Daryl'sR&R Blog

Add A Custom Icon for Any Web Page On Any iDevice

2012-01-22T22:06:00.001-06:00

You can give a website it's own custom icon on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch home screen. Traditionally you you would use the icon provided by the site creator in the form of a supplied Apple home screen icon, or a screenshot of the web page itself, which is not attractive.

You can also zoom into the web page to an image or graphic. The screenshot the i-device uses to make the icon is the top square portion of the visible web page.

By zooming into the page first you can create an attractive home page icon.

Add BOUNCE TO SENDER back to Mac Mail!

2012-01-15T22:45:00.001-06:00

terryzx Cincinnati

Re: Apple Mail removed bounce functionality?

Jan 15, 2012 1:46 AM

(in response to vershunX8)

There is an app that will restore this feature:

http://download.cnet.com/Restore-Bounce-Mail-Button-To-Lions-Mail-app/3000-20429 _4-75629050.html

Works great!

TeRRy

New Blogger App...

2011-11-23T23:34:00.001-06:00

... Or at least it's new to me. Maybe I'll blog more from my iPhone than I did from my computer. I wonder if I could actually stick to a schedule and blog every day? I won't commit, but watch this space for more frequent updates.

Today's news is that I took the day off to get our hot water heater replaced. In June our tank started leaking. So last summer Janet found a lightly used gas fired hot water tank on kijiji for $200. Online I found a plumber - Hotshots - with very reasonable rates who was willing to do the installation for $300. Providing that the inspection goes well, we ended up saving over $500 over the going rate from mainstream channels.

After the tank replacement I picked up some unbelievably cheap computer parts - 4Gb RAM and a 500 Gb Hard drive for under $200. Then at noon I picked up the kids from school... Early dismissal... And went home and played with an old Mac Mini for the rest of the afternoon.

It was a good Wednesday overall. I just wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow!

RIP Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T20:55:00.001-05:00

RIP Steve Jobs

I'm watching a retrospective on Anderson360 less than an hour after Steve Jobs death announcement was made, and the impact Apple has had on my life is hitting me full force.

I was 15 and in Grade 10 when I heard of Apple Computer the first time. I heard that school was building a computer lab using Apple IIc's to replace the card-reader Fortran lab. That was 1981. I saw the original Macintosh ad - although on the news, not during the Superbowl. I watched with jealousy anyone who had, or had access to, the original Macintosh. I didn't know it at the time but I already had an acute aversion to PCs (as in "IBM compatible"), and an allegiance to Apple.

It would be ten years before I was able to afford my first Mac, but in the meantime I studied them, pined for, longed for , dreamed of, a new Mac. In my 1985, my second year of college, PC's were starting to show up at school. My mom bought me an electric typewriter, and instead of backspacing my mistakes, I went through gallons of whiteout. After college I got married, and in 1994, together with my wife, we bought our first Macintosh - a Powermac6100/60AV. It was too late to use it for college, and to be honest, we played with it for a few days, and thought - now what? I was a little disillusioned with the computer and had trouble finding things to do with it. It took a few months to explore the possibilities, and found that it was most useful for communicating with other people - but how? I signed up for a Compuserve account, using those free floppy disks they used to mass mail to everybody. That was fine for email - but for fun I signed up for Mactropolis, a local Winnipeg Bulletin Board Service (BBS). In Mactropolis, I joined online games, had access to Mac programs not available anywhere else, and chatted with fellow Mac users.

In the same year - 1994 - Mactropolis sent out a notice asking its users if they intended to stick with Mactropolis when the Internet came to Winnipeg. I replied 'of course, why not? This is a great place to be'. I did 'subscribe' to the internet when it came - through WpgOnRamp.ca - and that became my first real internet email address - sawatzky@wpgonramp.ca. The Internet was small then, but confusing with Gopher terminals, FTP sites, USEnet, and more BBS's that you could shake a stick at. To make sense of all this I sunk hundreds of dollars in internet magazines, and I signed up for yet another service - eWorld, an Apple only web service to rival Compuserve and the new AmericaOnline. eWorld had it's own email service, but it collapsed soon after its birth. With the Internet growing steadily I found Compuserve to be redundant, so I dropped that too. Mactropolis quietly left the scene. WpgOnRamp got swallowed up by someone and I changed my Internet Service Provider to a new startup - escape.ca. Rates were low at $20 month for more hours than I needed, so we stuck with them for several years. Eventually they got swallowed up by Manitoba Telephone System, and they still service that domain. With the rate hikes, we moved on to the new internet giant in town - @home.com. That was our third real email address. One more change would bring us to our present address - the buyout of @home.com by SHAW Communications. All of this happened on our Powermac 6100/60AV.

When the newness of the internet wore off (around 1998), and it became a necessary part of life, and when we could finally afford a replacement, and when I went back to school for training for a 'second' career (as if you could call my previous job a career), and when Steve Jobs returned to Apple from a too long hiatus, we bought our second Mac - a 'Dalmation' (spotted blue) 600mHz iMac with USB and no floppy disk drive.

I have to stop - Steve Wozniak is on TV.

OK, So the Dalmation iMac died - but only the tube. The electronic guts are hanging in my backroom ready to sell or turn into a - something or other. We replaced that with a Mac Mini with Intel duoCore, which is still in service, and then with multiple MacBooks and iPods... So with the prices falling and number of devices rising, our contribution to Apple has been substantial.

I can attribute my second career directly to Steve Jobs. Because of the Apple, and the Apple IIc in high school, and Adobe Photoshop from the first version on, and other great applications for the Mac, I wanted to get into computer programming. I didn't aim for business programming - which is where I'm stuck now, but I work for a great company and I'm happy here.

I learned about the death of Steve - on a device he created (those were President Obama's words actually). It really tears me up to think of a world without Steve Jobs.

RIP Steve.

NEW - in BBedit 10

2011-08-13T10:10:00.001-05:00

[some new stuff]

The ponies

learned that their saronite shoes were not RoHS compliant and had a huge carbon footprint. So, they've switched to Five Fingers and Birkenstocks. They've also been studying the post-apocalyptic arts, because fortune favors the prepared.

[some more new stuff]

Why you might not want to link OS X Mail to your Gmail account

2011-07-23T09:08:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I "cleaned up" my gmail account, making up rules for every kind of junk mail I receive there, and leaving only those messages which do not fit the junk mail rules.

Then I figured that if only a few real messages were left in the inbox, I could link my Mac Mail app to gmail and retrieve only those messages… right? Well, sort of.

In Lion's Mail, I see only the few messages from gmail that I want to see… it true. But Mail appears to be doing something else as well - it is indexing every single piece of junk mail hiding in my gmail folders. All 22,709 of them. I hope it's not downloading all messages and attachments - but it IS building a cash of these messages in case I need to access them. Hopefully when this cacheing procedure is done, updates will be quick. This has been going on for two days now.

tell me something I didn't know

2011-06-17T22:30:00.001-05:00

Steve Jobs' new Apple campus

2011-06-08T19:24:00.001-05:00

Jones & Laughlin, Avenue Building

2011-05-30T23:26:00.001-05:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_and_Laughlin_Steel_Company

Avenue Building 1904

http://winnipegdowntownplaces.blogspot.com/2010/06/265-portage-avenue-avenue-...

