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

I harbour feelings of either antipathy or dislike towards blackberries. To me, the bushes are just weeds. They tend to grow in places that are not being regularly maintained and they have thorns. The fruit, although tasty, are hard to get and leave purple stains on anything they touch.



Jay considers blackberries the cat's meow. They don't grow in Sri Lanka so he cannot learn to accept my ingrained disapproval. He maintains they are delicious, free fruit. He says that even beloved roses have thorns and that blackberries should be much more prized as they can be eaten. He thinks they are worth the effort of picking. He's careful so he never gets blackberry juice on him.

Labels: opinions

Yesterday, I gave my computer's DVD writers a real work out. I spent most of the day working on both professional and personal projects.

CREATING FOR INSTRUCTIONAL PURPOSES

I spent the better part of the morning designing a class set of discs that I'll hand out to the students. Sometimes technology changes outside our classes but we continue doing things the same old way. I've decided that each student has access either to a home DVD player or one on their computer. It is only logical that I make use of this resource.

I have run across some excellent TV programming that can be utilized with my Communication students. First, I record the shows off the Bell ExpressVu satellite onto my PVR. Then, at my leisure, I copy the segments I want to my computer via a capture card. Lastly, when I've got a sufficient amount of video material, I use software to create menus for easy access to the video segments.

Next term, I will lend every student a DVD copy. I'll assign specific content as homework. I can either create a worksheet or we can have a discussion of the content during the proceeding class. It's quite hard to discuss the assembly of a technical device or product without visual references. A DVD is not quite as fun as a class field trip but a hell of a lot more interesting than a grammar worksheet.


CREATING FOR PERSONAL PURPOSES

In the late afternoon, in anticipation of next month's trip to Sri Lanka, I worked to copy 2.5 DV tapes to DVDs. Even though only two years have passed, everyone will enjoy seeing what we shot in 2004. I usually spend a lot of time thinking about still photography, but honestly video is much more amazing.

It's relatively easy to copy digital tape to a DVD and include a nice-looking menu. The memories that video can carry are absolutely intense. The screen looks so clear and colourful compared to old analog television. Plus, you get all the movement and a complete soundscape. You can see how someone walks and catch gestures that are impossible in the capture of a single moment in a regular photograph. Once on disc the results become very accessible too. Why edit anything out? With a remote in your hand, it's a cinch to zoom through a boring part at 32X.

I must get the video camera out of the closet much more often.

Labels: camcorder, computers, television

New Westminster School Board runs Continuing Education classes in the fall and spring. As well as academics, there are many general interest courses. They are classed under different sections, such as Computer Training, Crafts, Gardening, Languages, Leisure Activities, and Money Matters.

Here are some Personal Enrichment courses that I found intriguing:

Learn About Your Colour, Chakra, & Aura

Healing Ego and It's Defences

Dealing with Panic Attacks

Clear the Clutter and Simplify Your Life

Therapeutic Touch - Levels 1, 2, and 3

Past Life Regression.

It's such a shame we're going to be out of the country in September, eh?

Labels: New Westminster

For years, I've downloaded new drivers, utilities, and updates for my computers. I've even gotten used to my satellite receiver downloading updates. Yet, I'm still amazed by all the things which I used to think of as equipment having upgradable software too.

I got an email because I registered my Olympus camera online after I bought it. The email indicated that new firmware was available for the SP-350. I could move to the 1.3 version which included some fixes for battery-use indication.

I had never even unsealed the manufacturer's CDROM as I am perfectly happy organizing my photos using the native options in Windows XP. If I wanted to upgrade my camera, however, it instructed I had to do so via the Olympus Master software. I loaded it and and found that even it had a newer version available. I got that up-to-date first.

Next, I followed the instructions and connected the camera to a USB port. It recognized that my current version was only 1.1 and offered to download 1.3 from the Internet. I let it. When it was actually transferring from my hard disk to the camera, there was a nice graphic which showed on the LCD. After two minutes, it simply read, OK. I unplugged everything and turned off the camera. Although I've been carrying it around for eight months now, it's basically brand-new now.

