Choke point for oil sands may be water shortage
The amount of water available in Northern Alberta isn't sufficient to accommodate both the needs of burgeoning oilsands development and preserve the Athabasca River, contends a study issued jointly yesterday by the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta. The study, written in part by Dr. David Schindler, a University of Alberta biologist considered Canada's top water expert, suggests that the choke point for oilsands expansion may not be the huge carbon dioxide emissions arising from mining and processing the sticky, bitumen containing tar sands, as is widely assumed, but a lack of water. Oilsands plants typically use two to four barrels of water to extract a barrel of oil from the tar sands, a resource that has given the Northern Alberta region the world's largest petroleum reserves but made it a global centre of environmental controversy. The problem of water availability is expected to become acute in the decades ahead because climate change is likely to cause much more arid conditions, reducing stream flows on the Athabasca River, the source of the industry's water, to critically low levels during parts of each year. “Projected bitumen extraction in the oil sands will require too much water to sustain the river and Athabasca Delta, especially with the effects of predicted climate warning,” the study said.
It said the amount of water earmarked for the oil sands has already reached about 20% of the river's water during winter periods, when flows are at seasonal lows, a percentage that could rise even further. The study, called “Running out of Steam? Oil Sands Development and Water use in the Athabasca River-Watershed,” said stream flows have dropped 30% over the past three decades, most likely due to climate warming. Temperatures, up about two to three degrees in the area since the early 1970s, are causing far more water to evaporate from the soil and not make it into groundwater to replenish the river. The study projected further water flow declines of up to 71% in dry, warm years by 2050, which would devastate wildlife dependent on the river. In response to water worries, companies such as Syncrude have been trying to reduce the amounts used through such actions as increased water recycling. Syncrude bills itself as the most efficient water user in the oil sands, using only 2.28 tonnes of water in 2005 for every tonne of oil extracted. Alberta Environment spokeswoman Lisa Grotkowski said the province has devised rules to deal with water shortages due to oil sands extraction and believes it has set a safe level of water extraction. Earlier this year, it announced that companies would have to curb withdrawals if flows fall below critical thresholds. She said that only 3.6% of average flows in the Athabasca River have been earmarked for industry and other users, such as municipalities.
(Globe and Mail 070511)
And the talking heads think that quintupling output from Northern Alberta is going to be feasible? I think the same rationalizations are at play here as they are when discussing the feasibility of large-scale ethanol manufacturing in North America as replacement of declining fossil fuel supplies. Would you rather eat or drive?
11 May 2007
10 May 2007
Your computer woes reduced to three lines
In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages. Haiku Poetry has strict construction rules: Each poem has only 17 Syllables - 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, 5 in the Third. They are used to communicate a timeless message, often achieving a wistful, yearning, and powerful insight through extreme brevity.
Here are some actual error messages From Japan. Aren't these better than "your computer has performed an illegal operation?"
------------------------------------------------------
The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.
--------------------------------------------
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
--------------------------------------------
Program aborting
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
--------------------------------------------
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
--------------------------------------------
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
--------------------------------------------
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
--------------------------------------------
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
--------------------------------------------
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
--------------------------------------------
Three things are certain
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
--------------------------------------------
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
--------------------------------------------
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
--------------------------------------------
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
--------------------------------------------
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
--------------------------------------------
I ate your Web page.
Forgive me; it was tasty
And tart on my tongue
I got these from Matt, and got a huge laugh out of these again. I also heard two GREAT IT acronyms this week:
PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair
ID Ten T: Self explanatory in reference to basic users? ID10T? Get it?
Here are some actual error messages From Japan. Aren't these better than "your computer has performed an illegal operation?"
------------------------------------------------------
The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.
--------------------------------------------
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
--------------------------------------------
Program aborting
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
--------------------------------------------
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
--------------------------------------------
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
--------------------------------------------
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
--------------------------------------------
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
--------------------------------------------
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
--------------------------------------------
Three things are certain
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
--------------------------------------------
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
--------------------------------------------
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
--------------------------------------------
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
--------------------------------------------
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
--------------------------------------------
I ate your Web page.
Forgive me; it was tasty
And tart on my tongue
I got these from Matt, and got a huge laugh out of these again. I also heard two GREAT IT acronyms this week:
PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair
ID Ten T: Self explanatory in reference to basic users? ID10T? Get it?
Boom or Bust?
Alberta boom will bust unless energy cash saved
Alberta's boom will soon go bust unless the government starts saving more of its oil and gas cash, says a new report released Wednesday. The Parkland Institute, a left-of-centre think-tank based at the University of Alberta, says the government's failure to slow the boom has exacerbated an already overheated economy. "The Alberta government's mishandling of this boom has resulted in growing homelessness, skyrocketing inflation and an economy that is entirely vulnerable to the whims of the international energy markets," Diana Gibson, the study's author, said in a news release. Service Alberta Minister Lloyd Snelgrove said he has no intention of dampening the province's growth. "With the growth that we're facing, that's impossible at this time," he said. Snelgrove says he hasn't read the report and doesn't intend to. He said the government is moving to diversify the economy, including building a nano-technology sector.
