Crazyriver.com

This Blog due for retirement

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:54:59 -0700

I will be retiring the Geeklog blogging software for http://crazyriver.com most of the content will move to Wordpress (Currently: http://bill.crazyriver.com
After 5 years of this blogging system its time for a change. The current content here will be migrated to Wordpress and that will become the primary blog. http://bill.crazyriver.com will move to http://crazyriver.com . This blog will likely be archived somewhere but any existing linked content will likely break.

On Hiatus

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:01:25 -0700

This blog is on hiatus. See the most recent posts at http://bill.crazyriver.com

Getting a web flow going

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:56:07 -0800

What you need to have a web presence that can move with you.

So this is my thing. Anyone that still uses there ISPs email address - just doesn't know what they are doing. Do they really think they will always use the same provider. They will never get ticked-off and change, never move to another location this ISP doesn't serve?

ISPs should stop giving out email and web space. Their offerings are useless and it really just makes the rest of us feel like they are charging us for something we will never use.

There are several excellent ways of getting around this. Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo all have excellent mail offerings, free, completely mobile, and uses both web and desktop clients. If you'd rather have your own identity - for cheap you can get a domain ( I have about 20 of them now), and find someone to give you free DNS service (I use mydomain.com). Forward the mail to the hosted mail service and you are done.

Since we are starting down this road here are my picks - pretty much eliminates any need for data on my workstation. Give me a copy of Firefox and I can make any computer mine.

Mail, Wordprocessor, Spreadsheet, and Calendar - Google
Pictures - Flickr (YahooID)
Bookmarks - del.icio.us (YahooID)
Notes/Scrapbook - Evernote (Web and desktop, includes iPhone)
Blogging - Wordpress.com
IM - GTalk - moving more to Twitter
RSS- Newsgator (desktop and web)
Password manager - Sxipper (not exactly a web site but it makes everything else work)

Personal Profile and Aggregation - Facebook, the "Here I am, and Here's how you get the rest of me"

Weak
IM/webphone - still use MSN and AOL frequently, would like something that does what iChat, Skype, or such can do.

Missing
Contacts - never found a good stand alone "People Catalog" need someone to come up with 'CRM-lite' software that tracks interaction across various machines and web sites.

My life on the Web

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:29:29 -0800

Its not so much about having a website anymore - that is almost useless.
Basic updates - what used to be blogging is now on Twitter
Pictures go on Flickr
Conversations go on Facebook.
My favorite websites are on Delicious
Notes to my self are in Evernote

It is almost impossible to think of what to do with this space on my website anymore. Everything else is so easy and quick. They have clients for home, work, blackberry, and iPhone so you don't need much else. Whatever is left over seems to collect on Google (gmail, calendars, docs).

iTunes Plus Part II

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:56:56 -0800

The march to DRM-Free continues......
After cutting it down to about 300 old-style iTunes songs, the addition of new DRM-Free music continues. Its getting a bit expensive but I'm happy to be past the point that I need to worry about 'losing' my music if I ever moved away from iTunes. In the 4 days since the Apple Announcement their have been new songs on the iTunes Plus list every day so they are pretty serious about this stuff. Two $30 upgrades and a $15 so I am into this process for about $100 for the 450 DRM-free tracks with about 230 to go.

iTunes plus

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:21:43 -0800

Upgraded my iTunes Library today - still have ~300 of 800 with DRM. Hoping all the DRM goes soon.
Apple Announced at Macworld they were going DRM free. My purchases over the last 4 years amounts to almost 800 tracks. Many were already DRM-free. Today added about 150 to leave me with about 300 in the iTunes "Classic" mode with DRM. Other advantages - Can make a ringtone out of just about anything. Shouldn't have to worry about not-really-owning my musics.

Top Movie Lines from Casablanca

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:50:13 -0700

Probably the best collection of memorable quotes from any Movie. "Play it again Sam" ... isn't one of them.
1. Rick: ...Here's looking at you, kid.
2. Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
3. Rick: If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. ..... Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now, now... Here's looking at you kid.
4. Captain Renault: I'm only a poor corrupt official.
5. Rick: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
6. Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
7. Rick: Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.
8. Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters. Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert. Rick: I was misinformed.
9. Banker: What? Do you know who I am? Rick: I do. You're lucky the bar's open to you.
10 . Yvonne: Where were you last night? Rick: That's so long ago, I don't remember. Yvonne: Will I see you tonight? Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.
11. Rick: If it's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?
12. Captain Renault: How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that. Some day they may be scarce.
13. Rick: We all try. You succeed.
14. Rick: You thought what? Ugarte: Hm, what right do I have to think, huh?
15. Captain Renault: Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects.
16. Captain Renault: I've often speculated why you don't return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator's wife? I like to think you killed a man. It's the Romantic in me.

Top 10 Movies of all time

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:40:03 -0700

Based on the number of memorable lines .....
1. Casablanca (1942) - too many lines to list - all time Champ
2. Princess Bride (1987) - "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya ...." - among others
3. Demolition Man (1993) - Starts with "Joy Joy feelings" and goes from there.
4. Roxanne (1987) - "What am I afraid of her for? She's no rocket scientist." - Reply "Well, actually, she is a rocket scientist. "
5. The Usual Suspects (1995) - title from the line in Casblanca - then there's " Are you Keyser S�ze?"
6. Strategic Air Command (1955) - "Don't tell me your little problems ...." June Allyson's character to General Hawkes
7. Sabrina (1995) - "Mother, you've copied me on the financial standings of this company for 17 years. You just assumed I couldn't read. "
8. - Twelve O'Clock High (1949) - "If there's a bombardier who can't hit his plate with his fork, you get him. If there's a navigator who can't find the men's room, you get him. Because you rate him. "
9. Battle of Britain (1969) - "Trusting in god and praying for radar"
10. The American President (1995) - "You can say what you want. It's always the guy in my job that ends up doing 18 months in Danbury minimum security prison. "

extreme IT makeover

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:39:03 -0800

From Northen Voice 2008
with this morning sessions complete there are a number of mind expanding thoughts. I think the one I like best is the idea of a IT renovation show. They have people that will help you with your living room layout, fix your resturant, or makeover your closet. - why not your technology.

This isn't another geek show or something for TechTv. This is making tour technology life work bette through professional help.

I got the idea at a session on social media in the enterprise. And really need to get a podcast going on that.

Canada ... In the first person.

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 09:22:00 -0700

It is fashionable to talk about your country in the third person such as .... �I don�t like what Canada is doing about Global Warming� ... in the realm of things like political discussions. But after watching today�s ceremony from Vimy Ridge I stumbled upon an concept that I have never been able to put into words. When I think about Canada it is not the �Government of Canada� , It�s Canada in the First Person.
By that I mean; there is this fundamental part of me that is being a Canadian. I have a hard time thinking about living anywhere else, and I could never become a citizen of somewhere else. It is this deep emotion that says this is who I am and when Canada hurts, I cry. That is my country in the First Person.

I think it came to me when I watch part of a docudrama yesterday and they had a group of teen to twenty-somethings visiting Beaumont Hamel. A girl, whose family wasn�t originally from Newfoundland but she was born and grew up there, was speaking of the July 1st battle. It wasn�t her family�s history but it was her�s. She was a Newfoundlander. This was sacred ground. When she thought of the devastation of the Newfoundland Regiment it wasn�t just a battle it was a disaster to Newfoundland as big as a Tsunami or an earthquake and it didn�t matter if it happened 10 years ago or 100. It was part of who you are today.

I was right there, with her, at that moment. And again this morning watching the largest monument to Canada reopen.

There will be those that will argue the futility or war, or the glorification of long ago battles, or whether the legend of a place like Vimy is backed up by facts.

Don�t care. Not the point.

This is my country, it is an inseparable part of who I am, you mess with Canada your messing with me .. Personally.

Under the title, "Well .... Yeah what did you expect"

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 08:13:00 -0800

Under the title of criticism, this gem from Ottawa.
From the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/01/03/defence-contract.html
"Liberal MP and defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh told the newspaper that the procurement process lacks "civilian oversight" because purchases are driven mostly by military requirements."

Buying military equipement based on military requirements ... go figure.

$100 laptop rant

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:04:00 -0800

Reaction to Unfortunately the $100 laptop is closer to reality: http://www.kaliyasblogs.net/Iwoman/?p=515
WOW - that is a lot of stuff for one post.

Using my best actively listening for a moment - what I heard had more to do with the export of educational processes and value, rather than the export of a laptop.

Setting aside the eWaste argument for just a moment, the point about the negative effects of western education on the developing world is not even unique to the developing world. I have people living here (Victoria, BC) say the same about their local schools; non-contextual learning, devaluing self-esteem, and the ills of large scale planning that ignores/usurps the community.

There is a huge discussion here and almost none of it has anything to do with a $100 laptop. I did like a couple of comments from Negroponte's TEDTalk.

The 'days of pilot project is over' is one of my favorites. Pilot project, in a government setting, is mostly about doing small scale project because real change it too expensive. In that respect I find the $100 laptop project to be refreshing. Either you believe access to technology is good for students - and find a way to give them all some - or you don't.

Whether a $100 laptop is the logical next step for some of these locations should be a focus of local debate. I certainly like this model better than the 'donate your old computers to the poor' model that has been advocated by others as a way to be charitable and get rid of your junk at the same time. That is a total eWaste problem.

But that is really not the debate we have here. Your post was an interesting when read right after Wil Richardson's New Year post (http://weblogg-ed.com/2007/2007so-now-what/) that is somewhat disparing of educational progress. I think this is as eloquent a call to get more people involved in this debate.

With repect, I think your raging against the wrong machine.

Teaching and Learning in a 7x24 World

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 10:05:00 -0800

Note: The expression �Anywhere Anytime learning� has already been used by a number of organizations, not the least is Microsoft�s Laptop Program for schools. As a result the phrase 7x24 learning is being used instead.
JUST IN TIME
The current educational model is vested in the remnants of the industrial revolution. The reality of the current century relies on Communications Technology and a fundamental shift in time management to provide services �on-demand�. Public Education must attempt to meet a similar level of service or languish. The Japanese just-in�time production model (KANBAN) was one of the early examples of this shift. Some educational writers have dubbed just-in-time education as KANBRAIN. Both models rely on well-engineered systems � usually centrally managed � that allow resources to be made available as and where needed to solve a problem or complete a task

WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO SOLVE?
The expectation is that you can do your banking, shop for a house, and communicate globally at anytime day or night � weekday or weekend. This leads to different work lives and students are adapting similar strategies. If a family wants to go on vacation in June instead of July there should be systems that allow their children to complete their work ahead of time. Currently absences from school don�t adequately allow for the completion of work missed. A student that is involved in athletics or other activities that create large absences have to put their education �on hold� or rely on some form of distance learning. Students that can�t perform well in school get pushed to the fringe of the school community and, unless there is a demonstrated disability, must lobby for extra help or purchase that service outside the school system.

