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

Sometimes making decisions is tough. I'm accepting recommendations as to which of the following options would be better for a weekly splurge.

Now that potato chips have practically become health food, I don't have to forgo the pleasure, right? Unfortunately, my typical serving size does not match Ruffles' skimpy calculation on the nutritional label. The side of their bag maintains there are five servings inside, while I'm hard pressed to find two!

Yet, if I can limit myself to half the package I will get:

Calories - 810
Total Fat - 51 g
Saturated fat - 4.5 g
Sodium - 1800 mg
Carbs - 78 g.

Wait. Those figures look suspiciously familiar. Now, let's compare them to a tried-and-true McDonald's Big Mac and medium fries:

Calories - 880
Total Fat - 45 g
Saturated Fat - 17 g
Sodium - 1450 mg
Carbs - 89 g.

Hummm? You can see my quandary, can't you?

Labels: food

We don't leave until Monday evening.

Borrowing Fodor's 2005 Guide to New York City was a smart move. Requesting information from friends who used to live in Manhattan made sense. Watching West Side Story (1961) on DVD probably didn't help much with trip planning but it made for an interesting few hours.


Have you tried the satellite view on Google Maps?

There was a link in Tuesday's entry for Snoqualmie Falls.

We did stop on the way to visit friends; however, we decided not to have a picnic there as there was too much mist and it was a bit too cool. One advantage to stopping at this time of year though, is the parking lots are empty.

(Click this small image to open a the larger image. Or see more of my recent big blog photos now.)

Yesterday was fine weather. I'm typing now through a satellite connection. I will post a picture after getting back to New Westminster in the evening.



It was a nice leisurely morning and a good drive around. We headed back at a bit after 3:00 pm and arrived in New Westminster around 6:45 pm. Thanks for the all the meals, the scenic views, and your hospitality!

If you read this between 9:00 and 14:00 (GMT -8:00) we may be somewhere along this route. In fact, by clicking on the the first link I provided, you can get an idea of the first 100 kilometers. You may even see us on one of the Washington State highway cams. Just be on the lookout for a green, Ranger pickup with a black canopy!

DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
First, we have to head out of the building and down Church Street. We turn right onto Columbia Street and continue by following the route to the Alex Fraser Bridge, then down 91 to 99. Next, we drive through the Peace Arch border crossing and down I-5 South to Everett. At that point, we get onto Route 2 East but only to Monroe. After that, it's the leisurely drive south on Washington 203. In order to get to Snoqualmie, we will exit to Washington 202. If we bring along sandwiches, then Snoqualmie Falls might provide a nice view for lunch. Then, we proceed on to North Bend where we can hit I-90 East. Once we're over the pass, it's a short distance before exiting the Interstate. Finally, in the early afternoon, we'll be at Joel and Lynne's.

Labels: cars, Joel, places, Ranger

Today, I made many changes to a site
highlighting email addresses for alumni of
my a high school in New Hampshire.

Labels: New Hampshire

What a great segue! Yesterday, we were discussing saving moving images and the very same day, Joel asked about making video available online.

This will be the next pioneering effort with networks. It's already an industry trend. When broadband gets broad enough, we won't think a thing about sending around large compressed video files. I'm sure it will happen soon enough so we'll laugh at the restrictions of the present time. I remember streaming Real Audio in the Emirates at a blazing 8 kps. I was amazed it worked at all, but it puts to shame the 100k stereo one can pump out nowadays.

Rather than having to store video locally, Joel found this location to upload personal video. You sign away your rights to the material when you let 'em have it but so what? People used to bore each other with 35mm slide shows in a darkened room. Now I'll be able do it online.

Oh, so you won't be bored, here's:

Joel and Ben's Snowmobiling Rock Video.

Labels: Joel

At the beginning of the DVD I spoke of in passing last week, there were ample references to the film's restoration. Due to the inability to find an adequate master copy, software was used to re-create as perfect a copy as possible.

I find the whole concept very interesting although it may just boil down to my 'packrat' tendencies. Computers and the Internet have changed how we think about media; both in terms of accessibility and transfer. Although written four years ago, I stumbled across this document written by Howard Besser, UCLA School of Education & Information Studies.

Digital Preservation of Moving Image Material

Labels: movies

When speaking of preservation, this photograph probably isn't the best example. Although not spotless, it does an adequate job of reminding me that seven years have passed. Jiwan must've taken it. Don was visiting on his second summer trip to Vancovuer. We were on the roof of Tim's former apartment so the sun is setting over English Bay. We would've moved out of our New Westminster rental to a newly-purchased strata the prevous summer. This must've been taken in the summer of 1999.

Labels: Don, Tim