A tsunami wall that worked.

2011-05-14T11:54:00.001-05:00

The town mayor that built it is vindicated after 50+ years of derision.

Rob Bell

2011-05-14T11:20:00.003-05:00

Is this a heretic in the making? A bright piece of viral marketing for a Christian book?... See the Rob Bell preview and comments about it at:
http://ordinarymostly.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/thoughts-on-faith-may-2011-part-ii-love-wins/

First Time Paska Maker

2011-04-22T15:59:00.002-05:00

I don't know if this qualifies as R&R because It wasn't really relaxing, and I was sort'uv commanded to do it... but it happened nonetheless. On Thursday I made Paska for the first time. No one else was home. I did this all by my self... with the help of a recipe from mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com. By the time the rest of the family came home, the bread was going into the oven. Some were more anxious than I to try them, so Becky made icing, while her mom dug out the sprinkles.

get the recipe:

ready to proceed:

gathering ingredients:

first rising:

second rising in pans - ready to bake:

all done:

becky makes lemon icing:

Highest resolution "Police" 135mm film

2011-04-17T11:45:00.001-05:00

http://www.bluefire.ca/catBluefire.htm

Japan Earthquake timeline

2011-03-15T18:57:00.001-05:00

Look for the big one at 1:16

Big News for Winnipeg

2011-03-09T21:17:00.002-06:00

Telus 4G strikes first if this starts now! Voice Text and data for $60-$90

stickeryou.com

2011-03-07T21:17:00.001-06:00

I've been looking for a good sticker company that will make custom die cut stickers. Usually they are not cheap, but the new StickerYou.com will do exactly that. They sell stickers by the page and you can load up a sheet with as many stickers in as many sizes as you like for the same low price of $6 or $7 /sheet. Less if you order lots. They have a large library of stickers to choose from, or you can upload your own graphics to be printed and cut. For a short time you can get a sheet from iCoke.ca for a measly 8000 points.

Ok then

2011-03-07T21:01:00.001-06:00

I asked an MTS sales person which iPhone they will be carrying. NOT the new Verizon CDMA version. Good!

Daryl

Why MTS's CDMA2000 is technically superior to Roger's 3G

2011-03-06T19:37:00.001-06:00

http://www.androidhelpers.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=u9aq0a91c2v6r71kog5cp8pua1&...

Oh...

2011-03-04T09:54:00.001-06:00

While Manitoba Telephone System has announced a 4G network by March 31, it will be in fact only HSPA+, not 4G yet.

However, this brings MTS in line with Roger's GSM network, and opens the future to competition immensley, which is very good news.

here is the Q&A from their website...

Some wireless companies have built a 4G network. What is MTS doing?

MTS is building a 4G network in Manitoba.

What is the difference between HSPA and HSPA+?

HSPA delivers network download speeds of up to 14Mbps while HSPA+ delivers download speeds up to 21Mbps. HSPA+ supports upload speeds of up to 5.76Mbps.

Why has MTS decided to build the new 4G Network?

We have decided to make this change to align with changes in the industry, to remain competitive, and to accommodate the long-term needs of our customers.

Today, 80% of the world population is covered by GSM networks, however, many of them are being upgraded to 4G networks. Wireless device manufacturers (e.g. Nokia, Samsung, and LG) prioritize the development and production of HSPA devices before CDMA devices. MTS currently operates a CDMA network and many newer wireless devices are not manufactured for our CDMA network. With a 4G network, MTS will gain access to services and devices previously not available on CDMA. It will also help us maintain and grow our network throughout Manitoba.

Within Canada, Bell, Telus, and SaskTel have all recently made the move to HSPA+. This is also part of a larger evolution strategy of wireless carriers across Canada to move to an IP based network called LTE (Long Term Evolution). While LTE is still a few years away for MTS, the move to HSPA+ will simplify the transition to LTE.

Nintendo 3DS Teardown

2011-03-03T21:25:00.001-06:00

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo-3DS-Teardown/5029/1

2010-10-19T11:06:00.004-05:00

via www.voxamps.com

Sounds great, and mixes in tunes from my iPod flawlessly. While GarageBand on the MacBook Pro is more versatile, this little amp goes anywhere.

New MacBook. Now What?

2010-08-31T21:37:00.003-05:00

I've always had a desktop computer, and since 1994 I have always had internet access on my desktop. This week I got my first laptop, and things pretty much operate as usual... until I take it beyond the reach of an open wi-fi network. Then things slow to a crawl. I mean - I don't even know what to do with a computer without internet access. It's like driving without a gas pedal. So this list is a reminder of things I can do when I'm not mooching off of somebody's free wi-fi:

Ten Things to do on a MacBook Without Internet Access.

1. Prepare your Blog article in a text editor (like I'm doing now).
2. Import and process photos.
3. Make funny faces in Photobooth.
4. Play a (non-internet dependent) game.
5. Draw - prepare cards to upload to moo.com, work on your website design, goof around with templates in iWork, play with effects in Photoshop (or equiv.)
6. Make playlists in iTunes, rip a CD (enter song names manually), or just play music.
7. Make music in Garageband. Or just listen to music in Magic GarageBand.
8. Edit home movies. Or watch real ones.
9. Read old email (without pictures if they haven't been opened before).
10. Read an eBook.

Ten Things to do on a MacBook that Require Internet Access.

1. Social Websites.
2. Photo Sharing.
3. Changing your Avatar on your groups.
4. Online games.
5. Upload your website design.
6. Ripping CD's with auto names and cover art.
7. Internet radio.
8. iTunes store.
9. Getting new email.
10. Reading anything current.

Document your world day

2010-07-24T10:33:00.002-05:00

Today is Document Your World Day.
Guidelines are on the Lifeinanday channel on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw9JJUs7mJA&feature=featured
Today there is quite a bit going on. The kids are creating a StarryNight birthday cupcake cake, and we're celebrating Karen P's 40th birthday this evening. THere will be a wacky roast birthday song and all. Should be interesting. Keep your eye's on YouTube to see the results.

Out with Flash, in with HTML5

2010-05-12T23:03:00.006-05:00

TML5 is coming... and it can't come soon enough. I'll finally be able to replace 15 lines of OBJECT code with one set of tags. Some browsers support HTML5 already. Some SAY they do but in reality...
As you can see, Safari on the bottom has a compact little webkit based player control for my audio file. In the middle, Google's Chrome has a garishly huge blue-barred web-kit based player, and at the top Firefox... well it has a nice controller that loads - and then disappears under a gray 'X' when it decides that it doesn't want to support .mp3 files. WHAT THE HECK?!? FIrefox, you disappoint me!

They say they are working on it so we'll see... When this starts working on all standards compliant browsers, I'll take the Flash-based controller off the page. There are so many Flash players on this page that half of them don't even load... the browser runs out of available memory!

Fonts on the Mac

2010-05-05T18:35:00.002-05:00

o.. Photoshop is running slower and slower... and giving 'illegal operation' errors all the time.
I traced the problem to fonts. It doesn't like having to go through 1500+ fonts every time I click the Text tool.

So I opened OSX's Fontbook to take a look at what is going on. Sure enough... there was about 1578 fonts installed. about 200 of those were duplicates.

