insights on technology

Inn At The Quay, originally uploaded by Elwin Witzke.

I really like the architecture of this hotel built right on the Fraser River in New Westminster, B.C.

Peaceful on Deer Lake, originally uploaded by Elwin Witzke.

While taking a stroll around Deer Lake we saw a number of people enjoying this quiet jewel in the middle of Burnaby. It’s a beautiful place to come an spend an hour in a busy day.

The recent snowfall in Vancouver brought out the best in us. My son and others in our neighbourhood help our RCMP when they got stuck on our street.

Ah, the wonder’s of smartphones, internet in your pocket and a really, really big dead spot.

I was in the Skytrain station (Granville) a few days ago and noticed all the Telus ads. New smartphones, Blackberrys and all kinds cell phones. Stay in touch, access the internet etc, etc.  Kinda makes me want to visit my local Telus dealer to get something new.

But wait!

Telus doesn’t have any service in the underground Skytrain stations in Vancouver. Hasn’t had it ever that I can remember and I’ve been a Telus customer for at least 15 years. I see lots of people using their phones – I wonder who they are with? Definitely not with Telus or Bell, our local CDMA carriers.

Why is that Telus can’t get it together and get the appropriate antenna system installed in the tunnel? Not enough high-paying business customers? They seemed to be able to do it for the tunnel by the PNE. Well,  the worlds a-changin, and more and more of those high-paying business customers are moving transit (ie. Skytrain). 

What a joke, advertising your phones and the cool ($$) services in a place that has no signal.

I think Telus marketing needs to have a heart to heart with Telus engineering and infrastructure delivery.

News from laid back Vancouver - the inflated, domed roof of BC Place Stadium has collapsed. What a shock! They say that a piece of the fabric came loose from the concrete or there was a tear that quickly grew and it deflated in 60 seconds. A new meaning of “gone in 60 seconds”!

The stadium is the largest, air-supported, doomed stadium in the world. Not sure yet the reason for the failure in the roof fabric. Here is some raw footage from CTV.CA.

deflated, originally uploaded by Uncleweed.

This is what it looked like in the past. The steel cords hold the roof fabric in place and the inside of the stadium is under pressure lifting it up. I remember back in 1985 when the “raising of the roof” happened. The roof was installed hanging down into the stadium. Then the fans were started and it slowly inflated lifting the roof up. Finally with a “pop” the roof lifted above the rim and then fully inflated. It is going to be while to fix this and get it inflated again.

On December 15, 2006 a once in a lifetime windstorm rolled through Vancouver and Victoria. This was the 3rd storm to hit our region in the last month. All through the night the wind howled across the city. In Vancouver the winds reached 110+ kph and around Victoria it reached 150 kph.

There’s been major damage on all across our region. Stanley Park has been devastated, with hundreds of centuries old trees uprooted. Old trees along the waterfront, in parks and on city streets are no more.

I’ve included some pictures taken in the following days.

beat up tempo, originally uploaded by punkasz.

2006_12_15__15_10_55, originally uploaded by freedryk.

double trouble, originally uploaded by SqueakyMarmot.

Callister Park, originally uploaded by SqueakyMarmot.

While we were visiting in Victoria, we spent a nice Sunday afternoon at a car show in Victoria. Check out some pictures.

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) has launched its spring Road Safety & Loss Prevention campaign aimed directly at high school students. Using dark humor, www.nofunbeingdead.com talks directly to youth about the consequences of drinking and driving. With grad parties and warmer weather, our teens are put into situations that demand they make choices. The site includes audio segments from “Ask Death Radio Show”.

Support your teen and let them know about this website and that “It’s No Fun if Your Dead”.

There are prizes for youth who are residents of British Columbia.

We are having some glorious weather. It had been cloudy and raining for so long. I can already see the spring bulbs coming out.