All of these problems relate to the time and space limitations of the conventional school model. The application of common technology tools and adaptation of current school models

If it ain�t broke - Concentrate schools on what they do well, socialization, face to face instruction, and custodial care.
�Outside the box� � develop tools and systems that leverage students time outside school to support learning
Build out � use the content and interaction of the bricks-and-mortar environment to build the capacity for better distributed and distance learning.
One-stop � provide centralized systems and services that allow the basic infrastructure for flexibility and choice.
Create Capacity in the System � build the appropriate enabling components centrally that are equally available regardless of location or delivery model.

PUSH, PULL and DRAG
Collaborative learning tools that promote multiple paths to student achievement required compelling reasons for students, teachers and parents participate. These tools must have compelling content and resources (PULL). In the confusion of most information systems we cannot simple rely on users tripping over useful information. There must be a mechanism to PUSH information (email, cell phone) to participants based on known areas of interest. Finally, where PUSH and PULL fail we must have a system to DRAG participants to the new model of teaching and learning. This includes Informational blackmail, by providing vital information, Staff HR services, Student Grades, and Parental Communication only through a limited number of methods, participants must participate or risk being left out of vital information.

References

Department for Education and Skills (2005) Harnessing Technology: Transforming Learning and Children�s Services

National Association of State Boards of Education (2001) Any Time, Any Place, Any Path, Any Pace: Taking the Lead on e-Learning policy.

BBC via Bittorrent

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:13:00 -0800

Hundreds of episodes of BBC programmes will be made available on a file-sharing network for the first time, the corporation has announced.
The move follows a deal between the commercial arm of the organisation, BBC Worldwide, and technology firm Azureus.

The agreement means that users of Azureus' Zudeo software in the US can download titles such as Little Britain.

Until now, most BBC programmes found on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks have been illegal copies.

Beth Clearfield, vice president of program management and digital media at BBC Worldwide, said that the agreement was part of a drive to reach the largest audience possible.

"We are very excited to partner with Azureus and make our content available through this revolutionary distribution model," she said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6194929.stm

Microsoft announces "Increased Lawsuits"

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 08:01:33 -0700

In today's email from Microsoft, they are proud to announce their "Increased Lawsuits Against Piracy" Most people would think announcing new products might be a better strategy

Reply to JoshuaZ

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:18:00 -0700

I was clearing out my gmail and got a kind note from Wikipedia from JoshuaZ and I was compelled to write something to explain why I would be declining his invitation to return to the debate.

I was a huge fan an promoter of Wikipedia and now I hate it with a vengence so its time to leave.
The last straw was the recent deletion debate for a small school called Finger Lakes and the associated Deletion Review. The hatred and blame heaped by editors and adminstrators alike was more than I could take. More and more my time was caught up in AfDs and reading Admin discussions or some Request for Arbration.

I am a teacher and mentor to alot of other teachers and I really can no longer recommend Wikipedia as a place teachers should bring student to get caught in a buzz saw of '''guidelines''' and debates. So I need to spend my time elsewhere.

I believe this issue of '''notability''' will eventually rip Wikipedia apart. As much as people articluate issues of quality and verifiability I can't help but feel that notability standard is being built as a weapon. It is stated as the single (and only reason) to delete content regardless of the validity of the content. I offer as examples the following quote from recent debates:

Elementary schools are not inherently notable

An article can be well-written and verifiable and yet be about something utterly unnoteworthy.

Size and verifiability are not at issue. Notability os (is?).
Notability is a subjective media driven, popularity contest. Heavily weighted toward American popular content.

If the DRV debate isn't enough evidence, the recent coverage of Wikipedia in some of the content I follow is more examples of the farce that we are becoming. During the Edtech talk podcast they discussed the Deletion of Stephen Downes article who is a fairly respected member of the Educational Technology community and a fellow of the National Research Council but apparently was consider un-notable by some. The specific comment what what are they worried about - running out of paper? followed by laughter.

The recent issue of Rob Levin making my friend Kaliya's Blog which also questioned the notability standard. The deletion debate on Rob's article which apparently was of a significant level of discussion that even Jimbo Wales weighed in with the comment that even he didn't understand the debate.

My goal in creating articles was to create content that would draw editors. The barriers to entry are large and intimidating. I was stunned recently to find their was no article on Punch Dickins a flying hero of mine. I created a stub that I wasn't overly happy with but User:Bzuk to the rescue with more content. This is what advances the dialog. Was my first article bad enough to get AfDed - probably. Is a small school notable - probably not, but that is not its job. If editors of articles are forced to spend time seeing if someone famous at lunch somewhere to prove a city park deserves an article we are chasing the wrong kind of information.

As with all things, I believe the imperative in AfD should be at first do no harm, regardless of all the rules is the content creating real demonstrable harm. If not - live and let live.

Wikipedia's death spiral

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:34:00 -0700

Well after a couple of good years the phenomenon that is wikipedia is starting to show some cracks. In the early part of the Industrial Age there was the emergence of the 'robber baron' who used their influence and power to control the development of their world. It is becoming apparent that similar things can happen in the information world. Recent controversies with Digg and other Web 2.0 sites and how they are driven by a small group are examples of this.

Wikipedia is another 'Web 2.0' kind of thing which relies on a community of users to make it work and police the site. I first heard of this during a EdtechTalk Podcast where the lack of content in the area of eLearning and the attempt to delete an entry on Stephen Downes. This was ridiculed on the podcast for being a little silly given that Wikipedia shouldn't have the arbitrary limit of paper encyclopedias.

In Stephen's case the standard of 'notability' was quoted as the rule for what should stay and what should go. Recently Kaliya noted a similar issue - "You know I just don�t get wikipedia. People who contribute to the world in real ways have a difficult time getting recognized."

In looking through the background on this I was even more shocked to see some of the comment of some of the the Wikipedia administrators on these cases. In one section an administrator was (under his own admission) holding a grudge against a user until he forced an apology. If these are the people wielding power within Wikipedia, its time to leave.

Vizaweb Domain Hijacked

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:59:06 -0700

I previously used Vizaweb as an ISP but there service was brought down last Friday and still hasn't recovered. I've tried to post over the last couple of days to their forums but haven't been able to, this is what I think I know for the interest of other users.
I looked at things on Sunday night and it is my belief that there was a change in the registration to vizaweb.com on the 8th that pointed the DNS entries for all XX.vizaweb.com to and DNS other than that of Vizaweb (from whois record).
Specifically:
ns1.whatsyourdomain.com
ns2.whatsyourdomain.com

When I tried to resolve against Vizaweb's DNS directly everything appeared to work. So by changing the DNS entries in your network settings from your ISP to unix1.vizaweb.com (69.93.28.162) or unix2.vizaweb.com (69.93.32.162) you should be able to get into cpanel, retrieve your email and other things. I appears that email was still getting delivered and all my content and sql databases were intacted.

This appears to be a case of a domain hijacking (change of a domain registration not authorized by the owner) although an 'authorized' person could have done this as well. It does not appear to be a 'hacking' job or have anything directly to do with the ftp email sent out earlier.

Victoria WiFi

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 17:08:00 -0700

Waiting for the CitiWide Wifi service in Victoria.
A couple of recent posts at http://www.victoriavoices.org/2006/08/city-wide-wifi-nearly-here-bcng-portals/ and http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=32182200-18ea-4d00-82fe-a95649cb89b5
lead me on a little survey of the Jame Bay area for the new service. Ogden Point and Dallas Road are completely outside of any current signal, as is the 'heart' of James Bay at Menzies and Simcoe. The only luck was when I had a direct line of sight to the top of the Harbour Towers Hotel. Then I could get a signal registering as far as Simcoe and Montreal but not enough to connect.

The only connection I got was at Superior and Menzies in the parking lot opposite the Legislature but there was no DHCP so while I was connected to the radio, I wasn't connected to the internet. Again in direct sight of the antennas on the roof of the hotel. The signal was also detectable on Belleville and Pendray, and at Shoal Point (Moka House) but again not enough to connect.

The SSID was either citiwide-30-2 se or citiwide-30-1 sw. There was also a brief presence of CitiWide-BH. The signal was stronger to the south of the Harbour towers. The signal was about 35 on iStumbler at Superior and Menzies (~400m horizontal and SE from the tower) but only 15 at Belleville and Pendray (~100m away and NW).

The CitiWide brand appears to be the trade name the service is going by, with a website at http://www.citiwidebroadband.com/.

Live and Let Live

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 20:14:00 -0700

You really think that one basic rule of the world would be I don't stomp on your stuff and you don' t stomp on mine. I've had some recent experience with Wikepdia that has caused me to question its future. I work on several education-related articles that apparently draw the ire of other editors. There is a push to establish the 'rules' for articles. I kind of thought, they get their Xbox and Anime articles and I can have my schools. But that it not so much the way it is. You could retaliate and question hundreds of other articles but that wouldn't be any more legitimate than what they are doing.

The arguements over what should be included also made the recent Ed Tech talk podcast. Where articles on Stephen Downes and other educational issues have also been questioned.

From another direction I also read the contribution of W.P. Kinsella to the Vancouver Province who suggests the military should get rid of the Snowbirds. The baseball movie was nice but W.P. just sounds like an old crank
"I was delighted to read recently that, because of airport expansion, the lifespan of the Abbotsford Air Show may be limited. The show ties up traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway for a whole weekend. The exploits are highly dangerous when performed over populated areas."
I like the airshows, I'm a pilot and I think they really get people excited about something that I have loved all my life. I guess the RCMP horsey thing and all those bug buildings with the stuff in Ottawa will also be on the chopping block soon too.

I don' t think I'm asking for much, everyone else can have the things they like - just don't stomp on my stuff. The rule should be LIVE AND LET LIVE

And 'one more thing' - W.P. Kinsella is an idiot

Thank You Canada - Warren Moon

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 15:12:14 -0700

Quoted in the Toronto Globe and Mail:

"The Canadian people were so refreshing, so supportive of me. I had sixof the greatest years of my life up there with those guys. I will neverregret making that decision. So thank you, all of you people north ofthe border."
"Thank you Canada"
- Warren Moon, Football great on his induction into the American Football Hall of Fame. - for course Canada beat them to the punch, he is already in the CFL Hall of Fame

When you need a law - feel free to make one up.

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:25:00 -0700

Apparently there have been a bunch of new laws written in the past week or so, the laws of war, the law of humanity, and the law of proportionality. The last one must be somewhere between the law of gravity and ohm's law.
My latest WTF momenent is provided by the Toronto Star. Just to prove that old media can be more ill-informed than bloggers. While introducing these 'obvious facts'

"we now accept, in spite of the rationale provided at the time, that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor did not justify the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed and maimed thousands of civilians"
- Apparently they should have bombed Osaka bay and called it even, or allowed the Japanese to scuttle a couple dozen ships as an act of contrition.

"When the French footballer Zinedine Zidane delivered his now infamous head-butt in the World Cup final, the question on everybody's mind was, "what could have provoked such a response?" FIFA's investigation and rulings attempted to address just that question."
- lack of control isn't enough, apparently bad acts were the fault of the victim, try that 'law' in pedophile cases

"If a child at school steals another child's lunch, the victimized child can either try to get his lunch back with or without the principal's assistance, ...." at what point does comparing a century old conflict to a fight at recess, signal the fact you may have gone off the reality bandwagon.