Fontbook has a cool right-button-menu feature called.... oh shoot I forget... "Resolve Duplicates"? Something like that. Instead of resolving dups one at a time you can just select ALL, and hit that command. If there was only one font, it's already resolved, but if there's dups, then it resolves them... unless there's 3 or more. Then you have to resolve them again.

Then I scrolled through each font. Most of them load the preview really fast, but once in a while a really complex font takes a few seconds to load. If the load is less than 10 seconds and I liked the font, I left it. If I didn't like it I turned it off. If it was over 10 seconds, then I turned it off... even if I liked it. If I want to use those complicated fonts, I can always go back and turn them on temporarily.

I also turned off any foreign script that isn't part if the System. You get a warning if a font is a System font, and then you can cancel. I don't foresee any need for Arabic, Hebrew, or Inuit scripts... and I turned off all the cat, dog, fish, trees fonts that take a long time to load.

Now PS runs faster. The original crashing was due to duplicate fonts and running out of system memory to hold all of the big fonts. Because the PS font list shows examples of the fonts, so it has to hold each one in memory.

I found that the slowest fonts are those with splattered dots in them. Like the creator used a toothbrush to spray each letter with dots. Without the dots a font can be fairly complex and still quick, but dots, hatch marks, and scribbling type fonts tend to be slower.

Upgrade to Canon S90

2010-03-03T22:05:00.005-06:00

This is the next bulge in my JACKET pocket (I have to word that carefully for all my prevert friends). This is quite possibly the best camera I have ever owned, beating out my Canon 450D. They say the best camera is the one that is with you, so this is it.

With so many fully manual controls at your fingertips, top speed of f2.0, ISO 3200 and 1/1600th sec shutter speeds... this camera can handle anything. It doesn't need a flash (although it does have a good one), and it has protective overrides (safety shift) in case the settings get totally screwed up. The last time I saw Safety Shift was on my 1980's era T90 SLR.

This camera has Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and as all digital cameras should have, ISO priority, the third leg of the exposure tripod. I can see me using these priority settings exclusively. Aperture Priority when I want to stick to the f2.0 for shallow depth of field, and Shutter Priority when I don't want to go below 1/500th of a second indoors to avoid blur (works great!).

There is a ring surrounding the lens that acts as a manual settings ring. In Auto modes it defaults to Exposure Compensation (+/-), but in manual modes it can be set to ZOOM, Focus, ISO, +/-, or White Balance.

I foresee a few lunchtime walks in my future as I explore downtown with my new Canon S90.

Scroll Clock -- this is cool

2009-11-25T19:55:00.000-06:00

Scroll Clock

2009-08-04T08:30:00.001-05:00

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Martins 40th Birthday (unless you count the day he was born...)

2009-05-03T17:36:00.005-05:00

First IKEA, then THIS!!!

2009-03-18T20:20:00.001-05:00

First IKEA, then THIS!!!
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Not that I'm excited or anything... It's nice to raise Apple's profile in a Mac -store starved province... but I still feel a certain loyalty to the longtime Mac sellers we DO have here... Primarily Advance Audio, but also Best Buy, Future Shop, and London Drugs.

LENT

2009-03-02T21:09:00.002-06:00

I gave up running for Lent, but I started at the beginning of February, and I'm going until it thaws. I know... call me dedicated.

2009-01-31T22:39:00.003-06:00

I HAVE to go out and run now. It's the last day of January, and I am one run short of my January goal of 8 runs (2 per week). If I don't go out today, I miss my goal and don't get the prize... something new to add to my screensaver running avatar from Nike. I hate running. I need these little incentives. OK. I have an hour and 1/2 before midnight... let's go... now...

A viral video worth spreading around

2009-01-04T20:13:00.002-06:00

http://www.desiringgod.org/AboutUs/JohnPiper/

Sad Day

2009-01-02T11:15:00.003-06:00

The JPG Blog

JPG Magazine Says Goodbye

Posted by Laura Brunow Miner on 1 January 2009.

Today is a particularly sad day for all of us at JPG and 8020 Media.

We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line. We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive in these extraordinary economic times. We sought out buyers, spoke with numerous potential investors, and pitched several last-ditch creative efforts, all without success. As a result, jpgmag.com will shut down on Monday, January 5, 2009.

Nowhere Man, Firefly, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Everywhere Magazine, and now JPG magazine... why is it that whatever I subscribe to... gets cancelled? I fear for Flicker and Blogger too.

So familliar yet so different...

2008-11-09T22:35:00.002-06:00

What if

2008-09-15T19:14:00.001-05:00

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Nike+ 10K

2008-09-04T21:07:00.001-05:00

On August 31 at 7:00 am I ran the Nike+ HumanRace 10K. This was my route:

Last weekend before school starts again

2008-09-03T16:14:00.001-05:00

Olympic Recap

2008-09-02T17:56:00.001-05:00

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Olympic Recap

2008-09-02T17:49:00.001-05:00

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widget

2008-09-02T17:38:00.001-05:00

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Your current DSLR may be your last

2008-08-02T21:28:00.002-05:00

Conclusion:

Small format sensors may have surpassed the limit, this is, in most cases they are lens-limited in terms of resolution.

In English:
Smaller sized DSLR sensors are resolution-limited by the consumer-level lenses in front of them. Your 10 megapixel camera body will probably suffice for the rest of your life unless lenses and printing methods improve exponentially. (sounds vaguely Bill Gates-ish doesn't it)

Show your work:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/resolution.shtml

WHAT A DAY!

2008-06-08T00:27:00.002-05:00

Whooo hoo! What a whirlwind day! Jenny won both of her soccer tournament games today, scoring a goal in the first game. We went to a community thank-you party at the local Shoppers/Starbucks/blockbuster/etc. complex, toured the new local veterinary, got free goodies and watched the Credit Union cheerleaders.
Then someone at work gave Janet free tickets to the Boston concert with opening act Lou Gramm (Foreigner). Wow. What a concert. Lou Gramm was OK, and ALL his songs were familiar and sing-along-able,.. but the new Boston line up was Fantastic. Hearing the old songs at that volume put a lump in my throat.

So this is from Wikipedia about Foreigner:

Gramm was the lead vocalist on many of Foreigner's hit songs, including "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded", "Urgent", "Double Vision", "Juke Box Hero", "Head Games", "Dirty White Boy" and "Say You Will". The band achieved two of its biggest hits with the ballads "Waiting for a Girl Like You", which spent ten weeks at #2 on the 1981 American singles charts, and "I Want to Know What Love Is", which was a #1 hit internationally in 1984.

I think they performed every song listed here, plus a few more.

The is the new Boston line-up, also from Wikipedia:

Current members

* Tom Scholz: founding member; lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals (1969-present)
* Michael Sweet: lead vocals, guitar (2007-present)
* Tommy DeCarlo: lead vocals, backing vocals (2007-present)
* Gary Pihl: guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (1985-present)
* Kimberley Dahme: bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals (2001-present)
* Jeff Neal: drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002-present)

Take special note... Kimberly. Yes there's a woman in the band now, and she's great. She's tall and slim and throws her long straight blond hair around with the best of the rockers. She fills in some of the high notes the guys can't sing anymore. And she plays a wicked Bass. Eat your heart out Gene Simmons, she's a waaayyy better bass player than you. Also take note of Michael Sweet. Anyone remember Stryper? This guy has the highest voice I've ever heard, and sweet and pure. He joins Kimberly on those high notes. I'm just glad he's outgrown his yellow and black tights.