(Calgary Herald 070510)
Report raises labour shortage fears
With Alberta's economy expected to lead Canada for years, the province's small and medium-sized business sectors have huge opportunities, if they can deal with growing and significant challenges that have national implications, according to a report released Wednesday. "The shortage of skilled and unskilled labour, particularly in the high-growth western provinces, poses a fundamental problem for competitiveness and Canada's longer-term prospects," said Aron Gampel, deputy chief economist with the Bank of Nova Scotia Wednesday. Gampel and the bank's head of small business, Kyle McNamara were in Calgary on Wednesday for the release of a report on the challenges facing small and medium sized businesses in Canada. Gampel noted the growing energy appetites of developing countries such as India and China mean heightened demand for Alberta's energy is not likely to abate anytime soon, and at the same time rising environmental consciousness is boosting demand for agricultural products used in biofuels production and the land crops are grown on. "The prices are up, not only for the commodities, the price of land, farm land has gone up," Gampel said. "Canada is going to do well and the resource-rich regions will continue to lead."
The result is that both Alberta's energy and agricultural industries can look forward to a rosy future, with the attendant effects on the Alberta economy. However, booming business is creating headaches for small and medium sized enterprises that are being limited in their ability to grow due to a shortage of skilled and non-skilled workers. Dan Kelly, vp for the prairies of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said there's no question small business operators are feeling pressures. "The boom really has been a mixed blessing for small and medium-sized firms," said Kelly. "Demand has really never been greater for almost any product or service. There's no problem finding customers . . . but our members are telling us often that the rising cost of wages and real estate have eclipsed their ability to take advantage of business growth." Alberta's jobless rate hit a historic low of 3.4% in 2006.
(Calgary Herald 070510)
Hmmm...I guess if the useless Stelmach government won't do anything to control this overheated economy, then standard market factors (inflation, lack of skilled workers, housing prices, you name it) will. And the provincial government will be left with nothing to show for it. Good for them!
Alberta's boom will soon go bust unless the government starts saving more of its oil and gas cash, says a new report released Wednesday. The Parkland Institute, a left-of-centre think-tank based at the University of Alberta, says the government's failure to slow the boom has exacerbated an already overheated economy. "The Alberta government's mishandling of this boom has resulted in growing homelessness, skyrocketing inflation and an economy that is entirely vulnerable to the whims of the international energy markets," Diana Gibson, the study's author, said in a news release. Service Alberta Minister Lloyd Snelgrove said he has no intention of dampening the province's growth. "With the growth that we're facing, that's impossible at this time," he said. Snelgrove says he hasn't read the report and doesn't intend to. He said the government is moving to diversify the economy, including building a nano-technology sector.
(Calgary Herald 070510)
Report raises labour shortage fears
With Alberta's economy expected to lead Canada for years, the province's small and medium-sized business sectors have huge opportunities, if they can deal with growing and significant challenges that have national implications, according to a report released Wednesday. "The shortage of skilled and unskilled labour, particularly in the high-growth western provinces, poses a fundamental problem for competitiveness and Canada's longer-term prospects," said Aron Gampel, deputy chief economist with the Bank of Nova Scotia Wednesday. Gampel and the bank's head of small business, Kyle McNamara were in Calgary on Wednesday for the release of a report on the challenges facing small and medium sized businesses in Canada. Gampel noted the growing energy appetites of developing countries such as India and China mean heightened demand for Alberta's energy is not likely to abate anytime soon, and at the same time rising environmental consciousness is boosting demand for agricultural products used in biofuels production and the land crops are grown on. "The prices are up, not only for the commodities, the price of land, farm land has gone up," Gampel said. "Canada is going to do well and the resource-rich regions will continue to lead."
The result is that both Alberta's energy and agricultural industries can look forward to a rosy future, with the attendant effects on the Alberta economy. However, booming business is creating headaches for small and medium sized enterprises that are being limited in their ability to grow due to a shortage of skilled and non-skilled workers. Dan Kelly, vp for the prairies of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said there's no question small business operators are feeling pressures. "The boom really has been a mixed blessing for small and medium-sized firms," said Kelly. "Demand has really never been greater for almost any product or service. There's no problem finding customers . . . but our members are telling us often that the rising cost of wages and real estate have eclipsed their ability to take advantage of business growth." Alberta's jobless rate hit a historic low of 3.4% in 2006.
(Calgary Herald 070510)
Hmmm...I guess if the useless Stelmach government won't do anything to control this overheated economy, then standard market factors (inflation, lack of skilled workers, housing prices, you name it) will. And the provincial government will be left with nothing to show for it. Good for them!