Complete Reference http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1153864209358&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

Your not helping us fast enough

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 09:59:00 -0700

As the first Canadian arrive in Canada from Lebanon many are critiquing the organization of the evacuation. Apparently, they do not believe they were kept informed and that the response was to slow. Now these words come from people that have just left a war zone so frustration is expected. But I can't help thinking - Do we feel so entitled as Canadians that we complain about those that come to our aid?
There have been many incidents where police, fire, and medical services are criticized for how they go about their work. In this case, the belief is the government should have been able to organize an evacuation of tens of thousands in less time than they did. It has taken 20 years to by new military helicopters and recent attempts to purchase things faster have draw political flack but a multi-million dollar effort to move 50,000 people (more than the entire Canadian military) should happen in less than 7 days. Don� t think so.

A friend asked me after my trip to France last year whether I believed another World War was possible. I answered, that I did not believe that we had the sense of sacrifice that caused hundreds of thousands of Canadians to travel all over the world and be prepared to give their lives.

We live in a microwave world where any challenge should be overcome in less than 5 minutes. If someone won�t wait 6 minutes to defrost a roast chances are they won�t spend more than 10 trying to understand the global forces that are causing death, displacement and tragedy on some random spot in the world.

And doing something about it - isn�t that somebody elses job?

Support your Local Sheriff - Part II

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:23:00 -0700

Some more worthy causes and useful tools. After the last post on this topic I was compelled to write another post supporting the many forms of 'free' online content. Of course, it isn't really free - everything costs someone, something. But I added Azureus to my list of donations today.This open source product delivers many pieces of online content that I now use more than my cable television service. If I pay Shaw Cable $100/mo for the minimal new content they serve up between May and September then Azureus is certainly worth a few dollars. This adds to my 'good guy list' which includes donations to

The Conversations Network

Wikipedia

Creative Commons

This week in Tech - Leo Laporte

Slashdot Review

Not to mention a couple dozen pieces of good shareware software. I don't expect these people are getting overly rich on my contributions but you have to vote with your dollars on occasion.

Canada to buy C-17 - Boeing

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:57:31 -0700

Flight International Reports the often rumored purchase of C-17s by the Canadian Forces. Flight International Reports the often rumored purchase of C-17s by the Canadian Forces. This will be part of several announcements of equipement replacement programs to happen this week.

Boeing is fighting for additional orders to keep the production line running following the completion of existing USAF orders.

I'm Outa Here

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 16:25:29 -0700

Leaving Las Vegas Well, I must admit that Las Vegas is not on my list of places to go back. Not enough of a drinker or a gambler for it to do much for me.I was at least smart enough not to book a 7AM flight. Apparently, the lines were quite bad early in the morning. The one thing I will say for this trip to Networkers - it takes nothing to strike up a conversation. I was sitting at the airport an another conference go-er wanted to share a table and we struck up a converstation. It was his report from a colleague that let me know what the airport was like earlier in the day. That was common most of the week. By the time I arrived, the lines had died down and it was a breeze through the check in and the security check. Props to Alaska Airlines for another trouble free trip. The web check in and the express line for First Class were both excellent. So I had some time to waste at the airport. Well contrary to the hotel McCarran Airport has FREE WiFi. So that made for an excellent way to pass the time.

Thursday Keynote

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 12:11:45 -0700

The food is better today but the Keynote is worse
After ranting the other day about the hopeless breakfast offerings they came back with eggs, Sausage and bacon today. Which was a more paletable option than the last two days.

So on that note, I attended the 'inspirational keynote'. The last networkers I attended this was Chuck Yeager - whose signature now adorns my Logbook - so anything would be a step down. But this one was a drop off the cliff.

In the spirit of Jon Stewart - Moe Roca did a take off on his TV shows with various US political themes and some 'edgy jokes'. There were some laughs but the 'contestants' he brought up from the audience for a couple skits got bigger laughs.

The best one of the day - "What is the best thing about being a woman at Cisco Networkers?" - No line up at the washroom.

Next stop for Networkers is Anahiem next July.

Conference Food

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 10:46:52 -0700

Eating at conferences - Not really the heathly choice.
The Networkers Conference includes meals on site for all the participants. Which is an excellent idea for a conference this size (>10,000). But preparing for a group this big shows some issues in catering. They have included some healthy snacks (veggies, cheese) and some choices at meals. The majority is still alot of fatty foods and white bread. Breakfasts here are particularly disappointing. Sweet breads, cereal, and a hot food choice. Yesterday it was a breakfast burrito (don't ask) and today it was a bagel version of an egg McMuffin. At least they have some fruit but the coffee is tragic.

Networkers Las Vegas - Hotel billing

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 17:56:11 -0700

The 101 ways a hotel tries to get more than the room rate from you. I decided to stay at the Hilton as it was the main Conference hotel for Networkers here in Las Vegas. After much travelling over the last 5 years, I really should have known better.I have a rabid distrust for the 'full service' hotel chains as they have demonstrated less than excellent service at above average prices. The latest annoyance is the Las Vegas Hilton. Arriving here it was a reasonable looking hotel and I was paying a premium to be next to the convention center. I addition to the oom rate, they want 10.99 per day for internet, $3 if you want to use the little room safe, and $4/bottle for the bottle water. The water is provided complements of the hotel. Apparently 'complementary' doesn't mean what I thought it meant. The room is rather sparse with a bed, soft chair and an office chair. The view is excellent but I am hard pressed to get my laptop and cell phone plugged in at the same time. The cost of connectivity - especially at a NETWORKING conference drives me off the deep end. Thankfully the conference itself has free WiFi so that is what I will likely be using most of the week.

And we have a budget?

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 18:02:26 -0700

Opposition Parties drop the ball in the house of commons.
From http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2006/06/06/budget.html
"When the May 2 budget came up for its third and final reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday morning, no one stood to speak. Because there were no apparent speakers, the budget was declared passed by unanimous consent with no recorded vote."

"In death we are all equal"

Thu, 18 May 2006 21:25:00 -0700

In Wimereux Cemetery not far from the grave of the Lt Col John McRae lies the graves of nurses killed during bombing raids of the hospitals.

After hearing of the death of Captain Nichola Goddard, my thoughts ran to standing in Wimereux by the grave of Sister Lucy Duncan being suprised by the thought of women dying in the Great War. Apparently I wasn't the only one to put these two thoughts together because in a story on Captain Goddard in the Globe and Mail included the following timeline

1914-1918: Enemy action during the First World War kills 29 Canadian military women.

1988: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders the Canadian Forces to achieve complete integration within 10 years.

2006: First Canadian woman in a combat role killed in battle.

We can not think war and sacrafice is either long ago or far away.

To quote a Jewish Phrase "In death we are all equal"
Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery

Of books and Leadership

Tue, 16 May 2006 11:03:58 -0700

Rudi Giuliani's book Leadership has a section on need to getting into the habit of teaching yourself. From an educators point of view he has a great line about having a good understanding of 'first principles' as a way to guard against getting 'dupped'.

Several times during his own book he quotes other texts that influenced him. Including at least 2 books on Winston Churchill. Noteably Churchill A Biography by Roy Jenkins
(Format: Trade Paperback · Published: October 2002ISBN: 0452283523 · Published By: Plume)

Apparently this Eagle thing has gotten totally out of hand.....

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:10:05 -0700

Okay, Apparently this Eagle thing has gotten totally out of hand.....
now at Joy of Tech

What happens when mainstream media goes blogging

Thu, 04 May 2006 19:32:39 -0700

For all the complaints by 'mainstream' media about citizen journalists, is there any other way an item like this makes the news?

CBC News: Webcam eagle egg broken in nest
The single remaining egg in an eagle's nest that has captivated millions of internet viewers around the world has collapsed without any sign of an eaglet.

Canada Relies on Allies for Air Support

Wed, 03 May 2006 09:40:38 -0700

When Canadian forces in Kandahar come under attack, the skies above are quickly abuzz with the distinct hum of the Royal Air Force's Harrier jets carrying 45-kilogram bombs. When Canadian forces in Kandahar come under attack, the skies above are quickly abuzz with the distinct hum of the Royal Air Force's Harrier jets carrying 45-kilogram bombs.Without aircraft of its own in Afghanistan, Canada must rely on other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization coalition for air support."The Canadians are one of our biggest customers at the moment," said Flight Lieutenant Scott Williams, a 29-year-old Harrier pilot from Wales.globeandmail.com : Canadians look up, way up, for support

Code Monkey

Wed, 03 May 2006 09:36:40 -0700

The closest I can find to an IT Geek Anthem - Jonathan Coulton » Blog Archive » Thing a Week 29 - Code Monkey

Respect needs more than a flag

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:00:00 -0700

From Lewis MacKenzie in the globeandmail.com
I leave it to a Canadian soldier to have the final word. Having served in Afghanistan, he called in to a Toronto talk show on Sunday just after I had finished my interview. I wish I had recorded his name. To paraphrase, he said, "We wear the Canadian flag on the sleeve of our uniform, we salute it every day in theatre and if we are killed, it drapes our coffin. That is how the flag respects us. If the public wants to show its respect for us, give us the funding, the equipment, the training and the support to do the job you order us to do."

I wish I had said it that well.

Amen, brother.

Listen to the Natives

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 17:11:00 -0700

Referenced by Marc Prensky at his talk at BC Ed Online conference, this little snippet really hits home with me. I was always a little bored by school and wasn't a big fan of artifical hoops that needed to be jumped. I had the same feeling as a Teacher where there were sections of the curriculum that really had no relevance that I could justify.

Listen to the Natives // Marc Prensky
Pragmatically, our 21st century kids' education is quickly bifurcating. The formal half, “school,” is becoming an increasingly moribund and irrelevant institution. Its only function for many students is to provide them with a credential that their parents say they need.

Conference Sports

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:27:51 -0800

Conference Sports - like Theatre Sports only different
I was attending Nancy Whites Presentation at Northern Voice and the concepts of performance and improvisation were mixed with her laptop having a mind of its own on the slide timing.

I decided this should be part of a conference - our own version of Theatre Sports. Make up a deck of slides on a topic, get a couple of skilled presenters, and have a improvised presentation.

They don't see the slides until they come up and then they have to talk too them.

This should be worth some good laughs.

My Brain from 5 min ago.....

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 13:38:00 -0800

After the last two days of Northern Voice, it strikes me that one of the features of a blog is the ability to record your thoughts and archive them.
In short, I have a record of my brain from the past. In the course of the last hour of Nancy White's (http://www.fullcirc.com/weblog/onfacblog.htm) presentation Snow White and the Seven Competencies of Online Interaction (http://2006.northernvoice.ca/speakers/snow-white) I have had several significant thoughts and I have barely been able to hold them in my head before the next one comes along.

In this environment it would be very useful to have a a record of my brain from 5 minutes ago.

Very much like my Tivo at home, the ability to rewind a line of thought and I think my blog is the closest I can get.

I am attending Northern Voice this week ...

