A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

In college, I really enjoyed studying about urban planning and development. In which class would I have studied that? Did I take a course in Cultural Geography? The way that cities grow is immensely interesting to me. Wasn't it Burgess who created a concentric-ring theory of socio-economic development in old Chicago?

I was again reminded of similar theories at the end of the movie, Mona Lisa Smile (2003). The credits rolled while pictures of post WWII events flashed. One scene showed Levittown, NY. If you're not familiar it, it’s the exemplar of a manufactured suburbia. It necessitates a car culture. Those forces are still playing out now, although to a much lesser extent in Canada than in the States.

The following paragraph copied from Vancouver and "Cascadia", is the third part of a 1998 online article I found at The Atlantic Online.

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Paraphrasing Jane Jacobs, the classic writer on urbanism, Price told me, "People have confused overcrowding with high density. High density is actually desirable, because it means lively, safe, convenient, and interesting places in which to live." From 1956 to 1972 Price's West End neighborhood, for example, which had been overcrowded, transformed itself into a high-density area. Its population increased by about half, and the number of apartments quintupled: spacious one-bedroom apartments replaced teeming tenements. The West End now has the liveliness and sophisticated feel of Manhattan's Upper West Side. The ostensible reason for the neighborhood's success is that big businessmen took risks and built apartment blocks, while small tradesmen opened shops. Hong Kong Chinese culture, comfortable with high density, helped too. But business and culture operated within a framework of deliberate planning choices. In the United States in 1956, the same year that the West End was rezoned for taller apartment buildings, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which created the interstates. Consultants from Los Angeles advised Vancouver to build a freeway-and-tunnel system through the city. Vancouver citizens rejected that advice. The nineteenth-century grid pattern of narrow streets laid down by British engineers remained intact, and parks and benches, a profusion of cafés, and an explosion of tall residential buildings all followed.

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Labels: Vancouver

Okay, the title's a bit of a hyperbole. If I am not inspired to write a journal entry, I can always step on to the balcony with a camera as I did again yesterday evening at 8:45 pm. We're looking up the Fraser River. Note the mountains on the left-hand side of the building.


See a shot from a similar position that was posted here on September 16, 2003.

Labels: balcony, camera, Fraser River

I will be teaching a summer course at BCIT. Although it doesn't begin until next Monday and I've never met the class, I have just sent each student a welcoming letter!

British Columbia Institute of Technology has provided a web portal for a few years now. It is very convenient as data from various sources are unified under a single interface. As soon as a student registers in a class, the name appears in a class list which I can view. As instructor, I'm able to prepare an email for the entire group with a single click. In addition to email, myBCIT includes a useful calendar function which again is pre-completed with information from the institute's scheduling system. There is a location for the instructor to add interesting links. Also, there's a message board and online chat which are directly tied to our course.

Lastly, myBCIT also acts as a universal gateway to other BCIT online systems. Designed for staff, instructors, and students, it offers functions as diverse as department announcements, room scheduling, and a way for students to check grades.

Click here ----> Screen Shot of myBCIT's E-Mail Interface


(In addition, please note my previous reference to myBCIT on March 13, 2004.)

Labels: myBCIT, software

I decided I'd include another picture of the apartment building here.

Speaking of different weights and measures ...

Click here ----> Canadian vs. U.S. Beer

I was a bit surprised to see that gasoline prices were around $2.00 / gallon when last driving in Washington State. It's tough to compare that to the prices paid here due to the calculations required. First off, the US is probably the only remaining place in the world where people buy by the gallon, so one needs to do a gallon-to-litre conversion. Then, there's the fact the Canadian dollar is worth just 73 cents (at the moment).

I made this Excel spreadsheet where I can plug in the exchange rate and the $US price for a gallon. This helped me to see that the present 91 cents Canadian per litre works out to be approximately $US 2.49 a gallon!

Click here ----> Launch Excel Spreadsheet

Labels: cars

Joel, I see that you use Avantgo to pull this into your PocketPC on a daily basis. Good morning!

Labels: Joel

I thought I'd do a quick run-through with the vacuum cleaner. I finished the bedroom and pushed the machine into the livingroom.

Suddenly, the vacuum cleaner exploded! The plastic covering broke and the bag burst. As I fumbled to turn it off, a 2-inch hole spewed the contents of the bag to one side of the living room. The bag was more than half full. Wouldn't you know; it was aimed directly at the computer desk and TV. Things were a mess.

I couldn't very well clean up the minor disaster without a vacuum cleaner. The plastic covering had two broken tabs and there were no new bags in the house. So, I got in the truck, drove a mile to London Drugs, and picked up a new Bissell upright. Although the Dirt Devil model was cheaper it was also the brand that had just caused my current headache. To hell with that! It took the better part of the afternoon getting rid of the grit that had blown everywhere.

Do you know anybody that wants to buy an old, used vacuum cleaner? I guarantee the motor still works well.

Labels: complaints

A blog can be random; but more often than not, there is a thread of logical continuity therein.

I take an idea and run after it as if it were a big stick. This leads us directly to a song. Yesterday's title mentioned a canine so I searched through my music for the more common variation of that term. As well as an album of Three Dog Night music, I passed up perfectly good choices:

50 Cent ----- 21 Questions (feat. Nate Dogg)
Baha Men ----- Who Let The Dogs Out
Dogs Barking ----- Christmas Carols - Jingle Bells
Elvis Presley ----- Hound Dog
Eric Clapton ----- Hound Dog
George Leach ----- Dizzy Dog
Johnny Cash ----- So Doggone Lonesome
Lobo ----- Me and You and A Dog Named Boo
Noel Coward ----- Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Paul Simon ----- Rene & George Magritte w/ Their Dog After the War
The Beatles ----- Hey Bulldog
The Everly Brothers ----- Bird Dog

.
There is a real musical group called Underdog. This
is not them. This was a Saturday-morning
cartoon from the early 1960's. Television
programming for kids must have come of age
during the years I grew up.

Labels: music

I just started figuring out something new.

I have always had a special knack with personal computers and I have become shockingly aware that not all people do. I work in field of education and have always assumed colleagues see the need and have to abilities to become computer literate. I've often been disappointed.

I chalk up my abilities, that I have come to see as special, to my way of learning. I think people truly successful with personal computers are explorer-type personalities. I have never tried to find a manual or set of instructions in order to learn new software. In order to become proficient, one has to get right in there and get one's hands dirty. It also helps being at ease with a little discomfort; as that is a crucial prerequisite in learning a new way of accomplishing a goal.

Enough said. I have been very slow on the uptake when changing over to Microsoft Outlook.

Years ago, I quickly settled into a routine with Outlook Express. Beginning with the inclusion of access to Hotmail accounts, I have kept a number of them active and accessible through a single interface. You know, I need a teaching-related account, a personal one, and several for specific tasks. I would never have been able to stand working with Hotmail's wretched, online interface but Outlook Express was simple and allowed for more flexible formatting options. In addition, I always archive messages on my computer by copying from various hotmail accounts to local folders. Outlook Express was first to the line in allowing me to put all those accounts and POP/SMPT accounts under a single program.

I functioned under those circumstances for very long time. It was high time that I abandon the Express version and move to the full-fledged, MS Office version. It really does allow for better management of data. Also, I enjoy how Outlook syncs up with my iPaq. I have never really spent much time playing with the calendar function because MY LIFE IS SO SIMPLE. Ditto for upcoming tasks because I ONLY DO EXACTLY WHAT I WANT!

Yet, now's as good a time as any to learn new tricks.

Labels: software