Ford's Waterfont Plan

Ford plans to make waterfront dazzle http://bit.ly/raExkZ 

Do we need another shopping centre in TO? There are empty stores around Toronto, why build an other mall?


We lost the main stretch of waterfront in a move like this back in the 70/80's. There is a wall of Condo's along the waterfront, where there should be parks and beaches. 


Ford wanting to rush this worries me  Who knows what is in the soil, this was an industrial area... there is landfill there...  Do we rush this and have a Love Canal type issue?

Toronto's Libraries Under Attack

Suggest a solution ... or butt out: Levy http://bit.ly/oumSnF 

Bull Shit, you need to speak out against bad ideas even if you do not have a better one.   Margaret Atwood is speaking out for the libraries. Bashing the library system is easy to do. Some one needs to help champion the libraries, Atwood has stepped up to the plate.


Cutting 10% across the board is easy to say. But not all services are equal. Not all services are seen to be equal. 

Has Ford called for the closing of hockey rinks? I used the library system far more that I used the hockey rinks. But if Ford called for the closing of hockey rinks he would be run out of town. 


Maybe we can cut high school football? I used the library system far more than even thought about my schools football team. 


When I needed information for a school assignment, I generally went to the Public Library as the selection was far greater. They had more than one librarian so if you needed help you could get it. I received help in finding information and organizing it at the Public library.

I an not for closing hockey rinks, cutting football. For those who play and their families these are important things. 


Libraries help at many levels. As a child, it help get me hooked on reading. As I got older they helped me at school. As an adult, I did not make much use of the library until I was unemployed. It was a great place to go and check the paper for job postings, research in to a company. Getting some books to read. Meet other adults and talk. 




Here are a couple of easy ones:
No Free Food or Drinks to the Press, Mayor and Councillors at City Hall?
20% Pay cut for Mayor and 10% for Councillors

Freedom of the Press in Quebec?

Corrupting journalists

Quebec's communications minister has come up with a conceited, self-important, cockeyed plan http://bit.ly/qlrk8o

My thoughts are that is at best a slippery slope. My gut tells me real bad idea real bad idea. How far would this license idea go? Would blogging "news" if you are not a licensed Journalist get you in trouble?

Better access to Quebec Government information if you are licensed? What happened to the ability of citizens to get information from the government on their own?

All the information should be released/available to everyone, from the person who only consumes the information, to the person who's blog is read but 1 or 2, to the reporter with 10's or 100's of thousands of readers, to the TV reporter with millions of watchers. Not just a licensed few

Not going along with the anti CBC slant at the end of the article.

Topless Protest planned for Sunday

Topless protest planned Sunday in T.O. http://bit.ly/pGqZRh Will it bring the UFO's to T.O.?  


While I may not agree with the Raelian's on a number of things, it is strange that the City will not allow a topless protest at the beach. Even though it is legal for the ladies to be topless walking down the street? 


Come on Ford you claimed to ge against dumb rules... 


Topless may not be pretty but it's right http://bit.ly/nRZTJZ   editorial by Peter Worthington sums it up nicely 


Topless protest over Sun photo policy http://bit.ly/nEW8x3 she makes a interesting point

Charging for your Freelance Services

How Much Should I Charge for My Freelance Services? http://lifehac.kr/ns9XaI

What to charge is never easy, you need to cover your cost's and make some profit. But being too low in your price may cause your potential client to question why are you so low?

Web Surfing At Work

Web Surfing Helps at Work, Study Says http://on.wsj.com/oFwpyt

I like it. I am increasing my productivity, not wasting my time. I know that a 5 or 10 minute change in what I am focused on tends to help me find solutions.

Top 10 fishing destinations from the Toronto Sun

Top 10 fishing destinations http://bit.ly/qQRsQr
I will need to win the loto and live to be 100 to fish all the places I want to. Every year I read/hear about more great fishing places around the world, I do not even have the time to fish all the ones in Canada

Do you have a home network? Read the linked article

Know Your Network: The Complete Guide http://lifehac.kr/pAnjXp

I have been playing around with networks for over 10 years and I wish I had this as a guide back then

90th Warriors' Day Parade at the CNE

90th Warriors' Day Parade brings out the troops to the CNE http://bit.ly/pIclHw

Bless all of them. These are the one who made it through the wars. Many did not. These men and women fought for us. Canada would be a far different place had they not fought. This is an occasion to honour the living.