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 18:07:44 -0800

I am attending Northern Voice this week in Vancouver, excerpts will be posted at http://www.bceducation.ca/wordpress/

West Wing Cancelled

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 09:51:00 -0800

West Wing will end in May
One of my all time favorites will be gone, one less reason to watch television.

See AP Story at:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/22/D8F9TAU07.html

Another podcast bites the dust

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 10:53:00 -0800

Losing some good content. Well, It was only a matter of time - I guess. With all the people out there doing 'free' podcasts it had to be too good to last. Eventually the reality of needing to do things that make money and take care of your family becomes a little more important.
I can only imagine that is what is happening with some of my favorite content. The latest is the demise of the daily news from Inside Mac Radio. While there was no annoucement on their website, a note at the blog of Ken Ray makes it clear that his involvement in the daily show is over. - bummer.

Support you Local Sheriff

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 12:41:00 -0800

Put your hand up for things you believe in.

There is couple James Garner movies that I just love - Support you Local Gunfighter and Support your Local Sheriff so I use that title as a segway to supporting my favorite things

I just recently joined the Conversations Network as a Donor because I use so much of the material from IT Conversations for personal and professional learning.

As a big user of podcasts I also donate to Slash Dot Review and TWIT

Recent appeals by other organizations have caught my eye including Creative Commons and Wikipedia

And there is a Federal Election happening in Canada so I have Chosen to support the party of my choice.

The Trials of Podcasting and the read/write web

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 17:27:00 -0800

Good and Evil in the Blogosphere The elements that are now referred to as Web 2.0 have been evolving over the last couple years. The concept of forums have been around for a while but Blogs, Wikis, and podcasts are much bigger than that. As a person working at home I started to try an listen to daytime talk radio to make up for the fact I didn't have co-workers to bug. I gave up on this due to the poorly researched programs and the ranks of people that line up to hear themselves talk. It was infuriating to listen to.

I then moved to podcasts so I could try and get some content that I found more to my liking. This included the great work of Doug Kaye (IT Conversations ), Leo Laporte (TWIT ), Andrew McCaskey (Slashdot review ) and Adam Christensen (MacCast ). I spice this up with a series of newsfeeds from various sites that I have found useful. Noteable Canadian sites like Stephen Downes , Brian Lamb , and Darcy Norman and tons of others. Not every day is a gem but on the whole it is an excellent menu of choices.

So I arrive at today and must start to drop some of these partly because of the quantity of stuff I was collecting and partly because they are sounding like the same crap I was hearing on the radio.

I discovered that my iTunes folder was approaching 50% of my hard drive (almost 30G) and it was time to do some house cleaning. I like keeping the old episodes of podcasts but it is like the stacks of magazines that you never read so out they went. So out went anything older than 3 months.

The job was made easier by another event. The Adam Curry - Dave Winer Flame war seems to have heated up again. I liked the material they were both putting out but I can't abide the self-serving drivel that was starting to appear. It was sounding too much like the AM-talk radio that I was running away from. With both sides trying so hard to prove themselves right and the other side wrong. So a quick unsubscribe to all that.

But the war doesn't end there, it appears the entry in Wikipedia is the latest battleground. Both sides slagging the Wiki project as fundamentally flawed. Well that is not only childish but unfortunate. I love Wikis and think they are one of the great enabling technologies of Web 2.0. They aren't going to always be right, but they are closer to the truth more often than they are a work of fiction. The fact that they may contain inaccuracies puts them no worse than any other website, most radio and TV news and documentaries, and just about every research paper I ever read. But the trials didn't end there.

The 'filtering' (nee censorship) of various content on the web in educational settings became a large point of discussion. The topic appears to have been opened by and article by James Farmer about his site being blocked. It developed in to a huge conversation with multiple sites carrying opinions on both sides of the issue. Showing at the same time the great and tragic things about the Readable/Writeable Web. The ability to create conversation and the lack of control of content being both positive and threatening (to some) at the same time.

So my faith isn't entirely shaken, but it is kind of like the 6 month old car - still feels new but there are some odd rattles that are beginning to be annoying. You don't want to throw it away and get a new one but the problem isn't covered by the warranty either.

In short not a great week for Web 2.0

In Rememberance

Sat, 05 Nov 2005 17:43:00 -0800

A postscript to my trip Back at home after almost 3 weeks away, I walk to my favorite Coffee House past the inner harbour in Victoria. I look at the cenotaph where the annual ceremony of remembrance will happen at the end of the week.

I think of what I would say if I got the chance to speak on Friday. I think it would go something like this:

-----
This day is not about triumph or celebration.
We are here to honour those that serve
We morn those that gave their lives
And we express gratitude that we have not had to do either.

I think about the Canadian Flag being raised at the Vimy memorial and the 90 year old monument of 60,000 Canadian dead being restore for the next 100 years of remembrance. But it is hard to relate to large numbers, and despite standing on that ground there is nothing in my experience that lets me imagine how it really was. It is easier to think of individuals.
In going to Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth Cemetery, I saw two names that have stayed with me and I think that is who I will think of on Friday - Private Robertson and Lance Corporal Martin.
In addition to holding over 10,000 graves Tyne Cot has walls of 30,000 names of those that have no grave. The names are there because the Menin Gate Memorial wasn't large enough to hold all the names.

They couldn't build a memorial big enough to hold all the names, that says alot.

Tyne Cot has the grave of Private James Robertson, Victoria Cross of the Manitoba Regiment. One of the names on the wall was Lance Corporal Henry Martin.

I still remember the note below the name of Corporal Martin - placed there by a student or a family member that was written in the voice of Corporal Martin.

"I spent 14 months convalescing in Blighty only to return to Passchendaele and be blown to pieces at Poelcapelle on 27th November 1917.
I have no know grave, only my name on this panel and a plaque dedicated to me at St Georges Memorial Church, Ieper.

I did my Best

Please Remember me."

Both Private Robertson and Corporal Martin died in November of 1917.

Paris 6

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 18:31:18 -0700

Touring around Paris This morning was the start of my tour of various neighborhoods of Paris. I had completed my museums and historical trips, now I was looking to get to know the town. On the extreme west side of Paris is the 'neauveau' Paris area called La Defense. It has a giant arch that is on the line of the Champs Elysee so you can look through the Grand Arch to see the Arch de Triomph and the Obelisk at Place de Concorde. This has almost all of the high rise buildings in Paris. It also appears to be the 'high-tech' area of Paris. Coming out of the Metro I see ads for Cisco and placards announcing WiFi access everywhere.

From La Defense I went back to the Champs Elysee and grabbed breakfast while watching the rain that had started to fall. From Champs Elysee, I walked past the Place Elysee (the President's Mansion) over to Madeline and Opera with some window shopping along the way. I might have considered buying something but I didn't see a price tag under 1000 Euro. After working my way back past my hotel, I worked down to the Louvre and walked the Tuileries Gardens that stretches from the Louvre and Place de Concorde.

On to a little more shopping with a stop at WH Smith on Rue de Rivoli to pick up a few reading items for the trip home. Yes, my brain is starting to think about the 21 hour trip home that will start on Wednesday morning.

After again working my way back from the hotel to drop off my purchases, I took the train to the opposite side of town to the Montparnasse district. This has two noteable features. The Montparnasse Cemetery has the grave of the philosopher J-P Sartre and Andre Dreyfus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair ). The other feature of Montparnasse is the only other high rise in Paris. The Tour Montparnasse is the 59 story high rise that is the only one outside the La Defense area.

Tomorrow I think I take a cruise on the Seine a check out a few more neighborhoods. Then it is back to the hotel to stuff my life back in a suitcase and get ready for an early trip to the airport on Wednesday.

Paris 5B

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 18:30:35 -0700

Paris on a Sunday A postscript to my Sunday in Paris. Warning to those that travel here - there is almost nothing open on Sunday for shops. Including grocery shops. And there is no such thing as a 7-11 in Paris. So there was a little problem getting some bottled water and such for the hotel tonight. Should have figured that out before. I was trying to remember what I did last Sunday.

Then I realized - I was in Belgium last Sunday. This traveling can really mess with your head.

Paris 5

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 18:29:00 -0700

Last Museum visits Well, my 5 day museum pass ran out today so I got my last visits in. A trip to the Louvre first thing this morning. I was planning on grabbing some breakfast on the way but the line up was already starting at 8:30 so I stood in line and read my Green Guide (Le Guide Vert) with all the details. The doors opened at nine and I made my way through the ancient parts (500-600 BC) and then to the greeks and romans. They also have a part of the excavation of the original fort that stood at the Louvre. This shows the foot of the massive towers that used to stand on this site.

I then made my way to the 16th and 17th century paintings. Including seeing the dutch painter Vermeer, who was in a recent documentary I saw at home. I finished with the Renaissance tapestries and artifacts.

It was then on to the the Centre G. Pompidou which houses the Museum of Modern Art. There were several interesting exhibits but actually the best part was all the performers out front. The hit of the group appeared to be the 5 members of - what I am assuming - is a tibetan group.

Paris 4

Sat, 22 Oct 2005 18:28:57 -0700

Circumnavigating Paris Started with a trip up Montmartre for the view of the city from Sacre Couer early morning. Then heading on the Metro to the Trocadero. The Chaillot Palace was built for the exhibition of 1900 (?) and is used for museums today. The French Maritime Muesum is there and that was a nice little tour.

On a side note, most of the museums are searching bags and in the case of the Maritime Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (Centre Pompidou) you have to check you packs and bags prior to entering.

Then a walk down the Gardens between the two parts of the Chaillot place that look on to the Effiel tower. Then a walk along the Champ de Mars which connects the Effiel tower (also built for an exhibition - they seem to have a lot of those here from 1870 to 1940) to the Ecole Militare. Past that and on to 'Les Invalids' this has the Dome Church - which is the final resting place of Napoleon and the Army Museum. Unfortunately large parts of the Army museum are closed for renovations - for 2 years.

So on to the metro to another museum in the North East of town. This is the Science and Industry museum at Villette. It is a funky place mostly designed to keep children ammused so I didn't end up staying long. There big exhibit was 'Star Wars' but unless there is a working Light Sabre I can play with - I'll pass.

Then down to the Centre Pompidou - again with the bag problem - so I will head back there tomorrow 'sans sac'.

So in the late afternoon of Saturday it was time to think about some gifts to bring home. So shopping time. The Gallery Layfette, Champ Elysee, and the Bonne Marche (the real one not the American Chain). Didn't end up buying anything but it was worth a look. Funniest thing I saw was the Dior Ipod Cases for the iPod, Mini, and the new Nano. That is just too funny.

Paris 3

Fri, 21 Oct 2005 18:27:33 -0700

Cooking Class Today was a big day. My sister had bought me a cooking class so it was put up or shut up time for my culinary skills. Paule was our guide to the open air market just down from Place de Republique. The menu Rochfourt souffl�, Salade with baked Cheve, main course of Veal, Carrots, and Chantrel mushrooms, and an Apple Chocolate Tarte for desert.

As the one guy in the group I got the meat duty but also practiced my skills in caramelizing the Apples for the Tarte. While there were several very compleling dishes but the steps were laid out very well and all of us are expected to reproduce these when we get home. Even making a souffl� didn't seem that scary.

