Many, I think, were expecting a MacBook Air without the keyboard portion. What they got was a large iPhone/iPod Touch. So if this is not really a Mac then what is the purpose of it? I am not a Mac lover by any stretch of the imagination but I could understand Apple making a device that ran OS 10.5 (or whatever the latest version is) that relied completely on the touch screen. In fact I would have even thought that to be partially worthwhile. But what did they give their fan base? A large iPhone/iPod Touch.

I know the Twitterverse was a buzz with tweets last week with over 177,000 tweets on the iPad in the first hour alone. Many people we super excited about the device but my biggest question is why? What is the purpose of the device? If I have an iPhone or iPod Touch then what would be the reason to buy one? The only advantage I can see is the larger screen for web browsing but really, is it worth the money just for that? I know there will be some games developed over the next while to take advantage of the touch screen and the ability to play driving games while using your iPad as the steering wheel. But really is it worth it?

Where are the USB ports for me to hook additional storage? Where is my web camera so that I can Skype my friends and family? I know, you can add a webcam…no wait, that would require a USB port which there are none. Where is my replaceable battery so I can carry a spare in case I run out of power on the fly?

So someone, anyone, please tell me what the purpose of the iPad is. Tell me why I should/must have one because right now I really don’t see what the fuss is all about. I have my iPhone and it does everything the iPad does unless I am missing something.

Technorati Tags: Apple – Apple Inc. – iPhone – iPod – iPod Touch – iPad

I went to the new market on Saturday as part of my Saturday grocery shopping routine and was quite happy with what I saw. I had heard that Le Stock Pot was moving their kitchen supplies over to the new store and there was indeed an entire section for all the high quality knives, pots & pan and other kitchen gadgets that were available at the old location.

The market also has a bright produce section right up front with a dairy case at the back and shelves of the same kinds of oils, vinegars, relishes, jams, condiments of all sorts and other food stuffs that we were used to seeing at Le Stock Pot. There is also a butcher section for fresh meats, a Deli area for sliced meats and cheeses, an Antipasto section that has various dips & spreads like hummus, antipasto, salsa, spinach dip etc., a salad bar and a cafe that serves sandwiches and coffees. They also have a section with bulk coffee beans and a rack full of linens that used to be in a small room at the old store.

Here are my thoughts on what I saw. I liked most of the layout of the store. The produce was up front which was nice although with it up front they are going to have to make sure that it is always full and fresh. A less than brilliant looking produce section might just send customers away before they even get into the store. The dairy case was just another dairy case and unless they are going to carry things like rice milk, soy milk, almond milk, greek yogourts and other specialty items then it doesn’t really fit with the rest of the items in the store.

I liked the Deli section. It will make for some good competition with the deli at the Co-op and is a lot larger than the old one at Le Stock Pot. Again, instead of carrying the same things as the Co-op they need to make sure that while items may be similar that they keep a variety of items not found anywhere else. I was very pleased with the produce on this visit. The product was fresh and everything that I purchased or checked prices on was a fair bit cheaper than the same product at the Yellowknife Co-op or Extra Foods. For example: Red Peppers were $4.50/kg at Nico’s and were both over $11.00/kg at the other 2 stores; Bananas were $1.23/kg at Nico’s while they were $1.70 at Extra Foods and $1.93/kg at the Co-op; a large Cauliflower at Nico’s cost me $2.58 while the same thing at Extra Foods would have been $3.59 and $3.49 at the Co-op; an Avocado at Nico’s cost me $0.79 while the same one at the Co-op would have been $2.59. Quite a price difference if you ask me and as long as they keep it up, the consumer will be the benefactors as the other 2 grocery stores will be forced to drop their prices.

The salad bar product was good and fresh and the antipasto bar had a good variety of items again all looked pretty fresh. The kitchen section was large and bright which is good and bad. There are lots of items but probably the same amount of items that was at the old store. I kind of like the small cramped area at Le Stock Pot though and I found it a little more intimate.

