What is blue in Bluetooth?

It was a few years before a friend of mine asked me whether I have Bluetooth in my phone. I asked him what kind of tooth it exactly is, because I had no idea what he was asking (I was using my gaudy Nokia 1110i at that time and he laughed on seeing it coming out from my pocket). Forgetting the fact that I have often been lagging behind technologies, let us talk about Bluetooth this time.
I'm sure many of you might have wondered how such a name fell upon a most modern technology. I had many scientific hypotheses of myself on this name before I stumbled upon the fact that Bluetooth got its name from that of a Danish king! Yes really. This name came from that of Harold "Bluetooth" Gormsson, who ruled Denmark in the first century. Actually, Bluetooth was his nickname because of his fondness for blueberries which made his teeth blue. He is considered as one of the most influential kings of Denmark and that was why Ericson, which is a Danish company, named their technology after him. The Bluetooth logo is the initials of Harold Bluetooth in runic alphabet. He was famous for uniting the rebellious tribes of Scandinavia and for bringing them under a single kingdom. If you don't know it, that is exactly what 'our bluetooth' also does- uniting various technologies.
If you are not so bored yet, let me tell you a bit of technology now. You know that bluetooth is an electronic communication technology. When two electronic devices want to communicate with each other, they have to agree on several conditions. First, how to communicate physically. It means, whether to use wires or some wireless signal forms and if they use wires how many wires are required and so on. Even after settling on this, there are many other problems to solve. E.g.,how much data will be sent at a time; the transfer rate which depends on the device used. It means, for an effective communication a set of commands and responses known as Protocol has to be developed. Bluetooth is a protocol developed for this purpose by Ericson in 1994. The Bluetooth technology uses radio frequency waves and takes very low transmission power which saves battery charge (Now you can guess why Bluetooth transfer works only in small distances). It establishes automatic agreement between two electronic devices and so does not require the intervention of user.
[Note: There is an international body called Bluetooth Special Interest Group(SIG) that oversees the development of new Bluetooth standards and new technologies and trademarks.] 

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All Fool's Day- April 1

One of my friends' birthday is April 2. When I was told this I just told her, 'Oh dear, you just missed the right day for you to be born'. So boring a comedy, right? The self-pity on this dialogue of myself made me think a bit on the All Fool's Day, April 1. Why is April 1 a day of pranks and foolishness, or that of Fools literally?
Well, it seems the exact reason is not quite certain. But majority of resources show that it is related to the reformation of calendar around 1582 in France. Before that Julian calendar was widely in use. Due to some astronomical reasons(which is worth another post in this blog) Julian calendar had to be reformed and that resulted into the adoption of Gregorian calendar which is the International civil calendar we use nowadays. The major change in this new system was the beginning of New Year on January 1, rather than on The New Year's Week, March 25- April 1, in the old system. But we can imagine in those days how fast news would have traveled. In fact it took several years for all to know about this change. Some rebellious fellows still continued to celebrate New Year on April 1 even after knowing about this change. These people were called 'Fools' by the general populace. They used to play pranks on them too. This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continued on the first day of April. This slowly spread from France to Scotland and England and the found its way into America. Because this spread into other countries, April Fools' Day has taken an international flavour with each country celebrating the day in its own way.
And so it is, the Fools' Day, on which you are licensed to play prank on others.

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Working in Costa Rica- Can you? Legally?

So, you think you're just going to come down to Costa Rica and find a job...? Really?
First watch this video about finding a job and working in Costa Rica, then we'll talk.



Here's the problem. You need a work permit to legally work in Costa Rica and you can't work at a job a Tico could do AND they just don't give out work permits AND Tico's can do ANYTHING you can do. See the conundrum?

Obviously, like most rules, there's exceptions to these rules as well and honestly, there's a few loop holes too. But what this basically means to you is that it's very difficult to come down to Costa Rica, find a job and work your way up the ladder of success- matter of fact, it's not going to happen. Don't do it and especially if you have to have a job to survive. Now if you just looking to experience Costa Rica for a few months, that's a different story.

*I want to make it CLEAR. Many, many people work under the table here and there's many jobs where you could pretty much live under the radar,,, internet work, maintenance and odd jobs, arts and crafts and of course, the perennial favorites- yoga instructor, massage therapist, bartender, surf instructor but from what I've seen and experienced it's usually the instability of these types of jobs that inevitably send you packing.