My group was 6, including myself, one other Canadian - currently living in New York, a mother and daughter team from New Jersey, and a couple of longer term Americans-in-Paris - one from Berkley and the other from Minneapolis.

Finish the day with a trip to a couple of the cooking supply shops then I headed off to the Museum of Art and Science.

Paris 2

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 18:26:37 -0700

After a brief rest, back to the holiday travel log After always being independent on my holidays, I am discovering that is a whole lot of work. So following the lead from my friend Murray in Philadelphia, I took a bus tour today and let someone else tell me what everything was. This was an open top double decker so it was an excellent photography platform while cruising around the city. So I headed over to the Effiel Tower, grabbed a little breakfast and picked up the tour.

There is just so much interesting stuff and there are other stuff that looks interesting but is really 20th century knock offs of the 18th century. It became clear with the dialog for the tour that alot of 17th century french work was torn down in the late 1800s and early 1900s to make way for 'retro' italian work. I could of got the dates wrong but that it what I heard. Got some nice photos up on the flickr site.

After the bus tour, I hit the Musee D'Orsay. Finally some artist I recognized. The Louvre didn't do anything for me but I can get into Renoir, Moreau, and a little Pissarro. They push Van Gogh like the Louvre pushes the Mona Lisa. They did a nice job with the conversion from a train station to a museum. I didn't realize that the D'Orsay was only opened as a museum in the 80s.

Finally on the trips around town on the bus I saw this one place for lunch that I just had to try. (Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkempthorne/54301779/ ) I drank a beer and watched hockey .... In Paris.

Day 8 - Return to Arras

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 18:25:00 -0700

Driving from Ieper to Arras, with a small stop First, It needs to be said how this EU thing works. I drive from Belgium to France and there are border crossings with the usual inspection booths - but their is no one there. The first time I saw it on the way to Belgium I reached for my passport, then realized no one was stopping. Feels very weird. The grass is over grown and the traffic whips through them at 90km/h.

Today I went the other way, there wasn't even a border crossing, couldn't really tell where the border was but when the signs changed language I figured I was in France.

I was about a 90 min drive from Ieper to Arras. I had to return my rental before the closed for lunch. By the way, everything around here seems to take a break from noon until two. Very different.

Well I had a few minutes, and I had to stop at Vimy one more time. I snapped a few more pictures for the album (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkempthorne) I think I will be back, I need to see what it will look like after the restoration.

Day 7 - The last tour

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 18:24:30 -0700

Tour 2 from Ieper I have used a few different books to find my way around the various battlefields and cemeteries. Today I was on Itinerary Two from Holt's Guide to the Ypres Salient. This started northeast of Ieper and worked back to the west. The first major point of interest on this tour was the German Cemetery at Langmark. Like the allies, German war dead were buried in many cemeteries around the Western Front. However, following the war France and Belgium were less generous in given land to Germany for their fallen. While both Allied and German cemeteries were redone and consolidated, there were fewer places for the German dead. As a result german headstones have several names on them because of the need to use common graves.

On leaving Langmark I ran into a tour group lead by Norm Christie. Norm has written many of the guides to Canadian Battlefields as well as hosting TV shows on the subject. We had a chance to talk briefly and I made sure to that him for his great work. He probably has done more to re-inspire interest in the Great War for Canadians than anything in the last couple decades.

I then headed to Essex Farm. This is a cemetery but also has the remains of a Advanced Dressing station (the First War's equivalent of a MASH). This was the site where John McCrae wrote 'In Flanders Fields'. This classic verse is used extensively around Ypres. In addition to this site, there is the 'In Flanders Field' Museum, and 'In Flanders Fields Autoroute' and posters and banners all over the town. There are enough references to Lt Col McCrae to call him a local hero - that would be Belgium's local Canadian Hero.

This was an appropriate place to end this part of my trip. Tomorrow I head toward Paris for the 'fun' part of the trip. I enjoyed the touring around Arras and Ypres and all the historical spots. But there is a sense of emotional exhaustion. I think of looking at thousands of graves and hundreds of thousands of names on monuments. The magnitude is not obvious at any given point but today I have a sense of the weight of what I have seen.

I am 'proud' of my country and in these fields a country that had never fought a war on this scale - in the words of John McCrae - took up the torch. You can't really feel good or happy about any of this, all you can do is think about it and remember.

And in the end that is all the millions that died here are asking.

I know I will.

Day 6 C - Passchendaele and Hill 62

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:23:38 -0700

Continuing along the Ypres Salient One of the reasons for making this trip goes back almost 15 years. I was attending a Mess Diner at the officers Mess of the Seaforth Highlanders in Vancouver. In the glass case was the regimental silver, and the colours of the regiment. Hanging there as well were all the Battle Pennants - the honours that a regiment receives for participating in an action. And on the top of them I saw the name Passchendaele. I didn't know exactly were that was but I new the significance. Seeing that pennant was a stirring experience.

Well today I stood at the Canadian Memorial at Crest Farm, and looked at the Church Steeple of Passchendaele. This was the line of attack of the 72nd Bd (Seaforth Highlanders) with the Canadian Corp. The memorial was quiet and their was a young family out for a walk, sitting there. It is impossible to imagine the Moon-like surface that was the Battle of Passchendaele. Artillery fire in WWI appears to be the first reaction to anything. The towns of Ypres, Passchendaele, and others were pounded to ruble and then the ruble was turned to dust by following barrages. Even standing on this ground you can't see how that is possible.

From Passchendaele I made a small detour to the Memorial to the PPCLI, This was a small circular memorial, beside a farmers field. In addition to the major memorials there are memorials to individual units like this around the salient.

Now I have moved on to the last Canadian national memorial here, the Memorial at Hill 62 commemorating the Battle of Mount Sorrel. There are 8 national memorials that Canada commissioned after WWI, I have now stood at 7 of them. I sit here on a sunny Sunday in Belgium and despite my desire to see what this place meant to the battle - the calm and beautiful memorial makes it impossible to conceive the landscape of 1916.

Day 6 B - Tyne Cot

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:22:37 -0700

The largest British Cemetery Stopping at the Cemetery at Tyne Cot, you see a massive collection of graves, plus the walls of names of the missing. The walls here were used to continue the names of the Soliders with no known graves as there was not enough space on the Menin Gate for all of them.

Buried at this location is a number of Victoria Cross winners. I took the time to fine Private Robertson, VC, whose family comes from Medicine Hat but he was a member of the Manitoba Regiment. I have never stood in the presence of a Canadian VC recipient. Our last living one died recently so it is unlikely that I will ever meet a living one so standing at the grave of Private Roberston is as close as I will likely ever come.

I noticed below one of the walls a laminated card had been placed, it read

"Lance Corporal Henry John Martin, Royal West Kent Regiment, Born Islington 14th October 1880I was mobilised from the reserve in August 1914 and fought at St Ghislain, Mons, retreated down to the Marne, raced toward the sea via the Aisne and survived Neuve Chapelle despite being almost surrounded.
With C Company I helped to take Hill 60 on 17th April 1915, fought through 2nd Ypres and was wounded at High Wood, Somme on 22nd July 1916. I spent 14 months convalescing in Blighty only to return to Passchendaele and be blown to pieces at Poelcapelle on 27th November 1917. I have no know grave, only my name on this panel and a plaque dedicated to me at St Georges Memorial Church, Ieper.

I did my Best

Please Remember me."

Day 6 A - Vancouver Corner

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:21:49 -0700

Trip one around the Ypres Salient I met a group of Canadians at the Hotel in Arras before I left. They are stationed with the NATO AWACS group in Germany. Apparently we are on a similar itinerary. They were heading to Ypres as well. We were both at the Menin Gate last night, and we are both were driving around the Salient today. We crossed paths at the hotel this morning and at the Monument at St Julian. The memorial is called the brooding solider. A large collumn of granite with the head of a solider at the top, head bowed, and hands on the butt of a rifle - which is held in the 'reversed arms position' - pointing down. The pose is the same one taken by those standing post at the cenotaph on November 11th. The location is near the town of St Julian but its WWI landmark name was Vancouver Corner.

As I walked past the Canadian group group from the AWACS squadron in Germany, one put out his hand and said - "Welcome to Vancouver". I was the most chilling feeling of my trip.

Day 6 - Prelude

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:21:07 -0700

Belgian Medical Care After suffering with a Achilles problem for almost a week, it was getting to the point I needed to decide whether it was bad enough to warrant going home or if I could make my trip to Paris next week. Following some prompting from home, I asked about a Doctor at the front desk of the hotel here in Ieper. I didn't know when I could get in but I wanted to see what was possible. Two phone calls later, the lady at the front desk told me the doctor would be here by 8 - this was at 7:20 on a Sunday morning asking for a hotel - housecall in Belgium.

About 8:20 the doctor arrived, pronounced it a inflammation from over exertion - probably one of the two half-marathons I did in the last month - or the cumulative effect of both. Wrote me a quick prescription and advised me to fill it with the pharmacy on call in Grote Markt. Up to this point I hadn't inquired about what this would cost - I was in enough pain not to care and my next alternative was a $4000 one way trip from Charles De Gaulle back to Victoria. He asked for 35 Euros and the prescription - that I had filled in about 10 minutes was another 17. All of this was done before 9 in the morning on a Sunday.

Other than the fact this ate through most of my cash, this was pretty sucessful. Apparently there is a problem using my bank card here in Belgium that I didn't have in France. So I will be stopping at a few banks on the road today. Even if this means a 30 minute drive back to France.

Day 5 B - Last Post

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 18:19:43 -0700

The last post ceremony - Menin Gate Ieper, Belgium Following the Great War a Monument was designed to hold the names of those with no know grave who were lost in the Ypres Salient. The Menin Gate was built for that purpose and stands on the Ieper-Menin Road at the edge of - what was - a walled city. Every day at 2000hrs the buglers come to play the last post.

I arrived at about 7:30 and a crowd had already gathered, by 10 to 8 the inside of the gate was full and the crowd was starting to spill onto the streets at each side. This is one of the 'must do' when you come to Ieper.

Saturday is apparently extra special as this is when any guests buglers perform and when names of the fallen - representing the same week during one of the war years are read. At tonight's ceremony, 5 names were read out to represent the fallen. At the end, the verse common to November 11th that ends - "We shall remember them" is read, followed by the buglers. In the somewhat enclosed arch of the gate the bugles sound very rich.

This ceremony is performed every day - with the exception of the German Occupation in WWII. It has taken on a somewhat 'touristy' look in the attendance but the fact that it has been maintained for almost 90 years is exceptional.

I couldn't help thinking what it will be like to hear the bugles this November 11th at home. Knowing I have attended the Last Post at Menin Gate, watched the Canadian Flag raised at Vimy Ridge, and looked on the graves and names of hundreds of thousands that fell. This trip is emotional but not in a abrupt way. You realize slowly what looking at all these places means to you.

