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

It felt a bit like a small miracle. We were friends so long ago. I should now better understand the term, a long-lost friend. We telephoned when leaving Dubai in 1996. We never had a valid postal address for him. The chances of actually ever being in contact again were next to none.

Then unexpectedly, I got an email yesterday from Saeed. He had googled my name and found my email address. It was an occurrence which really made me feel optimistic about life. It is extraordinary to have a part of a former existence catch up with the present.



I found this clip on old camcorder tape. It was shot on August 20, 1993. We were on a weekend trip from Dubai to Khor Fakkan, Sharjah. Saeed was a new driver and got behind the wheel of my red Firefly on a few more desolate sections of highway. The minute of video was taken at the site of the Al-Bidyah Mosque in Fujairah. It is believed to be one of the first mosques in the area built between 500 and 600 years ago. Since the time time of the video, a large portion may have been rebuilt.

Labels: Dubai, email, Q4_2008, road trip, YouTube

I have been using Google Mail exclusively since May of 2004. The recent additional of colour schemes has brightened things up a bit. In terms of discussing things in the computer environment, my connection with gmail seems almost historical. Regardless of what you think of the Google empire, their clean, unobtrusive online site was my first real embrace of what's come to include, online applications and cloud computing. It just seemed right to move email off my own hard disk and out into the Net.

Early in the millennium I wanted a permanent address after changing once too often. I hated both getting and sending those "I-now-have-a-new-address" notices. It was good to move away from temporary mail solutions from one's ISP de jour. For a while I used my hotmail address. Now I only use it as Passport sign-in for a few places like in MS Money and on Expedia. I still used Outlook Express as a local program. Messages needed to be stored locally as the free account space was very limited. That meant all data had to be moved with the addition of each new computer. The Microsoft site itself was always too bulky, slow, and portal-like to be useful.

So, I picked many old-school habits such as deleting messages with mega attachments. I still find it hard to let those messages simply rest on gmail servers. Perhaps that why after 4 1/2 years I have only managed to use 1% of my allotted space.

(Or, maybe it's that most messaging with friends is starting to occur outside of traditional email altogether. I'm mentioning this to allow me the opportunity vent my frustration with several friends. They mistakenly believe that Facebook is something not useful enough for them to even try! I'd feel sorry for their lack of insight but I'm too annoyed for that.)

Labels: email, Google, Q4_2008, social networking

Do I know you? If you answered yes and you're reading this entry on my eJournal and images, then I have an important suggestion for you. I'd rather you look at my facebook wall. These pages always show up there thanks to an RSS feed. More importantly, the information on facebook is more personal. My blog is a permanent location for me to voice opinions but the other site will more likely have comments about what I'm doing on any particular day.

(Incidentally, I am starting my new COMM 0004 afternoon class today.)

If you truly want to contact me, please don't bother with email. That is an application that seems so 1990's. If you're too stubborn or uninformed to sign up on facebook, then I cannot believe you really have much of anything to say in which I'm very interested.

Labels: email, Net apps, Q4_2008, social networking

Years back when I went overseas, I had to rely on real letters. I mean if I wanted to send someone some information, I had to put it on a piece of paper, slide it into an envelope, affix a stamp, and drop it in the postal system. Sometimes there was a two-week turn around between sending something and getting the reply. Considering I was waiting on my lazy family and friends, it often took much longer. I was slightly ahead of the curve by the fact in the mid-1980's I was word processing most of my correspondence. At that time, I knew that some people considered getting a typed message as rather rude. How silly, I thought!

Now people can stay in constant electronic contact but that's not what I want to discuss. Today, I just want to focus on some differences I've witnessed in my own written communication since college.

When one wrote letters, they had to be self contained. One would save up events and then share a lot of them in a single document. It took a lot of work and time. One had to be pretty dedicated to locate the previous missive and begin the process of creating a reply. One wanted to make it worth the effort for there was a cost in both one's money and time.

In contrast, email came along and could be short and sweet. Some of the discomfort of having to devote a lot of time to messages had lessened. Unfortunately, most people never adapted. I think most people seldom write personal email because they never caught up with the mindset of the new technology. An email can be a single thought. It doesn't cost anything to send. Multiple conversations can take place but people, at least the ones I know, aren't mentally or emotionally set up that way.

