As a web developer who constantly deals with domains and emails being transferred, I’d like to set a standard guideline on how one should manage their domains and email in order to maintain autonomy and control over your own material, while eliminating the chances of losing domains through silly administrative mishaps.

1. ALWAYS keep a public email with hotmail, gmail, yahoo etc., and check it regularly.
   Occasionally you may drop a domain name altogether, or stop working for a company, or cut partnership with a company. That means, your old email at john@oldcompany.com is no longer accessible to you. Regardless of what email you use as a primary email, you should always keep one email address active through a large public email platform such as @hotmail.com, @gmail.com, @yahoo.com etc. By having one of these emails as the core email, you have 1 email address that you can ALWAYS fall back to. I have my email at @jeffkee.com and on @synchronous.ca, but I always keep my @hotmail.com account active.
2. ALWAYS keep your domains under your name.
   It is not a good idea to let somebody else have control over a domain name. Not even your web designer should have complete ownership and control of your domain. Your domain is your property. Worst case scenario: If you have a fallout with a web designer, and the guy decides to screw you - you’d have to basically pay him whatever ransom he requires to regain your domain, OR go through a lawsuit to recover a domain (if it is an option - based on how your company is registered, it may not even be possible). If you’re curious how your domains are handled, visit WHOIS for domain lookup information. Some domains are privacy-protected. But you can still see which registrar holds the domain information. Contact this registrar to make sure that your name, as well as your primary email (as mentioned in point #1) is listed on the WHOIS contact information. Otherwise, you can be in big trouble later!
3. ALWAYS use your public domain email as your domain contact email.
   On my registration for www.jeffkee.com, there is a contact email address. It would be foolish to have this email entered as anything other than my @hotmail.com account. Why? If I lose any other domains, I lose the key point of contact to manage this domain. Let’s say I registered my email from @synchronous.ca as a contact email. Imagine in 3 years, I got rid of the @synchronous.ca domain after I re-brand. Then, the important domain related emails (especially renewal reminders) will still be sent to the @synchronous.ca email, when I don’t even have that account anymore. For that reason, your key contact email for any of your domains should be a @hotmail.com, or @gmail.com type of an account that will NEVER disappear. This way you make sure that you always maintain contact and control over your precious domains!

Hopefully this gives everybody a clear guideline of how to best manage your email addresses and your domains.

If you have questions about the best way to set up your email addresses on a private domain you just obtained please check out my other post about using Google Applications and Gmail as your primary email and collaboration system.

It’s been a while since I provided an update to this blog. I’d like to share some work that I’ve done for my clients and go over some of the basic technologies.

1. Xtown.ca

Xtown is an extreme sports facility located in Quebec, and they have an excellent indoor track for motocross, ATVs and more. For Xtown we’ve provided web design work, as well as PHP/MySQL programming work in order to allow them to manage members, bookings and payments on the website through the front end and back end. It is an intricate system which is fully custom developed just for this business!

Visit Xtown.ca for Extreme Sports, Motocross, ATV, SNOX and more in Quebec!

2. BrockSmeaton.com

Brock’s website needed a re-design, so we got to it to simplify and clean up the site. The menus were re-designed, and we switched to a side navigation with fixed layers on top and side for a frame-like look, but without the frames. We all know that frames are not good for SEO, right? Also we nixed the landing page, which has been a long tradition among realtor websites (and other industries) to make a grand first impression. Instead we have an index page that is part of the regular design template, with a cool javascript slideshow going through it.

Visit Brocksmeaton.com for West Vancouver Real Estate listings!

3. Alta Pacific Logo and Branding

Alta Pacific - Investing in Canadian Mortgages

Our newest clients, Alta Pacific Mortgage Investment Corporation, wanted a brand new logo as well as business cards designed for their new business. They provide impeccable services in investing your money into mortgage securities, which is a much more profitable, safe, and viable investment in these volatile markets we’ve seen recently. We also did a brochure for the company as well.

