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

The weather today can only be described as gorgeous.  I jokingly said in one of my Flickr pictures that September is the new August.  It's true!  Whereas there always seems to be a storm that interferes with August's big PNE fair, Septembers in Vancouver in recent years have not failed to seem stunning.  I wondered just how true this is, so I ventured back into my photo archives to see if the theory held up.

There were certainly lots of blue skies in the digital photo collection.  The digital files go back to my first Olympus camera and the first September I owned it was in 2002.  Interestingly, I found this photo from that year.  It was taken in Surrey, BC.  The reason I had on a sports jacket on a Saturday was for an occasion.  Six years ago this week, I took the oath of Canadian citizenship.

Labels: British Columbia, digital camera, Immigrating to Canada, Q3_2008, Surrey, weather

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 11:09 AM 0 comments

Music was always a commodity. As kids we'd put quarters in a jukebox to get it. It could be bought on 45's or LP's. In the mid-1970's, I even joined Columbia House and for a penny got twelve 8-track tapes of it. For these reasons, to this day, I labour under the misconception that it's necessary to possess it. I have an external drive with over 50 GB of music files. My computer outputs DTS and has an optical cable running into an Onkyo receiver. Even poor quality stereo mp3 files sound acceptable when coming out of five speakers.

Not all music had to be physically in one's possession though. Before the Internet, another option for listening to music was, of course, radio. That system worked well for the first three-quarters of my life. Music companies needed stations to advertise their catalogs. Listeners could get music for free by simply putting up with radio station's advertising.

The Internet replaces the free experience of radio with many improved twists. I've owned computers since before the days they had on-board sound cards. I can recall playing with the first version of RealAudio at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai in the mid-1990's. I strongly felt the bandwidth reqired to stream live broadcasts over the Internet was very extravagant. Imagine using a continuous 12 kbs! Over the years the pipes got bigger but I still found no easy interface to make listening simple. A number of encouraging websites came and went. Regular online listening always seemed more trouble than it was worth.

Yesterday, I heard reference to AOL Radio on one the podcasts I regularly listen to. If one wishes to stream rather than consider podcasting, it really is the way to go. I am sitting here at the moment listening to Super 70's and some of the very same tunes I once played on the Clarion, 8-track player I installed in my Ford Pinto in high school.



The greatest benefit seems to be the way it can expands one musical experience. Maybe it's time to switch to Pop: Fresh 100, Acoustic Blues, or a real CBS affiliated station from any major US market. Try clicking the graphic to load the page and listen up for yourself.

Labels: Dubai, Internet, music, New Hampshire, Q3_2008

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 9:00 AM 0 comments

I've visually scanned the weekend circulars and found that there's no mini-note in my immediate future.  At this point I'm using that term.  I'm not sure what we'll eventually call this new genre of machine, perhaps sub-notebooks, netbooks, or cloud PCs.  Of course they are the hottest market segment; in fact, they're so hot that companies cannot crank out enough of them.  They seem cheap but one still gets a lot more bang for the buck with an inexpensive 15.4 inch laptop.  Mini-notes do not even come with optical drives.  Yet, there are so many occasions in which people need less.  Much less.  Therefore, I, for one, would be pleased to pay $400 for a little device for very routine tasks and web browsing.   In a way, it's a relief there's nothing available right now as I'll have to wait until later in the fall when there are more options and better prices. 

The trip to Italy which begins on Sunday sure as hell would've been a perfect test for one of the new little devices.  Unfortunately, as it doesn't look like it's in the cards, I am readying my old Gateway dinosaur. I was tempted to run off with nothing but three weeks seems like a long time to have to rely on mere chances of finding Internet cafes.  I will tote this extra five pounds around the entire country, I guess.

I am getting things ready now.  I generally only use my Gateway at BCIT.  I can get wireless access in any classroom on campus.  An extended trip requires other software.  For example, I loaded ZENcast Organizer just to be able to easily pull in the hourly CBC news podcasts while away.  It's 'politicking' time in Canada.  The process is a whole lot less expensive, more condensed, and a bit less exciting than the electoral zoo in the US.  Still we'd like the ongoing info to be ready to vote the week after getting off the flights from Rome.  On the computer, I had to make sure all email accounts were accessible.  I also had to make sure I could download digital pictures and videos off my cameras.

Just as importantly, I will be using Windows Live Writer to keep drafts of blog entries.  The good thing about it is even if I don't have access to free wireless, I can type out my entry.  It'll then be waiting for upload the next time I get near a little bandwidth.