Encyclopedia of Life
The site begins here. What a cool idea. Get them documented before they're all gone!
09 May 2007
RAmen, Pastafarians - He lives!
Flying Spaghetti Monster over Russia, 1957
Flying Spaghetti Monster spotted in Hamburg, Germany, 2006
Evidence that God = Spaghetti Monster!
Did you know that the Flying Spaghetti Monster wages eternal war against his theological adversary, the Invisible Pink Unicorn? Here is a short video depicting the war between the IPU and the FSM, (look out for the flying squads of Russell's Teapot).
Spent
US consumers may be getting tired
Signs are emerging that American consumers may be getting tired of carrying the economy. How much they pull back will be a major factor in whether the US economy keeps slowing or whether the pace of growth perks up. Consumer purchases of goods and services increased at a robust 4% inflation-adjusted annual clip in the past two quarters. But economists and retail executives now see signs that the anticipated slowdown is at hand. Gasoline prices are pinching, the housing slump continues and the labor market, which has provided significant support, is showing signs of fatigue. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of all spending, so a slowdown is always significant, but even more so now with business investment sluggish. Spending by households was one bright spot in the first quarter at a time when other forces pulled economic growth down to a 1.3% annual rate, the slowest pace in four years. A new survey of economic forecasters by WSJ.com anticipates a substantial slowing in growth of consumer spending in coming months. After the first-quarter increase of 3.8% at an inflation-adjusted annual rate, the economists, on average, expect spending to grow by only 2.2% in the current quarter and then recover a bit to 2.7% growth in the second half of the year. Asked to name the biggest risk to consumer spending going forward, 39% of respondents said housing poses the biggest challenge. Another 32% pointed to weakness in the job market, and 18% cited high energy prices.
There are some bright spots on the economic horizon. Manufacturing is showing signs of a rebound, and a recent pickup in capital-goods orders suggests business investment may bounce back from a soft stretch. Most economists also think the trade picture and government spending will provide better contributions to growth in the second quarter. Federal Reserve officials will weigh these cross-currents, and the inflation outlook, when they meet today to ponder the near-term trajectory of interest rates. No immediate rate move is expected.
(Wall Street Journal 070509)
Man, everyone's tapped out on their credit cards, racked up any available loans they can get, all while the prices of energy and food go up fast, and a nice bout of inflation is on the way. Salaries are going up much slower than inflation, if at all, and there's any wonder why everyone's getting fatigued? Like we've discussed before, recessions might be largely a psychological thing. Everyone just gets tired from running, running, running faster to stay in the same place, and eventually everyone collectively needs to take a breather!
Signs are emerging that American consumers may be getting tired of carrying the economy. How much they pull back will be a major factor in whether the US economy keeps slowing or whether the pace of growth perks up. Consumer purchases of goods and services increased at a robust 4% inflation-adjusted annual clip in the past two quarters. But economists and retail executives now see signs that the anticipated slowdown is at hand. Gasoline prices are pinching, the housing slump continues and the labor market, which has provided significant support, is showing signs of fatigue. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of all spending, so a slowdown is always significant, but even more so now with business investment sluggish. Spending by households was one bright spot in the first quarter at a time when other forces pulled economic growth down to a 1.3% annual rate, the slowest pace in four years. A new survey of economic forecasters by WSJ.com anticipates a substantial slowing in growth of consumer spending in coming months. After the first-quarter increase of 3.8% at an inflation-adjusted annual rate, the economists, on average, expect spending to grow by only 2.2% in the current quarter and then recover a bit to 2.7% growth in the second half of the year. Asked to name the biggest risk to consumer spending going forward, 39% of respondents said housing poses the biggest challenge. Another 32% pointed to weakness in the job market, and 18% cited high energy prices.
There are some bright spots on the economic horizon. Manufacturing is showing signs of a rebound, and a recent pickup in capital-goods orders suggests business investment may bounce back from a soft stretch. Most economists also think the trade picture and government spending will provide better contributions to growth in the second quarter. Federal Reserve officials will weigh these cross-currents, and the inflation outlook, when they meet today to ponder the near-term trajectory of interest rates. No immediate rate move is expected.
(Wall Street Journal 070509)
Man, everyone's tapped out on their credit cards, racked up any available loans they can get, all while the prices of energy and food go up fast, and a nice bout of inflation is on the way. Salaries are going up much slower than inflation, if at all, and there's any wonder why everyone's getting fatigued? Like we've discussed before, recessions might be largely a psychological thing. Everyone just gets tired from running, running, running faster to stay in the same place, and eventually everyone collectively needs to take a breather!