I've begun to notice a third change in my personal electronic correspondence. When word processing first appeared, it was a surprise to realize one didn't need to retype text. For example, even on my first IBM, I could hit a button or two and my whole return address would appear. Now in the past few years, I've noticed a third major change. I am often using chunks of pre-existing, personal online data inside my emails nowadays. With standard text, I constantly add URLs to information I've already got online. I might link to an entry here, or a slide show of Flickr pictures.

These three stages have come about due to changes in computer technology. First, there was no email. Then, email came along and shifted both the speed and content of my messages. Finally, I'm seeing the inclusion of much more personal online media. It's too bad I don't know anyone who's capable of writing back!

Labels: email, Internet, Q3_2008

People are fairly stupid. Wait, let me retract that. People, except me, are fairly stupid. I guess I'm prone to overstatement but I have been thinking about this as I've been involved at trying to dispel two hoaxes in the last two days. The Internet, on the whole, doesn't necessarily make people any smarter; rather, it simply allows them to be stupid faster and more loudly.

Myth #1 - A Device Can Allow a Car to Run on Water

If it's too good to be true then it probably is. This myth always comes around when there's a shortage of oil or the price increases rapidly. Hence, variants on this theme are quite popular at the moment.

The Hoaxes: Example 1 or Example 2
The Fact: Wikipedia

Myth #2 - Multiple Cell Phones Can Explode Popcorn

People love their cell phones but cannot shake the idea that somehow they're bad for their brains. Well actually, I do believe they're bad from one's brain! No, I don't think it has to do with electromagnetic radiation; it's simply bad for human brains because people yack their way through life rather than observing what's around them. Regardless, the recent video myth that a few cell phones can pop kernels of corn is, indeed, moronic. What smart viral advertising it is though!

The Hoaxes: Example 1 or Example 2
The Fact: Tech. Yahoo

Even fairly intelligent, educated colleagues have forwarded ridiculous emails containing Internet hoaxes. It seems that human nature really hasn't seen much development since pre-historic stories around the campfire. There are some things we just need to believe in no matter how foolish. I don't want to end here but I've got to go. I'd include a third myth but I just got an email from Bill Gates that says if I re-send his message to all of my friends ...

Labels: email, Internet, opinions, Q2_2008, telephone

Today's picture is not new to the blog. In fact it was first published on November 1, 2005.

At the time, I mentioned that I had earnestly started to scan some old photographs for Flickr. The picture to the right was taken during my time in Taif, Saudi Arabia. On an outing one weekend, which occur on Thursday and Friday there, we used to venture around the mountain city. These boys were playing in a rural neighbourhood. In the very conservative parts of the Kingdom, taking photographs of people was frowned upon. Still, these kids were very happy to be the center of attention. This picture was mostly likely taken in 1985, so 23 years later I never again expected to hear about them.

I'm only including a re-posting of the photo because of this very interesting email that I received yesterday:

I was searching for Taif City on the Internet, accidentally arrived to your web site and luckily and I saw the photo of the two kids from Taif, there are my cousins, the kid on the right side of the photo is now a high school teacher and the other on the left of the photo, now he is Saudi Airlines Employee and the area where you have took the photo it is my home point in Taif. I have sent the photo to the two guys, they remember it and they were so happy. The two guys are married and both have kids.

Best Regards,
Abdullatif Al-Fageeh

Labels: email, Flickr, Internet, mountains, Q2_2008, Saudi Arabia, scanned, sharing

For how many years have we now had email? It hasn't been all that many but the impact can certainly still be strong.

I'm not so much thinking of work-related messages, but those that come in from the Internet from people who were from former aspects one's life. Once in a while, along with those automated reminders that my credit card statement is online or other official-type business, I get real email. Again, most of the crap received from my sister wouldn't count as it contains no new information. Hers tend to be those pass-it-along messages of a supposedly profound nature.



I am trying to highlight the times when a real message comes that provides interesting information from a friend or acquaintance. I got one just this morning from a school pal. Candy, on the left in the photo, started schooling with me when we were in elementary grades. We continued right through high school and eventually both received teaching certificates from the same college. I hadn't heard from her for years but it was easy to catch up. How interesting to hear about the family and their goings on. How great to hear about recent vacations too. Here's a quote that might not be too common in any messages you received today.

"A 100 x 25 foot barn addition of ours collapsed under the heavy snows and ice. Four cows were trapped, but with help managed to escape and are now healing."

