For those who want to know more about Osmar R. Zaïane


I was born more than 35 years ago in Bad Kissingen (Germany) and I was brought up in Tunisia before attending school in France and Canada. After attending universities on three different continents, Université de Tunis (Africa), Université Paris XI (Europe), Université Laval and finally Simon Fraser University (North America), where I completed my PhD, I settled down in Edmonton, Canada, where now I teach at the University of Alberta. I cumulated a Bachelor (in computer science), two Masters' (in electronics and computing science), and a PhD in computer science.

I have been in Canada since 1990.
Here is an article about me in the Simon Fraser News of June 3, 1999 after my Ph.D. graduation.
I married Margaret Jane Robertson in June 28th, 1997 in Victoria B.C., Canada.
Here is Amelia Ariana, our first child born January 28, 2001.

What is the meaning of Osmar

I get many e-mails asking me the meaning of my given name "Osmar". Osmar is an old Germanic name. Press here for more.
A note about my family name. My family name is written Zaïane with an "umlaut" on the "i", but Zaiane is also acceptable because the umlaut is not always available on keyboards. The umlaut is common in languages such as German and French.
I have friends who translated my family name in Chinese. Apparently it can be correctly pronounced in Mandarin as well as Cantonese. This is how my name is written in Chinese. It means something like beautiful empress garden.
Here is how it is written in Arabic: . Here is how it might be written in Hindi and in Russian
If you know how to write it in other written languages, let me know and I'll put it here. ;-)
I like traveling. Here are the places I visited.
Planets I visited: Earth
Countries I visited: Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China (Hong Kong), Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Libya, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Kingdom, U.S.A. and Vatican.
Provinces I visited in Canada : Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
States I visited in the USA : California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Main, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
When you travel, it is important that you learn how to greet people in their own language. People often appreciate that you make the effort to communicate. Click here to see the International "How is it going?" list.
I like the outdoors, camping, hiking, etc. Here is a page with links to National Parks around the world. This is a UNESCO page with links to World Heritage sites.
    Sailing with my father in the Okanagan lake, BC Canada (June 1999)
    Rock Climbing in Squamish, BC Canada (Fall 1994)
    Hiking and bird watching, Djebel Bou-Hedma National Park, Tunisia (December 1992)
    On top of Blackcomb, Whistler, BC Canada (August 1993)
    Backpacking in Yosemite National Park, CA USA (July 1994)
    Freezing on the Columbia Icefields, the largest body of ice in the Rocky Mountains, Jasper National Park, AB Canada (June 1993)
    Hiking in Petit Sagney Provincial Park, Québec Canada (August 1993)
    Hiking and Camping in Jasper and Banff National Parks, AB Canada (July 1993)
    Kayaking on LongBeach, Pacific Rim National Park, BC Canada (September 1994)
    Camping in Michigan USA (June 1993)
I do pratice sports when I have time.
Because of lack of time (or lack of organization) I am not practicing as I should or as I wished. I participate occasionally in triathlon and swimming competitions. I was maintaining one of the first (if not THE first) triathlon web site on the Internet since 1994. The web site has now faded because of lack of maintenance. The reminance of the site are popular pages such as the triathlon FAQ and Swimming Cyber-coaching.
You can find additional links to sports pages in my Links Page.
    Sri Chinmoy Triathlon, Victoria, BC, (July 1994)
    200m IM, Canadian Masters Swimming Championship, Victoria, BC, (May 1995)
Sayings
I don't necessarily agree with all of them but I think they are a good start to cogitate about some topics. Read and ponder.
Open some doors

Be conscious about recycling

  • Reduce - Reuse - Recycle: It is not all garbage.
  • Do not throw away paper, cardboard, glass, tin cans, aluminum or plastic bags. Put them out for your municipal recycling collection service or take them to your local recycling bins. You can even recycle motor oil and scrap metal.
  • Helfen auch Sie mit beim Umweltschutz.
  • Sensibilisez votre entourage au sujet du gaspillage et du recyclage.

    Did you know?

  • 7 500 trees are used for the Sunday edition of the New York Times each week.
  • recycling aluminum uses 96% less energy than it takes to produce the same amount from raw material.
  • recycling paper uses 60% less energy than manufacturing paper from virgin timber.
  • recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to light a 400 watt bulb for 4 hours.

    Since August 10, 1999, you are visitor to Osmar Zaïane's personal page.

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