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

I once purchased a boxed copy of Pinnacle Studio V9 so I could edit camcorder tapes. I think I only managed one project with it. That software just didn't seem to work like I do. I don't mind occasionally wasting money on computer software as I really have bought very little over the past two decades. The total cost has been very little if compared to the money I've dumped into hardware since the mid-1980's.

I defaulted to another video editing program. I got a free working evaluation copy of Ulead MovieFactory V3.0 that came with a LG DVD drive once. I used it for the tools as well as putting together video. I liked it so much I bought an online version 5.0 of it in 2006. Since then, I've managed to create a number discs with vacation videos. I like how the basic interface works. It functions well in 16x9 mode with the captured files from our old Sony camcorder.



Today, I decided I could upgrade the software. It's now owned by Corel Corporation. The price of MovieFactory 6.0 Plus was heavily discounted as I had the product key from the previous version. It was all seamlessly selected, paid for, downloaded, and installed after lunch. The program and bonus disk weighed in at over 800 megabytes, but .. hey .. that's why we have broadband, right? Now I'm already to eventually burn on Blu-ray or HD-DVD whichever wins as a computer storage solution.

Now I've got a new problem though. It'd be damn nice to work with files from true High-Def. video source. It's okay; I only work in order to buy trips and toys for myself.

Labels: HDTV, software

I wasn't sure of what to add today as an entry. In the back of my mind I always have a few potential topics. On the back burner, there're some comments about the hospitality industry as I recently had an email message from a former high-school friends who's now owner of several hotels. I could've talked about my perceptions of today's teachers' meeting at BCIT. I really have more to say regarding Toshiba's HD-DVD player and the fact Blue-ray players are three times more expensive. I could have put in an entry about any of these things.

If I had though, I would have missed an important, personal Flickr accomplishment. I noticed this evening that people have viewed my photo collection 50,000 times. That sounds like a a special event to me but my account does have over 4,000 images. Of course, each image has not gleaned an equal number of views. For example, although I think the following photo looks all right, it has not been viewed a single time.



You can help correct that oversight. If you click it now, you can see a larger (1024x755) image from our days in Prague in the Czech Republic last September.

Labels: Eurotrip 2007, Flickr, Prague

Ahhh .. I've got a blank screen but a little extra time to fill it! I am sitting in front of my Technical Communications class as they're hard at work on their midterm exams. The class is small so as well as already correcting the writing section of the test, I've gone through a large pile of marking from our recent program placement exams.

I'm very grateful that we can enforce strict standards for entry. A relatively high percentage of potential students are told they're not ready for our upgrading courses. We can afford to be picky and choose only those whom we feel will be able to advance rapidly through our classes and into regular, BCIT programs. We are able to better serve the students with whom we work.

I've mentioned the idea before but will add again that I cannot help but contrast our situation to private ESL training programs. No matter how professionally managed, most all private sector schools, for financial reasons alone, are forced to accept just about anything that walks by. This can create conflicts that affect the program efficiency and its eventual results.

Labels: BCIT, opinions

Okay, eating is no longer listed as a favourite hobby on my resume but I'm still a sucker for a good buffet.

Back before Christmas, on our way to visit Seattle for a few days, we stopped in Bellingham, Washington which is the first city along I-5. Bellis Fair Mall abuts the freeway and is a popular place for British Columbians in search of bargains when the dollars are near par. We weren't searching for a deal on clothes or electronics. We simply wanted a place to get breakfast as we were on the road early.



I'm a big fan of buffets. Rather than focusing on simple quality, it becomes all about the potential for massive quantities. Gobs of food are required to get my nod. The Country Buffet in the mall met the criteria. It reminded me of a Vegas hotel or even a cruise ship breakfast. We filled out some sort of membership card that included our email addresses. Today, I received an e-coupon for a free lunch or dinner buffet with the purchase of one. Unfortunately it is due to expire on February 5th, so we'll have to take a trip to Bellingham just to make use of it. Oh yeah .. all you can eat ham .. is so worth a thirty-five mile trip. (That sentence was said while drooling like Homer Simpson.)

How does all this rigmarole mesh with the fact, for the first time since purchasing the bathroom scales in October of 2006, I weighed in at under 200 lbs this morning? And this weight is down from nearly 240, mind you. These facts aren't connected. My words and deeds needn't be consistent nor connected in any way.

Labels: food, weight loss

My supervisor called me this morning to ask if I'd help give our department's placement test that took place a 6:00 pm. My regular COMM 0004 class was from 1:00 to 5:00, so as long as I was going to be on campus, I said I would stay later. My class had a writing assignment for part of the afternoon. As soon as we'd finished, I went over to a main building to search for the location of the room where the placement test would take place.

Generally we have these exams in a large, stadium-style room. Today, however, sixty students had to squeeze into a normal classroom. We had to run around and find a number of extra chairs. It seems as if we were packed wall to wall. Still things went well after we had checked everybody in. I stayed until after the grammar section. As soon as the potential students were busy on the writing section, I came home.

This is why my blog entry is a little late tonight.

Labels: BCIT

It was one of those days when residents in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia brag a little. Many folks might not be able to muster such blue in their imaginations. Crayola, the crayon people, never quite managed a blue that'd match today's sky either. If you're nerd enough you might even know the title has something to do with blue. The sun was brightly shining and although we don't have to trudge through snow, it was sparkling on all local mountains. The lack of clouds made it cold; however, we can even manage to brag about that. Whereas it was dangerously cold in many parts of Canada, we had to deal with temperatures just a few degrees below zero on our scale and over twenty-eight on the other one.

It's nearly impossible to feel bad on a day such as this one. A colleague did mention that statistically January 21st is the most depressing day of the year. I like the fact I was able to dodge that bullet today, at least partially due to the weather.

Labels: weather

On a Sunday while lunch is simmering on the stove, there's sufficient time to put a photo or two on the glass of the scanner. I have to admit the only reason it even crossed my mind today was due to the inclusion of the photo in yesterday's entry. I firmly believe pictures cannot live up to their potential if kept in a big box in the closet. Even the most poor-quality picture can be re-born into a more robust digital existence.



I'm sitting in the middle of the road in Saudi Arabia in 1986. We used to frequently slide down over the escarpment, around Mecca, and to the port of Jeddah. It was always fun to get away from Taif on the weekend to enjoy shopping in the big city. Twenty-two years ago it was possible to sit in the middle of the highway due to the lack of traffic. This is probably not possible today.

Labels: camera, Saudi Arabia