I'd not mind getting more messages from others. Even if they're sent out in bulk and have the type of information that yearly Christmas newsletters used to contain. Go ahead, drop me a line.

Labels: Class of 1977, email, Internet, Q1_2008, Sunapee

Okay, I've been blogging for over four years and I have never, ever just pasted in one of those 'cutie' emails that one sometimes receives. You know who I mean. Everybody has at least one acquaintance or family member who frequently sends out junk to a huge list of people. I got this and I figured it does sort of fit here.

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning .. uphill BOTH ways .. Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email! ! We had to actually write somebody a letter .. with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600 with games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a friggin' fire ... Imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The Over-30 Crowd

Labels: email, lists, opinions, PS3, Q4_2007

The e-doors are closing on a bit of history.



My decision to stop working on the high school email directory was a bit slow in coming. Sometimes we, as people, continue things merely because we are used to doing them. My volunteer work on the Virtual Sunapee Reunion website lasted over eight years. That is quite a chunk of time. The site was started the year the Monica Lewinsky scandal hit the newspapers. A current senior at the SMHS was in fourth grade. More frighteningly, should I live to be 80 years old, these eight years will represent 10% of my life.

I appreciate all those who've participated over the years. I'm most pleased with those of you who used to update regularly. Lastly, a special word of thanks must go to the free hosting offered by the folks at www.nhvt.net.

---

I'd also like to take a moment to add the members who were current as of the final day of operation. They are:

2000-2006 Julie Bradford, Sasha Chait, Ashley T Esclavon, Dan Gonyea, Julie Heath, Kat Hudkins, Jolene Menard, Katrina Taylor

1990-1999 Joseph Abraham, Michael Abraham, Mindy Atwood, Christopher Barrett, Christine Frederick, Jaime W Godin, Matthew Hanson, Craig Heino, Lisa Kelley, Dustin Laro, Michael Murgatroy, Carrie Joaquin-Ocampo, Jennifer Oles, Steven Oles, Jennifer W Peck, Diana Perry, Matthew Simmons, Dan Smith, Pete Stevenson, Kate Sullivan, Megan J Williams

1985-1989 Beth Alstrom, Matt Andrus, Catherine I Ayer, Michele Couitt, Heidi C Currier, Kristi Curtis, Karen C Gates, Rebecca M Goetz, Wendy Lippincott, Dean Miller, Wendy S Sommers, Brette Twardosky, Sandy S Warren, Shelley P Wells

1982-1984 Lynda Lee D Addonizio, Maureen M Brandon, Theresa C Brush, Brenda E Cabral, Kim Cousens, Donnie Duling, Gary Gagnon, Angel G McAllister, Billie L Medoff, Carrie "Bali" Smith, Ellen K Wirta, Michele N Wood

1980- 1981 Michael Ansart, Jim Britton, Wendy Britton, Scott Dickinson, Liz I Hoar, Joseph Internicola, Lee Ann B Maroni, Dale Morrow, Annie C Potash, Kathy B Ross, Andrew Trombley, Mark Wirta

1978-1979 Randy Buswell, Janet G Butler,Cindy M Chaves, Kent Dickinson, Tim Fortier, Carl Gissler, Renee G Lecaroz, Aaron Simpson, Lynne B Thomas, Allison D Touchette, Daniel Trombley, Bob Wagner

1977 Paul Appleby, Marla Binzel, Christopher Ellis, Candy W Fuller, Dennis Hurd, Richard Kelly, Mitch Latva, Joanne N Menard, Marion C Quintas, Sherry Simms, Susan N Stocklan, Joel Thomas, Donna A Timme, Bret Wirta, Cindy B Yeager

1970-1976 William Boyce, Steven Butler, Charlotte S Clay, Robert C Ferguson, April W Freeman, David Fuller, Will Odell, Leslie Powers, Gail H Raymond, Susan Sargent,
Joanne A Stevens,

1940-1969 Bob Buswell, Chester Cheney, Charlie Colcord, Jim Cooke, Jerry Hackett, Patricia P Kosowicz, Linda C Nutting, Arthur Partridge, David Rich, Ellsworth Ruggles, David Tompkins

FACULTY Laura Davis, Anna Duke, Bill Gauthier, Karen Gosselin, Ken Greenbaum, Frank Hammond, Daniel Hudkins, Richard C Leone, Wendy Nolin, Alan Peterson, Patricia Rude.