I wonder what version my toaster is running?

Labels: digital camera, software

If you want to Google Earth me, you will now find my coordinates right beneath my photo in the right hand column.

Labels: Google

Just the other day, I was saying how I consider my time in online social networking as time well spent. On one site, people primarily interact through customized message boards. Each user gets their own and others may leave messages in order to communicate. My previous entry maintained using the system allowed people to meet and share information with others whom they'd have no way of running into in real life. Here's an example message I left today as a response:

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Thank you for saying why you liked the blog. I do think many people don't stop to appreciate how wonderful things are in their lives. Many spend far too much time worrying about tiny things that have no consequence in 'the long run'.

Travelling is the best education one can get. I'm talking about really going to a place and not just touring through it. It teaches one that, unlike what some well-meaning liberals assert, people ARE NOT the same all over the world. There can be extreme differences in both belief and actions. Learning to respect, not only acknowledge, the differences is a hard but important part in really making use of the gift of travel.

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I have about ten great ideas each day for new blog entries. Then, when push comes to shove, or, more accurately, fingers to keyboard, I can't remember any of 'em. So, in order to cope, I run to find something to scan.

Here's a wrinkled bit of long ago from a newspaper clipping. The Argus Champion was the weekly paper of the next-door town. Sunapee, New Hampshire had no local newspaper while Newport, NH did. This picture was taken in Newport anyway as that's where my family used to go to church.

The photo's caption reads: OLD_FASHIONED PAINTING BEE on Aug. 18 drew more than 20 persons to the First Baptist Church parsonage. Shown scraping and painting on porch roof, left to right, are Susan Spear, Larry Ellis and Dennis Hurd. The Rev. Richard A. Wallace, pastor, announced another painting bee for tonight.

This clipping, like most from my grandmother Osgood had no date. I am, therefore, simply estimating this to be August of 1968. It's not a very clear, but; hey, it's about 38 years old which is a lot for newsprint. Click the clipping to see the full-sized pdf.

Labels: grandmothers, New Hampshire, scanned

Great images don't have to come from an expensive camera.

In the very early 1970's, as a kid, I was happy with a Kodak Brownie Bullet. It was a little, cube-shaped, hand-me-down camera that was probably already fifteen years old at the time. It took rolls of 127 film that I used to load into a developer tank along with caustic smelling chemicals. After trying to feed them onto a spool, I'd add developer, fixer, and finally water as a rinse. This all took place in the stairway to the attic because when the door was closed it was always almost dark enough!

Well, probably none of those images were great. I have no record of any of them but the camera and developing process did greatly affect me. They proved the magic of a captured image.

Then, for years and years, I was not involved in photography. All the years when travelling the globe, I simply had a consumer-based click and shoot. Or sometimes, I carried nothing at all. That's a pity, really, as I could've taken some unique and inspiring images. It wasn't until 2002 and my purchase of a digital camera, that my interest was re-ignited.



I got most recent camera last December. I wanted to jump to 8 megapixel but I figured that portability was the most important criteria for selection. I reasoned that no matter how wonderful the camera was, it'd sit in the drawer unless it was easy to carry along in daily life. I believe that is true. I do my "Daily Picture Parade" on Flickr where a photo each day represents those 24 hours.

Still, now I'm yearning for more. I want something where I can screw in a telephoto or wide-angle lens. I'm not quite shopping yet, but I'm starting to educate myself on what's available in the dSLR marketplace.

Labels: Daily Picture Parade, digital camera

What an exciting weekend! As it's BC Day tomorrow, many people are free for a three-day weekend. The weather forecast looks perfect. Although the ferries over to the island have probably been busy, there's a lot going on around here. Last night we headed to downtown Vancouver for the finale of the HBC Celebration of Light along with an estimated 400,000 others.

This morning is the annual Vancouver Pride Parade. The webcam below will probably be pointed to English Bay but I'm not sure if you'll see any activity on the right-side of False Creek. This camera updates around every five minutes. Please click the photo below to load the page of Kat Kam and see it in all its 1024 X 768 splendor.

Labels: British Columbia, Vancouver, webcam