I make a point of signing the Visitors book at every Monument and Cemetery. I think it is important to demonstrate that these sites are not forgotten

Day 5 Arras to Ieper (Ypres)

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 18:18:00 -0700

Driving to Ypres It was a hazy/foggy day again in Northern France. I headed to the coast for a couple of reasons. I was hoping to view the Channel from the coast and look across to Britain. That didn't work. I did however stop at Wimereux Cemetery to pay my respects to John McCrae. There are two great war poems that I know by heart, both created by Canadian Military Officers. High Flight was done by officer in the RCAF during World War II and In Flanders Fields was done by MrCrae in WWI. He died due to illness and was buried in the cemetery along with many war casualties that were treated behind the lines. There is a significant number of German Graves there, I presume prisoners that were receiving treatment at the hospital. There are also the first female war casualties I saw; Nursing Sisters and Canteen staff caught in bombing raids.

In a mild diversion from the WWI flavor I stopped at Cite d Europe, which is an industrial, shopping, and travel complex that has grown up around the channel tunnel.

Arriving in Ieper (Ypres), I got to see the Saturday Market in the square. Unfortunately it was just wrapping up when I got here.

Then did a walking tour of Ieper. The Cloth Hall of the main square is an imposing building. Completely rebuilt (along with the rest of the town) after the Great War. there is a model of the town after the war. There is barely anything over 4 feet tall in the entire town. Looking at the town now that seems completely amazing. The buildings look like they have been this way for hundreds of years. There is a small church call St George's that has been the repository of plaques and dedications from almost every Commonwealth unit.

Tonight I will take in the Last Post at the Menin Gate .

Day 4B - Visit to the Memorials N.D. de Lorette, Cabaret Rouge, and La Targette

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 18:17:46 -0700

The French, British, Czech and Polish Memorials West of Vimy After finishing the drive from Arras to Cambrai in the footsteps of the Canadian Corp. I had time to follow up on a couple of items that Zac (faithful guide from my Vimy Trip) had suggested. Notre Dame De Lorette and the Abbey at Mont Etoi.

I drove to the Site of N.D de Lorette, which is located on a hill to the west of Vimy Ridge. A tower, Abbey, and large cemetery are at the top of the hill. The cemetery simple goes on as far as you can see along the hill in both directions. It is simply massive. If I read the french explination correctly, it indicates 60,000 dead in the cemetery and crypt. This dates to the early part of the war when there was little British or Canadian Forces in France. The French Army bore the attacks of 1914 and 1915 which overran their territory.

Moving down the road to Cabaret Rouge Cemetery - a British Cemetery named after the destroyed public house that sat at this location - I saw the largest British Cemetery I had so far. Over 7,000. It was from a plot in this Cemetery that an unknown solider, killed in the battle for Vimy Ridge was exhumed and moved to the National War Memorial in Ottawa. A marker still remains in the plot, explaining the movement of the remains.

Further down the road there are two other memorials. A Czech one that commemorates both WWI and WWII loses and a Polish Memorial from WWI. These two plus the Morocan memorial on Vimy recognize the other Allied forces of the Great War.

Last, I drove to Mount Eloi, there are the ruins of an Abbey, mostly destroyed long before WWI but commanding a view that made it an ideal command post and artillery observation site for the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Day 4 - The road to Cambrai

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 18:16:57 -0700

Tracing the advance of the Canadians in the last 60 days of WWI - Canal du Nord to Cambrai Prior to leaving home I picked up one of Norm Christie's series - King & Empire. This one 'The Canadians at Cambrai' Traces the advance and capture of the town of Cambrai in October 1918. The drive from Arras to Canal du Nord is about 20 minutes. I made one stop at the Canadian Memorial at Dury. Canada has 8 WWI memorials on the western front I have now seen 4 of them and I hope to make it 7 out of 8 before I leave. The day was hazy so many of my attempts to find a photograph landmarks were thwarted.

Starting at the Canal du Nord I followed the travel path outlined in the book. It took me to a number of cemeteries, again mostly in out of the way places. The most dramatic part of the day was the drive from the Drumond Cemetery - down a rough road outside Ste-Ole to the Sancourt Cemetery which is in the middle of both a farmer's field and the approach path for the runway at a French Airforce base. The distance between these two points was about 2 km. The thought of tens of thousands of Canadian soliders crossing the farm fields was almost unimaginable.

There were compelling items all along. The commanding officer of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (a fine unit both then and now) was lost in the advance on Cambrai, he is buried at Ontario Cemetery. At the Drummond Cemetery there are 2 german soliders buried with the Canadians. At the "Canadian Cemetery" - yes that is the name, in addition to the WWI burials there is a Lancaster Crew from 408 squadron RCAF shot down while attacking Cambrai in June of 1944 as the Allies were advancing from Normandy. This bombing attack was to disrupt German supplies through the transport hub of Cambrai. Basically the same reason that they Canadians attacked in 1918.

The tour finished by driving in to Cambrai for lunch. The city had to be almost completely rebuilt after both WWI and WWII. The former because of Artillery and the Germans burning the city before while being forced to retreat under the weight of the Canadian advance. The second because of Allied bombers attacking the transportation routes that ran through Cambrai.

Day 3C - More notes from Vimy

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:15:50 -0700

Personal Tours and other discussion I had a tour guide to myself this morning, a great guy called Zac from Sudbury. All the guides at Vimy and Beaumont Hamel are University students on a federal work program. They do a 4 month rotation. Apparently they have a couple of houses that the guides share while living here. When I get back I have to write a letter to support the restoration of the Memorials and the student guide program.

So a couple of items that I didn't really know. First there is a significant amount of articles that refer to the differences between the German and British approaches on trench warfare. I remember comments about how the British Generals didn't want the troops improving the trenches as it worked against the intention to move forward and attack. The fortifications at Vimy were large, well developed and appears to have worked to protect troops entering and exiting the line.

Another item was the view of trench warfare as static, men living in squalid conditions for an extended period of time. While this may have been the early conditions on the Somme, by the 1917 battle at Vimy their was regular rotation of troops from the line to the rear areas. Most of the troops were billeted in houses and other shelter in towns like Arras (15km) from the front. They were still subject to artillery while in Arras and machine gun and motar fire on the way to and from the line. This is a very different view that what I had in my head for the war on the western front.

It should be noted that none of these types of well developed fortifications appeared to be in place at Beaumont Hamel for the 1916 battle but that may be the difference in strategy after the initial battles on the Somme.

Lastly, after looking at some of the additional items added to war memorials to 'adapt' the message - I had to ask myself what happened in 1940-1944. Once again my guide Zac to the rescue. Since almost all the WWI memorials were completed in the 1920s and 1930s, It occurred to me that if these memorials of the WWI victors was offensive to Germany, they would have destroyed them when France was occupied by Nazi forces in WWII. Zac produced a picture of Hitler touring the Vimy Memorial. Despite the other policies of the Reich, there was a general order that none of the memorials were to be touched. And with the exception of some scrounging of iron from some sites to be sold as scrap because the lack of raw materials.

A last story of was of the 51st Highland memorial at Beaumont Hamel, apparently there was some looting of metal artifacts at the site and a scaffolding was erected to remove the large solider at the top of the monument. When this was observed by a passing allied (RAF) fighter pilot, daily strafing runs were conducted to 'discourage' this from happening.

Moral of this story - well the easiest one - go to these places, talk to the guides - what you find is amazing.

Tomorrow, I follow the final battles of the Canadian Army in World War I, with the advance on Canal d'Nord and Cambrai.

Day 3B - Vimy Part 2

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:14:35 -0700

Tour of tunnels, walk to the top of hill 145. Thanks to a miscommunication on the tour booking, apparently they thought I was a tour group not an individual so they booked the entire 10AM tour in my name. As a result I had a personal tour of the tunnels of Vimy Ridge. The tunnel system was incredible well developed. It extended kilometers into the rear. The tunnels themselves are primarily 33ft below the surface, away from most dangers. they are 6-foot high and wide enough to allow 2 soldiers to pass in full gear. Various chambers allow for medical treatment, supplies, command and communication. A limited electrical system provided some light in 1917.

below the main tunnels, fighting tunnels were dug to try an intercept enemy tunnel systems. Either by breaking into them, collapsing them, or placing large amounts of explosives for cratering activity. The results of the British 1916 - Grange crater then became the edge of the combat line. In this cast the forward positions of Canadian and German forces were about 25m apart. Apparently, keeping your head down was a good policy for both sides.

The area was occupied by Canadian Forces for about 8 months prior to the main battle. Although the sniping, artillery, and mortar fire would be a daily occurrence.

On the top of hill 145 the view is commanding. Making the military value of the position obvious.

Finished this morning's travel with a stop at the German Cemetery at Neuville St Vaast.

Day 3 - Vimy

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:13:49 -0700

Visit to the Vimy Memorial Arrived at the VImy Memorial just after 9. The sun was still low and there was a little mist. The Memorial itself is complete enclosed while undergoing 2 years of restoration work. After 70 years there were many issue of safety and ongoing damage to the stone that needed to be addressed. Their is an extensive park area around the monument, cemeteries and preserved trenches and tunnels. Apparently it is popular as a running area as I saw many runners out on the way in.

I have been suffering from my last race with a sore achilles, I feel self conscience limping around like a wounded solider among fields of the real thing. I'm hoping the foot injury is just a strain and will recover before I hit Paris next week. The amount of walking will increase even more then.

The park is remarkably quiet. There is some noise from the N17, which is the roadway I took from Arras but other than that very little. Again this area is relatively remote from any major community. A battlefield due to geography. to the Southwest is a long plain of farmland. You can't see very far from here because of the trees that surround the area. I suspect that wasn't much of an issue in 1917.

There are very few Canadian Monuments in Canada itself. I guess the Parliament buildings may be the only truly Canadian one. Most of the others, like the citadel in Halifax or the walls of Quebec city date from the days of French or British rule. The construction of this memorial in Northern France is likely the first purpose built CANADIAN monument. If the history of Canada is the struggle to be independent from foreign controls - French, British and you could argue today American. Here is where the Canadian Army became independent of direct British command. While still under the overall command of a British General, this battle was planned and executed by Canadian Generals directing Canadian troops.

Well, the tour guides just arrived and someone is about to raise the flag on the flagpole. I guess I need to put down my laptop and stand for that. After all there is a plaque 10 feet to my right that declares this land a gift to the people of Canada.

Day 2C - Thievpal and back to Arras

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 18:12:00 -0700

Back at the Hotel Well the first full day of touring around is complete. I managed to drive in France without breaking any major laws or damaging any vehicles. Most of the cementaries and memorials are very remote. Without a car, or being part of a bus tour, you really can't get there.

There were busloads of students at Beaumont Hamel and Thievpal. The British Memorial at Thievpal is the 'largest' British war memorial. I don't know if they mean size or number of dead. Likely it is largest on both counts. When you approach the structure you see what looks like weathered marble. It is not until you get closer that you realize the pattern in the marble are thousands of names (over 70,000 of them). There are national memorials for most commonwealth participants. These memorials, like Thievpal and Beaumonth Hamel have the lists of the dead with no known grave from the battle of the Somme.

I picked up the Holt's Battlefield Guide for the Somme, I had the Ypres one prior to my arrival. It is just not possible to get to every memorial so the Guide will help me prioritize my next few days.