The buzz is leaving my ears now and it's time for bed. Tomorrow I'll rip my old Boston albums, and turn the volume up to 11.

A message from the kids:

2008-03-30T09:50:00.002-05:00

Grandpa, if you ever get internet, this one's for you: (you'd better sit down)

Kitchen Window sill

2008-03-29T23:38:00.001-05:00

Kitchen Windowsill
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Spring break is here. The kids will spend time at the Brandon winter fair, and I will keep working... if my fever ever breaks. Here we have Jenny's science experiment (the beans in the cream cheese container) and my Photometer which I got at the science convention in New Orleans.
Right now it is sleet/ice storming outside. Windy and wet. Winters one last hurrah before the warm weather hits... I hope.

Birthplace of Jazz

2008-03-13T23:19:00.001-05:00

*
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

New Orleans March 2008. I was there... check it out!

30th Canadian International Grains Institute (CIGI) Course

2008-03-13T22:47:00.001-05:00

IMG_4873
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

A while back I went on a five day course that looked at many aspects of the grain industry — from field to processor or port. It was amazing just how complex the grain industry is. If there are any farmers out there that haven't taken a course like this, CALL CIGI NOW! If you think the Wheat board is not your friend, THINK AGAIN. If you think you have the where-with-all to market your own grain and get top price for it... THINK AGAIN. The pressure from competing countries is high, and the role of the Wheat Board is crucial to world confidence in Canadian grain.
Apart from the political mumbo-jumbp, we saw the high tech genetics laboratories and pilot mills, pasta labs, and bakeries at the Canadian Grain Commission and CIGI. A terminal owned by James Richardson Industries, and the Canadian Wheat Board. The only thing missing from the tour was a visit to the ports, which would not have fit in with the course fees! This picture is me receiving my course certificate from Bill Toews, Lowe Farm farmer and board member of the CWB.

First time out...

2007-10-21T01:34:00.001-05:00

2007Oct13-235.jpg
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

First time out in our new van, and I ended up behind someone else who is happy with his red vehicle purchase. Sure he has to go 2 MPH over railroad tracks... but he can make up the lost time elsewhere.

New wheels

2007-10-21T01:31:00.001-05:00

2007Oct13-227.jpg
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Jenny was happy to be the color-picker this time round. We traded our black 2004 Anniv. Ed. Caravan for a 2008 "Canadian Value Package" Grand Caravan. Apparently Canadians LIKE to roll down the window to adjust their side mirrors! Aside from that it has everything we need for the carpool kids, and it will make a nice traveling vehicle this Christmas. I was lucky to find one that satisfied all of Janet's demands!

Morden C&A '07

2007-08-31T23:12:00.001-05:00

nightmare #3
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Went to Morden Corn & Apple last weekend. We saw Colin James in concert and got our money's worth out of our $21 midway wristbands. Then we stayed for the parade the next morning.

Me & Ricky

2007-08-19T18:33:00.001-05:00

IMG_1559.jpg
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Or is that Ricky and I? Or perhaps Mr. Petty and me...

Taken at Madame Tussauds, The Venetian, Las Vegas

My Summer Holidays... in pictures...

2007-07-30T20:04:00.001-05:00

Me07
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Not much to say here. This year 90% of my holidays were spent at home. Half of that in the basement working on the drywall while watching Turner Classic Movies. The other 10% consisted of a day at Lake Manitoba, doing errands, gardening, and Starbucks. :)

Happy 24 Bob & Doug!!!

2007-05-20T21:57:00.001-05:00

Dave Thomas
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

We're watching the 24 year anniversary special, AS I TYPE, and it's bringing tears to my eyes. Flashback to Grade 11. Good times. Ca roo koo koo koo koo koo koo...

Saturday Morning Music Lessons - May 5/07

2007-05-07T12:02:00.001-05:00

Saturday Morning Music Lessons - May 5/07
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

On Saturday, the 5th of May some Flickrites hosted a "24 Hours Of Flickr" day. The result will be a book of the pictures which best represent the day. This picture of Jenny on her way to piano lessons was my entry. It is our Saturday morning ritual to stop at Starbucks for her Espresso brownie (and my Venti Toffeenut Dark), stop at the church to take pictures of the building progress, and then head to piano lessons for 10 a.m.

Vote Now!

2007-03-21T17:00:00.000-05:00

http://jpgmag.com

Oh, and here's the puppy...

2007-02-13T22:04:00.001-06:00

Milo
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

I just realized that there were no pictures on him here yet. His name is "Milo". He was born in Winnipeg in mid-October 2006. We took possession of him about 8 weeks later. His father is Shih Tzu and his mother is Bichon Frise. That's right a Shiht-On. Ooops... that's not nice.

Kyoto comes to mind...

2007-02-13T22:00:00.001-06:00

Kyoto comes to mind...
Originally uploaded by Omega Man.

It's been sub -30 for the last month or so. In fact the cold weather hit when we got our new puppy in December and hasn't really let up since. The ever-so-trustworthy weatherpeople say the tide is turning, but ida know... This pic is a reminder that almost every building in this city is heated by natural gas despite our abundance of hydro electricity. Why, why, why???
To be fair, in this weather even an electric heated building will have visible steam escaping out the chimney.

Dec 30/31 storm and aftermath

2006-12-31T22:40:00.000-06:00

Dec 30/31 storm and aftermath, originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Saturday night we went to our last family gathering of the season. It had already been snowing most of the day and the highway was covered in a layer of snow. By the time the gathering was over the layer of snow had doubled. The next morning we found that we had almost a foot of snow overnight. Church services were cancelled, and we settled in for a snow day.
A neighbor was nice enough to remove most of the snow from our driveway with his snowblower, and he even offered to drive Janet to work in the evening if the streets were still unplowed.
I went for a little walk to photograph the virgin snow (that should generate a few hits )... and ran into this little guy (in the photo). He was playing invisible, but when I shot a photo in his direction he panicked and bolted. I didn't know he was there until he ran. This is about the extent of our winter wildlife around here. A few rabbits, deer, maybe an owl or a mouse...

FLASH!!

2006-12-17T17:24:00.000-06:00

FLASH!!, originally uploaded by kelly klssn.

Kellster99 captured one of my shots the moment I took it, recording the flash burst. This picture amazes me on so many levels... The way the surface of his lens is illuminated showing the dust in perfect clarity... the sharpness of his lens despite the glare... the clarity of my skin and neatness of my eyebrows, not what I'm normally known for...

JPG magazine

2006-11-15T22:24:00.000-06:00

"Created by Thousands" There's a new magazine out dedicated to that stream of 1's and zero's your computer calls J-peg. Currently in issue 7, JPG uses an onlne submission and voting model to decide which pictures make it into the next issue. Each month there a several themes that photos can be entered for. This month the themes are "Tourism", "Intimacy" and "Embrace the blur". Below are my submissions for consideration:
embrace the blur -

tourism -

sorry... I have no intimacy... but i'm working on that.

