The Squamidian Report – Oct. 17 / 09
Issue #386
Including:
Lorne’s Eye Surgery
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Ok, if ever there was a way of taking the Internet to a new level, Google has found it. And if you have a high-speed connection with lots of bandwidth, you can enjoy it, free. For starters, pop on over to: http://maps.google.ca/?hl=en. That’s the web site for the new and improved Google Maps site, street view feature. Street view is where through your web browser you can set yourself down on a street and look all around, move and pan, zoom in and out, look up and down.
Google has been working on collecting a photo record of everything. When they first had the street view feature available it was only for the major US cities. Then they expanded out to the smaller cities and then towns etc. But the first version only included major intersections, you could not work you way down a given street or road. Now they have moved to a higher level of sophistication where they have taken countless pictures in relatively high resolution from a moving vehicle and knitted them together to form an endless and seamless vista that includes most cities throughout the populated sections of Canada.
When you first get to the web site, your browser will show most of North America in the lower right of the window. Along the top there is a ‘Search Maps’ field. This gives you two ways to get to wherever you want to check out. If you know the address of a specific location you can simple type it in and click the Search button. This will take you directly to where you want to go. Or, you can move around in the map itself by dragging and double clicking. Double clicking centers and zooms in at the same time. Rolling the mouse wheel also zooms in and out. Once you are at where you want to be, if the little man icon at the top of the zoom slider to the left is orange (not grayed out), street view is available somewhere within your current map. With your mouse, click on and drag the icon to your location. (If the street(s) turn blue, street view is available). The view will take you right down to the street. From there use the compass up in the top left to rotate the viewing direction. Double click further on down the street to move along and use the zoom slider to zoom in and out. You can also use the mouse pointer, which changes to a hand to move around. Experiment to see what works best for you, probably a combination of everything. Also, once you’ve found a place of interest and are in street view mode, use the ‘full screen’ icon to bring the picture up to full screen size for better viewing. You can still navigate just fine from there.
What you will be seeing is the result of the picture taking that took place this past spring and summer. The pictures are static and not up to the minute as that would be pretty well impossible at this point in technological time. I’ve check out the homestead back in Kitchener, didn’t look like anyone was home at the time. I’ve checked out Greg’s place. He was home because his Jeep was in the driveway. I’ve checked out various places right across the country.
The BC Lower Mainland is fully photographed from just east of Chilliwack at Popkum Rd all the way up to just past Whistler, including Squamish and every inch of the Sea to Sky highway. I guess that’s because of the upcoming Olympics. Drop yourself onto the Port Mann Bridge over the Fraser River and take a look all around, or the Second Narrows Bridge. Pretty neat. I’ve followed the Sea to Sky all along the Sound. I’ve looked right up my street and right up my driveway. Those pictures were taken on a Thursday…. my garbage bin is out for pickup and we are not home, gone to work I would imagine. Drop yourself at the lookout below Warren’s place and have a look at the Tantalus Range. Or work your way around Vancouver or through Whistler. Or wherever.
The only section of Nova Scotia that is available is the Halifax area. There isn’t much available at all cross the prairies yet until you get to places like Calgary and on past Banff. Then there is nothing until you get to the BC Lower Mainland. All sorts of Ontario are available. Interestingly, Kitchener and area are but not Guelph. Go figure. The KW area seems to have been photographed in the very early spring. You can tell which areas have street view available by zooming in to where you can see a large section like say, London to Toronto and then dragging the man icon over the map. The available areas turn blue. All I can say is, have fun.
Oh, by the way. If you find a place you’d like to keep a picture of yourself, use that old computer trick to capture the picture. When in full screen mode, simply hit the PrtScn key on your keyboard. This will copy the image to the computer’s memory and then you can paste it into your graphics program or into Window’s Paint program to be saved as a file. (PrtScn captures the whole monitor screen; Alt+PrtScn captures just the active window).