Day 2 - Arras Memorial

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 18:11:00 -0700

October 12, 2005. Walked from Hotel to the Arras Memorial on the West side of the City. One of the values of a Laptop is being able to put my thoughts down when the mood strikes. Sitting in this memorial the thoughts are many but the words are few. In addition to being a burial for those that fell in the Battle of Arras, it also has walls of names of those with no know grave. The names outnumber the burials by a wide margin. The memorial also includes a list of those lost in the air war over the western front. The Arras Flying Service memorial is on the southern side. The book of memorial lists all the names of those commemorated here. I opened the volume for the flying services memorial and the second name I saw was someone from Victoria. I will have to do a little research on this when I get back.

Walking the rows of markers it didn't take long to see the maple leaf among the crest of services and units that mark the top of every head stone. The age range is suprising. You think of all the teenagers as the sterotype of those that fight wars but the ages range from 17 to 50 in the markers I read. There are signs of current commemoration with wreaths, poppies and little crosses beside certain names. A laminated piece of paper beside one marker from two generations to a fallen father and grandfather.

At the end of the cemetary there are three headstones marked 'believed to be buried here' two from WW1 and one USAAF pilot from world war two. Apparently this Lt Col. was the squadron or group leader.

Last, sitting at the northern edge of the memorial, the value of reflecting on things as they happen becomes apparent. I look up and next to all the commonwealth and allied graves is one with and Iron Cross. "Muller 461216" no indication of rank or unit but obviously a German solider is here too.

Day 2B - Beaumont Hamel

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 18:11:00 -0700

Drive from Arras to the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont Hamel Sitting at the 51st (highland) division memorial in the preserved battlefield at Beaumont Hamel.

The first thing that strikes you is the featurelessness of the surroundings. The countryside is farmland with small rolling hills nothing more than 15m up or down. The battle-line here were less than 100m apart. The small geographic feature of a hill or a ravine is enough to turn open country into a contested battle-line. The soil is also notable for being chalky. These natural bits of geography and geology must have been what made the Somme such a place of death.

Having studied various battles and wars, I find myself at a loss for what could be a strategic target in this area. One piece of it looks much like another. Not much different from driving 30 to 45 minutes outside of Edmonton or Saskatoon into the farmland. Even if you had a strategic target it would be unlikely that anyone in a line unit would have been able to see it from their position. Given the relative flatness of the territory anything beyond 20m (if you are in a trench) or 2 km (if you are standing on a rise) in unknown to you.

The fact that I can go to google earth, and know more about the this area in 3 minutes than the best planners on the Allied or German side did after fighting here for 3 years.

Trip of a LIfetime - Day 1.5

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:10:00 -0700

Airport to Arras and local pictures in Arras It is nice to know I will not have to completely rely on my stuttering French while travelling. While I typically start the conversation in French, I am replied to in English - sort of - 'nice try but we better do it this way'. From the Airport via the TGV train - which is fast as measured by my inability to get non-blurry pictures of distant objects. Train trip was CDG to Lille, change trains in Lille and on to Arras. Arras was briefly occupied during the First War but the main damage came from German Guns that pounded the town relentlessly. A major effort was taken to rebuild the Belfry at the Place d' Heroes and the building of the Place d'Heroes. Grand Place, and Petit Place. Pictures of these sites as well as the Abbey Jardin (the orginal hub that Arras grew up around) are at my flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkempthorne

The shelling of Arras stopped with the taking of Vimy ridge to the north east and forcing the German guns out of range.

Trip of a Lifetime - Day 0

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 18:09:15 -0700

My trip to the battlefields of Northern Europe - October 2005
I'm calling this entry day 0 because nothing much has happened yet. I woke up at 3:30 (pacific) for a 6:30 flight. I then spent 5 hours flying to Toronto and another 6 in the Toronto airport. The airport is under construction so the international flights have been moved to a satellite terminal until the new international gates at Terminal 1 are ready (2007?). No WiFi (pay or Free) that I could find here. I really thought that would be a no-brainer in a reasonably new airport building but apparently not. 

Airport waiting is somewhat of an art. There are those that do it well, there are those that can appreciate when someone does it well, and there are those that just don't get it. Despite a zillion (yes I'm prepared to back up that number) reminders in every form imaginable people are still being paged after the airplane has boarded. I presume the got to the airport and checked in - otherwise no-one would care. It's possible that they are just in the wrong place but I am so paranoid about missing things that I always arrive hours early. 

I admire the people that can sit in these annoying boarding-area chairs, have their head fall forward, and just fall asleep. That is amazing to me. The rest of us read, type, listen, or tend to children and elderly relatives.

Where did my website go.....

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 17:25:00 -0700

Online tools - from BC Ed Online conference Ever loose information when the content of a particular site gets updated. The service FURL allows you to archive various web sites for later viewing. It also allows for the creation of 'Works Cited' lists for web references. Ideal for College or High School Students.
This was a reference from a session at the BC Ed Online Conference held April 21-22 at Richmond.
For more info see Gerry Paile's website at http://careo.prn.bc.ca/bced/

PodCasting Tools

Sat, 16 Apr 2005 17:19:00 -0700

Finding the right podcatching tools The popularity of Podcasts are developing better and better tools for the purpose. I added iPodderX to my tools for downloading my podcasts (http://ipodderx.com/download ) This has good integration with iTunes, including creating playlists by subscription. The listing of audio sources are reasonably complete. As a long time devotee of Leo Laporte's TV shows, I appreciate the ability to download the weekly radio shows on KFI (Podcast Link ). The 'internet only' radio shows are using podcasting extensively to support their audience. This is to broadcasting what PageMaker was to desktop publishing. That is being augmented by the mainstream media which is starting to move with more content of this type. This includes sources from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/04_april/14/pod.shtml ), CBC (http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/ )

Digtal Radio Moves north

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 17:41:00 -0800

As someone who likes all thing digital this is a new field. SIRIUS Satellite among others are making for the Canadian market. SIRIUS has partnered wtih CBC to get into the market and support their application to the CRTC.

SIRIUS and XM are well established in the US as providers of many high demand radio programs. Most notably getting into the Howard Stern controversy but also providing access to National Public Radio (NPR).

Whether the transition to Canada will bring the same type of selection that has become the standard in the US is the key question. Previous US to Canada moves have involved 'watering down' the content to meet the CANCON rules for local content.

More Blogger Crossovers

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 17:39:00 -0800

The Pubic Eye Online, a political blog run by Sean Holman, is now making the crossover to the mainstream media. Mr Holman has now been retained by the Vancouver Sun to cover the BC Legislature. Unfortunately that means that the publiceye will no longer be updated. This site was a good bit of voyeurism for those of us in the BC Capital but was also a good example of the uses of a blog in place of a 'regular' website.

So "The Blog is dead, All hail the Blog"

Share .. and Share alike

Sun, 20 Feb 2005 17:37:00 -0800

Creative Commons In a previous entry I mentioned an audio book (lecture actually) with David Weinberger. Well a new piece of work crossed my vision this week, thanks to Leo Laporte's column in Enterprise (formerly Small Business Canada) magazine - I guess they figured with the Star Trek show of the same name getting cancelled the word could be 'repurposed' - but I digress

In Leo's article he lists 5 tech trends he sees as key for 2005. Number 5 is the 'New Net Customer', his recommended reading is "The Cluetrain Manifesto" by Chris Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger. While the book has much value in itself, the major piece of news is the entire book is available online for free.

http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html

The inital theme quotes
"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter�and getting smarter faster than most companies."

So to add this free book to the growing list of publicly availble (I will avoid free) materials, including sources like Wikipedia.

The reason I have avoided free is due to the fact that most of these public works are not, in fact, free. They are available to all under one license or another. A powerful example of this type of content can be seen in the Creative Commons licensing program.

Creative Commons recognizes use from the 'All rights reserved' model to 'Open Source' but also includes options in between. The 'tween' options recognize various rights for people to reuse content under specific rules.

The best defense is keeping bad people far away.

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 17:36:00 -0800

Comment on Defense Policy A recent news item showed a town on Vancouver Island trying to keep out a person that was convicted of murder as a teenager. They did not want this person to be located in a halfway house in their neighborhood. There did not seem to be an argument for putting him back in jail but rather if he is going to be out - distance equals safety. Interesting concept.

This weeks Jane's defense notes (http://jni.janes.com):Germany meets asymmetric threat - The German Navy is rapidly changing from an escort navy to an expeditionary force in response to new threats.

US turns to trade to boost surge sealift capacity - US military with assured access to additional commercial cargo vessels, to enhance its sealift capability in times of emergency and for general maritime transport.

I guess the folks on Vancouver Island weren't the only ones to think that it is better to deal with bad people 'over there' rather than 'over here'.

The Canadian government is going to release a new defense review shortly. The one completed last year is being redone; it was reported to be "a train wreck waiting to happen"

In an era where the odds of anything bad arriving on Canada's doorstep from a Military point of view is approximately zero, it appears to be hard to convince 'the public' we need to spend money on defense.

So I would like to suggest to the Minister of National Defense, the new CDS, and anyone else the following, simple, defense policy;
"Canada's Armed Forces - keeping the problems over there - over there"

Apparently one place in Canada has already figured out the value of that idea.

What about 'fixing' the problems through aid, peacekeeping, and imposing our will through force?

Well aid and peacekeeping assume the people involved are willing to solve the problem and we should help them. That is a good goal as well but it should be apparent that it is the people there that need to solve their own problem. We can help but we can 'fix it' for them.

The Iraq and Ivory Coast models of force (US and France respectively) involves applying force to 'Stop' something. This is also a way to deal with a problem but it typically requires being willing to kill the people doing the 'bad things'. Whether in the long term this solves the problem is debatable but I doubt Canada is really prepared to do that. We have not show the desire in recent history to use force.

Project Management - Abridged version

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 17:35:00 -0800

My short list of how to have a successful project. 1. Do the little things
2. Find people which way people are going - and get in front of them.
3. Solve a problem - fill a need.

"Never doubt that a small number of determined people can change the world - it is the only thing that ever has."

I'm from the government .. and I here to help.

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 17:33:00 -0800

I have worked for both public and private sector organizations so what follows is not specific to government projects, I just liked the quote for the title. ;-) In British Columbia, there will be an election in a couple months so this is the time to promise great and wonderful things. Having worked for several levels of government, I have one request ......

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't do that.

You realize in very short order how a million, or even a billion, dollars is not a lot of money when you start dealing with 'everybody'.

By way of example, $1,000,000 in BC buys (approx)

One Cappuccino or Latte for everyone that lives in Greater Victoria.
One pad of paper for every doctor in BC.$0.20 off the ferry fare between Vancouver and Victoria. Keep school libraries open for 3 hours after school for about a week. (What can I say, my sister is a librarian)Bus fare (both ways - one day) for all the college (not university) students in BC.

So what should we do, well if you can't do big things how about doing little things.

Every day tells a story. .....

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 17:30:00 -0800

I would really like to have a blog entry everyday but like many people - my life isn't that interesting. Some days my life isn't even interesting to myself. let alone anyone else. I have always found amusement in very small items. Yesterday it was the woman with the white cane reading the travel deals in a store window. Now she was probably just visual impared rather than completely blind but it is the sort of picture you could write a whole story about.