Amazin' Corn GPS track map

2006-09-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

AmazinCorn GPS track map, originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Some friends got together to spend Sunday afternoon at A Maze in Corn (that's what it's officially called in the phone book, though most people just call it Amazein Corn). It was nice to not be there for a birthday party and having to concentrate on entertaining the kids. It was a free-for-all afternoon... along with the 1000 other people there doing the same thing.

The image is the output of my cheepie GPS receiver unit. In yellow you see the highway, where we parked, where we met, then stood in line. The line turns to blue where I entered the corn maze and spent the next 5.5 kilometers. The line again turns to yellow where I and the girls I met up with (Jenny Hannah and Lily) left the maze in a 'panic' because we couldn't walk another step and couldn't bear the thought of finding our way out the proper way... which would be an exit path right beside the entry path.

This outing was also another opportunity to chack out my new Canon camera. One of my favorite photos of the day
can be found here

Can you guess who that is?

Lauren_and_Clinton

2006-08-07T23:45:00.000-05:00

Lauren_and_Clinton, originally uploaded by Omega Man.

This is both an announcement of Lauren and Clinton's wedding, as well as of the address of my Flickr page. Eventually Flickr will be the permanent home of all of our photos. Congrats Clinton and Lauren - We wish you many long years of marital bliss!

daryl

Coincidence?

2006-07-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

Geez, I hope it's just a coincidence that Flickr went down the MOment I finished uploading 100 full rez images. They say "their tubes are clogged". It wasnt' my FAULT, Flickr!

Flickr Pro

2006-07-13T07:26:00.000-05:00

After a string of bad luck with external hard drives, I've decided that the $25/year Flickr Pro account made sense. With a 2GB/month upload limit, Flickr allows up to 1400 full sized photos from my current digital camera at full resolution... PER MONTH... even during my most snap happy period... our 16 days in Hawaii, I didn't even fill ONE 1 GB memory card.

SO... take a look at our recent fishing trip on Flickr. I had already resized these pictures to try to keep under the 20mb free account limit, but these are the last of the small photos :).

I'm Touched

2006-06-18T23:21:00.000-05:00

I love these home-grown poems of Becky's. She has flair. While I was sitting in bed at 8:30 this morning eating bacon and eggs and sipping OJ, there were 8000 dads out running the Manitoba Marathon. Look what they'all are missing:

frombec, originally uploaded by Omega Man.

Snowbirds over our house

2006-06-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

Snowbirds over our house, originally uploaded by Omega Man.

We were sitting in our new Pavillian gazebo sipping ice water when out of the blue, the snowbirds fly over our heads. They did a 180 and flew over again. A few minutes later they came from behind us yet again, which is when I shot this picture. About half an hour later a really big mega/jumbo jet flew by. What's the occasion?!? I'm usually up on things like airshows and such.

My how time flies

2006-04-28T06:58:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted for a while. It seems that a whole season has passed since that subservient chicken thing. I have since found subservient barmaids, subservient cartoon characters, etc. It doesn't seem that funny anymore. Well it was good for a few days.
Anyways,much has happened since then. We have begun spring yardwork: we have installed a anew firepit in the backyard, dethatched the lawn, installed new flower-beds, filled them with new topsoil, fertilized the lawn. The trees are blooming, and we are keeping close watch on those saplings the pesky voles chewed down to nothing.

We're also cleaning out the basement, and will start renovating soon. We've had to move the TV and computer room upstairs for the summer so we can move around downstairs.
In other news, the train hit a deer beside our house - leaving a trail of gore, I got new inline skates and running shoes, hopefully leading to a new era of fitness (yeah right), and we're one weekend away from May.

funnnny

2006-03-21T12:04:00.000-06:00

Wanna see something funny? Burger King has the strangest publicity stunt ever going on right now... Check out http://www.subservientchicken.com/

Tell the chicken to do anything within his power and he will do it.

OK, so after a bit of reading I've discovered that the chicken is pre-recorded. It is NOT some guy serving out his community service conditions in his basement...

"Actually, the chicken has a repertoire of about 300 different actions, each triggered by the entry of one of the combinations of nouns, verbs and other parts of speech programmed into its "vocabulary." A complete list of trigger words and the clips they invoke has already been posted to the Internet, although it appears the clips can no longer be viewed directly from external web links. (That is, if you want to see the chicken jump, you have to go to subservientchicken.com and enter the command "jump" — if you try to go directly to the URL for the "jump" clip, all you'll see is the chicken waving an accusatory finger at you.) A Subservient Chicken Request List has also been established to chronicle the actions the chicken will or will not perform.
...
As the Wall Street Journal reported, subservientchicken.com was another instance of a commercial promotion accomplished through furtively launched "viral marketing" techniques:

Designed by Crispin, the Web promotion represents a classic example of viral marketing — promotions that catch on via word-of-mouth rather than a flashy ad campaign on a more established medium such as TV, radio or a magazine.

"The intent here is to speak specifically to young adults in their 20s and 30s. These are people that are very Internet savvy," says Blake Lewis, a spokesman for Burger King, which is controlled by Texas Pacific Group. "They are very active. They may not mirror a lot of the traditional TV, newspaper or radio consumption patterns that older adults have come to adopt."

The subservientchicken.com Web site launched the evening of April 7, Mr. Lewis says, and only 20 people were told about it — all friends of people who worked at the ad agency. Some TV ads have flashed the Web address. Burger King says the site has received 15 million to 20 million hits. According to the agency, Web surfers have spent an average of six minutes exploring the fowl game. "

[from snopes.com (search for "chicken")]

All-In-One-Internet-Application-Suite

2006-03-11T20:14:00.000-06:00

Seamonkey
all-in-one internet application suite

from Mozilla.org

I was searching for a free web-page creation software program for Becky to use on the Mac. My first thought was Netscape's composer, so I went to Mozilla.org to see what they were offering. I was happy to find a brand-new tool called Seamonkey (Since I've been hatching brine shrimp for baby fish food, the name Seamonkey caught my eye).

Mashups

2006-03-06T20:04:00.000-06:00

I'm exploring a few Flickr 'Mashups'. Flickr is the photo sharing server where I store images for this blog. Flickr, now owned by YAHOO! has millions of registered users and billions of photos. The service is free for casual use and $2/month for virtually unlimited use. A MASHUP is a third party application that takes advantage of Flickr's photo database, with full blessings from Flickr, for the use and amusement of we (us?) - the general public internet users. Other open source databases have mashups of their own, such as Google Maps, Check out the Flickr Mashup that generated the picture letters above at www.MetaateM.com. OR check out Retrievr ... Draw a picture - see others that match color scheme and shape... OR check out Flappr, an alternate Flickr photo browser that takes you straight to the photos that interest YOU.

New Life!

2006-03-01T14:23:00.000-06:00

My barely one year old Cichlids are starting to multiply. This took me by total surprise.

I had been cleaning my tank when I thought I saw a bit of debris float by. I think I might have to have my eyes checked. My sister came over, took one look at the tank and announced that I had babies! We saw two then, but later I found a third... and a forth. I've got the feeling that there were a lot more, but they've been eaten.