*
Ryan and I were out for several nice rides on our motorcycles last weekend. While gassing up down at the local Chevron station we spotted a bike that had some fancy camera gear mounted on the front. We started talking to the owner, a man bundled up for riding in any conditions he might encounter which was good because he was headed north with the intent of riding over the Duffy. He also had a helmet camera and several still cameras. He introduced himself as Jeff and explained that he operates a web site of both still pictures and video that he has shot all across the country.
Once home we checked it out and it is very impressive and professional. The site is supported by ads but you don’t need to bother with them if you don’t want to. View the feature video on the home page to see and feel what it is like to ride the Coquihalla. You will quickly see why it is so easy and enjoyable to head out on a day trip around here and come back 6 or 8 hundred kilometers later. Click on the Video link at the top of the page to see all the available videos. The guy has put on a lot of miles over the years. Here’s his web site address: http://www.vridetv.com/index.html
doug
****
HI All;
Doug suggested I write about my eye surgery, well here it is, To begin, the worst is the use of the word 'surgery'. While I knew what was going on [from inside] there was no actual pain. Under mild oral sedation and anesthetic in the form of eye drops, the 12 to 15 minuets of weird flashes and mild discomfort is over. You lay with a cover over the eye for 10 or so minuets, then told to put your shirt and pants back on go home and report back at the doctors 4 hours later. I am driven home by Carol now without eye covering but vision is next to nil. They told me to expect this as the lens you are born with has been removed and a new one installed.
This is done when the cataract is removed. The right eye was done about Aug. 13, the left, 2 weeks later. I began to realize my vision was blurring a year or so before. An eye test last spring confirmed this and I was told I should not be driving. Nothing I did not already know. It’s hard to give up something after 70 years, so book me.
However, vision gradually settles down to where it will be. This takes a month for both which means not yet able to be fitted with final corrective glasses. I now am able to read newsprint at 20 inches and see clearly what I am typing without glasses but need them for driving, albeit much less powerful than before. Vision has never been this good. Keep it to yourself, but I was driving without glasses until time for new ones.
****
Hello
everyone!
Well,
we’re almost finished with Oktoberfest here in KW and we’ve had good results
all round. The Waterloo Regional Police have reported that they’ve had a bare
minimum of drinking drivers and that’s the best news in years for the traffic
division. I guess the new laws here in Ontario that make a .05 breath test
result the point at which a driver loses his or her license and vehicle are
working. I’m sure there have been plenty of drivers that were just lucky they
didn’t get stopped in a RIDE program but that’s the way it always is no doubt. There
will always be those that think they can skirt the law and get away with it.
It’s just human nature!
The next
big change will be two weeks from now when the new law regarding talking on a
cell phone while driving comes into effect. The CTV news station here in
Kitchener reported the other night on this topic. They showed a police officer
stopping drivers that were spotted talking on the phone just to forewarn them
about the upcoming change in the law and to get an idea of the driver’s
reactions to being warned. The First driver they stopped saw the officer
approaching and quickly set his cell phone down on the seat. When the officer
had him open his window to talk to him, the guy was also eating a burger and
drinking a coffee. I say what the heck was this guy using to steer the car?
THEN, the officer noticed that the guy was NOT wearing his seat belt either!
They didn’t say whether or not the cop gave the guy a ticket but I sure hope he
did! This is the kind of driver that really needs a wake up call in the form of
a ticket before he kills himself or someone else with his careless attitude.
They said on the news report that the number of rear end collisions and the
number of people, bicycle and motorcycles being hit by cars has increased by a
very large percentage since the advent of cell phone and “texting” driving has
come into being. I know that I see it every day, people looking down at their
cell phones and Blackberry’s rather than looking ahead at the road. It’s best
to stay away from such careless motorists. I like to get right up beside them
and blow my horn to wake them up. I don’t understand why people see a need to
be doing this while driving a vehicle. Can’t they wait till the stop somewhere
other than at a red light to talk to their contacts? How about, let me
see…………….Hmmmmmmmm…?? How about HOME?!!!
I sure
hope the new law puts a stop to this dumb activity before more people get
killed!
That’s
all for this week folks!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
You may
be a Taliban member if:
“You have
more wives than teeth!”
****
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.