Stay where you are until you have enough money to start your own business in Costa Rica because like I mentioned in the video, starting a business is much more feasible and doable option.

TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

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Kleptomania

Well, all of you might have figured out that this is some kind of 'mania', a special interest. But what exactly is this kleptomania? It is an irresistible tendency to steal things, especially things of trivial value. Funny eh?
Yes, if you are a kleptomaniac you steal as a habit! This is listed as a mental disorder and was first identified in 1960's in US. Kleptomaniacs usually steal things of very little importance like pens, paper clips, ribbons etc. This is different from usual shop lifting or theft because they are interested in the act of stealing and not in what they steal. In fact, some kleptomaniacs may not even be aware that they have committed a theft. This can appear associated with other mental disorders like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Researches also show that frequent acts of stealing like pick-pocketing or shop-lifting can become a mania and the person may become addicted to stealing.
A traumatic brain injury or carbon monoxide poisoning can lead to kleptomania.  

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Love in the Wild Reality Show

Love in the Wild Reality Show was filmed in and around La Fortuna Costa Rica.
Supposedly this new realty show, 'Love in the Wild' is a cross between, 'Survivor' and 'The Bachelor'. Wow, how original. Of course I'll never know because really, I don't give a f**k.

But, it's kinda cool that they filmed 'Love in the Wild' in and around the La Fortuna area and with good reason, it IS beautiful here. I think it was about 3 or 4 months ago and as I recall they were here for awhile. And what's doubly cool, is they filmed quite a bit at our friends place, 'Princesa de la Luna' an eco-lodge about 15 minutes outside of town. It just so happens, we did a video on Princesa de la Luna a short time after 'Love in the Wild' packed up their cameras, which you can see below in case you missed it.

'Love in the Wild' publicity photo taken at the beautiful La Fortuna Waterfall.
So, if you end up being a fan of 'Love in the Wild' and you're in the La Fortuna area, check out 'Princesa de la Luna' and I think you'll understand why they decided to film there in the first place.



How could I possibly talk about a reality show without mentioning the one yours truly was on about 10 years ago when reality was true REALITY... not. ENjoY!

Here's the link to my show: Under One Roof.

Guess who won this house on the island of Koro in the Fiji Islands?

TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

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Nuevo Arenal Costa Rica Moyas Place

A view of Lake Arenal taken in the Nuevo Arenal area.
Nuevo Arenal Costa Rica isn't exactly a tourist destination but they do have some things to offer in their own right. Actually, it's probably better known for a great place to live if all the gringo's who have laid down roots there are any indication.

Since they sit on Lake Arenal, Nuevo Arenal does have a lot of water activities to offer like kayaking, fishing, wake boarding and if you didn't know, Lake Arenal has some of the BEST windsurfing on the planet. As I mentioned, there's a lot of gringo's there and many started up restaurants. Which is a good thing since Costa Rica isn't exactly known for their fine cuisine.

Like this one, Moya's Place, which you don't want to miss if you're in the Nuevo Arenal Area. By the way, if you're not sure where Nuevo Arenal is, watch the video, we show you its exact location. ENjoY!



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

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The Gingerbread - One of the BEST Restaurants in Costa Rica

The Gingerbread in Nuevo Arenal Costa Rica has some of the BEST food in the entire country.
Costa Rica is NOT known for its fine cuisine, PERIOD and after about 4 days of experiencing rice and beans 3 times a day, everyday, most tourists would LOVE to chance on a Mickey D's, although few would admit to it for obvious reasons.

Most who visit Costa Rica want to experience EVERYTHING Costa Rica, McDonald's is NOT it.
Personally, I think the perception that Costa Rica food is bland and not tasty is greatly exaggerated and I will tell you why in a future post. But I will admit there is something about eating rice and beans first thing in the morning... anyway...

We were filming at Villa Decary, located about 45 minutes from La Fortuna going around Lake Arenal towards Tilaran and Canas. As luck would have it, a mere 4-minute walk from Villa Decary is perhaps one of the BEST restaurants in Costa Rica, The Gingerbread. Here's our impromptu video of, 'The Gingerbread'.



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

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