The Squamidian Report – Dec. 31 / 05
Also in this issue:
Hi All,
The week between Christmas and the New Year has be a wet one here on the coast. That old Pineapple Express just wouldn’t quite, and hasn’t yet. The up-side is that it is quite warm out and too wet to do anything but relax. The downside is that it is too wet to do anything but relax.
Sue and I will celebrate New Years Eve the same way we have done since we moved here. We will go up to Whistler and wander around the village. They put on a huge show / party thing that is intended to entertain the crowds. And it is dry, as in no drinking because it is aimed at families. And we won’t even bother to stay till midnight. Heck, by then we’ll be home and sound asleep.
*
We slipped into the city one day this week to do a bit of banking and shopping. As you probably know, I’m not much of a shopper, in and out in under a minute or I get cranky…. anyway, we found the neatest store I have ever been in. It’s on Powell St. in Vancouver just below the Inlet and is called Deakin Equipment. They cater to out door everything, hiking, surveying, mining, prospecting, hunting (but not guns) and so on. I could have spent an hour in there poking around. The store itself is actually the front for mail order and Internet order business. They sell to and send stuff to people all over the world.
We were after some gold panning pans, as Warren and I are going to give that a try as part of our dirt biking hobby. We get into some pretty remote and interesting areas, why not check out the mountain streams while we are there. We certainly don’t expect to find anything but it’s just another reason to go exploring this wilderness that surrounds us. It gives us a reason to get off the bikes and do some hiking.
But getting back to the Deakin Equipment store, they have pretty well everything you could think of in there, and stuff you couldn’t think of. The people behind the counter help to make it an interesting time. They are (or pretend to be) interested in what you are up to and engage in friendly chat as they help you find what you want. When you’ve got what you want, they make sure everything is there and in proper order. They are so used to most of their sales being ‘on line’ that when you make your purchase you fill out an ‘on line’ form and simply check ‘customer pickup’ rather than delivery. So if you want to poke around in an interesting store web site, click on over to:
*
Barely Geek-Speak
I can’t end out the year without a tiny bit of computer chatter. So, here is a little reminder to do some backups and / or archiving. Your hardware and software can be replaced quite easily, your personal data files including all those digital pictures you took can’t be replace unless you have taken the steps needed to protect them. And protecting them is as simple as making backup copies that can be stored away from your computer. Files backed up to another partition or physical hard drive within the same computer as the original files give you an easy way to restore or replace a corrupt or deleted file. But they do not protect you from file lose if your system is damaged by anything from a power spike to a virus, stolen, dropped, or anything else.
So it is time to start a backup procedure. There are lots of free backup programs available. Backup programs compress and combine all the files you choose into one backup set file. That means you need to use the same program if you need to retrieve any or all of your data. That’s too much work unless you have an incredible amount of data that requires differential or incremental strategies.
A much more simple way is to use your CD or DVD burning software to copy your files onto optical disks. CD-Rs are cheap enough that it’s not even worth fussing with the re-writable types. Store the CDs away from your computer, and you have a safe reliable backup. Because it is on CD it is also an archive, a snap shot of your files on that date. Because the files are true copies, they can be read from any system you choose, not just the one they were made on. If security is a major issue, store them in your bank vault. If security is a major issue, you already have them encrypted on your hard drive so you have now copied encrypted files to CD. Again, store it somewhere safe.
Do this now, then either weekly or monthly as your data needs dictate. For daily backups, use that flash drive or USB hard drive you have sitting there. Just remember to remove or unplug it so it won’t be impacted should something happen to your PC. Now, if your system files are in their own dedicated partition like they should be, do a system image so you could return to your current system state easily and quickly if your drive or O/S were to crash. Even if your system and data files are all on the same (C:/) partition, do an image as well as the backup copying of your files. Never hurts to be protected and prepared.
Best free program I’ve found for daily backups is Karen’s Replicator, because it is not a backup program but rather a replication program:
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp
It can replicate deletions as well as filter files types. Works great between networked systems as well as across partitions or even just directories. Well worth the few minutes it takes to install and set up. The only hitch is that you need to install the free VB runtime program that she has available (her programs are written in VB) and then take all of 30 seconds to figure out how to use Replicator.
For imaging, I use Norton Ghost, which is just about the only Norton product that I’m still happy with. Just click on over to: http://www.thedougsite.ca/imaging.htm for instructions.
doug
****
Hey everyone,
Just a short note to wish you all a happy 2006.
Today is supposed to be the hottest New Year's Eve ever - an incredible 42 C. That means we have a total fire-ban.
I wonder if there are going to be any fireworks at all. I think they haven't decided yet at this point.
Karl and I celebrated New Year's Eve in the
city two years ago. It was an amazing experience, and I loved it, except for
the crowds.
We did have to go very early to ensure a parking space, so it was a
very long wait until the fireworks, but well worth it. It was a totally
awesome experience. On that day, the weather was a perfect 26 deg.C all day.
Today is going to be quite a different story.
After reading the write up in the Age about the parties in the city - free to the public - I must say it is tempting to change our plans from staying home and watching it on our big screen TV, in air conditioned comfort of our home, to taking a free train to the city, and party with all of Melbourne.
Another reason why I want this New Year's Eve to be special is because it may
be the last one for Jennifer in Australia for a long time.