Ok, a couple of things that I didn’t really like. The first was butcher shop area. While the area was a continuation of the deli, the product looked like it had been sitting a while. The beef and pork looked like it had started to dry and the skin on the chicken looked like it had started to darken and the salmon filets didn’t look as nice as the ones I buy at Extra Foods. I also didn’t like the location of the cafe. It is situated up front beside the check-outs with its 2 tables and seemed to add to the congestion of the area. The items at the cafe look good and they are made fresh so that is always a positive. The last thing that I didn’t like was that they were not ready to go at the tills. I spent half an hour walking around the store looking at what was there. When I got to the till it took another half hour to check out and there were only 5 people in front of me. It appears that many of the items were not in the computer and check-outs were slowed as people had to check prices. I had 8 items to purchase and 6 of the 8 items had to be searched for as prices were not in the computer. Not a good way to end a first visit. One last thing, exiting the Center Ice Plaza parking lot is like exiting the mall that M & M Meats is located in. Almost impossible to turn left and turning right takes you no where unless that is the direction you live. It is only going to get worse as new stores open at the Plaza.

In all, Nico’s Market will be on my regular shopping schedule once the bugs are worked out. I think I will leave the Butcher Shop alone too until I see a busy, regular turnover in the product. I think that Nico’s gives the people of Yellowknife a viable alternative to shop and they offer a good variety of specialty items the other stores don’t carry. It will definitely be interesting to see how this venture turns out. I hope it is a success. You can read more about the market at YKOnline.

Technorati Tags: Yellowknife – Nico’s Market – Le Stock Pot – Le Frolic – L’Heritage – groceries – shopping – produce

For many years I had been over weight. I knew it and everyone I knew also knew it. I had several people including a doctor tell me over the years that I needed to lose weight. All those years and as much as I knew it, I didn’t have the desire to lose weight. Sure, I had those half hearted attempts at weight loss. But somewhere deep down I didn’t have the want or desire to stay with it. I knew (or thought I did) the potential health problems that could occur with continuing to be over weight yet I still did nothing.

When I found out that I had diabetes I knew that my weight probably had a lot to do with it. I knew before that my weight had caused issues with high blood pressure and cholesterol but this time it was different. This time the doctor told me I had to lose weight and something inside me clicked. This time I really had the desire to lose weight.

I don’t know if the thought of diabetes was the actual trigger or it was just the time when I really wanted to change things. It might have been the combination of being scared of the diabetes (although I am not sure why the high blood pressure or cholesterol didn’t scare me) and the desire to start feeling less tired and have more energy.

I know that all those years I didn’t do it for my kids even though they suggested it. I didn’t do it for Mrs. EB who thought it might be a good thing. I didn’t do it for my doctors who had strongly suggested it. For some reason I didn’t want to do it and so the weight continued to pack on. It packed on to a point that I was almost double the weight that the BMI chart showed I should be. It packed on to the point that I was considered morbidly obese. Yet I still did nothing until that day in May 2008 when I said “I want to lose weight and get healthy and I want to do it for me”.

That day was the beginning of my life-long (or the remainder of it, although I don’t plan on going) journey to be a healthier me. 85 lbs have been shed, 10 inches have been lost from the waist line, my body fat has been cut in half, my chronic snoring has disappeared and I have the energy to do things that I used to run out of breath doing. I actually weigh now what I did when I graduated high school all those many years ago.

In the end you have to lose weight because YOU want to and YOU have the desire to do so. If it isn’t for YOU then you won’t succeed.

Technorati Tags: weight loss – health issues – healthy living – you – obese

It was at this conference that I first heard about the idea of Con Mine being used to help heat the downtown core of Yellowknife using geothermal heat. What an interesting concept. Con Mine was one of the 2 gold mines that used to operate in Yellowknife and was closed in 2003. Since one of the mine tunnels runs close to the downtown core it would make sense to use the energy to heat this area.

Back in early 2008 the city had a feasibility study done which showed that Con Mine has the potential to be used as a heat resource for the City of Yellowknife. The resource, if developed could significantly reduce the City’s dependency on fossil fuel, make savings on energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions. This would be a great use of an alternate energy source.

The City of Yellowknife then submitted a plan to the federal government’s $1-billion Clean Energy Fund asking for funds to cover half the project’s estimated cost of $32 million.

It was announced by Natural Resources Canada and reported by CBC today that the city has been successful along with 18 other applicants to share in up to $146 million over the next 5 years. The Northern Application of a Geothermal District Heating System Project with the lead proponent being the City of Yellowknife was listed as one of the projects that is to receive between $10 and $20 million over the next 5 years. This is great news and this is something that will help to reduce energy costs and green house gases in Northern Canada; a place that is famous for its clean, clear air.

