It is hard to put in perspective the time and money one invests to become an U.S. citizen. I’ve recently came across (on a blog I follow) a couple of very nicely done infographics that illustrate these points.
As someone that had gone through the entire process and also temped at an immigration attorney’s office before, I can honestly say it is not the easiest to grasp. These two infographics combined do provide a pretty good picture of this looong and very costly process. Why aren’t there more graphics like this? (if you know of any other cool pieces, do let me know.)
Mapping Various Routes and Total Time Spent
This graphic doubles as a commentary of the long and drawn-out process than mere delivery of information (nothing wrong with a little commentary).
But, in my opinion, the cartoon figures selected to represent various groups of applicants are so stereotypical they seem slightly biased. Nonetheless, it is one of the best explanatory graphic that sums up the woes of this process . I especially like how they indicate total time to immigrate.
It’s cute and to the point.
One possible impediment of the application process is the costs (all comes down to $$$). Forget lawyer fees and other expenses. Application fees paid to the government are not a small amount to bear. This is well illustrated in the next graphic.
Graphic successfully done? Can you answer these Questions:
• Which is the longest immigration route?
• What is the minimum time needed to become an U.S. citizen?
…continue to PART TWO…
Finally, I am (sort of) on time with my wallpaper for this month. I’m also planning a special version for Halloween. Let’s see if I can get to it.
Check out other works on my deviantart gallery.
The first Presidential debate is over. Watching it on TV was not the most exciting thing. Watching it while twittering, however, was a hoot. It was like being in a big debate party (the beer also helped).
There were lots of news organizations using twitter last Friday to present/cover the debate. The application I found most interesting was CurrenTV’s “Hack the Debate” - live streaming of (some) tweets from tweeps on its TV channels and online. (I suppose there’s a level of vanity to see my own tweets show up on TV.)
The tweets were from updates on Election.Twitter.com and updates with hash tags #current and #debate08. Of course, not all tweets were shown. Looked like some editorial judgments were used.
Really must know more? Hear from CurrentTV themselves.
I wonder what Current TV viewers thought about this?
Another channel that is doing extensive online debate coverage is C-Span with its Debate Hub. This C-Span mini site had live streaming of the debate (with embeddable video clips for anyone to use), twitter feeds and blogsphere coverage. One very useful tool is the live debate timeline that serves as a navigation tool to transcript texts and video clips.
Can’t wait for the VP debate - now, THAT will be entertainment.
Blogger was my first choice to host this blog. Mostly because in the past I’ve not been persistent enough to keep a blog alive (longest is only for a few months). I didn’t want to throw away too much time in set up.
So, in Blogger I set up the blog to my very own design in just a day. Started blogging. It was great. Its widget template was very easy to use. Since it is part of Google, Blogger users can add the hundreds of Google gadgets to their blog with one click. It was addictive to play with.
But after just a few days, I wanted to do more. I couldn’t modify the output HTML using widget template. So instead of reverting to B’s Classic template with almost full HTML control, I decided to just bite the bullet and set up WordPress. I figured it would save me trouble down the road. Eventually, I’d like to incorporate it with my site (under development). More importantly, I wanted to add PHP functions, which was not possible at all with Blogger.
After all, I do have a web host that offers WP installation and support. Why not? I am paying them. Might as well use it.
One Blogger advantage got me hesitating for a second - faster Google indexing since its blogs are hosted with the G giant. Well, you win some. You lose some. My move to WP wasn’t all lovey-dovey. I’m not convinced this is the “best platform ever.” I’d still suggest anyone who wants to simply start a blog quickly to use Blogger.
p.s. another reason that I wanted to start on Blogger was server stability. Google server just seems to be more reliable. Though my server hasn’t let me down yet (knock on wood).
As I was just trying to ignore the coolness of Canon EOS 5D Mark II (my previous post), this video comes along…
Watch Laforet’s sample video using this Canon model:
(It would be really nice if they offered a video-embed feature. Surprised Canon PR people didn’t put it up on Youtube like Sony often does.)
I think the video speaks for the picture quality itself. Sure, it’s not XH A1. But as Laforet noted, it’s an exciting time. The video is in true Laforet-style - sleek, vibrant, New York and those helicopter-shots. Also check out his blog to watch the equally cool and entertaining behind-the-scenes videos.
How many pro-photographer is going out to buy this? Well, I would be one if I had the money to switch all my gears from Nikon to the big C.
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