To understand...

...why dead tyrants are more convenient than captured tyrants, one should read this story:
Britain helped bring her family to Gaddafi – now she is asking why

Finally got...

...myself to remove the battery grip from my 20D. Its a liberating experience, after chugging along a heavy camera all these years. Not having the convenience of vertical shooting is not too bad, since the camera now feels relatively light and small. Though with the 17-40 mm L attached, its not too light. The real lightness comes when I attach the 50 mm 1.8, which, despite being cheap AND good, is superlight compared to what I am used to. Plus indoors, where the camera sits most of the time, having f/1.8 is very convenient, allowing good pictures where the 17-40 mm does not work (and I can't afford the 16-35 f/2.8 L).

Currently reading...

...Idea Man by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft. This book is being read on the Asus Eee Pad tablet. E-book reading is not too bad at all.

The tyrant...

...is very conveniently dead, even when captured alive. No wonder the West is happy. Western-supported dictators are better on their thrones, or dead, not in some court where they can tell their stories. Read here for a thorough background by Robert Fisk.

Fall in...

Mississauga, October 2011.

A photo...

...of my children with Erik Demaine.

Another view...

...at the Forks of the Credit park.

Fall colours...

...at the Forks of the Credit Park on an unusually warm October day.

Turn Wall...

...Street into Tahrir Square.

Quasicrystals, geometry,...

...medieval Islamic art, all together.

Funny to find...

...these pictures on a german news site, and not in "mainstream journalism" of where it is happening:
I am the 99%.

There is something...

...the modern-day Arabs seem to have taught others:
"Demonstrators have said they take their inspiration from the Arab Spring protests that swept through Africa and the Middle East this year."