Thank you all!

Labels: Bret, Class of 1977, email, Joel, New Hampshire, Q4_2006, Sunapee

I got an unexpected email yesterday. It was from a former student.

---

Dear Dennis,

How are you doing and how are things with you so far? I hope everything is running smoothly and as the way you like....

If you don't remember me ... Just try to remember in BDF (Bahrain 1989). You were my teacher and we went as a group to your flat.

You have a nice day.

Yasser Mohd Alrayes

---

I had to mail him back right away as he was from my initial group of Bahraini students. I did, indeed, remember and gave him the Flickr link to the following picture. In it, we both must look lots younger than today. I am anxious to hear more about his life at the present time.

Labels: Bahrain, email, Q2_2006, scanned

I got an email from a former colleague this week. It was good to hear from him. I met Don when he first came to work in Bahrain in 1990. He still teaches there. I value his friendship but he does suffer from a few delusions. One point is how he feels he is managing to beat the ravages of time. Maybe the honest and accurate view in the mirror is being clouded by failing vision. Another point involves the calculation of the same subject ... time. Although he is sixty he still maintains he's middle aged. For gads sake, how many of us are still on this earth at the age of one hundred and twenty?

This segues into another look at the topic of time. This afternoon my class will have a midterm exam. This is the fourth one I've given in 2006. In my nearly nine years of teaching at BCIT, I've never taught as many intensive classes back-to-back. During previous years, I've generally taught a few classes in the BCIT International program too. Those courses have fewer hours per week spread out over a much longer period of time. I'd say there are advantages and disadvantages to each schedule.

Labels: Bahrain, Don, email, Q2_2006

Here's a screenshot of The Virtual Sunapee Reunion.



For many years, I've been keeping track of alumni from my former high school. The VSR site itself has a blog that helps to track changes. Each person can add text and photos to a customized page. Keeping things running also involves sending out monthly newsletters. I do this so that I can determine those participants who abandon an email address without informing me.

I'm surprised by how few people create web-based materials. Most of the world are just consumers I guess. Every once in a while I'm reminded that my combination of skills are, indeed, rare.

It is a bit odd, I manage this site even though Sunapee, New Hampshire is more than 5,000 kilometers from here. It all boils down to the fact we all use the same Internet!

Labels: email, Internet, New Hampshire, Q1_2006, Sunapee

Blog entries aren't written as direct contact with a known person. I'm sure that even friends and family often forget to keep up. Having the text on a web server makes it accessible but not necessarily accessed. It reminds me of that age-old question: If a tree falls in the forest and there's nobody around to hear it, does it really make a sound?

Out of the blue, last week, I got a polite message from Mr. Dusan Vondracek in Slovakia. He encouraged me by saying, "Your work helps me to discover far-away region and it helps me to learn English too. So I can say I combine pleasantness with usefulness. I wish you patience by this unpaid work." Upon thanking him via email, he wrote a few particulars about his life.

I answered, "I like how this technology can be used in ways which help people understand each other better. It can all be reduced to ones and zeros, but it has provided new ways for people to interact. These people would have had no previous way to impact each other ... in the past."

Labels: email, Q4_2005

Way back ... last summer, I first blogged about social networking Internet websites. It was a small reference to an online article at the time. I'd just swapped a gmail invitation for a chance to join orkut. Of course, I haven't logged since that time. Most of my friends and family aren't nerdy, clever, or trendy enough (depending on one's perspective).

Hey, I don't find it difficult keeping up, but have the maturity to ignore things that don't matter to my world. For example, my cell phone ... is just that ... only a phone. It doesn't take pictures, it doesn't play mp3s, it doesn't even contain any playable games. Oh, I forgot, and it weighs about 3 pounds! Yet, I don't need to keep up with the Jones' phones.

Anyway, I'd not been sucked into friendster.com, nor its software ilk. Yet yesterday, I got an invite for hi5 - Who's in? from a friend. "What the heck," I thought, "I'll fill it out." Little did I know that it would snatch one of my address books and send out invitations to everybody! That was very rude as I did not grant my permission. Technorati confirmed I'm not the only one who's upset either. Hi5 is not building a framework that's going to create much good will!