Is the Health Club safe?

Beware of health club woes
Potential infection, razor blades on the floor and more dangers await at the gym http://bit.ly/oi1WNu

Who leave razor blades on the floor? Do they do that at home?

Clean up after your self, come on how hard is it?

I keep thinking that going to a Gym/Health Club would be a good idea. Then I remember that there are lots of other people there and some of them will be idiots, who do stupid things...

Stores wasting power in the summer

Dear Store Owners, when you leave your front door open and I can feel the rush of cool air 20ft away at the curb, you might be wasting power. 

I ended up walking along St Catherine from Atwater to St Laurent today. There had to be at least 20 Stores that had their front doors fully opened and were leaving them open, while they had the AC cranked to the Ice Age setting. I am walking along at the curb about 15 or 20 feet away and could feel the COLD AIR.

This is a waste of energy by the store. What is going through their minds?

End Rant

Does Decision Fatigue effect you?

Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? http://nyti.ms/nHiHmt Interesting idea and premise. 


It tends to agree with my observations at work.


I am going to have to read this a few more times to make sure I understand it right. 

It's Watermelon Season

Watermelon Wonderland http://bit.ly/qsHxiE

It's Watermelon Season again, mmmm yum

These look and sound good, but I still love getting a couple of slices of watermelon and sitting on the dock spitting the seeds in to the water. To me that is summer fun.

Upgrades for your home office

Upgrade Your Home Office This Weekend http://lifehac.kr/rf7zy4

Humm some good ideas, may try some of them this weekend.

Changes to your over the air television

Canadian local over-the-air television stations moving to digital: August 31, 2011 http://bit.ly/pNAC1w

Just a reminder it is coming soon


I have a cottage where we only get over the air television so this change will effect me and a number of my friends.


If you have an older TV you may only need to get a new antenna and a digital converter box if you want to watch TV on the Labour Day Weekend

Running your home net work

Know Your Network, Lesson 5: Bonus Features and Further Resources http://lifehac.kr/nQl9xk These 5 lessons should let you run a network

Is your ambition slowing you down?

Ambition Becomes Counter-Productive When You Expect Things to Go As Planned http://lifehac.kr/oEWM7k  worth thinking this through...

Leaving work on time, it's a great thing

How to Stop Working and Go Home At Night http://lifehac.kr/mXRrPl I have been using some of these for a while now. They do work.

I am to leave work on time at least 95% of the time. If there is an problem, I will hang back to help a customer.

My view is you are paid $XY,000.00 for around 2,000 hours of work. I put in my time at work, I eat at my desk most days for several reason, one of them is to monitor incoming orders on our e-commerce system because the customer service group all leave their desks at lunch. If there is a major problem with an order will hang it in the system so it does not release to shipping. I also do a lot of work at home on my time, it is easier to plan/develop a program at home with no interuptions than at work. But I still want to leave work at quitting time because after 9 or 10 hours there I need a change of seat/desk, change in to comfortable clothing.

After a week of 10 or 12 hours days, you are not functioning at your best. You need down time, to let your brain work on some of the problems your are trying to solve indirectly.

I have a standing lunch timer on my iCal so my iPad and iPod Touch both go off at 11:55 AM every week day unless it have changed my calendar for that day. I have a standing Go Home timer set for 4:25 PM every week day.

It took several years for me to get in the habit and feel ok about leaving ON TIME. This is the key you are not ducking out early you are leaving ON TIME.

For the times when you just have to put in extra time at work, try to go in early. If find that if I go in for 6:30AM instead of 7:30AM I can get more done as there are no interruptions at that hour.

The Grass Is NOT Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fence

The Grass Is NOT Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fence http://bit.ly/nhVDPJ Intresting, and I more or less agree with it. It may look greener but there may be lots of cow patties that you do not know about.

More information on how to run your home network

Know Your Network, Lesson 4: Access Your Home Computers from Anywhere http://lifehac.kr/pVjMvX
More great information in the series.

Getting your home network up and running is one thing. Keeping up and running at it's best speed is not easy but if you use the information this series you will be able to do so.