At this time we don't know yet, what we are going to do.
There is nothing like celebrating New Year's Eve in a great city like Melbourne. It is really exciting. There is so much energy, and people are so friendly.
The fact that the city is an alcohol free zone, makes it all the better.
I will keep it brief, but if you want to know more about New Year's Eve in Melbourne, then check out the link below. By the way, there are two pages. If you want to read the second page, click on the 2 at the bottom of the article.
Hope you all have a great New Year's Eve and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year !
Warm regards,
A fine farewell
http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/a-fine-farewell/2005/12/29/1135732689942.html
Hey Doug,
Thought you might want to attach this link to your weekly as well. Greg may find this one of interest.
Beware fires and drowning - and have fun
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/weather-you-like-it/2005/12/30/1135915692156.html
****
Hello
everyone!
Well,
we’re on the verge of a New Year once more and since I didn’t hear otherwise, I
assume we all had a nice Christmas. Doug and Sue had a rainy time and poor
Karin in Australia had to suffer through sunny hot beautiful weather. We all
feel for you Karin! We here in KW area had a mixture of mild, cold, rain and
ice over our weekend. However, when you’re not venturing outside the home it
doesn’t really matter. I must say we had a very nice Christmas. The only
drawback was the fact that Carole had a congested chest and was coughing
through the whole week. She’s feeling better now and we’re trying to decide
what to do with out New Year’s Eve. We usually spend it with her brother and
his wife and another couple but this year they are helping their daughter and
her new husband move into their new apartment. What a time to change
residences! Oh well, apparently they have lots of help so we’re going to find
another activity to attend. Who knows, I may just take Carole to the Casino for
the evening. Might be fun to pick up a little cash on New Years!
Last
week, I got an e-mail from expedia.ca asking me to call them immediately that
there was a problem with our flight to Vegas on January 9th. I
phoned as soon as I got the message and was told that America West Airlines had
cancelled our flight home at midnight of the last day of our trip and wanted us
to take a flight home at 9:55am a day earlier. I asked what discount they were
offering and when expedia.ca checked with the airline while I waited, they were
told that there was no discount. The fellow from expedia.ca said he was told to
tell me that either I take the earlier flight or I could have a full refund!
This got my dander up a tad and I told him to refund my money and I’d tell
everyone how shabbily America West treated us. It was the fault of the airline
not expedia.ca. They tried their best to get the airline to give us a flight a
day later instead but AWA wouldn’t do that either. What a way to run a business!
I’ll never fly with them again that’s for sure. So, as of now we’re not going
to Vegas and to tell you the truth, we’re a bit relieved. With Carole’s knees
bothering her like they are, we weren’t sure she could handle all the walking
we’d have to do there anyway. We’ll find something else to do with the money
from the refund I’m sure.
We’ve had
lots of items in the news lately. An organization called ROOF, “Reaching Our
Outdoor Friends” had their house on Queen St burn down on Wednesday. It’s an
organization that offers a drop in help centre for homeless kids. They do great
work and are now without a home themselves. I’m sure they’ll get back on their
feet with donations. They are already receiving large cash lumps from concerned
citizens.
Wilfred Laurier
University made an announcement yesterday that they are now officially a
“QUEER” school! They are welcoming and encouraging Gay, Lesbian, Trans Sexual,
Trans Gender and any other people of different sexual orientation to attend
their school. The article was printed in the KW Record yesterday. The “Queer”
title is the official name of this program and WLU is leading the way in
supporting these different lifestyles for their students. They have trained
over 300 people to run and support this program at their school and have them
all wearing badges touting the growth of such a program nation wide.
*
I’m sure
you all heard of the shootings in Toronto. I’d just like to say that it’s a sad
day when you can’t walk down a busy street on a holiday afternoon without
fearing for your life! That little girl did nothing to deserve such a fate and
yet she is now only a memory in her parent’s minds. I hope the Toronto Police
get every last on of the shooters and lock them up for good! Of course, here we
go again…………… the Canadian justice system will have to decide the outcome of
this and judging from past performances will likely find out the perpetrators
are from underprivileged groups and need understanding, not jail time. We’ll
see these gunslingers on probation within 6 months of the offence. Once again,
I say it’s time for tougher punishments and bigger meaner prisons. You do the
crime, you do the time! When will Canada ever learn?
*
One more
item that concerns us all, the election!
The
latest political quagmire is the “Insider Trading” situation with the Liberals.
Now Ralph Goodale (Federal finance Minister) is accused of leaking information
to his buddies several hours before he made the same info available to the
public. This info allowed them to make investments based on his upcoming
announcement that garnered them a shit load of profit from their investments.
This is once again millions and millions of dollars we’re talking about and is
another Liberal scheme! Now in all fairness, Mr Goodale has not been proven
guilty yet but the fickle finger of fate is pointing his way and it looks like
it’s going to poke him right in his Liberal Eye! All I can say is if you are
one of those blind Canadians that still have a “Vote Liberal” sign on their
front lawn, God Help You because the Liberals sure won’t! Why would anyone vote
for someone that steals from them?
I’ll get
down from my “Soapbox” now!
Time to
pack it in for this week my friends!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next time in The
Ontarion Report.
HAPPY NEW
YEAR EVERYONE! … GREG.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs that
properly concern them!
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.