So, sorry ... friends if you got some recent email which you had to ignore. It was just more junk from Dennis ... AGAIN! But, wait. Even after all this has been said, I just might keep logging on.



PS. This photo was copied from splash screen of the hi5 website. Why
aren't my friends all drop-dead gorgeous babes and hunky studs?

Labels: email, Internet, Q1_2005, social networking

BCIT : : breaking news & alerts : : labour update
I'm using the email funciton of blogger to send this to my eJournal.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dennis Hurd
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 09:30:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Week 3

Class,

Today is Sunday, and it appears as though we WILL NOT have class
tomorrow. Therefore, on Wednesday we will follow the schedule of the
day that we missed.

Please start to think about how we will make up the three hours of lost
time. I would much rather meet on just one extra day than try to add
minutes to various classes. That can be too tiring.

I am able to meet with you any day of the week and either in the mornings
or afternoons. Please let me know your suggestions by email and when we
have our next class.

I hope you enjoy your unexpected, long weekend.

Dennis

--------------------------
Dennis S. Hurd
Pre-entry Communications
BC Institute of Technology

Labels: BCIT (Page 1), email

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 9:33 AM 0 comments

Today we went to town at 9:30 am. Right before we were going, a big rain shower passed by. Jay's dad came too. We bought a replacement transformer for my battery charger. It's better to go 220V right into the wall now that my 120 to 240 transformer is broken. When in Minuwangoda we also mailed some postcards. Jay's dad took half the grocery list and the 3-wheel home.

We took the other half of the list and a Negombo bus. There was a Kodak place there which could print directly from my camera's media although we did have to go upstairs to their networked computer section. They were using Adobe to touch-up wedding photos and other large jobs. At one terminal, a guy had to copy 456 photos to his hard drive, arrange them into smaller section to open, and then let us choose those we wished to print. We wanted family pictures and the zoo photos to give to people here. We selected only 14 but made four copies of each.

Next, we went to an Internet cafe. We got a letter from Ed and Shinji that H3 (Hamster 3) had passed away. It was our favourite hamster but was over two years old and that's their limit. We should have left instructions ... in case of death ... as they took the time and effort to have it cremated!

Riding back occurred just as the schools let out. Even tiny little elementary kids take ordinary public busses, so it seemed to take FOREVER to get here.

Labels: email, errands, Hardware, Q4_2004, Sri Lanka 2004

Today, the major event was visiting a monk. This particular monk had helped the family a lot during the sickness of Jay's mother. Actually, the one year memorial of her death will occur next month. Buddhist monks here live by donations. As is customary we brought a new towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, milk powder, and a pen. The "audience" lasted a half hour and were were served tea and food. The van had been late in picking us up (10:50 am rather than the scheduled 10:30 am). So were weren't very hungry. Yet, there was a pet rooster which seems to thoroughly enjoy the cheese sandwich we threw.

In the evening, after an afternoon nap, we checked email at a close Internet Cafe. There are advantages of living in the city!

Labels: email, Q3_2004, Sri Lanka 2004, temple

I've been using Gmail for three months now. It is only after this amount of time, with over 250 saved messages, that the usefulness of search becomes obvious. I have to constantly remind myself to keep everything as it will prove easy to locate an exact message when needed.

I enjoy the Gmail ads as they are often helpful and unobtrusive. They are usually right on target too. For example, in a return message to Bret I wrote the following:

"Did you use Windows Movie Maker to compress 'your dog going postal' for Internet email? I cannot remember if I had you download the encoder ... or Movie Maker. You will find the latter on your hard drive already. You can choose output and probably even burn to a CD after splicing 'em together."

The ads to the right were a pretty good match for our discussion. I'm often interested enough in the bots' suggestions to research the links provided. They're especially good at recommending commercial links but I've seen accurate, current-event links to newspapers. I've seen occasional 'public-service' type links as well.

---

Yesterday, however, I couldn't quite figure out why Gmail assumed I needed the specific links in this section. I had written to my boss about printing up a course outline in advance. Here's our exchange:

"I'm really impressed by your forward planning!! Do you need the outline signed before August 28? let me know so I can take it in - I'm not going to the campus regularly otherwise."

"No, no. Please don't go in. I would not be photocopying it until I get back. It's just things, such as signing this, are better done at leisure ... than waiting until the very last minute."