Cool Idea

DIY Picnic Suitcase Transforms into a Table with Speaker System http://lifehac.kr/q5GAnY Cool Idea, it would be a great winter project.

Great News for Mac users Skitch Now Free

Screen-Grabbing Mac App Skitch Now Free, Also Available as Android App http://lifehac.kr/pJkCp8 Great News!

Cooking Like A Foodie

Eat Like a Foodie at Home, Without Breaking Your Budget http://lifehac.kr/pZ1hUf some interesting ideas to try out

Is your TV killing you?

Your TV is slowly killing you: Study http://bit.ly/ncDMJP Interesting, but I think it is more just sitting for hours is the problem

FaceBook Vs Twitter Vs Google+ Vs My Space Vs Plurk Vs ........

Since the launch of Google Plus I have been hearing is it the FaceBook Killer or is it the Twitter Killer. For the last few years I have been hearing My Space is dead.  Not sure that I agree with any of these.

I will list the Social Media sites I use regularly and what I use them for.

FaceBook:

Finding old school friends, old work friends and seeing what they have been up too and keeping up with them. Seeing what current friends are up too. Keeping up with some of my social media friends who have retreated to being FaceBook only for various reasons. Keeping up a FaceBook page for the Clearwater Beach Ratepayers Association. Playing social cooperative games with the friends listed above. Having my own page so old and current friends can find me. It's a place where I can quickly post some of the things going on in my life. The persons home page does allow for a lot of information on them if you have friended them. In many cases if I am not already a friend I can not tell if this is the person I knew back in High School or not. If I am not 95% or more sure that it is the person I know, I do not send a request. It's about 30% games which counts as social, 50% keeping up with friends, 15% getting/sharing news, and 5% Birthday reminders. Using it lots over the course of a day.

Twitter:

I follow some of my other social media friends on Twitter but for the most part it is 80 % getting or sharing Tech news or talking about the Tech news/issues, 15% getting or sharing non-tech news,  and 5% real social interatcion with "friends". I am following 802 and have 285 followers as I write this in mid August 2011. I can not really follow my Twitter stream, I look in at snapshots of it from time to time and respond, post, retweet... from time to time. Very diffcult to have a real 1 to 1 converstion or to have a group exchange on twitter. The persons "home" page does not allow for much information on them. Post a lot over the course of a day. Use Flipboard to read my stream more than I use any twitter client or the site. Not seeing Pics in the tweets is not so good. The 140 limit can be a pain at times.

Google Plus:

I follow some of my other social media friends on G+  but for the most part it is 70% getting news or sharing news or talking about the news/issues and 30% real social interatcion with "friends". The personal page has more info on it, but at this time I am not trying to figure out if I went to school with you. Just got the games tab today, other than Angry Birds none of the games grab me. I play Angry Birds on all my Apple devices so do not see me playing AB on G+  other than to  see how well it plays. Comments staying with the original post is a good idea, it allows for some conversation. Need the ability to collapse the comments some how to clean up the stream. Looking forward to seeing what Google does with G+. Check in a number of times durning the course of a day. The ability to see photos as part of the post is great. Not sure what the upper limit on a post size is. Real Name vs Handle/Other Name is an issue that Google needs to address. I like to use TJCS63 as it is unique, google it. If you Google Terry Sanderson, if I am doing well I might make the 2nd page result. Many Tech reporters/pundits use nickname/handle to make finding them easier.

My Space:

Following a some music acts (groups and/or singers) and festivals. I check in once every couple of weeks. I am hopping for a revamp of this site and some new user. Still where I can find more information on less main stream acts. Still there are a lot of users on the site. Is it viable, do not know as I do not have the finance numbers, but I am guessing it is in trouble.