I constructed a temporary baby cage to offer some protection to the babies. It's not my concern if they're not smart enough to run from the big fish, but if they want a safe place, the cage is there. They seem to understand what it is there for, and swim in and out of it as they please. The big fish are spooked by it, and avoid it.
See my tank photo in the right column to see a group of larger Cichlids.

RIP, Sammy

2006-02-22T18:55:00.000-06:00

Today Sam, our 15 year old Golden retriever, met the end of his life in total peace at the hands of his master and a gentle vet. Sam had the personality of a puppy but the body of a 105 year old. Well, maybe his body wasn't that bad, but he suffered from occasional seizures and loss of control. His last seizure resulted in a prolonged lost of control and disorientation. We decided because of his age - not to pursue treatment.

The ancients had it right...

2006-02-19T20:27:00.000-06:00

...This entry in the textbooks may have to be revised:

"1877 - Edison made the first recording of a human voice ("Mary had a little lamb") on the first tinfoil cylinder phonograph Dec. 6 (the word "Halloo" may have been recorded in July on an early paper model derived from his 1876 telegraph repeater)"

As it turns out, the human voice was recorded much earlier than 1876... 8,376 years earlier... to be more or less exact.
The image above is a standard pottery cylinder, but recorded in the rings are the voices of ancients, accidentally recorded there for a future technology to decipher. The technology used to put them there is exactly the same as Edison's, but HE knew he was doing it. Hear what it says (Click on 'Lire la video'). The interview is in French, but the recordings are clearly audible.

CoverPop

2006-02-02T08:10:00.000-06:00

(not much of a dare actually. It's right there...)
As you may know, I love anything sci-fi. I was therefore intrigued by this Sci-fi magazine catalogue called CoverPop. Just mouse over a micro-image to see a larger cover and description of the magazine... perhaps it's not the most efficient way of finding something in particular, but its a great introduction to a genre in general.

Winter Fun (or not so...)

2006-01-22T23:09:00.000-06:00

Rain Rain Go Away...

2006-01-16T21:59:00.000-06:00

The last few weeks have been the warmest January I can recall, with daytime temperatures hovering around -3c every day. I attempted to start a skating rink on the last cold day of December, but our cold water just melted down to the grass under the snow and drained away. Every time we wash the van, we can't tell a day later. A lot of people had ditched the winter parkas in favor of thinner jackets or sweaters. Some say it's nice, but I can't find anything good about slush and rain. I wish it would get cold... like -15 to -20 would be good.

Christmas Decorations

2005-12-21T08:02:00.000-06:00

We're in the last week before Christmas weekend. I've got all of next week off work, so I'm looking forward to the break. However those 10 days begin with -- and end with Christmas gatherings, so the fun never ends.
Since I doubt I'll have much time on the computer next week, I'll say this now... Merry Christmas Everyone! and a HAPPY New Year.

Someone's Birthday yesterday...

2005-12-14T11:01:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of November I naively uploaded about 6 full resolution photos to Flickr, not realizing that there was a 10mb/month limit. I had to wait till December to be able to post another picture, and then when the day came... I had nothing to post. Well, the time has come:

It was Janet's birthday yesterday. She got that watch she was STRONGLY hinting for...

It's a rare occasion to get birthday presents these days, and rarer yet for someone who's birthday is in December, so I hope she's GRATEFUL :)

Father Winter has arrived

2005-11-17T23:02:00.000-06:00

Like it or not, winter has arrived. Day 1 -- the city was caught off guard, and hadn't arranged for speedy snow removal. Garbage pickup was cancelled, buses stopped running, many schools were closed, and those that had no good reason not to go to work went with parkas and shovels... and came home with sore backs and arms.

A bit of Nostalgia

2005-11-06T23:28:00.000-06:00

Can you find YOUR favorite tape brand here??? I did. Warning... on a slow connection this page may never finish loading. And YES, someone has also gone to the trouble to scan the covers too.
Maxell XL-II 90 still rolls off my tongue. Than later when I could afford them, MX 90 (Oh-boy my critics say. what a geek.)

Karma

2005-11-04T21:26:00.000-06:00

Let's talk about Karma. What goes around comes around, What goes up must come down, well, sometimes...

Dash here was our oldest Chinese algae eater. He was maybe a year old. He was given to us, along with 12 other fish, by a neighbor who was moving to BC. I resurrected my old goldfish 10 gallon tank to keep the new fish, and promptly added three baby cichlids to the mix. Because three fish promptly died and one vanished when I added the cichlids I assumed it was because of the new more agressive (but still puny) baby cichlids. Or it could be because the tank was not yet properly cycled, and they died of ammonia poisining, OR ... Maybe Dash did it...

When I was able I bought a 75 gallon aquarium and filled it with rocks and gravel. I took the three baby cichlids out of the 10 gallon tank as well as Dash. They all survived the move and got along fine. I added a few more fish and they still appeared to get along fine. Then we went away for a weekend. When I got back I noticed that one fish was a bare dead skeleton, and dash and one of the bigger cichlids were fighting over the corpse. Dash was damaged across the nose and back. But because he was the biggest fish in the tank, he still ruled his territory. Then I added three more fish.

This time I noticed that Dash was very aggressive toward the new fish. They were quick enough to evade his attacks, but he could chase the newcomers all the way around the tank -- up to 6 or 7 feet at a time. I decided then that Dash had to leave. I was going to place him back in the 10 gallon upstairs. I fashioned a fish trap and one by one caught every other fish except Dash. I took the trap out for the night because fish could easily run out of oxygen in an enclosed space, and damage themselves trying to get out. I never caught Dash, and he continued to harrass the newcomers.

Today as I was changing the cover I had over the tank I found that Dash had attampted an escape... or maybe he attacked his victim so fast he shot out of the tank, and right through the 1/2" square plastic grid material I had over the tank. He landed on top of the grid with the water 4" below him. No doubt he trid to wriggle back through to the water below, but he died in sight of his home waters. That's like drowning in 3 feet of water for us. What goes up -- Didn't come down... But that's Karma.

Stupid PR Tricks

2005-11-03T13:07:00.000-06:00

This is too funny...

I've been looking at getting a new game console for a while now. I think I know which one, and it ain't going to be XBox. Especially not on its debut day:

Microsoft Plans Deliberate Xbox 360 Shortage
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 03, @08:07AM
from the fight-over-it dept.
XBox (Games)
An anonymous reader writes "To ensure an immediate "sellout" of the Xbox 360 on launch day (therefore getting lots of media buzz about their new console), Microsoft will simply restrict the supply down to a trickle. My favorite part of the article: "In addition to limiting the per-store stock of consoles and having the retailers prepare to prominently note the unit's "sold out" status, Microsoft has allegedly asked Norwegian retailers to sign an agreement that they'll sell out of the consoles on the launch date." Looks like it's not a rumour.