Oh, and just so you'll know, the email subject line read:

CRN 67046 Outline (2 months early)

---

Labels: Bret, email, Net apps, Q3_2004

Businesses and organizations need to practice a little email etiquette. (I even have a few friends who could learn a thing or two.) Upon arrival, an immediate message should be returned acknowledging receipt. It should state either the expected response or reference when a subsequent response will be forthcoming. Here's one for which I've been waiting for nearly a week ...

From: Dennis Sylvester Hurd
To: Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 15:45:24 -0700
Subject: Re: from Sri Lanka High Commission/ Ottawa

To: Consular Services, SL High Commission, Ottawa

Thank you for your help and previous email. I am aware that 30-day
visitor visas can be obtained at the airport. However, as stated in
my previous messages, we wish to spend about 60 days there. We've
purchased tickets which show we will arrive on September 2nd and will
depart on October 26th. This is more than the 30 days. As we expect
to travel extensively, it may not be convenient to return to Colombo
in the middle of our journey for visa renewal. It would certainly be
excellent if we were to have the necessary visas in our passport
before our departure.

The following paragraph is taken from your web site
http://www.srilankahcottawa.org:

========================================
Visa for Tourists
Canadian Tourists visiting Sri Lanka will be given visas free of
charge valid up to 30 days at the port of entry. They should have
valid Passports, return air tickets and funds for the stay at the rate
of C$30.00 per day, per person. Those wishing to stay longer should
either obtain a prior visa from this High Commission or, having
entered Sri Lanka with free 30 day visa at the airport, get it
extended on payment of the fee of C$75.00 at the Department of
Immigration and Emigration, Colombo.
========================================

As we wish to stay longer, I would like to know if it is possible to
'obtain a prior visa from this High Commission". I certainly hope
that you can provide additional details which will make our vacation
successful and enjoyable.

Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter.

Labels: email, government, passport, Q2_2004

Gads, MORE email from Dennis? I'm just testing my Google Gmail
account. You know, it's the one with a gigabyte of storage. Better
than that, it allows single message attachments of 10 megabytes.

So, go ahead, send me that huge photo, video clip, laptop backup ...

== Dennis

---

Wow. Dennis is right in there on the cutting edge. In order to
send you something really big, I'll have to have GMAIL as poor old
Hotmail doesn't allow more than a 1 MB of attachments.

Is gmail available to all, or only a select few? I thought there
was suposed to be adverts accompanying it. I didn't get any. Or
is it the sender that gets the advert?

---

Dennis S Hurd (GMail)
More options May 23 (20 hours ago)

No, I think I've been identified as a select computer user ... and
have an account at Blogger.com. If you can still log in there, you
might find the link from their new, streamlined pages.

It's really a completely new way of working. You leave everything and
don't really make folders .. but each message can have a 'tag'.
Basically you find what you want using Google's search technologies.

No, the adverts are totally non-instrusive. They're like what one
sees on the right hand side of a google search. A message to myself
included a tourist website for Richmond, BC as it noted that I live in
New Westminster.

I'm not concerned about privacy issues in this case at all. I think
the scaremongering is just the competition trying to make people nervous.

Labels: email, Google, Net apps, Q2_2004

To: Connie Shen, Microsoft (Intl Vendor)
From: Dennis S. Hurd

Thank you and welcome back. I had extensive email with your colleague, Jeffson Chen. We had lots of correspondence and no final solution. I think he has now 'given up' on me.

Interesting new changes: I moved away from Outlook Express after years and into Outlook 2002 which had sat dormant on my hard disk.

The problem we outlined a month ago still remains. If I do my "mail run" in the mornings I can send and receive to all accounts. Of course, my POP accounts ALWAYS work. Generally in the afternoons about 70% of my accounts will complete. I will state right now: I have four hotmail accounts. I use one for work, one is personal, one deals with a reunion web site and the other is also for correspondence with another web site I run. My computer also has a different user who logs on to a different XP account (with their own background and options). At the same time my hotmail accounts stopped working, that one did too.



There doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason as to which accounts will be accessible at any particular time. The error messages are slightly different in Outlook but generally are pointing towards the same problem we've identified previously.

I always auto-update from the XP Windows update. I think my trouble started at around the time I went to xpsp2.

Labels: email, Net apps, Q2_2004

I will be teaching a summer course at BCIT. Although it doesn't begin until next Monday and I've never met the class, I have just sent each student a welcoming letter!

