Taipei, Taiwan

I’m in Taipei, Taiwan for a few days. Yeah, I know. Not long enough. I’m checking out the technology scene which is one of the largest in this part of the world.

Yesterday, I did lots of walking around the city and even hired a tour guide to take me around to some of the “touristy” places.

Here’s some of the places that I visited:

  • National Palace Museum
  • Chih-Fu Temple
  • Taipei 101
  • Discovery Center of Taipei
  • Night Market

Make sure to check out my Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date with what I’m up to this week.

Toronto is Awesome: Reason #9 – BlogTO

This is my ninth submission in the Toronto Is Awesome series. I would love your comments, thoughts and future suggestions for this series.

There are many places on the web where one can find out what is happening in Toronto. There are newspapers (the paper and online versions), blogs and people on Twitter.

One of the best places to go for all that is Toronto is also one of the most entertaining online destinations focusing on Toronto: blogTO.

blogTO
blogTO

Founded by current Publisher, Tim Shore, BlogTO is the go-to place for anyone (citizen or visitor) wanting to know what is happening, or has happened, in Toronto.

Toronto is Awesome: Reason #1 – Hakka Restaurants

I thought of doing an introductory post for this series but thought otherwise. However, let me start off this post with an introduction of sorts.

No matter where you live, you’ve heard of our mayor here in Toronto: Rob Ford. He’s a polarizing figure to say the least. And most likely not someone people would be proud to call their mayor. Unless one happens to be part of “Ford Nation“. Now, I’m not a supporter of his politics or of him. Never have been. And I wish he would leave office or be kicked out.

BUT….

To say that Toronto needs saving, or that we’re the butt of all comedians jokes, or that our amazing city is suffering irreversible damage is just plain lazy and wrong. Toronto has been and will always be the Brett Hart of cities: The best there was, the best there is, and the best there ever will be.

Toronto, in my opinion is what cities around the world want to be when they grow up.

So, for the rest of this year (hopefully everyday) I will write a quick blog post about why Toronto is awesome.

Clue #1: It has nothing to do with who our Mayor is or is not.

Hakka Restaurants! I LOVE hakka food. And Toronto is a city blessed with some amazing hakka restaurants.

My favourite is China Cottage in Scarborough. I love the variety of dishes and the flavour that stays no matter how spicy the food is. My favourite is the Hakka Fish. Order it. You will not be disappointed.

China Cottage - Hakka Fish
China Cottage – Hakka Fish