Alta Pacific Brochure - Investing in Canadian Mortgages

Visit Alta Pacific’s website for more information on Investing in Canadian Mortgages. We have not designed their website yet, but we hope to do that soon as the company grows!

I was watching the CBC News today (one of my daily rituals) and I realized something very important about how Canadian politicians and strategists use references to the President of the United States of America.

Years ago when the war in Iraq began under the whole propaganda of “War on Terrorists”, most Canadadians viewed the politics of the redneck President, George Bush, as less than favourable. In fact, the huge opposition towards Bush’s policies made a change in how Canadian political battles and debates were fought. Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of canada was often demonized with reference to their similarities with the Bush administration down South.

The Liberal Party, which is the main opposition to the Conservative Party, often used these types of ads to associate Stephen Harper with George Bush. These type of ads were used in the election before this, when the Liberal Party leader was Paul Martin.

That was the tone with which we referred to the leader of our Southern neighbours. The bad guy. The ignorant, simpleton redneck who is trigger happy and aggressive, and likes to act like a tough guy in public while knowing nothing about the economy. Simpliy put, Canadians were ashamed that our closest neighbours had elected that Texan to President, twice in a row.

Today on CBC, however, things were changed. In a political debate between Conservative and Liberal and NDP strategists, the new US President, Barack Obama, was mentioned, but in a totally different way. The Conservative strategist mentioned that the Canadian public now wanted to see a “non-partisan approach” to the economic problem. The non-partisan point of view is one of Obama’s guns in how he intends to lead the nation out of the economic crisis that they are in, and the Conservative strategist tried to caplitalize on it - by citing similarities of their policies to that of Barack Obama’s. When that was mentioned, the Liberal and NDP strategists gave out a sarcastic laughter, pointing out that the Liberal and NDP has been going towards that approach for months, while the Conservative party kept on feeding the nation lies about the current economic situation.

Bottom line is, all sides were trying to sell to the public that their policies are more in line with the new US President, Barack Obama. Using similarities to the US President as a selling point in political debates was something that Canadian politicians did not do for the past 8 years!

Looks like a lot of things have changed. I consider this international shift of viewpoint to be one of very significant nature, and something that the public and politicians both need to acknowledge carefully and fully. Barack Obama’s election really is a world-shifting event in the eyes of the public at the moment. What the results will be, and how much can be possibly done in 4 years to fix everything is a question that only Obama can answer for us. I hope the answer is a positive one. But all that speculation put aside, the fact that a new leader of the USA being praised and lifted up so much in Canadian politics signals a huge change of scenery, and the way Canada and the rest of the world looks at the USA as a nation.

Perhaps the USA will regain its dignity after all in the eyes of the world. We’ll see in a few years.

This blog topic is rather off from my normal topics and may throw you off but hear me out. I’m about to talk about a very important issue here, and that is the issue of understanding and appreciating where and how our food comes from. A good understanding on this topic at a widespread public level, I believe, will increase more conscious choices for food selection and thus promote public health and wellness, while also decrease the amount of pollution and greenhouse gases.

In our modern society, most people are accustomed to understanding food as something that is packaged and ready to go at the grocery stores. You go there, pay a few bucks, and you get harvested vegetables, packaged grains, and plastic-wrapped meat. That’s all dandy and neat, and it is part of modern civilization in which the advancement of transportation and storage techniques allowed the segregation of urban areas from rural areas. Why farm on expensive land? Let’s farm out in the booneys, or sometimes, foreign countries, and then bring everything over here to the stores and distribute it - it makes logistic and economic sense.

When I grew up in Korea, I had plenty of experience with nature. I grew some of our own vegetables in the small patch of a garden we had on our 1st floor apartment. I’ve been to a large green tea farm where they grew organic green tea leaves along the mountain slopes. I also took frequent trips to the country side, where there were mom and pop restaurants which grow their own pigs, goats, cows, and chicken, which they butcher on their own farm to produce meat for the restaurant. I’ve gone fishing for my own sashimi and filleted the fish on the boat without waiting to go to shore, and went to sea-side restaurants where they take you to a fish tank and ask you to choose which one you want. I’ve watched a live chicken get butchered (head cut off with a knife, or dipped live into boiling water by way of holding its feet - great way to get the feathers off), and I’ve heard a cow being butchered as well (I still want to see one being hacked away). I’ve watched a live fish getting pounded in the head so it doesn’t squirm, and gutted alive to provide the freshest sashimi and sushi possible. In short, I’ve seen how food is prepared at an earlier level than grocery stores, and I appreciate the way of nature.