British Columbia Institute of Technology has provided a web portal for a few years now. It is very convenient as data from various sources are unified under a single interface. As soon as a student registers in a class, the name appears in a class list which I can view. As instructor, I'm able to prepare an email for the entire group with a single click. In addition to email, myBCIT includes a useful calendar function which again is pre-completed with information from the institute's scheduling system. There is a location for the instructor to add interesting links. Also, there's a message board and online chat which are directly tied to our course.

Lastly, myBCIT also acts as a universal gateway to other BCIT online systems. Designed for staff, instructors, and students, it offers functions as diverse as department announcements, room scheduling, and a way for students to check grades.

Click here ----> Screen Shot of myBCIT's E-Mail Interface


(In addition, please note my previous reference to myBCIT on March 13, 2004.)

Labels: email, myBCIT, Net apps, Q2_2004

I have taken students into computer labs since the days when PC's had just 640K of RAM. I still schedule an hour of lab time every week. I tend to encourage students to use computers as more of a research and work tool than for computer-assisted instruction.

Doing useful things in the lab is easy because of the Internet and a tool offered at BCIT. I frequently make use of myBCIT, a web portal for the Institute. As soon as a student registers in class, he / she is provided with access to the portal and an accompanying email address. Most school paperwork and documentation can be provided though an electronic pipeline. When logging on, students are presented with their class lists and an accompanying work area for each class.

I have easy means to add links, supervise a class message board, initiate an online chat, add to our course calendar, or email the entire group in one step. That is a whole lot easier than when I needed to collect email addresses during the first scheduled class! Computers greatly impact our private lives, so it should not be considered unusual that they affect how we teach and learn.

Labels: computer lab, email, Internet, myBCIT, Q1_2004, software, students

Imagine, I only met my new class once and we needed a full day to recuperate! It started snowing around 8:00 am and the forecasts predict 10 cm (4 inches) of snow today. Fortunately, around these parts, that's enough to call off school!

So, I've been granted a bit of time for an extra blog entry. On January 4th, I linked to an article by columnist Rohit Gupta. His writings can be found at the online version of Mid-Day from Mumbai, India. I jotted out a very quick email note saying that I'd linked to his article entitled, Science of Bollywood.

Mr. Rohit answered my email so I've taken the liberty to include a bit of his response as it regards to our topic of discussion:

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Koi Mil Gaya, clearly a remake of Spielberg's E.T. with elements from Big (Tom Hanks), may have introduced a lost genre to Bollywood yet again. After the long ago success of "Mr. India" based on The Invisible Man, directed by Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, Bandit Queen, The Four Feathers), no one even ventured near a sci-fi concept in Bombay. Even in Koi Mil Gaya, the name of this alien is Jadoo (in Hindi: magic) which obfuscates the science-fiction and trades it with the more traditionally familiar concept of magic.

A notable film, not a product of Bollywood but some advertising people from Calcutta, is Patalghar (The Underground Chamber). It's lovely, but loses grip after the interval. www.blackmagicmovies.com/htm/films.htm.

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I'd like to thank him publicly for taking the time and effort to answer personally. This really proves how collaborative a venture blogging can be!

Labels: email, India, Q1_2004, weather

Last night, I sent out the regular monthly newsletters. They are related to the alumni from my high school and the site that I created and maintain. The names on the email reminded me of last summer when I returned to Sunapee, NH and attended our 25th reunion. Thankfully, the Internet had provided a means for getting hold of many of the former classmates.


Hey, Lori would NEVER make rabbit ears in a photo, right?

Labels: Class of 1977, email, Internet, New Hampshire, Q4_2003, Sunapee

I was horrified to receive this email in response to Wednesday's message to Ronnie:

Dear Dennis,

I just got home, at 2 AM, slinking into my building with a KFC Dinner Box dangling at my side, feeling like a drug dealer, and lo and behold, I opened your blog. Well, well. A fellow 'junkie'. I had actually stopped at the Colonel's for a Snack Box ("no fries, please") and coleslaw slaw, and was overcome by temptation. Throwing caution to the wind, I went 'all the way'. And when I got home, I even reached past the diet drinks, and grabbed a non-diet Pepsi from the back of the fridge!! Now, that's serious. Barely 15 minutes later, I sit here smugly, picking at the bones and eyeing that awful bun, wondering if I've got enough non-diet Pepsi left to wash it down.

