Some of you might know that I created a couple of open source projects that became successful. I added a donate button to one of the project’s homepage. A couple of days ago, I received a donation through that link (thanks, Daniel). This is the second donation I’ve received since it’s inception. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. My current job pays me well, so I decided to funnel the donation to the following charities....

For some unknown reason, I looked up GWBasic today and downloaded an emulator. GWBasic was the first programming language that I learned. I have fond memories of that language. I love the fact that I could switch to a graphics mode and start drawing circles and squares. After about 30 minutes of fumbling around, my muscle memory kicked in and I started to write a simple program to draw some shapes on the screen....

A few weeks back while eating at a restaurant Sempi wanted me to tell him a story. I noticed he wasn’t eating his vegetables, so I made up a story about these animals that lived in the forest and how they discovered Broccoli. When they ate broccoli they became strong and could lift heavy things. Then came carrots which made them fast. Somehow this worked and he polished off every broccoli and carrot in the plate....

Sempi had this conversation with Yoshi yesterday. Sempi: Amma, when can I have a baby? Yoshi: Well, you have to study hard. Finish your pre-school, then your elementary school, middle school and then high-school. Go to college, well that part is optional. Get a job, meet someone, fall in love and then you can have a baby. Most importantly you have to be at least 18 years old. Sempi: Man, I’m never gonna have a baby....

Sempi loves Vian. Vian thinks Sempi is the coolest guy ever. When Vian is crying and I’ve tried every trick in my book, I call Sempi for help. Sempi starts doing something funny (sing a song in gibberish or jump up and down on a mattress), immediately Vian starts laughing (not just a smile but a wholehearted laughter). Vian thinks Sempi is hilarious and Sempi loves to entertain Vian. It works out great for me....