Home / Archive: March 2008

Penticton: Google Earth Images Outdated

Posted March 22, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Destinations 

After hearing how Nanaimo has been crowned “Google Capital of the World”, I decided to check and see whether the images of Penticton, B.C. had been updated on Google Earth.

Up until recently, the resolution was absolutely terrible, so I was pleased when I zoomed in on Penticton and could see individual houses.

Naturally, I had to zoom in on my own.

Hmmm… weird. What I saw was a picture of the house that was clearly taken prior to the time I bought it in June 2004, as I recognize the previous owner’s white truck sitting in the driveway. Moreover, my pool, which was built in 2005, isn’t shown in the backyard!

OK, that’s not really such a big deal. But what I do take issue with however, is the fact that the image indicates that it is copyright 2008.

Somewhat misleading, don’t ya think?

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Snowbound in Toronto?

Posted March 8, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Destinations 

73 degreesYes, I do go on about how nice the weather is here in the Okanagan.

Well, look left. Yes, it’s 73 degrees fahrenheit (23 degrees Celcius) on the deck this afternoon and it’s an absolutely beautiful day.

Tulips are coming upWe’ve been outside working on the yard (again) and even took a little break to soak up the rays from the lounge chairs. Even the tulips are coming up. This is happening in Penticton, while Toronto gets pummeled this afternoon by yet another 40 - 50 cm dump of snow.

So, are ya tired of it yet?

Ready to move to the Okanagan? :-)

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Lovin’ My Ultra-Tiny Flip Video Ultra Camcorder

Posted March 2, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Camcorders 

Flip Video CamcorderAfter learning about the Flip camcorders from an Internet marketing colleague and seeing how small it was, I knew I needed to have one.

Although I already have a very nice Sony Mini DV camcorder that I’ve used to make a few business videos from my home office, I rarely took it anywhere with me because I found that it was ‘too big’. ‘Too big’ means that it is too big to put in my pocket, because I don’t carry a purse and rarely carry a packsack.

So I ordered the 60-minute orange Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder (F260N) by Pure Digital Technologies as shown here to the left from Ritz Camera — and lo and behold, I’m actually starting to make more videos because I’m carrying the camera with me.

For example, I grabbed the Flip Ultra when I saw the hot tub pouring suds all over my backyard last week, shot footage of my buddy Damon lifting loot from the Coast Sundance Lodge and caught a few precious moments of my adorable godson, Gavin.

I’ve also taken a few driving-down-the-road videos, such as this hand-held video that I took while driving through Peachland, British Columbia. I plan to pick up the mini tripod made especially for the Flip Ultra that sits nicely on a car dashboard. It will be perfect for those ‘check out that idiot!’ scenes that you come across on a too regular basis here in the Okanagan valley. :-)

If you watch the videos linked above, you’ll notice that you can hear me (the camera person) just fine, but others farther away can be a little difficult to hear. Note too that the one taken while driving deals with both engine noise and the radio and yet came out just fine. So, for those people scenes, I’ll just get in closer next time and warn video subjects in advance to speak louder OR I’ll use it primarily to record scenes and situations.

Being a bit of a techno-phobe who hates to mess with cables, what I appreciate most about the Flip Video Ultra is that the built-in software makes it so easy to upload videos to your computer and then to video-sharing sites. The software self-installs the first time that you use it. You just plug the USB arm (the bit that is sticking out in the photo above) into your computer or USB hub, upload your videos and with direct links to YouTube and AOL Video you can publish videos online in just minutes.

And although there is no direct link, you don’t need any additional software to compress your videos before uploading to Google Video, because video files are saved to your computer in both MPEG4 and AVI format — which Google likes.

The camcorder runs on 2 AA batteries. Although my eco-friendly nature didn’t appreciate that the Ultra Flip came with the throw-away variety in the box (since replaced with rechargeables), I have been very impressed by how long the batteries have lasted with more than an hour of video taken and uploaded and the batteries are still going strong.

The price is remarkable as well.

I bought mine for $155, but if you don’t specifically need an orange video camera, the black and white versions can be had for under $130. To see how much they are now, just search for ‘Flip Ultra’ from the Ritz Camera homepage.

If you’re looking for a low-priced, plug and play camcorder that you’ll remember to carry around and use - I’d highly recommend getting a Flip Video Ultra.

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Grease Plays in Summerland

Posted March 2, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Entertainment 

Eighty students from grades 9 through 12 appeared in Summerland Secondary School’s performance of the 1970’s Broadway Classic, Grease, which ran Feb. 23, Feb. 26 to 29 and March 1st.

We went to see Danny, Sandra D. Rizzo, Kenickie and all the other student actors pour their hearts and souls into a fantastic performance on closing night, after which there were rousing accolades given to and by their drama teacher, Heather Ayris.

Ms. Ayris informed the audience that the show had been run and choreographed entirely by the students and that they had worked on the production everyday since September as well as Saturdays.

Well, the students’ efforts certainly paid off in a quality performance, hampered only by the theatre’s sound system. It might therefore be nice if the school rewarded them in return with new speakers for the theatre.

New system or not - we can’t wait to see which production they’ll choose next year.

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“Gifts” for Damon

Posted March 1, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Points & Rewards 

Before leaving Sun Peaks Resort for Vancouver, Damon stopped by our room in the Sundance Lodge to say goodbye … and to relieve our room of all possible freebies. :-)

Although the latter was probably not his intention, when he and Andrew - world champion Points, Rewards & Freebies collectors - get together, talk tends to action.

Here is a video clip of Andrew telling Damon about the benefits of Pampers Points and Damon “cleaning up” the room.

Note: This epidsode takes place after the shampoo, soap, shower cap, Coffee Mate, sugar, salt, pepper, tea and Equal are already in his pocket…

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