Earth Intruders
I picked up the new Bjork "Volta" album yesterday, and I must say I'm impressed. This is her most fun work in years! I particularly like "Earth Intruders", the first single off the album and one of her collaborations with Timbaland. It is so catchy, and the implications of what the song means are very big. In an interview on mtv.com Björk talked about the background of the song.
"The song "Earth Intruders," in particular, was sculpted soon after Björk awoke from a dream she had during a cross-Atlantic flight to New York. In the dream, the singer said a "tsunami of millions and millions of poverty-stricken people" swelled high above the airplane she was a passenger on. Eventually, the wave overtook the plane, hit land and razed the White House into oblivion. "It's a quite chaotic song," she said of Volta's first single. "Lyrically, it's a collection of all of these images" burned into her memory, from her trip to Indonesia as well as her vivid, in-flight reverie."
I think her visit to Indonesia last year post-tsunami really affected her work on this album.
From her Pitchfork interview:
Marching--both the rhythm of feet and the concept of marching itself--seems to play a big part in this record. What's the significance of marching?
I just wanted to get rhythmic again. Medulla was my way of pulling out of that, refusing to be categorized as 'Oh what rhythm is she going to do next?' Just feeling the pressure of all these young drum programmers or producers or whatever you call them contacting me, like, who was going to be the flavor of the month. It had become this kind of fashion statement, it just wasn't right.
I mean, I do love one-upmanship sometimes, like when you see kids breakdancing and who can do the best tricks. It's common, it's in our nature as animals, like the birds of paradise who've got the best feathers and that sort of stuff. But it's fun when it's impulsive and it's about fun. When it becomes clever, when it becomes more of a left-brain, who can mathematically out-do the other, it's not so fun anymore. And maybe I just sort of pulled out and did a whole vocal album.
But I definitely missed my rhythms. I mean, I love rhythms. I started an all-girl punk band when I was 14 and I was the drummer, not the singer. I'm very, very, very picky when it comes to rhythms. So it was fun to approach it from another angle on this one.
And I'd be lying if I didn't say it was some sort of reaction to the state of the world today. I mean, I went in January over a year ago to Indonesia, to the area where the tsunami hit the worst. Just seeing a village of 300,000 people and 180,000 died, and people were still there digging people out and the smell of corpses and bone. The tsunami kind of scraped houses away, you could still see the floor, and the people I was with found their mom's favorite dress kind of in the mud and it was just like, outrageous.
I mean, the human race, we are a tribe, let's face it, and let's stop all this religious bullshit. I think everybody, or at least a lot of my friends, are just so exhausted with this whole self-importance of religious people. Just drop it. We're all fucking animals, so let's just make some universal tribal beat. We're pagan. Let's just march.
Gob, I love this woman. Very nice to have her back again. I can't wait to see how the album does and what the remixes sound like!
Coming up...more new music on the way!
- Groove Armada - Soundboy Rock
- Superchumbo - Let's Go Chumbo
- Steve Porter - Porterhouse V2
- Terry Lee Brown Jr - Karambolage
Dubfire from Deep Dish is playing the Whiskey tonight. Yeesh - another Wednesday show. I think the Satoshi Tomiie show is on a Wednesday night as well. Anyone interested in checking out the Starkillers show at Tantra on May Long Weekend Sunday night?
07 May 2007
Velocity
The weekend was definitely a kick in the teeth. The weekend joke was: how any other season we have a nice transition to the Stage Races, but this year, it was required that we all hit the ground running! Or spinning in this case.
The trip up to Edmonton on Friday was probably the worst part of the weekend. It rained all the way up and then we hit the snowstorm north of Ponoka. It snowed and rained all night, and even at 7:15am you could still hear the wind lashing the rain against the window of the hotel. By some act of god, when I got up at 7:45am, convinced that we would be time-trialling in a cold rain, the rain had stopped, and the sun was out!
The time trial and road race took place outside the town of Josephburg again. I posted a pretty reasonable time of 14:32 on the 11K time trial, considering the wind was still howling. However, the winning time by Jamie Sparling was a riduckulous 13:10. Hmmm...still wondering if a road downgrade isn't out of the question? It was something that Craig was contemplating over the weekend. My time was 23rd best in Cat 2, would've been 3rd best in Cat 3. No matter. It's only May, right?
We loaded up the vans after the ITT and headed back to the hotel, and even had enough time before the Crit to lay down for almost an hour. We headed to the Alberta Research Park just as the Cat 4 race was starting. I neglected to get a proper warm up for our race (failure further detailed below), and this led to a very painful start to the 45-minute Crit. I ended up falling off the lead pack led by the Victoria Gigabike/La-Z-Boy team, however a chase pack of approximately fifteen guys formed shortly afterward and staved off being pulled out of the race by the overtaking lead pack for 40 minutes. Of course, I didn't even really feel human until about 25 minutes into the race. I'm starting to think those long warmups are a very good idea.