This ranks as #2 on my list of idiotic things companies think they have to do to impress their customers. (Ooooo, they're sold out... after I battled the traffic and crowds to get here on opening day... I'm soooo impressed)or (Oooo the game systems available today are soooo similar it comes down to who sells out on the first day to help me make my decision...[Playstation and Nintendo are not expected to be available for several more MONTHS... Microsoft... there IS no competition yet... being sold out on the first day will impress NO ONE])

#1 is Sony's "rootkit" ... software that is automatically and invisibly installed on your PC as soon as you insert a Sony audio CD. This completely contradicts all ethical business practices, presumably to combat unethical music pirates, but in the end... who is the real loser? (hint... not the pirates)

Bounty

2005-11-01T09:13:00.000-06:00

The kids are happy to report that, thanks to the warm weather, the Halloween Bounty this year was overflowing. Both the Little Pumpkin and Elvis had trouble carrying their loot sacs after the three blocks we were able to cover this year. Some of the darker corners of our neighborhood were allowing the kids to take as much as they wanted, just to get rid of the stuff.

Happy Halloween '05

2005-10-29T16:39:00.000-05:00

Merry Halloween '05
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

It's that time of year again. Cold. Costumes. Candy.
This year we have a pirate, a pumpkin, and... Elvis. Stay Tuned.

Repairing Big Honey

2005-10-24T09:48:00.000-05:00

Repairing Big Honey
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Last week we made a few repairs to the Smoker BBQ. Specifically to the hinges, whose screws had loosened or fallen out. All is good again as Martin added newer, bigger screws to the hinges and welded the hinges to the body and lid of the big BBQ. Ready for next season.

Just Killin' Time

2005-10-19T11:24:00.000-05:00

That is what I usually say when a store employee asks me if they can help me find something... "Nope, Just Killin' Time".
Unfortunatly I ended up saying the same thing at a two day course I had to take through work. While the instructor worked through installation issues with MSProject Server, we were Just Killin' Time -- watching progress bars crawl across the screen. It really is a beast of a program with an installer incapable of installing a working program. At the end of day two, after numerous service patches, upgrades, utility applications, PC reconfigs, interfering app uninstalls, and security downgrades, we had a workable configuration -- and an hour and a half left for the actual training part of the program.

Found Money

2005-10-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

Found Money
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Strange stuff goes down around our house. Maybe because we're at the end of the block with no neighbors to the east and it's relatively secluded. Our community has grown around what used to be a remote country road. For years it was a hangout for tailgate parties, shooting galleries and a make-out spot. Now that the whole area is built up with houses, the oldtimers seem to come around, see the changes ditch their stuff and run. Our problems started when we moved in. The back yard was bare dirt, and our portable fire pit was left in the middle of the yard. Apparently someone thought it was abandoned there, and they 'rescued' it. OR they just wanted our fire pit and walked onto our yard and took it. Either way, it was stolen. We called the cops and filed a report.
A few weeks later a Chrysler Intrepid was parked beside our house. After a week we started to get suspicious. We looked at the lock and sure enough, it had been jimmied. Stolen. We called the cops and they were able to return it to the owner.
All was calm for the next year except for a few cars that lost the road and briefly wandered across our backyard before finding the street again.
This year the mischief started in earnest. First the flower pots were dragged off of our deck. No real damage, just disturbed dirt. Next a ceramic flower pot - at leats 40 lbs - was carried off of our deck and smashed on the street. We called the cops and filed a report. Then it seems that there was a bad highschool couple breakup, and the guy tossed the girls stuff out of his car as he drove by our house. We found a class binder, a store employee discount card photos perfume (smashed) a bra and some other business cards, one from a jeweller with a price quote on it.
Today marks the latest installment of bizarre events. I saw a glitter on the road while waiting for my ride to work in the morning. It was dark out so I walked toward the glitter. I found two ashtray type cups on the road, and a ton of loose change in a pile more or less in the middle of the road scattered around all the goose-poop. [as an aside, if you search for goose-poop in the 'search all blogs' bar at the top of this page you'll find more than 5 pages of resulting blogs... A goose can poop more than 2 lbs/day, and we're surrounded by them.]
I scooped up the change and saved the cups. If they're yours you can have 'em back. A quick scan of the area didn't reveal any broken car windows, so I don't know where these cups came from. I'm sure that the ashtray cups would cost alot more than $7.22 to replace.

VOIP

2005-10-11T22:48:00.000-05:00

Today our home phone number didn't change.

It doesn't change most days, but today especially it didn't change.

What did change however is how our telephone works.

Gone are the days of high rates to the telco, unpredictable long distance charges, waiting for evening rates to kick in, added voicemail/caller display/call waiting charges, and avoiding the call to the NWT just because that is always a $20 call.

What did change is how the telco now sees our phone calls. Today we had VOIP installed, or "Cable Telehone". To the telco, our phone call is invisible until it shows itself in the destination city. Until that point our high-speed internet provider carries our phone calls over the internet until is has to descramble it to send it to the destination telephone. This means that anywhere the internet can go is local as far as we are concerned. We pay one low bill for all calling within North America.

BUSY weekend

2005-10-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

Eastwood Dodge Waiting Room
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Thanksgiving 2005 turned out to be one BUSY weekend. It started Thursday when I got home from work early and updated the Church website until I had to pick up the kids from school. Then in the evening we went to the mall to look for shoes for Becky. we were unsuccessful, but were able to spend a few minutes playing video games at a Playstation2 display. Racing in a pod with steering wheel and gas/brake pedals was the best. Friday morning/afternoon I spent 5 hours in a dealership gettin some warranty work done on the van suspension. Then another 1/2 hour at a "10 min" lube joint.

Eastwood Dodge Waiting Room
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

The dealer -- Eastwood Dodge/Chrysler -- had a 200g (or so) tropical tank fileed with Haps, Bala Sharks, Discus, Cichlids, etc. It was a little over crowded, but Cichlids seem to tolerate that. The fish looked healthy and happy. There was just one little yellow nipper that bothered the rest.
After the dealer fixed the van suspension, I went home and let Janet take it to Costco while I waited at home for the kids to return from school. Then I took the kids with me to get the oil change, and pick up a few DVD's for the trip to Moose Jaw.

Virden's Tasty Cafe
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Saturday morning we Picked up Grandpa at 8:00 a.m. dropped off the dog at my sister's and left the city by 9:30 a.m. We drove straight to Moose Jaw, stopping only for bathroom breaks and Lunch at Virden's Tasty Cafe.

Virden's Tasty Cafe
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2005
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Once we got to Moose Jaw the real party began. The Friesen Family is close knit, unlike the extended family, and the cousins look forward to getting together. This was the first Thanksgiving without Mom, so there were some sober moments. All the rest though...

The Next Generation
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Sunday started with a come and go breakfast. Most of the older kids went to the Al Capone Tunnel Tours in downtown Moose Jaw to see what could have happened there during the prohibition years. .Thanksgiving "Lupper" was held at the church, just off the gym. The gym was invaluable for first working up an appetite after all of the other meals we enjoyed, and then for working off the meal. There was a rip-roaring game of dodgeball that tested the tendons of the old folk (that's me), and showed off the skills of the young set.
In the evening we tried to go to the spa, but we all agreed that $13/person to swim in a warm pool was ridiculous so we went to the indoor water park instead. These Mennos appreciate value above all else. The evening closed with a bash outside in the RV, and for me, a movie inside (Kung-Fu Hustle). Al and I laughed like we never laughed before in some parts of that movie.

Moose Jaw Tunnel Tours
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

This is the guestbook at the Tunnel Tours ending point. It appears that I went through with Paris H. That's Hot.