You see, I understand food and I appreciate it for what it is. And as I grew older, that subconscious part of me came out more, and I am now more enlightened on making smart food choices in the sense that I appreciate what nature gives me. My bottom line for food is this - if the recipe could not have existed over 100 years ago, I try to avoid it. I’m not a tight ass - if that’s what’s available, I will eat it once in a while. And I’m not anal to keep my diet at 2500 calories a day - I eat a lot when there’s good homemade food with fresh ingredients.

Now, I’ve boasted how I am in touch deep inside with natures way of things, and let me rant about the problems. So many urban people grow up never watching how food is prepared. They see the end result of it, and that’s all they know. I think the lack of understanding of food sources beyond what’s set out at your grocery store is a huge problem for making conscious choices on food. If it’s convenient and it tastes good, many people will just buy it and eat it without giving it a second thought. Without appreciation of fresh produce and meat and poultry, a frozen pack of constituted meat or an artificially made veggie pattie has the same value as the free range chicken or beef that is also available. What’s the difference between the Five Alive juice, which is artificially compounded with some juice and a lot of sugar and preservatives, and the 100% juice that is not made of concentrate? Nothing, if you don’t understand it.

Let’s look at another problem. A lot of people who are completely out of touch with the nature of things as they have been for the last… millions of years, or for as long as omnivores and carnivores have roamed the earth, think that killing an animal for food is “cruel”. Many people grow up to be teenagers and they have never even witnessed a live animal being killed for the process of food. This is so sad - this lack of awareness must stop. And these naive kids will watch one or two videos of slaughterhouses, produced by people who are unaware about nature and are more concerned about being self-righteous and feeling good without knowing the logic of the food chain, will feel grossed out by the killing of an animal, and start pitching to stop the consumption of beef and pork. Believing that consumption of other living animals is a cruel thing is an utterly modern and unnatural concept - a bi-product of our busy and modernized lives, so out of touch with our nature and mother earth.

I understand that urban life is a reality in our society, and most things come pre-packaged, and pre-manufactured, often from overseas. But people need to start appreciating the goodness of nature and how food is grown and harvested and collected. They will appreciate naturally grown, or organic, vegetables more, produced locally. They will be aware that when veggies are shipped in from Columbia or Mexico, there’s a lot of pesticides and preservatives used to keep the vegetables fresh all along the way, not to mention that the transport of such items causes more greenhouse gas via consumption of gasoline. They need to be aware that a cow, or pig, which grew up in sanitary and normal living condition will be the healthier choice of meat, and they will also understand the value of the life which was taken to produce that meat, and appreciate it more.

So here’s a challenge for yourself, or your kids. Learn and understand nature. Learn how a vegetable is grown, and how it’s picked. Learn how it is fertilized (in nature, it is fertilized by other rotting plants, rotting animals, and poop). Learn how chickens and cows grow, and learn how they are butchered. Any kid should feel completely comfortable at the scene where a chicken is getting its head chopped off alive with a butchers knife. It’s natural, and that’s how it is. Kids should be aware that the nice big plumper looking tomatoes may not necessarily be the healthier choice if you realize how it was grown. The smaller ones that seem a bit more faded may be better if they were organically and locally grown. The pre-packaged frozen fish sticks are not just fish but a compound of extra ingredients such as modified corn starch and sugar and salt, and that veggie dog is most likely made of fake food items and glued together at a factory. This is an awareness that will make you healthier, and the world a cleaner place. Keep food simple. Keep foods natural.

The whole Israel in the Middle East thing has been an interesting subject for me as I grew up. It’s a land of endless wars and conflicts, and issues stemming from there seem to affect the world at such large degrees, and it’s always been fascinating for me to dig through.