Plurk:

This is my goto social media site. The site is can look a little weird, but that is part of the charm. I love the time line set up I can go back to the start of my Plurking. I love the way you can see the post, and the number of responses to a post but you do not see the responses to a pose unless you open the post. Posts you have not read are easy to find. You can have thumbnail photo in your post that can clicked on to increase the size. For me it's about 85% social interaction and 15% getting and sharing news. The personal "home" page does not have much info but I am not looking to connect to old school friends here. Every friend on Plurk I was met via Social Media (mostly on Plurk), and have gone on to meet some of the In Real Life as weird as that sounds. I hope to meet many more Plurkers over time as I travel and they travel. I have Plurk friends on around the world, missing only Antarctica and South America. I leave my Plurk timeline up and running in a browser tab at home as long as my computer is on. I got more real local information on the Arab Spring from Plurk than any other source. A friend was in one of the counties and was keeping us up to date , and relaying information for other countries too.  I have meet a lot of interesting people on Plurk. Over the last year a number of friends have left Plurk to focus more on FaceBook or Twitter or G+. I understand why have moved and do my best to keep in touch with them. For me the interaction on Plurk is something that I enjoy. I hope Plurk keeps going and more join it.

LinkedIn:

I use it mostly to keep up with former coworkers and or customers/suppliers. I check in once a week, unless I get a direct message. Some do not show much information on their "home" page so it is hard to tell if it is there "Bob Smith" I worked dealt with at company "X" 20 years ago. Again if I am not 95% or better sure that it is the person I knew I do not try to link.

identi.ca:

A Canadian based open source project. I use it 95% getting/sharing news 5% social. It use to be where the Plurkers went when Plurk was down. I am in and out with this site. I Post do a quick check to see what has been posted in the last little bit and leave.

Soup.Io

I use it more an aggregation site than a social site but, my page is set up to pull from a number of my social sites. I use it to follow someone who use to be on Plurk but moved to Soup.Io and Twitter. She posts some amazing images some are NSFW.

Flickr:

It's a photo site you say... yes but it is also social too. I am guilty of not posting as much as I should. But I love looking at my friends work. My friends range from some one I worked with 15 years ago to Plurk friends (Don W., Rantz/Charles and Allan S. are 3  who I met via Plurk who Photo's rock) to those who saw one of my photo's on the Flickr stream and like them to those who's photo's I saw and loved. I also follow a number of Pro Photographers too. I need to spend more time on my Photography.

foursquare:

I play around on foursquare, you can find me there as TJCS63

Wordpress:

I stopped bloging for a while for a number of reasons. I have decided that I still need a long form way to express myself. So I am back on Wordpress.

Blogger:

I created my Blogger blog a day ago, plan to use it differently than my word press blog. This will be more where I post links to interesting news stories, tech issues..... 

There are links to most of my social sites above, not sure how well they will all work.

Right now G+ has the focus of the those who are on the Bleeding Edge Of Tech, so it is growing quickly. It growing quicker that any other social site before for a number of reasons, one of them is we know what a social site is now and like using them.

Is G+ going to kill FaceBook or Twitter? Maybe, but right now it kind of sit's between them for my use cases. To me it is an other tool to connect to friends with and to learn thing via and to share things via.  It is posable  that all three can be viable businesses. I hope so as the each currently scratch a different itch for me.

The end result may be FaceBook is the home for Non Tech's, G+ for Tech's, Twitter for firing you thoughts out to the world. It will be interesting to see how this plays out of the next few months/years....

I try out most new social sites if for no other reason than to grab my handle TJCS63 and/or Terry Sanderson. This is so if I like the site I can be me on it or if the site takes off later I can come back and  still have one of my handles.

Then one down side to being on this many sites it that there are a number of friends who are also on many of these sites and I worry about over loading them some times. Do they really want to see the more or less the same post  from me on 4 or 5 sites? Sorry but while there is some over lap there is not that much.

Some interesting treats and so scary treats at the EX

Plenty of deep-fried delights at the Ex http://bit.ly/ocyvh4 Some of these sound great, so not so. I keep flip flopping on the hamburger.

What is with the Cable Companies?

From Gizmodo Why the Cable Guy Can’t Keep an Appointment Like the Rest of the World http://gizmo.do/o89cB9 It is more of a questioning rant, but the questions are valid. For the record when I last had my cable/internet installed, the cable guy had to re-do the run to my apt, and did some work on the main box for the building.

Maximize Your Speed, Performance, and Wireless Signal

Know Your Network, Lesson 3: Maximize Your Speed, Performance, and Wireless Signal http://lifehac.kr/pNT6Iv Some good tips in here. Check out the whole series.

Welcome to my New Blog

I plan to post various news items, tips, product links that catch my eye.  I hope you enjoy the things I find on the web and my comments on them.