Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

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Becoming fit… and maybe thin

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2008-01-06_15-49-42

One of the joys of being jobless (for the time being at least…) is that I have ample time to walk, jog and ride my bicycle.

 

Yesterday I dropped the kids at school and jogged back home. This took me about 15-20 minutes. It was tough as I had not jogged for months… I then took my bicycle and spent the next two hours cycling (Quatre-Bornes to Roches-Brunes to Beau-Bassin to Rose-Hill and back to Quatre-Bornes.) This was an exhilarating experience as I could feel muscles that I thought had completely atrophied. Before you ask, yes, every single of my muscles is aching today :-)

After writing this, I’ll have a light lunch (no fried or boiled noodles today!) with Christina and do a bit of cycling in the vicinity of Quatre-Bornes. If I manage to exercise everyday then I’m sure that I’ll become much fitter… and, maybe, thinner.

Nouzil: a new mashup for Mauritius

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I’ve just come across a new mashup called Nouzil.com which combines information from various sources (e.g. L’Express, Le Défi, CanalSat Maurice and the Mauritian blogosphere.)

One impressive aspect of this mashup is the fact that it offers a pretty slick Ajax user interface (for a 1.0 product) and this is a direct consequence of it being powered by the Yahoo! User Interface library:

The Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources. All components in the YUI Library have been released as open source under a BSD license and are free for all uses.

I know there are a lot of people who discount Javascript as a powerful programming language. I guess they should read David Flanagan’s excellent book:

May The Force Be With You, Mr Bruno Julie!

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22 August 2008 Update II: Bruno Julie has earned a Bronze medal for all of us!

 

Bruno Julie lost on points against the Cuban. Even though I am completely ignorant of boxing techniques, I felt that Bruno Julie was tired at the end. The TV commentator suggested that the referee made a mistake but, frankly, I don’t have a clue…

The most important thing is that Bruno Julie is officially now the first ever Mauritian to earn a Bronze medal at the Olympics. It will be years (at least 4 more) before another Mauritian tries to equal this so this is a fantastic achievement. Congratulations to you, once more, Mr Bruno Julie!

My wife, my two kids and myself will be at the SSR International Airport to welcome Mr Bruno Julie to Mauritius! Who is coming?
 
22 August 2008 Update I: Bruno Julie’s fight at 15:31 today!

Today, at 15:31, a lot of Mauritians will stop whatever they are doing and watch Bruno Julie’s fight against Yankiel Leon Alarcon of Cuba during the first semi-final of the 54Kg boxing competition at the 2008 Beijing Olypics.

Bruno Julie is already sure of winning a Bronze medal at least. And this is a first for our tiny country, Mauritius. I sincerely hope that Bruno Julie’s performance will make Mauritians realize the importance of preserving our unity and working towards the same goals and objectives. Allé Bruno! Allé Maurice!

18 August 2008 Update: The first ever Olympic medal for Mauritius!

Bruno Julie has won convincingly. Therefore, he is the first ever Mauritian to obtain an Olympic medal. He now is in the semi-final. Who knows what may happen next.

Thank you for giving us, fellow Mauritians, so much joy. And May The Force Be With You for the next fight!

18 August 2008: May The Force Be With You, Mr Bruno Julie!

Today is an historic day for our tiny country, Mauritius, as Bruno Julie, will fight in the men’s 54kg boxing quarterfinal in the Beijing 2008 Olympics at exactly 15:16. If he wins against Hector Manzanilla Rangel of Venezuela, he will be the first Mauritian ever to win an Olympic medal and he’ll be one of the few real heroes of our country.

Good luck, Mr Bruno Julie! May The Force Be With You!