Today, it is the local news item. I live in beautiful Victoria and I know there is always a premium to live in a place like this.

But today's news was that the Victoria Harbour Authority increasing the fees they charge buskers to work on the lower causeway in the Inner Harbour. The justification is that the fees they currently collect does not cover the cost of operating the causeway. Just to be clear the causeway is a 10 foot wide sidewalk around the harbour about 500 feet long.

THESE FOLKS WANT TO TURN A PROFIT, RUNNING A SIDEWALK!

Now I am not the best businessman in the world but I always felt that sidewalks were kind of a non-profit enterprise. Little did I realize I was missing out on a lucrative business market. They should have Donald Trump make this a task on the Apprentice! Maybe I should buy a curb and gutter franchise and work my way up.

In the profit versus non-profit discussion; there is an old bumper sticker "It will be a great day when schools get all the money they need, and the Air Force holds a bake sale to buy a bomber. " Well in Canada that is at least partially true as last Christmas at the Canadian Air Force Base "At CFB Cold Lake, Alta., for instance, a silent auction will be held Nov. 24 in hopes of raising about $10,000 to buy turkeys and all the trimmings for soldiers." Now that is just sad for so many reasons.

Meanwhile we have a public sector organization trying to turn a profit on a sidewalk.

Everyday there is always some thing that will make you go .... Hmm!

Running Clinic - Session 2

Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:07:00 -0800

Training for the TC 10K It was a slightly rainy Sunday morning for the second session of the 10K training clinic. This session's goal was to set pace groups for future sessions. This involved two timed 1 mile laps. Looking forward 3 months, the actual race day is a long way away. Having done this before, it is going to be alot different on that day than today. It is hard to imagine what that will be but it is the kind of thing you need to keep you eye on the goal.

All that kept going through my head was Don Henley's "How bad do you want it?"

Running Clinic Session 1

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:06:00 -0800

The mass - annual Running event in Victoria is the Times Colonist 10K. . That is roughly 3 months from now, so the start of training is this week. Last time I participated (2003) I did the in-training clinic at the local community center. This time I am going a little up tempo with the Running Room

The first night was 5.4 k at a 10 and 1 pace - 10 min run/ 1 min walk. This apparently is a signature of the Running Room programs.

So there will be some pain over the next couple weeks as you get into shape but there will be a day in April when it will all be worth it.

Slow boat to nowhere

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 18:05:00 -0800

Ship overhaul, JSS replacement project, and the visit of the Albion The only supply ship on Canada's East coast may be back in service shortly. HMS Preserver is currently in for refit but will likely be late and over budget. As noted last month in the blog, the Joint Support (Supply) Ship project is in its early stages and a long way from signing a contract - let alone cutting metal.

Now a example of what Canada might we looking for floated in to Halifax harbour this week with the arrival of the HMS Albion. While a full amphibous assault ship might be an optimistic goal for a military that is still trying to balance its checkbook, the Albion is a close enough comparision. The fact that it is also nice and new makes the contrast even more stark.

Their is an open question on whether Canada still has the capacity to build ships of the type proposed for the JSS. Well I'm sure the folks that produced the HMS Albion and her sister Bulwark would like to talk about a deal, the only problem is we still have an issue with those submarines that still needs to be sorted out.

It should be noted that the contract for Albion was signed in 1996 and the shipped launched in 2001. Ships like these are very seldom purchased 'off the shelf'

(Re-)Discovering Audio, Online lectures and Uses for Education Part II

Wed, 19 Jan 2005 18:04:00 -0800

Looking at the spread of internet-delivered Audio. Macsurfer added another audio application announcement. Apparently the NFL will be 'podcasting ' their games (News Item )

"The National Football League on Tuesday announced an agreement with Audible Inc., an online distributor of audiobooks and other spoken-word programming, to make recordings of this year's remaining playoff games available for portable audio players, including Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod."

There are other specific sites for podcating like Podcast Central. But there are plenty of sites for just regular audio files.

I previously mentioned the use of sources like the audible.com and Library of Congress for audio files.

There are also a large number of Internet Radio sites with downloadable and streaming content.

(Re-)Discovering Audio, Online lectures and Uses for Education

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:03:00 -0800

Using the more modest technologies of the internet to gather rich information, and how that could be applied to education. Anyone who hasn't got that AUDIO is the biggest application (by data transfered) on the internet, probably hasn't been paying attention. I had the opportunity over the last couple of days to think about a number of technologies and how they could be applied to my former career as a teacher.

As a delivery model, internet and web traffic, has gone from text to graphics, and now to audio. While video is available on the web, it is significantly degraded from what most people have come to expect. As the CEO of Netflix pointed out, 3 DVDs in the back of a station wagon currently beats the fastest data network as a transport media.

The advances of commercial online music like iTunes shows that you can get audio at a quality that the mass market is prepared to pay for.

So with my iPod in hand I have gone looking for other audio that would be useful.

First I found audible for fiction and non-fiction books. I find non-fiction as a more useful than non-fiction for an audiobook. I actually got into blogs after listening to a Free audiobook. Library of Congress Series on Digital Future: Blogs with David Weinberger

So how does this apply to teachers, well most of the items that we use in print could be presented as audiobooks. Most of the major text used for English classes are already availible as audio files.

While there is an argument for digital textbooks for reading, the audio versions might make the market before their electronic type cousins. This is despite the good work of the Gutenburg project.

I especially like the idea of downloading these audio files to my iPod so I can listen to them while I am out walking or driving. So these are generally more useful than text or video for this purpose. By the explosion of the term Podcasting , I gather I am not the only one. For an example of some Podcasts see http://audio.weblogs.com/

..... Continued tomorrow.

Cell Phones, Cellular Data and Voice over IP

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:01:00 -0800

I have to believe that the average person is paying more than they ever have for 'communications' When I think of the cost of my internet, phone and cellular service, I must be spending a couple hundred dollars a month on all this stuff. In listening to a article from the Harvard Business Review (via audible ) there was a discussion of what companies should do when there core business looses value. That includes bundling services and entering adjacent markets. I have decided that is exactly where I am.

My home phone service is from Vonage at a fairly economical $20/mo. My cellular service is a rather economical $20.mo. So how do I get to $200. Well as the comedian Gallagher said - Why do two $50 tires cost $150 bucks. .... its all the extras, like putting them on the car.

Well if you want the nice VOIP service, then you need the high speed internet ... add $30.

The high speed internet needs basic cable or telephone service ... add $20

While Vonage is rather good about including the extras, They probably deserve more of my money but they actually get the least. The other services have a long list of 'extras', like caller ID on my cell phone.

Of all the services you are likely to want on a cell phone, isn't Caller ID #1?

Oh well, you load up all the 'extras' on the cell phone and the cable service, that drops another $30 or so.

Well the new cell phones aren't really useful unless you can use the data service (wap, SMS). Add another .. $30.

Drop all the taxes, services charges you get pretty close to $200, especially if you use any additional features.

Well that is the downside, the upside is all the cool things you can do, like answer all your work emails from your favourite coffee shop. Now how much do I spend on double Americanos? .... Now that might be a worth a look.

Well if you want a quick look at coffee in Victoria .. then this might be worth a look .

Digital TV

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 17:54:00 -0800

Reviewing the Free Preview of the digital TV channels. In a wild attempt to sell more TV services the local cable companies have started a free preview month. This is going all during January. See http://www.greattv.ca/ .

While this gives me a chance to see whether I was right in canceling a number of channels, it hasn't done much else for me. I used to watch TechTV on a regular basis with shows like The Screen Savers and Call for Help but when the US service was consolidated in Canada as G4TechTV. The channel became largely a gaming channel. nav_01.jpg � I still subscribe to BBC world service (news) because there is nothing that really replaces the level of reporting you get from the BBC. bbc_logo.gif �

Once I got past those there are some other interesting channels but it is hard to pay $2.50 a channel for something you watch once or twice a week.

The bigger issues is that most of these 'specialty' channels spend a lot of time replaying shows that are also on the main channels. In some cases you can understand the concepts of re-runs or even 'retro' shows on specialty channels. But these channels seem to do a repeat of the same episode that was on the main channels a couple of days before. So shows like NCIS show on Tuesday and are repeated on the Mystery channel three days later.

So while the cable company is trying to sell me last weeks TV, a week later, I am still trying to get the most out of my HD-home theatre.

Currently Shaw provides 6 HD channels. 3 Major networks plus PBS. There is also a 'HD' Channel, that largely repeats what is on the other 4 channels. The last channel is an HD movie channel which you can only see if you pay for the other 5 non-HD movie channels. None of the Canadian channels broadcasting in HD are available on Shaw. So I would have paid to see the World Junior Hockey in HD, even if it was a Pay per view event.

So a bunch of replays on the high end 'digital' TV and not much in HDTV.

I was spoiled by 2 years of a US satellite service (DirectTV). That got me hooked with TechTV but also HBO and Showtime. There were also a number of specialty channels but they had the value of developing original or unique programming.

That is not happening on the Canadian Specialty channels.

So much for Not So Great TV.

New Years day in Review

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 17:45:00 -0800

For me, New Years Day is more fun than New Years Eve. Here in Victoria there is a well established tradition of New Year's Leve�s. The major event is at Government House, where you can go meet the Lt Governor . Details of that and the Leve�s are available here . They generally involve meeting your government, have some free food and coffee and conduct the more socially acceptable version of a bar crawl, as you go from site to site.

Here are some of the ones from this year.

HMCS Malahat: 9-10am, combined messes levee, Wardroom, 20 Huron St.
City of Victoria: 9-10:30am, City Hall (upstairs), 1 Centennial Sq.
Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's): 10-11am, Officer's Mess, Bay Street Armoury, Field St. off Douglas.
5 (B.C.) Field Regiment RCA: 10-11am, Officer's Mess, Bay St. Armoury, Field St. off Douglas.
Saanich: 10am-noon, Saanich Municipal Hall, 770 Vernon Ave.
Victoria Field Ambulance: 11am-noon, 741 Communications Squadron and 11 Medical Company Victoria, Combined Officer's Mess. Lt.-Gen. Ashton Armoury, 724 Vanalman Rd.
Langford: 1:30-3pm, City of Langford, 877 Goldstream Ave.
Esquimalt: 1-2pm, Esquimalt Recreation Centre, 527 Fraser St.
North Saanich: 2:30-4:30pm, Municipal Hall, 1620 Mills Rd.
Oak Bay: 3-4:30 p .m., Garry Oak Room, Monterey Senior's Centre, 1442 Monterey Ave.
Royal Canadian Legion: 2pm, Esquimalt Dockyard Branch 172, 622 Admirals Rd.
Maritime Museum: 11am-3pm, 28 Bastion Square.

Welcome to My Site

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 09:30:00 -0800

Welcome to my Site. This will hold my personal content on various isssues.

With all the great Web 2.0 tools my content has been splashed at various sites include .Mac, Bloglines, Flickr,del.ico.us. So I am hoping to get is all tied together here.