All that remains now is for a written contribution agreement to be signed by both parties, and until this is done there is no commitment or obligation existing on the part of the Government of Canada to make a financial contribution to these projects. We will keep our fingers crossed that the “t”s are crossed, the “i”s are dotted and the John Hancocks are added to the signature lines real soon so that this project can start to progress as a viable source of alternative energy. Great job and vision by the City of Yellowknife.

Technorati Tags: City of Yellowknife – fossil fuel – Natural Resources Canada – Clean Energy Fund – clean energy – Yellowknife – geothermal – Con Mine

So in no particular order these are the secrets that I found to losing weight. I might have missed some off the top of my head and I will elaborate on the ones I mention plus others that occur to me in further posts but this will at least get you thinking. If you are interested in knowing more about what I have done before my posts or want to understand the various points more fully before I elaborate on them then just leave me comment and I will try to send you an e-mail or base my next health post on that topic.

• You need the “want and desire” to lose weight for yourself.
• Stop eating white foods and limit the processed or fast foods
• Read the food labels
• Weigh everything you eat that is not in a specified serving size
• Record absolutely everything you eat
• Walk
• Talk to your doctor
• Weigh yourself weekly and consistently

This looks like a long list but for the most part it is something that can easily be accomplished. Once you have adopted the right mindset then it becomes second nature and part of everyday life. I hope my success will help get you inspired to become a healthier you.

Technorati Tags: food labels – serving size – second nature – losing weight – mindset – weight loss – health – healthy living

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The Yellowknife Education District #1 (YK1) made the same decision 4 years ago and it is a decision that I have to manage and defend on an almost daily basis as the Manager of Information Technology Services. What Lee Stem, the general manager of IT services at TDSB, talks about with cost savings with the current trend of applications moving to the web is right on the mark. Mac computers cost roughly double what an equivalent or even higher level PC costs. Since both platforms can do the same things and with the emergence of web based applications anyway, the hardware is becoming less important every day. Having an internet connection with a computer running a browser is all you need for much of what people need to do.

At YK1 we started to take it even one step further. In one of our schools we set up a lab of PCs running virtual desktops that will cut costs even further and if successful (as it has been so far) we will look to implement it district wide. The virtual desktops will allow us to get away from PCs or Macs in the labs and use dumb terminals when we evergreen our existing labs. It will also allow us to use our existing equipment longer that we currently do. Why? Because all that is needed to run the virtual desktop is a network connection. The computer will boot to a virtual desktop hosted on the server and the students will be given a Windows desktop with all the applications they need.

This will save additional money because computers can be used much longer, and instead of having to update and upgrade operating systems and programs on each computer we just have to create an image and make sure that one image is up to date and in a matter of seconds we can push that out to the server for use in the lab. A student can log off, for example, having just used a Windows Vista desktop and login in again and get a Windows 7 desktop. Absolutely the greatest thing. As an IT department we will just have to make sure a computer turns on and has a network connection; no more problems with software installations or problems.

Another great thing is that our students will be able to access the virtual server from home using a browser (again there is no need for it to be a PC, Mac or even Linux computer specifically) their login using their AD credentials and get the same desktop at home that they get in the school. This allows them to start work or projects at the school and finish them at home without having to worry whether or not they have the same software.

Unfortunately we live in a time of increased cuts to funding in education (but that is a subject for another post) so we are all looking for ways to cut costs whether it is by using free or inexpensive web applications, standardizing to a less expensive platform or using virtual systems. I can say from 4 years of experience that the TDSB made the right decision and are on the road to cutting costs which in the long run will benefit the students.

Technorati Tags: toronto district school board – information technology services – tdsb – yellowknife – YK1 – computers – virtual desktops – education

On Sunday when MasterMaq and Sharon Y. were preparing to leave Yellowknife I checked the weather forecast both for Edmonton, where they live and were headed back to, and Yellowknife (#yzf for you Twitter people), where they had been visiting us for a week.  Their trip to Yellowknife started off with some modest -20° C temperatures the first 2 days which allowed them to go dog sledding but it quickly turned colder and they were forced to endure -30° C or colder weather for the better part of their visit.

So, Environment Canada’s weatheroffice website showed that Edmonton was supposed to get warmer with highs reaching 0° C by Saturday the 9th. The site also showed that Yellowknife was also supposed to get to 0° C by Saturday. For the north, that would be a big bonus considering we are just starting our coldest part of the year. In fact they list the warming trend that is supposed to start tomorrow as an “abnormal temperature trend”. Checking the website again last night I noticed that the forecast had changed and was now showing -10° C as the high for Saturday. This morning I checked the weather forecast again and now it is showing -14° C as the high. I am starting to feel that by Saturday we will just get our normal temperatures.