Having the trade team around certainly upped the ante (and the pace) of all the races this weekend. So much for that gentle transition! LOL
We headed back to the hotel afterwards, ordered some pizza, made some phone calls, and crashed out. We were on the road to Josephburg again at 8:30am on Sunday. Once again I neglected to properly warm-up (when will I learn? -- maybe next weekend), and the pace at the onset of the Cat2 Road Race was blistering. The neutral ride up to the start line was at 40kph (one would wonder who was doing rails of coke on the dashboard of the pilot car?), and then an attack went and the chase formed immediately. The speed went up to about 50kph, and once we hit the crosswind (the wind was still howling as on Saturday), I was devastated. The legs were screaming in pain. I fell off the back and proceeded to ride 100km by myself as a training ride. What the hell, eh? I helped out some of the Juniors including a teammate to try and catch back onto the Cat 3 pack they had fallen off of, but it didn't work out. They did manage to form a group of about six stragglers again before I pulled ahead and proceeded to ride the last 40km or so by myself. Lots of time for contemplation....yes, it is only May, but I need to get a lot more mileage in to facilitate the move from the running legs to the cycling legs. As long as it's all in place in the next four weeks....eep.
There were 10 Synergy racers in Edmonton for the weekend, and there were lots of impressive results. Both Natasha and Steph had very good placings in the Women's A Top 5. Craig D ended up an impressive 11th in the Cat 2 GC.
After the long wait for results and prizes, we all loaded up and hauled ass back to Calgary. After I got everything dumped off at home, I went over to Ryan's place to catch the tail end of a barbeque he and Jackie put together. A couple of beers, a thick steak, a few laughs and I was done. Home to bed, psyching up for my hell week at work.
Next weekend? The Bici race weekend!
The trip up to Edmonton on Friday was probably the worst part of the weekend. It rained all the way up and then we hit the snowstorm north of Ponoka. It snowed and rained all night, and even at 7:15am you could still hear the wind lashing the rain against the window of the hotel. By some act of god, when I got up at 7:45am, convinced that we would be time-trialling in a cold rain, the rain had stopped, and the sun was out!
The time trial and road race took place outside the town of Josephburg again. I posted a pretty reasonable time of 14:32 on the 11K time trial, considering the wind was still howling. However, the winning time by Jamie Sparling was a riduckulous 13:10. Hmmm...still wondering if a road downgrade isn't out of the question? It was something that Craig was contemplating over the weekend. My time was 23rd best in Cat 2, would've been 3rd best in Cat 3. No matter. It's only May, right?
We loaded up the vans after the ITT and headed back to the hotel, and even had enough time before the Crit to lay down for almost an hour. We headed to the Alberta Research Park just as the Cat 4 race was starting. I neglected to get a proper warm up for our race (failure further detailed below), and this led to a very painful start to the 45-minute Crit. I ended up falling off the lead pack led by the Victoria Gigabike/La-Z-Boy team, however a chase pack of approximately fifteen guys formed shortly afterward and staved off being pulled out of the race by the overtaking lead pack for 40 minutes. Of course, I didn't even really feel human until about 25 minutes into the race. I'm starting to think those long warmups are a very good idea.
Having the trade team around certainly upped the ante (and the pace) of all the races this weekend. So much for that gentle transition! LOLWe headed back to the hotel afterwards, ordered some pizza, made some phone calls, and crashed out. We were on the road to Josephburg again at 8:30am on Sunday. Once again I neglected to properly warm-up (when will I learn? -- maybe next weekend), and the pace at the onset of the Cat2 Road Race was blistering. The neutral ride up to the start line was at 40kph (one would wonder who was doing rails of coke on the dashboard of the pilot car?), and then an attack went and the chase formed immediately. The speed went up to about 50kph, and once we hit the crosswind (the wind was still howling as on Saturday), I was devastated. The legs were screaming in pain. I fell off the back and proceeded to ride 100km by myself as a training ride. What the hell, eh? I helped out some of the Juniors including a teammate to try and catch back onto the Cat 3 pack they had fallen off of, but it didn't work out. They did manage to form a group of about six stragglers again before I pulled ahead and proceeded to ride the last 40km or so by myself. Lots of time for contemplation....yes, it is only May, but I need to get a lot more mileage in to facilitate the move from the running legs to the cycling legs. As long as it's all in place in the next four weeks....eep.
There were 10 Synergy racers in Edmonton for the weekend, and there were lots of impressive results. Both Natasha and Steph had very good placings in the Women's A Top 5. Craig D ended up an impressive 11th in the Cat 2 GC.After the long wait for results and prizes, we all loaded up and hauled ass back to Calgary. After I got everything dumped off at home, I went over to Ryan's place to catch the tail end of a barbeque he and Jackie put together. A couple of beers, a thick steak, a few laughs and I was done. Home to bed, psyching up for my hell week at work.
Next weekend? The Bici race weekend!