John&Linda's in Moose Jaw
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Corner Gas
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Monday was pack and say goodbye day. We were gone before noon, and instead of travelling straight east to get back to Winnipeg, we turned south-east to drive through Rouleau Saskatchewan, AKA Dog River, the filming location of Corner Gas. I was amazed that so many of the buildings features in the TV show are in use as regular businesses when the show is finished filming. I suppose they have to shut down once a year while the next season is being filmed. The gas station and Cafe are permanantly closed.

Souris Swinging Bridge - Tom's Butt
Originally uploaded by Daryl's Camera Phone Photos.

Our last stop before arriving back in Winnipeg was the swinging bridge in Souris, Manitoba. This was the kids first time on the bridge, and no one got hurt. It was a wild ride though! We ended the weekend by going out to Becky's restaurant of choice. This was her birthday, and not just any ordinary birthday. The date was 10/10, and she turned 10! Her magic or Champagne Birthday! She loves chinese food, so we went out to Victoria's Seafood at 7:30 p.m. for a big supper (and a good sized doggy bag).

No Spam Please

2005-09-29T12:45:00.000-05:00

OK, whoever is posting SPAM in my comments, please stop. Well, I guess you have to stop now... I've disallowed anonymous comments for the time being. I am not interested in penis pills nor making more $$$ schemes.

Fantasticus Optimus - coming soon....

2005-09-29T09:08:00.000-05:00

Forgive the slow load of this picture. It's from Moscow. And so is the coolest keyboard on earth. How ironic is THAT? Why didn't Silicone Valley think of this?

This keyboard has a tiny display on every key. With the proper drivers, it will know what language and OS you are currently using, and update the symbols on the keys to match. Working in Photoshop? It will display all of the shortcuts for you on the keys, and revert to the QWERTY keyboard when you enter a text entry mode. Need a French or German or Polish or Russian keyboard layout? No problem. Playing Halflife or X-Wing? Add your own icons to your frequently used keys. Not using your keyboard? Why not display a "keysaver" across all keys?

Add the fact that the industrial design of the keyboard is a perfect match for a Mac G5 tower or an iMac G5 and you have a winning combination. And they promise that it will cost less than a cellphone... which one? the $500 blackberry? or the $100 Samsung? Hope it's the latter.

Questions? Click the link below for answers. Interview with a Russian Designer

Start Your Photoshop

2005-09-29T09:03:00.000-05:00

I just found Rick Mercer's blog. There is one funny entry called Start Your Photoshop. Given one funny face, insert it into another photograph…

rickmercer.blogspot.com/2005/07/yikes-start-your-photoshop.html

Of Course... The Old Infected Lung Trick

2005-09-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

Kill the light will you Heimy? C.H.A.O.S. finally got what they wanted. Max of C.O.N.T.R.O.L. is finally dead. They got him with the old Infected Lung Trick. Of Course. Why didn't I think of that?!?

Don Adams died yesterday of a lung infection. He had been in ill health for some time and was with his family when he died.
Don Adams was also the voice of Inspector Gadget and starred in numerous other roles.

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The Sound of Music & Star Trek, TMP

2005-09-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

What does "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music" and "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" have in common?
Their Director, Robert Wise, who died Yesterday, Sept 14 2005. In addition to these he also directed several other movies that would make it into my top 100: Crichton's "The Andromeda Strain", "Run Silent, Run Deep" AND he had a hand in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Citizen Kane" as the film editor.

He died in LA of Heart Failure.

Polaroidonizer -- A Fun Image Tool

2005-09-14T20:45:00.000-05:00

Found this fun new tool. I know I know, it's easy to do in Photoshop... but this is faster. And easier.
These pics were taken Sept. Long weekend.

Tubing on Lake Nutimik

2005-09-05T22:32:00.000-05:00

Yeah that balding guy is me. In for a rough ride. Thanks Ken.

This was actually a blast. I had a great time. The day after was the hard part. between sunburn (in Sept?!?) and the strained muscles, I was in rough shape. Thankfully recovery days were Sunday and Labor day, so I will be able to move my arms by the time I have to go back to work. I was told that at one point I was 3 to 4 feet off the water. Yeah. That's what it feels like now.

These are NOT me, but I took the picture and that's what I looked like... My turn was after this.

I've been told I don't blog often enough.

2005-08-26T11:44:00.000-05:00

I've been told that I don't blog often enough. What? Once a week isn't enough? I've got friends that blog once a YEAR... if you're lucky! Many have one POST. Period. I'm just thankful that I DON"T have enough material to blog every day. According to the song lyrics (below) I only blog about things I don't like...Home Depot, Tim Hortons, and RadioShack. I'm glad I don't run into things I don't like every day.

The song also says that I have an obsession with Starbucks. Obsession might be a bit strong. Obsession is that 'Texan' (who is not FROM Texas?!?), who wants to visit every Corporate owned Starbucks in the world. Loser. I Prefer the strength of Starbucks coffee over Tims coffee, and that's about all I like about it. Starbucks makes mistakes too. Like that dweeb at my local Safeway Starbucks. All four times he has been the one to make my coffee he has given me 1/2 a shot of Toffee Nut syrup instead of the whole shot i ordered. The first time I didn't notice until I was half way to work and I finally tasted my coffee. The next time he did it I complained and asked for the rest of my shot. He explained that one guy that comes in in the morning only like 1/2 a shot, so he does that for everyone now. I asked around at other Starbucks, "how many pumps go into one shot?". The standard answer is "5". So what make this guy think that it is OK to change that number to 2-1/2? ONE customer?!? Isn't that a little like going to the gas-station and asking for a fill, only to find, half way to work, that your tank was only half filled? Because one of their customers prefers it that way? The next two times this guy made my coffee, he did the same thing. Now I either count the pumps as they go in or ask him how many he did. I always have to ask him to double it. I get the feeling that if he rips off enough customers he takes the rest home with him. i can't figure out why one customers preference has held the rest of us hostage.

I gave a little petshop around the corner a second chance the other day. I had stopped going there because of an arrogant employee that contradicted me every time I said something. That was several years ago and we were discussing Goldfish. I could have made him say anything I wanted him to just by saying the opposite of what i wanted to hear. Anyways, that guy was gone, and I was discussing my new fish project, a 75 gallon Cichlid tank, with the store owner. Not any less arrogant, but at least he contradicted me less... like only once or twice. It turns out that their prices are a good 10% less than the big-box pet store's best prices. They have less overhead, no advertising costs, and don't store items they can't sell, like big aquariums. The big-box pet store's aquarium prices are low but are subsidised by their higher add-on prices, like filters, pumps, lighting and food. I hope to have this tank in full swing by about, Oh, Christmas....

Fame and Fortune at last

2005-08-20T14:09:00.000-05:00

I'm so famous they wrote a song about me. If my computer working right, you can click on verse 4 above to take you to the full lyrics. Rated PG. Change the picture address to .mov instead of .jpg to hear and see the live version...
The Fortune part involves each of you sending me my royalty of $1.

06.08.05

2005-08-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

CONGRATULATIONS Matt & Cass!

August 4 1965

2005-08-04T11:17:00.000-05:00

That is exactly 40 years ago. I don't remember much from that day.