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

Labels: food

Unlike most days, I was struggling a little trying to think of what to blog about today. I thought I might mention something about the fact some friends are coming for dinner tomorrow. I thought it'd be easy to look for old digital photos of a former, similar engagement. I quickly found some taken exactly six years ago to the month. We walked around some of New Westminster that day. The photo above was taken on May 11, 2002 when we walked in Queen's Park. It sports a children's petting zoo each summer. The photo above was take there. I don't know who the child was, but he sure looks as if he enjoyed seeing the llama.

Labels: flora and fauna, New Westminster

As I'm currently in the PELD computer lab with my students, I do not have access to the document in which I keep many details about my life. I know that my first class at BCIT was during the fall of 1997. I know that I surpassed the ten-year mark last fall. Yet, I do not know how many times I've taught this COMM 0004 course. The length of the course can vary because of the schedule. For example, this intensive one is 84 hours spread out over twenty-one afternoons.

Whatever the total count, I am happy in this current one. The happiness may be due to the fact our midterms are over and we will finish up completely a week from today. Each group of students brings a different dynamic to the classroom. The materials which are taught change over time, but the individuals change in every single class.

In each class, the students' motivation, sense of humour, and academic skills differ. Consequently, these differences affect my own motivation, sense of humour, and teaching performance.

Labels: BCIT, students

I have always been rather interested in maps and globes. Therefore, I simply love the computerized equivalent called Google Earth. What an amazing resource! I know, I've blogged about it in the past. Yet, the interface continues to improve and the addition of layers and 3-dimensional buildings and objects makes the experience better and better.

I don't know why I don't run into more people who are as enthusiastic as I am. I can check real places around the globe I've been. For example, after mentioning Yemen in an entry here the other day, I wondered about a military camp where I once worked. Jay and I met after I arrived at the Taif Army Ordinance Corp and School in Taif, Saudi Arabia. I located the area: 21 19' 08" N 40 26' 07" E. Obviously a lot of things will have changed since 1985/87!

I am probably more likely to use Google Earth when researching upcoming vacations. Being able to zoom right in on a specific address can be useful when checking for hotels or attractions. It seems great to see areas before visiting them. It's no longer necessary to physically be at a place in person to get the lay of the land. Which road shall we take to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon next month? I'm checking right now in another window, in fact.

Labels: Desert Southwest, Google, Saudi Arabia, travel planning

I get a little angry that I can stream lots of TV content to my computer monitor but cannot watch it on the big screen which is just a few feet away. I know, it'd be possible to purchase a graphics card with HDMI output but, come to think of it, both inputs on my Toshiba big screen are already connected to devices.

Most content that's on my computer can be run through TVersity and the Sony PS3. That's one way to show stuff on the regular TV. Unfortunately, most all live, web video plays in Adobe Flash Player 9 and that's not yet supported on the PS3. If it were, it'd make things much easier. After all, if these concepts are ever going to go mainstream they have to be easy. Or at least the process is going to have to be easier than it is now.

I could wonder why I'm so excited about TV through the net as I already own a satellite box that receives high-definition and is able to save shows on its internal hard disk. I simply think I'd be happier initiating the process myself. I want to watch a wider selection of media completely free from broadcast scheduling.



Click the image above to see what the popular programs on Hulu are. If you're outside the US and wish to watch anything on Hulu, take a look at the initial entry from last week.

Labels: PS3, television

It was less than a week ago, when one entry here hinted how I considered the lack of uniformity in media as a potential detriment. I reckoned that too much variety has the unintended consequence of providing fewer shared cultural references.

From the photo above, you can see that when we pop a DVD in the player, we are often far from ordinary. The major advantage of using a video-by-mail service is not that it's cheaper. The number of titles available at zip.ca is enormous. I could never expect my local Blockbuster to carry the number of unique titles we usually watch.

A New Day in Old Sana'a arrived today. It was a winner of the Cairo International Film Festival in 2005. It is supposedly the very first full-length feature film from the country of Yemen. When we worked in Taif, Saudi Arabia the capital, of then North Yemen, was not far away. Although we never actually travelled there, we have sufficient references to make the movie a must see.

Labels: movies, Saudi Arabia

There was a time when I could mark the passage of it by where I had lived. Even today, it's easy for me to think of a year and the various places where I lived at the time. Let's take a random year, say 1995. I would be able to recall that the apartment was on the south side of Karama, Dubai. We moved from the other side of that area the previous year and left the UAE all together during the following one. I will do some mathematics. Between 1978 and 1998 I lived in at least 16 different places, including dorm rooms but excluding my family home.



So, I find it a tiny bit shocking that after actually buying this apartment, we've lived in it for ten years in a row. We moved in a decade ago come June. I've probably said things like this before, but I think that sounds scary. Ten years is such a big chunk of one's adult life. I'm beginning to understand how when staying in one place, time seems to all blend into one big blob.

Labels: Fraser River, New Westminster