Labels: blogging, government, netbook, Q3_2008, travel planning

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 11:55 AM 0 comments

Just as almost every autmun in recent memory, we'll be taking our vacation as a new season of television is getting started. The old electonic software timers are still active on the Bell ExpressVu PVR. I hope it picks up the beginning of my must-have series. The only new show that has shown up so far is shown in the graphic above which I captured.

I watch a fair amount of TV although many people don't. That's fine. I'd never suggest that everyone's interests should be the same. Yet, those who don't watch had better not suggest that the reason is because there's nothing on nowadays, at least they'd best not say this within earshot of me.

There are many times when I'm absolutely floored by the quality of programming for television. The production values on many top shows are better than can be found in commercial cinema. If one goes and spends even ten minutes with so-called classic TV, one cannot help but see that most of it was childish, superficial, and ultimately of little lasting value.

Television today is much more professionally-produced, thought-provoking, and entertaining than in any previous decade. Oh, and if not viewed in high defintion, as we have for about two years, then one is not really seeing what the medium has to offer.

Labels: HDTV, Q3_2008, television

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 11:02 AM 0 comments

On any given day there are literally dozens of things I consider blogging about. Most get forgotten well before I get to the keyboard. Today, I think I might add something about a shopping experience.

I walked uptown to the London Drugs. If you're not from around here, you might not know that name. In other locations they might be similar to a Walgreen's or CVS Pharmacy but have successfully ventured into photographic, electronics, appliances, and even furniture sales. Walking up the hill is quite a task but I was pleased to find that their self-administered blood pressure machine showed 118 / 69. Good for me.



The reason for this is not so much as to talk about the company but my very pleasant experience with one cashier today. She was nice and genuinely asked each customer how they were. The amazing part is she listened to the answers. She helped the elderly lady with the cane with helpful banter and a smile that wasn't just for appearance sake. I didn't think to actually take a mental note of her name tag, or I would be more than happy to share it with the world.

If one is going to be facing customers, one might as well take on the role with gusto. I waited on tables when in college. I always considered the role as an actor would. With a few people one could actually feel a connection of sorts that made the experience pleasurable. I can understand that for many, customer service jobs might not be what they desire. Still, if I had to be there for hours, I'd want to suck it up and make it a little fun.

I knew British expats from work in the Middle East who'd often spend their holidays in North America. They said it was fairly cheap to rent a car for weeks and travel around. What kept them coming back, they said, was how waitresses, hotel clerks, and even gas station attendants seemed to honestly enjoy the jobs they did. After a few days spent in the Slovak Republic last year, I also can understand the opposite too!

Anyway, although I don't know her name, just thinking about the lady on register 3 still makes me smile. I wish I could thank her for just being my cashier today.

Labels: errands, New Westminster, opinions, Q3_2008

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 4:45 PM 0 comments

I was rather exited about coming through the border and being able to declare goods purchased in the US. Shopping isn't really a hobby. I think that people who think of it as recreation should really stop to reconsider their lives. However, there are, undoubtedly, better deals on lots of goods in the States. I usually combine larger purchases with a vacation so as not to incur the collection of duties. I think the duty-free allowance is $750 if out of Canada for a week.

Anyhow, I was prepared to actually admit to the border office that I'd bought a mini-notebook. I talked about it here the day before yesterday. I was curious as to what paperwork is required. Unfortunately, Best Buy in Bellingham, WA did not have a single Acer Aspire One in stock. A pimply kid said they had sold out a few hours after arrival. The US website shows they do not have any to ship to online buyers but it surely appears as if they had 'em at the store. It was just poor website implementation, I guess. So, I didn't get to declare any purchases.

However, Jay took a paid sick day. As it is his birthday, he got a free lunch at the Country Buffet at the Mall.

What a mess the Peach Arch border crossing is. We had to wait 45 minutes to go south. It was 11:15 on a weekday morning but construction has forced the opening of only three lanes. I guess things will be finished for the 2010 Olympics. With such a wait, maybe we'll wait until then to drop down to Bellingham for our next brief, pop-across-the-border trip.

Labels: food, netbook, Q3_2008

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 4:55 PM 3 comments

Fruits are kind of like nature's sluts. Plants which create seeds in order to reproduce have a number of choices. Some have come up with ingenious methods to launch them to be carried easily on the wind. Others have designed seductive, colourful flowers to entice insects to come and do the job.



Yet, fruits are more blatant as they create delicious, succulent meat to tempt animals to carry their seeds far and wide. Fruits act like fleshy tarts ... and are sometimes even made into them.

Labels: food, Okanagan, Q3_2008

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 1:04 PM 0 comments