03 May 2007
Holy crap, slow news day
Facebook faces off with Ontario gov't
Last Updated: Thursday, May 3, 2007 | 1:16 PM ET
CBC News
Ontario government employees won't be among the 21 million worldwide users of the popular social networking website Facebook — at least while they're at work.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said Thursday he doesn't see how Facebook — an internet phenomenon that allows members to display their profile, photographs, interests and comments to fellow users and reconnect with long-lost acquaintances — adds value to a workplace environment.
McGuinty was commenting a day after the province barred government staff from accessing the website from their workplace terminals.
When workers tried to log on to their accounts Wednesday, they were greeted with "access denied" messages on their screens in the same way as pornography and gambling sites are blocked on provincial computers.
The popular video-sharing site YouTube is also restricted.
Facebook is "puzzled" by the government's decision to restrict access to the site, said Chris Kelly, the company's vice-president and chief privacy officer.
"We are in contact with provincial officials and hope the situation will be resolved quickly," Kelly told CBC News Thursday in a statement.
McGuinty said it's important for the government to review websites that are accessible through its computers from time to time.
"The folks who work in government are made up of the same DNA as the folks who work in every other sector," he said.
Bad news for Facebook addicts
Several Ontario MPPs have Facebook pages, including David Caplan, Rosario Marchese and Brad Duguid. Federal politicians with Facebook profiles include Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.
Several Facebook members have started groups on the site extolling and lamenting its addictive properties, with numerous users claiming to check the site more than 20 times an hour.
As of Thursday, the group "Stop McGuinty's Crusade Against Facebook" had 78 members, almost double the number of members as the "Dalton McGuinty is Handsome Club" page.
Facebook is also banned in most federal departments in Ottawa.
Why is this news? There are lots of companies that restrict access to sites like FaceBook, MySpace and YouTube. My company is one of them. See how someone can get into trouble using something as innocuous as Blogger? Things could only go much worse with FaceBook access during the day!
Last Updated: Thursday, May 3, 2007 | 1:16 PM ET
CBC News
Ontario government employees won't be among the 21 million worldwide users of the popular social networking website Facebook — at least while they're at work.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said Thursday he doesn't see how Facebook — an internet phenomenon that allows members to display their profile, photographs, interests and comments to fellow users and reconnect with long-lost acquaintances — adds value to a workplace environment.
McGuinty was commenting a day after the province barred government staff from accessing the website from their workplace terminals.
When workers tried to log on to their accounts Wednesday, they were greeted with "access denied" messages on their screens in the same way as pornography and gambling sites are blocked on provincial computers.
The popular video-sharing site YouTube is also restricted.
Facebook is "puzzled" by the government's decision to restrict access to the site, said Chris Kelly, the company's vice-president and chief privacy officer.
"We are in contact with provincial officials and hope the situation will be resolved quickly," Kelly told CBC News Thursday in a statement.
McGuinty said it's important for the government to review websites that are accessible through its computers from time to time.
"The folks who work in government are made up of the same DNA as the folks who work in every other sector," he said.
Bad news for Facebook addicts
Several Ontario MPPs have Facebook pages, including David Caplan, Rosario Marchese and Brad Duguid. Federal politicians with Facebook profiles include Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.
Several Facebook members have started groups on the site extolling and lamenting its addictive properties, with numerous users claiming to check the site more than 20 times an hour.
As of Thursday, the group "Stop McGuinty's Crusade Against Facebook" had 78 members, almost double the number of members as the "Dalton McGuinty is Handsome Club" page.
Facebook is also banned in most federal departments in Ottawa.
Why is this news? There are lots of companies that restrict access to sites like FaceBook, MySpace and YouTube. My company is one of them. See how someone can get into trouble using something as innocuous as Blogger? Things could only go much worse with FaceBook access during the day!
Quickie
...just before I head off to work (I'm not checking the blog at work anymore due to extenuating circumstances). I've been counting the minutes until the week is over.
The team heads to Edmonton for the Velocity Stage Race this weekend. It will hopefully be a chance to forget my troubles at work.
My team lead has been on vacation in Asia for two weeks now, another team mate leaves for California on Sunday for a week, and the company webmaster, who I do secondary support for is leaving for Europe on Sunday as well. So guess what? I get to do the job of four people for a week until people start coming back. Neato!
I'm almost hoping for a strike to start next week so there is a production environment freeze enabled, which would allow me to try to catch up. I've been so busy this week (although last night I was just lazy) to start working on my resume, but that's definitely in the cards for next week.
Off to the grind!
The team heads to Edmonton for the Velocity Stage Race this weekend. It will hopefully be a chance to forget my troubles at work.
My team lead has been on vacation in Asia for two weeks now, another team mate leaves for California on Sunday for a week, and the company webmaster, who I do secondary support for is leaving for Europe on Sunday as well. So guess what? I get to do the job of four people for a week until people start coming back. Neato!