What can I do?

Clogged Arteries

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Dear C A ,
I guess your dilemma involves whether you have enough non-diet Pepsi in the house.

If you're really up that proverbial creek, just pop open a diet, pour, and stir in seven heaping tablespoons from the sugar bowl. (Note: Sweet & Low is NOT an option.) Be warned that it will not taste exactly as expected.. but until you hide a case of sugar-ful, fully-caffeined, way-God-had intended-it-to-be, classic Pepsi in the back of the frig... then this is merely a temporary solution.

Yours sweetly,
Dennis, spokesperson for THWAT (To Hell With Atkins Too)

Labels: Don, email, food, Q4_2003

Here's a note received from Lori Preston. How very thoughful and nice of her to send it. Some people may not be able to answer an email, but Lori can go a step farther ...

Dennis,
I loved seeing your picture of you & sandy, it brought back school memories. Things seemed to be wonderful in your life, I'm so glad to hear that. You deserve it, you've brought many smiles to my face throughout the years. We see our school year friends so seldom and yet the memories of good times spent together are so vivid. Wishing you well.
Lori

Labels: email, New Hampshire, pets, Q4_2003 (Page 1)

Now, I'm really convinced that blogs are a fantastic way to initiate communication.

I just got an email from a Mr. Gaurav Pahwa. He is in India and said he was looking at this blog. He appreciated the pictures and asked for more. So, here's another picture from when my sister was here last month. It is Horseshoe Bay, BC. There are provincial government ferries which leave from this area and travel across to Vancouver Island. Write again when you have a chance, Gaurav.

Labels: BC Ferries, British Columbia, email, India, Q4_2003 (Page 1)

I got a message from Michael Ansart the other day about the death of singer/songwriter Warren Zevon. You see during my college days, a group of three ran an arcade in our small town in New Hampshire. The Harbor Gameroom was a hangout for not only summer visitors but also for the local youth in our tourist town of Sunapee. In that arcade there was a jukebox that burned the favorite tunes of those times into our brains. During the summer of 1978 one of those songs was Zevon’s Werewolves of London.

Here’s a recent email exchange:

Michael Ansart: For some reason as soon as I heard the news, I felt the pain from old bruises sustained in a cardboard "pizza disk” fight at the gameroom.

Dennis Hurd: Thanks for the news. Okay, Bret ... what was the number on the jukebox?

Bret Wirta: All this ol' brain remembers is N4. Was that Main Street? Love is Like Oxygen?

Mark Wirta: Why couldn't it have been the Heart sisters instead. Would have given me some measure of satisfaction for having to listen to Barracuda every time that Bungay kid had an extra quarter.

Dennis Hurd: You mean the jukebox used quarters? I remember just opening a little door, reaching inside, and hitting ...

Michael Ansart: Years ago I saw Warren Zevon in a small club, I went in just liking his music, but came away with a bit of admiration for the man. He was three songs into his first set, when this loud group of approx. 8 entered the club and made a big deal with the club staff. Essentially demanding that they set a table up for them near the front of the stage. The club staff, trying to avoid a scene complied. Between songs, the loud and most obnoxious of the 8 repeatedly tried to talk with Zevon. Right in the middle of one song, Zevon simply stopped playing and turned to the audience and said, “Did you ever notice how the f#$*ing a*^holes who are up front at a show, are the ones who care least about the music?” Then he announced to a semi-stunned crowd, “I’m not going to continue until this table is empty” Then to wild applause the club staff escorted the table of 8 to the door. Ever since that night, I always enjoyed listening to Zevon a little more.

Labels: Bret, email, games, music, New Hampshire, Q4_2003 (Page 1), Sunapee, The Harbor Gameroom

Sally, I'm answering your message via the blog. (I am doing this as I especially want you to look at the previous entry!) Daragh, the scoundrel, did visit here once. Yet we seldom are able to get him by email even though SF is not THAT far away.

He was thinking about investing in property in Vancouver, but he must've found something else to put his money in. That's a shame as he really should put his extra cash here. The 2010 Winter Olympics should raise the value of property ...

Labels: Dubai, email, Q4_2003 (Page 1)

Tim, call me .. or hit REPLY to one of my many email messages!!!

Labels: email, Q4_2003 (Page 1), Tim