God Wanted Israel to be Created?

When I was young, I was subjected, at times, to Christian propaganda, unfortunately. Fortunately, I have grown to be able to logically discern information from propaganda, and truth from mythology and ideology. Let’s just say I’ve grown up to take the best part of religious teachings and apply only some of it to my more spiritual, logical, and realistic view of the world. Here’s how Christians see it, as many preachers and other hardcore Christians have tried to convince me of:

“The uprising of Israel as a Jewish nation has been long foretold in the Book of Revelations, and it is God’s will being carried out according to what the Bible says. This means that the end of ages is dawning closer and closer and we should rejoice in the creation of Israel.”

I don’t need to tell anybody who has brains that this is a big load of shit. The Balfour declaration of 1917 was what initially put the idea of a Jewish state on the political tables in Europe. Perhaps this was motivated through religious ideologies, or perhaps it had to do with the Rothchilds’ connection to Lord Balfour who declared it - I’m unsure of the motivation. Could be both, but based on what I read and intepreted, one thing is for certain, and that is the fact that Balfour was heavily in bed (non-literally) with the Zionists in Great Britain, who would have used many methods of “influence” to Lord Balfour.

Balfour and Rothchild

Palestine was a British Mandate at the time, and I believe this was due to a lack of leadership of the nation following some wars and instability. The British Mandate of Palestine was designated by many to be the new Jewish State (not all of it - just a small chunk of it along the Mediterranean).

After the Jewish people suffered quite an ordeal due to a certain asshole named Adolf Hitler and his possies, in 1948, after the Second World War was well wrapped up, a chunk of land was carved out of Palestine and was designated Israel, the new (and only) Jewish state. The Jews were finally no longer the immigrants and minorities all over Europe and North America. They had their country. All sounds good? Maybe to some.

On at least two different times in history, the British also offered a part of Uganda to the Zionists, but those attempts fell through due to many different reasons. Many Zionists were hell-bent on getting back what they considered the Holy Land, rather than just getting a good chunk of land that is fertile, inhabitable, with a decent climate (which Uganda was, and still is). Ah, yes. Religion and ideology jumps into the equation once again, and voila, we now have a US-backed, Pro-Western Jewish state, right in the middle of Middle East (no pun intended).

Gimme That!

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but if somebody came to my apartment and said “That part of the living room, and this small bedroom is now off limits to you. We’re giving it to these guys who don’t have a place to stay,” I’d be quite upset. Especially if it’s based on the fact that their religious booklet says that it is some Holy Room to them. Because for me, their religion means dick all. Different religious beliefs are the same for me as different preference in food. Just because I like sushi doesn’t mean I expect others to like it. Or, it’s like the Russian Hockey Leage. I don’t know any of those teams, so if I were to watch a game between 2 Russian hockey teams, I wouldn’t care which fans supported which team. There’s no logic behind which team is designated to be the winner or the loser, other than how the game goes that day, and which team has more expensive players. I only know that I am a Vancouver Canucks fan.

So. Palestine, which is obviously an Arab state, was forced to give up a piece of land for Israel to be established upon it, because they had a lapse in their government, and while they were merely a British Mandate (in other words, like a colony), they just had to lie there, face-down, and take it. No wonder they are upset about it, and so is the rest of the Arab world.

Let’s look at the events after the creation of Israel. Heavily backed by Western powers such as Great Britain and USA, Israel continues to exist, surrounded by enemy Arab nations. Yes, they are outnumbered, but they seem incredibly well equipped and armed with M16s and F-series fighter jets. Oh wait, what? The M16 is a standard US military issue weapon, and the F-14s and F16s are also US-made? So now, to make matters worse, we have Western involvement in this land, and the political issues become scathingly large, affecting the whole globe.

Why Palestine?