I'm almost hoping for a strike to start next week so there is a production environment freeze enabled, which would allow me to try to catch up. I've been so busy this week (although last night I was just lazy) to start working on my resume, but that's definitely in the cards for next week.
Off to the grind!
02 May 2007
Pace of city life up 10 per cent in a decade
By John von Radowitz
Published: 02 May 2007
The pace of life in cities is getting faster, a study shows. Psychologists have measured the speed at which people walk and found a 10 per cent increase in the past decade.
Ten years ago, a US psychologist, Robert Levine, showed that walking speed provides a reliable measure of the pace of life in a city. Since then, that pace has speeded up, the study - from 32 countries - reveals.
The British psychologist Richard Wiseman, who led the research, said: "The pace of life in our major cities is now much quicker than before. This will affect more people than ever, because for the first time most of the world's population are living in urban centres."
Surprisingly, London is slow compared with some other cities, the results show. On the list of 32 cities compiled by Professor Wiseman, it ranked 12th.
People were in the greatest hurry in Singapore. Following in their footsteps were the residents of Copenhagen and Madrid, the two fastest-paced European cities.
The findings also explode the myth of the laid-back Irish. Dublin topped Professor Levine's table in 1997 and takes fifth place on the new list. And New York, the city that never sleeps, provided another surprise. It ranks only eighth.
There are some women that walk so fast I have a hard time keeping up. And don't get me started on the slowpokes. Can you say, "culling the herd"?
Published: 02 May 2007
The pace of life in cities is getting faster, a study shows. Psychologists have measured the speed at which people walk and found a 10 per cent increase in the past decade.
Ten years ago, a US psychologist, Robert Levine, showed that walking speed provides a reliable measure of the pace of life in a city. Since then, that pace has speeded up, the study - from 32 countries - reveals.
The British psychologist Richard Wiseman, who led the research, said: "The pace of life in our major cities is now much quicker than before. This will affect more people than ever, because for the first time most of the world's population are living in urban centres."
Surprisingly, London is slow compared with some other cities, the results show. On the list of 32 cities compiled by Professor Wiseman, it ranked 12th.
People were in the greatest hurry in Singapore. Following in their footsteps were the residents of Copenhagen and Madrid, the two fastest-paced European cities.
The findings also explode the myth of the laid-back Irish. Dublin topped Professor Levine's table in 1997 and takes fifth place on the new list. And New York, the city that never sleeps, provided another surprise. It ranks only eighth.
There are some women that walk so fast I have a hard time keeping up. And don't get me started on the slowpokes. Can you say, "culling the herd"?
Mmm...long-chain complex hydrocarbons....
...And can some one please remind me why the animals are all dying again????
Melamine is in big demand in China as a feed additive
BEIJING (Reuters) - Melamine is so popular as a protein lookalike feed additive that at least one Chinese manufacturer is believed to have torn down buildings to get to leftover scraps, industry officials said on Monday.
Melamine, used in making plastic and fertilizers, was blamed for killing pets in the United States and South America last month after it was found in wheat gluten and rice protein exported from China for use in pet food.
More than 100 brands of pet food were recalled, triggering a round of finger-pointing among pet food suppliers in the U.S. China last week said it would ban melamine-tainted protein products from export and from domestic markets.
Melamine scrap is believed to be commonly mixed in animal feed in China to artificially boost the protein level, especially in soymeal, tricking feedlots and farmers into paying more for feed for chickens and pigs.
Fuck, people will do anything to make a quick buck. It's disgusting.
Melamine is in big demand in China as a feed additive
BEIJING (Reuters) - Melamine is so popular as a protein lookalike feed additive that at least one Chinese manufacturer is believed to have torn down buildings to get to leftover scraps, industry officials said on Monday.
Melamine, used in making plastic and fertilizers, was blamed for killing pets in the United States and South America last month after it was found in wheat gluten and rice protein exported from China for use in pet food.
More than 100 brands of pet food were recalled, triggering a round of finger-pointing among pet food suppliers in the U.S. China last week said it would ban melamine-tainted protein products from export and from domestic markets.
Melamine scrap is believed to be commonly mixed in animal feed in China to artificially boost the protein level, especially in soymeal, tricking feedlots and farmers into paying more for feed for chickens and pigs.
Fuck, people will do anything to make a quick buck. It's disgusting.
01 May 2007
Blur
Why does the world have to pass by so quickly? Whomever decided the rate at which time passes didn't think very hard about how fleeting it all actually is. I mean, the universe is and should be shaped around my existence, you know.
The weekend went by in a blur.
Friday night my brother, sister-in-law and niece came into Calgary with an old bedroom furniture set that they no longer wanted in their new house that Joe and I said we would take. We went for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and the evening at home. They spent the night and left at the same time I headed out for my run on Saturday morning.