I have noticed this type of forecasting in the winter before. It’s almost like they are trying to pull a cruel joke on us northerners. Or maybe, just maybe, the GNWT is conspiring with EC to inflate longer term weather forecasts. The reason you ask? Simple!

There are 2 reasons. The first is they want it to look warmer to entice visitors to the north. Yellowknife especially has a large visitor boom in the winter as people flock from every imaginable place to see the northern lights (Aurora Borealis). Yellowknife is known around the world as a great place to view this phenomenon (although MasterMaq and Sharon Y. would disagree as they had clear weather every night here and didn’t see them once). The second reason is to play mind games with those of us who live in the north. Many look at the temperatures and start to think of leaving, either for warm vacations or moving to warmer climes but when we see that it is warming up those thoughts are put on the back burner until the next time those forecasts drop.

The funny thing is how this always seems to happen around the same time every year which is why it seems like a conspiracy.

UPDATE: As of Thursday, January 7th, 2010 the forecast for Yellowknife this Saturday is -19° C. I guess I was right after all.

Technorati Tags: weather – weather forecast – temperatures – Yellowknife – winter – Environment Canada

When I found out that I had diabetes 18 months ago there were 2 things I purchased to help me out. One was a scale. No not a weight scale as you might think but a kitchen scale so I could keep track of everything that I put in my mouth. The second was a pedometer.

The pedometer was a valuable piece of my equipment in losing weight and controlling my sugar levels. Putting a pedometer in my pocket made me more cognizant of the amount of activity I was doing every day. While I didn’t (or still don’t) actually hit the 10,000 suggested steps every day I am aware of when I need to do some additional walking because I have had a long day sitting in the office. One thing we are told by the doctor and nutritionist when you are diagnosed with diabetes is that exercise will help to reduce the sugar level and any level of exercise is better than none. Just know how much walking you are doing in a day has helped me and the pedometer is one of the tools you can use.

The pedometer I purchased was Omron HJ-720ITC USB Pocket Pedometer and is one that can be but doesn’t need to be clipped to your waist. This one will work fine in your pocket so no one even knows you are using one. This is one simple tool that works and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a simple way to make sure you are getting some exercise, looking to help with fighting diabetes or other health issues that can be helped with exercise or even if you are just interested in how much you walk every day.

When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no "I’ll start tomorrow."  Tomorrow is disease.  ~V.L. Allineare

Technorati Tags: pedometer – omron – weight loss – health issues – diabetes – exercise

I went for my 18 month check-up last month and continued to have solved the issues. My A1C started at a reading of 17.6mmol/l in May 2008 and for the third consecutive test my A1C was down to a normal reading, this time 5.6mmol/l. This is especially good because it is also first test without having taken any diabetes medicines since the last test. Hopefully I have changed my diet and solved the problem.

My blood pressure was also a concern with my initial reading being 152/113 and again for the third straight appointment my numbers were normal, this time it was 120/80.

I will find out in May if my cholesterol is still in a good range as it was last May after only 1 year of changing my diet.

The other benefit to changing my diet is my overall health. I have lost 80 pounds and have kept this off for almost a year now. I had to purchase 2 or 3 sets of clothes on the way down as I lost between 10 and 12 inches around my waist. I will admit that now I have lost the weight I feel I have more energy and I am able to move around a lot better. I also wonder why it took a health issue to make me smarten up. Better late than never I guess.

So, over the last 18 months I have done a lot of work to figure out what works and what doesn’t for me and if anyone is ever interested, I am always around to give my thoughts or share ideas on what worked for me. Some of my future posts will most definitely be on some of my ideas.

Having said that, if you want to take a look at my prior years posts you can go to my archives (listed in the right hand column) or you can start fresh with me this year.

So I would like to start this year off wishing everyone a happy, safe and prosperous 2010. I would like to share a couple of my favorite new years quotes with you to get you going:

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

So are you an optimist or a pessimist? I am always an optimist.

New Year’s Day:  Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions.  Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~Mark Twain

What resolutions did you make and is this the first year you have made them? If you have made them before then why did you fail the last time? I am curious as to why people fail at their resolutions.