Apart from the fact that the hard-line Zionists wanted Palestine specifically so they can re-claim Jerusalem, there were some other factors. When the creation of Israel was being debated, and Palestine and Uganda were being contemplated as options, US President Truman heavily supported the Zionists’ movement to set up Israel in Palestine. Also, while all these negotiations were going on, Syria and Jordan had other motives to try and suppress the nation of Palestine, so they had secret pacts or understandings with the Jewisth and Western Leaders so support the creation of Israel. While most Arabs sought to prevent Israel from being created, these alterior motives stopped them from putting forth a unified front to protect their hegemony and independency… a move I’m sure they regret now.

Let’s go back to Truman and USA’s heavy support of the creation of Israel on Palestine’s lands. Up until then, there was no solid presence of pro-Western, pro-USA powers in the Middle East. But as industry was modernizing, the importance of securing oil was important. Also, in a post-war era USA, which got out of the Great Depression by means of entering the War, it was important that the USA be able to keep selling arms and munitions to allies. Creating a pro-USA nation in the Middle East was the perfect thing to do in order to achieve both. Of course there would be ongoing conflicts in that region, and it would give military and air base access to USA in the Middle East. It was perfect. See what I’m getting at? It was a politically motivated move to gain something for themselves. It wasn’t that Truman somehow supported the Zionist movement from his strong beliefs and sympathy for the Jewisth people. We all know how he handled the Korean War, and we can now see that trend in this move.

The Assailant and the Victim, and the Profiteering

The religiously motivated Zionists who saw nothing beyond the inception of Israel were obviously short-sighted. They did not see the potential (or more like certainty) of continued war and violence. The real victims, in my opinion, are the Jewish people and the Palestinians who live there right now. They need to live in constant awareness and fear of a rocket hitting their homes, or a bomb attack, or, in many times throughout history, the prospect of a full-scale war. It is no way to live, and I sympathize for their situations. The instigators of this entire trouble would be the zealous Zionists, and of course, the Americans who sought to take a piece of this action by putting a pro-Western country of their backing into the Middle East, and thus gaining access to air fields and military bases for their own operations, so close to the richest oil field in the world. The USA has profited more than anybody with this whole deal if you ask me. They sold endless supplies of weapons and arms to Israel, while the conflicts and wars went on in the region, making the Middle East a notorious region for constant battles and violence.

Israel - Justified to Exist?

Short answer from me is Yes, but only due to the fact that I can be very realistic. But I cannot blame the Palestinians for bombing Israel on a regular basis. Hamas, in the recent months, seem to be even more aggressive with their constant barrage of random rocket launches into Israeli territories. And unfortunately those are stone-age rockets, which sort of land anywhere in a broad area, which means that civilians are being hit, not military targets. It’s really sad. But considering the circumstances under which Palestine was forced to carve out a chunk of land for the Jewish people, there’s no wonder that Arabs in the region oppose the existence of Israel altogether. What else would you expect, if you have a sane mind? The Zionist belief is merely one belief, not a universal goal. Just like I have no right to convince another person that pepperoni pizza is still better than ham and pineapple, the Zionists, or the American lobbyists and former US Presient Truman, have no right to expect people of a different religion to accept their Zionism theory based on some biblical interpretation.

Then, beyond all logics and morals, why do I insist that Israel has the right to exist? They are people too, and they now have a home there. Just because the wrong decision was made 60 years ago doesn’t mean we can unto 60 years of settlement and growth of a nation and its people. I do not want to see Israel razed to the ground and its people killed or in exile, like some Arab extremists want to see. I want them to live. I want them to live in peace. This goes out to both Israelis and Palestinians.

What Now?

We can’t just lift the nation of Israel and put it somewhere else. Nor can we do the same with palestinians. Continuous war between them is not a favourable option (unless you are involved with the US weapon manufacturers, or own their stocks, etc.). We’ve established that the Palestinians’ anger and assaults have very reasonable ground, and we’ve also established that it was an unwise move for the Zionists to put Israel in Palestine (and an immoral move by the Americans to push for this move).

Quite frankly, it’s much easier analyzing the facts and history of how this happened. It’s much harder to actually try to come up with a solution to this. Why don’t I leave this up to my readers to comment on?