I did my normal routine, picked up my old road bike at Calgary Cycle, headed home and soon it was time to get ready for the dinner party. Canagal and S picked us up and we headed up to Cougar Ridge for M's party. It was a lot of fun, and we didn't leave until 2am or so.
Sunday I went for a ride with Craig and Frank. I met up with BK's brother, Kevin in the evening for a beer and conversation. BK's family is going through hell. Neither the autopsy or gun reports have been released yet, so they can't collect on BK's life insurance policy and are thusly paying the mortgage, utilities, taxes and repair bills on the condo with their own money. To top it off the repair contractors are dicking around and delaying the finish date on the condo, further messing up when the place can be put on the market for sale, which is now looking like June or July.
Kevin expressed so much frustration over the handling of the murder case by the police and the legal system, how they have been continuously lied to, especially when the family was concluding quite accurately on the unfolding of events over those days in November. Instead of saying, "we can't divulge any information on that", they were sending the family on a wild goose chase of completely fabricated stories. We figured it is all to protect the classified information of the case, but who knows? Needless to say, BK's family is at their wit's end. It doesn't sound like the case against Bill Pappas will be going back to court until November 2007, and things will only proceed if there isn't another agonizing delay.
.....
Last night Joe and I watched "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Curse of the Golden Flower". Both were very good. I'm off to the track tonight for training, last workout at Peak Power for the season on Wednesday plus Synergy exec meeting, racing on Thursday, and then off to Edmonton for the Velocity Stage Race on Friday. We won't be back until Sunday evening, but if the weather acts out like the forecast is predicting, it might not be a very fun racing weekend.
I've been up since 5:30am investigating some work issues, and since I can't go back to bed I've been working on updating the CBTL website for Craig who is floored with work.
Speaking of work, with the outsourcing and strike looming I couldn't be more anxious to get the hell out of here. I've been on call for three weeks now, and since D will be on strike duty (and then going on A/V in a few weeks), I figure I'll have the phone for at least another 2 weeks if not longer.
I've begun the effort to update my resume and job website profiles. I've decided to start looking now, as I'm pretty fed up with what's been going on at work and am at the point to forego a severance package or alternative offer in order to just get out of there. My motivation is as low as I think it has ever been. The sooner I secure something more promising, the better.
The weekend went by in a blur.
Friday night my brother, sister-in-law and niece came into Calgary with an old bedroom furniture set that they no longer wanted in their new house that Joe and I said we would take. We went for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and the evening at home. They spent the night and left at the same time I headed out for my run on Saturday morning.
I did my normal routine, picked up my old road bike at Calgary Cycle, headed home and soon it was time to get ready for the dinner party. Canagal and S picked us up and we headed up to Cougar Ridge for M's party. It was a lot of fun, and we didn't leave until 2am or so.
Sunday I went for a ride with Craig and Frank. I met up with BK's brother, Kevin in the evening for a beer and conversation. BK's family is going through hell. Neither the autopsy or gun reports have been released yet, so they can't collect on BK's life insurance policy and are thusly paying the mortgage, utilities, taxes and repair bills on the condo with their own money. To top it off the repair contractors are dicking around and delaying the finish date on the condo, further messing up when the place can be put on the market for sale, which is now looking like June or July.
Kevin expressed so much frustration over the handling of the murder case by the police and the legal system, how they have been continuously lied to, especially when the family was concluding quite accurately on the unfolding of events over those days in November. Instead of saying, "we can't divulge any information on that", they were sending the family on a wild goose chase of completely fabricated stories. We figured it is all to protect the classified information of the case, but who knows? Needless to say, BK's family is at their wit's end. It doesn't sound like the case against Bill Pappas will be going back to court until November 2007, and things will only proceed if there isn't another agonizing delay.
.....
Last night Joe and I watched "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Curse of the Golden Flower". Both were very good. I'm off to the track tonight for training, last workout at Peak Power for the season on Wednesday plus Synergy exec meeting, racing on Thursday, and then off to Edmonton for the Velocity Stage Race on Friday. We won't be back until Sunday evening, but if the weather acts out like the forecast is predicting, it might not be a very fun racing weekend.
I've been up since 5:30am investigating some work issues, and since I can't go back to bed I've been working on updating the CBTL website for Craig who is floored with work.
Speaking of work, with the outsourcing and strike looming I couldn't be more anxious to get the hell out of here. I've been on call for three weeks now, and since D will be on strike duty (and then going on A/V in a few weeks), I figure I'll have the phone for at least another 2 weeks if not longer.
I've begun the effort to update my resume and job website profiles. I've decided to start looking now, as I'm pretty fed up with what's been going on at work and am at the point to forego a severance package or alternative offer in order to just get out of there. My motivation is as low as I think it has ever been. The sooner I secure something more promising, the better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)