I’ve been pretty busy both personally and professional since last year.  I’m working on some new posts to be published shortly.

• It is no secret I love to geocache.  I use a small handheld Garmin GPS to hunt, but it’s not always that handy for driving.  I will explain how you can use your TomTom navigation system to let you know when you’re near a cache.
• I have recently upgraded my desktop and netbook computers to Windows 7.  My experiences as well as initial impressions will be posted shortly.

That’s it for now!  Y’all come back now, ya hear!

Kseniya does sand animation, and she does it well.  Not only is she quite artistic, the stories she tells are very touching.  If you watch these videos, you notice many people with some wet eyes.

This video portrays a life from cradle to grave…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqb55A6jGbo

… and this one portrays life in Ukraine during World War Two.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo

For more of Kseniya’s videos, head over to her YouTube page.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvwt-jAG5A8

Crowsnest Pass is an incredible place to visit. There is an incredible amount of history in this area, much of it revolving around the Frank Slide or coal mining. You can even take a trip into the Bellvue Coal Mine or visit Hillcrest, site of Canada’s worst coal mining disaster.

Be careful what hotel you stay in… trains go through the Pass at four o’clock in the morning and make a lot of noise!  Regardless of the noise level, this is a beautiful and historic area to visit.  I would highly recommend making the trip.

“From Mobile Syrup, a Canadian news outlet, here comes the bad news for people who must use their mobile devices while driving.

It was not that long ago that this was only speculation. Today the Ontario government officially passed Bill 118, "Countering Distracted Driving and Promoting Green Transportation Act" that bans people from using hand-held communication and entertainment devices while driving. This law will take effect this fall. The bill states, ‘Driving while holding or using a hand-held wireless communication device or electronic entertainment device is prohibited. Use of such devices in the hands-free mode is exempted.’

The online publication estimated fines would be up to $500 if you’re caught talking, e-mailing or sending text messages. If doing so puts other people in danger, you could be fined up to $1,000, lose six demerit points, have your driver’s license suspended, and even do time.”

I would actually support a bill like this in my province of Alberta.  I have often been passed on the highway by some jerk in a big truck speeding along, driving with just one wrist on the steering wheel, talking away on the cell phone.  With Bluetooth headsets being so inexpensive these, why don’t people purchase one?  It just doesn’t make sense.  A $60 headset versus someone’s life… not a hard choice to make.

A new year means the holidays are over… and not a moment too soon.  I do enjoy holiday time with friends and family, but I don’t like to overdo it.  (Is overdo even a word?!)  The holidays seem to have lasted far too long this year, so I’m getting a bit of cabin fever.  I would like to get outside and enjoy some geocaching, but it has been far too cold (-25° Celcius).  One has to be pretty hardcore to prepare properly for caching in that kind of weather.

Oh… that reminds me of my last geocaching trip.  It inadvertently turned into a good lesson on preparation. 

I was headed out to look for Stone Builder’s Code #3.  I had already found Stone Builder’s Code #1 earlier in the day and thought I could pick up one more before dark.  My daughter and I hiked the 500m to the cache area and then spent another five minutes just trying to make the last 6m or so.  It was already starting to get a little more grey out, so we stepped up our search, deciding to head back to the truck after a few more minutes of searching.

At this point, you could still see your hand in front of your face fairly well… but in early November it can turn black as coal in a matter of minutes.  This is why you always set a waypoint back to your vehicle or staging area.  Had I not done that I may have walked around in circles for half the night.  Trees and trail tend to look the same at dusk…

To make a long story short, I had not come prepared at all.  No flashlight, no means of making a fire, nothing.  I likely would have been able to handle a few hours lost in the dark but my daughter would have freaked out.  Lesson learned: be prepared!

Here’s what I’ll be caching with in the future:

• Solar blanket
• Small tarp or maybe even an old SKOP kit
• Candles
• Matches/lighter & solid firestarter
• Extra batteries for GPS (already do this for longer caching trips)
• Compass
• Crankable flashlight and/or headlamp
• Water
• High energy/low volume food

It might be overkill, but as I found out, you never can tell.  Prepare and be safe!

I do have to say I am quite impressed with the hosting interface at GoDaddy; very well designed and setup of features is done very quickly.  First impressions are what sticks… so I would highly recommend their hosting services!

This play surprises you as it works on several levels; not only does it pick away at cultural differences, it questions the bond between family members… and can also make you reflect on your own life because some hurts are universal.  I do have to say this play is not light-hearted nor for the squeamish, but I do highly recommend it.

If Drunken God ever returns to Edmonton for another engagement, it is well worth seeing.

I’ve decided to try and focus on a group of semi-related topics.  Gone is the talk of GNU/Linux and Open Source, but I still will occasionally post about programming topics.  I am starting to do more outdoors like hiking and geocaching, with both making good use of my GPS, so I’ll post my adventures as well as GPS track data for all to enjoy.  And if I happen to post pictures taken during my hikes, I’ll post those too.  (Geocoded, of course!)

Speaking of pictures and other creative endeavours, I am going to try posting a few longer pieces related to image and video editing with Adobe’s Elements products.

Well, there you have it… not an exhaustive list, but good enough for now.  At least it will be a bit more focused, which can’t be a bad thing.