Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Lesser-Known Attractions in Spain


For several years, Peter Kuperman has led Hatch Canada, an education company that helps kids develop skills for the 21st century. Under his leadership, the company teaches coding and has amassed a library of more than 600 projects. Outside of work, Peter Kuperman enjoys traveling and counts Spain among his favorite destinations.

Spain is full of sights and attractions that draw in a huge number of tourists every year. However, it also houses numerous lesser-known, and in some cases even strange, attractions, some examples of which follow:

- Alcazar of Segovia. An inspiration for Cinderella’s castles, Segovia is a fantastic day-trip from Madrid about which many tourists forget. The alcazar is located has been preserved and renovated by Spain’s monarchs for several centuries.

- Ronda. Established during the time of Julius Caesar, Ronda rests at the top of the El Tajo canyon. Divided by the canyon, the Arab Bridge, the New Bridge, and the Roman Bridge connect the city. These three bridges are massive stonework structures that were built at different times by various regimes.

- La Graciosa. A volcanic island near Lanzarote, La Graciosa has been nearly untouched by tourism. It features a few villages and apartments in which guests can stay, but outside of that, tourists have only the quiet, untouched nature to keep them company.

- Calder Mercury Fountain. Designed by Alexander Calder, Barcelona’s Calder Mercury Fountain serves as a monument to the mercury mines at Almaden. Instead of pumping water, the fountain pumps pure mercury. When it was first created, mercury’s toxicity was not well understood. Fortunately, the fountain now rests behind a pane of glass to protect viewers.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Training for a Marathon



Peter Kuperman is the founder and CEO of Hatch Canada, where he leads the business in its mission to teach children how to code and build computer skills. An avid runner, Peter Kuperman has run in the Boston Marathon three times and trained with the Nike Farm Team at Stanford.

Strictly speaking, a marathon is a 26.2-mile race. Running a marathon requires a commitment to training for the runner to reach peak physical condition. The human body has to be trained over time to be able to run such long distances. Runners training for marathons are encouraged to focus on several areas including weekly running, speed work, and recovery.

Training for a marathon can range from runs of 15-50 miles per week, with newer runners starting at the lower end. Training conditions joints and muscles for the future marathon. Speed work such as interval training also helps with aerobic conditioning. Finally, recovery plans can include yoga, rest days, and static or active stretching.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

When to Visit France


Peter Kuperman oversees operations and growth at Hatch Canada as the CEO and founder. Since establishing the education company in 2014, he has grown the business by 13 percent month after month and gained a positive reputation for teaching kids to code. An avid traveler, Peter Kuperman has visited such countries as France.

Summer and winter are among the busiest seasons to visit France. From July to August, temperatures are generally warm and sunny throughout the country, but the crowds are often unbearable for visitors. International travelers fill the country’s top tourist spots during these months and drive prices up for both hotels and airfare. Further, locals enjoy spending the French holidays traveling within the country. Winter brings with it similar crowd sizes; however, these tourists are generally seeking snow activities or are business travelers. Airfare and hotels are sometimes cheaper in winter, but travelers should be aware that between November and February the country experiences significant amounts of rain depending on the region.

Due to the large crowds in winter and summer, spring and autumn are generally the best times for visiting France. Although rainfall is high during winter in most areas of the country, it is at its highest in spring and autumn along the Mediterranean coast. Temperatures stay fairly moderate throughout these months and prices for hotels and plane tickets are often cheaper than during summer. However, holiday times are still extremely busy, especially the week of Easter.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Notable 2012 Marathons (1/2)


An experienced investment and marketing professional, Peter Kuperman founded QED Benchmark Management in 2004. Previously, Kuperman served as a Financial Analyst for Bounty Service Group in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A former member of the Nike Farm Team, Peter Kuperman has completed several marathons.

Each year, many cities around the world host marathons. Listed below are some of the major marathons taking place in 2012.

The Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati 
A fun and good-natured event where costumes and puns abound, the 14th annual Flying Pig Marathon will be held in Cincinnati in early May. More than 200 charities raise funds at the Flying Pig in a variety of ways, from volunteers at water stops to pledge drives for distance. The 2011 event reached $10 million in total donations. This event also welcomes walkers for the marathon, encouraging a pace of 16 minutes per mile for walkers. 

The Wipro San Francisco Marathon
In late July, runners will take to the streets of the City by the Bay to run a loop course that starts and ends at the Embarcadero. The route takes participants across the Golden Gate Bridge twice. A qualifying event for the Boston Marathon, the San Francisco event requires participants to finish within six hours. This means they must run at a 13:45 pace per mile at the slowest.

Friday, September 8, 2017

PennApps Hackathon 2012 By Peter Kuperman

 

About the author: Peter Kuperman founded QED Benchmark Management, LLC, a New York-based hedge fund. He completed his Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn’s computer science department has a reputation for emphasizing theory over practical work, such as coding. However, since 2010, the PennApps Hackathon has provided students with an opportunity to apply the theory they have been studying. Each semester, students build software over the course of a weekend and enter the final products in a competition. The competition emphasizes simplicity and also accepts entries from students at other acclaimed universities, such as Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, and Rutgers.

The most recent winning entry allowed users to activate an instant turntable. Created by a team of Penn students, ScratchTable picks up sounds from a nearby surface through a microphone. The app converts the sounds into turntable features. In second place, the Grassroutes app helps nonprofits drum up support by enabling users to contact their congressional representatives directly from the nonprofits’ sites. Those who enjoy road trips may wish to check out rdtripp.in, the third-place app, which helps individuals plan a driving route by pointing out places to stay based on a list of Facebook friends.

Friday, September 1, 2017

The Penn Club of Northern California


For alumni of the University of Pennsylvania as well as their friends and family, the Penn Club of Northern California is an excellent way to connect with the Penn community on the West Coast. If you are a recent UPenn alumnus or were part of a chapter in another city and are relocating to the Bay Area, the Penn Club offers members a chance to fit comfortably into their surroundings with the support of other alumni. 

According to Peter Kuperman, former President of the Penn Club of Northern California, there are two levels of membership. Registered membership is free, with alumni receiving information about club events throughout the region, while paid membership offers benefits such as event discounts, member-only offers, and access to the alumni directory. 

With over 9,000 members in the Bay Area, alumni often take advantage of lectures, performances, tours, sporting events, wine tastings, and much more.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Hatch Canada's Free 90 Minute Trial Class


Peter Kuperman is the founder and CEO of Hatch Canada, a Toronto-based learning center dedicated to teaching children the wonders and value of computer coding and knowledge, from computer fundamentals to learning actual coding languages like JavaScript and Python. Peter Kuperman says he loves watching Hatch Canada’s students become engaged in the learning process as they build up a portfolio of projects.

Hatch Canada offers a free 90-minute trial session for prospective students. This helps them and their parents determine whether Hatch is a good fit for their interests and circumstances. In addition to providing potential students the chance to experience the Hatch community and coaches firsthand, the free trial is used to teach students their first few lines of code. This enables them to create three to four projects to show off to their friends. As an added benefit, every trial student receives a permanent account to Hatch’s online learning platform. 

Since Hatch provides the laptops, prospective students only need to bring their energy and creativity. To learn more about Hatch Canada and its free 90-minute trial, visit hatchcanada.com.