My favorite quote ever

http://johntrudell.com/


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bats in my belfrey? ( I hope so )

We have all been complaining at the huge number of mosquitoes this year...and quit frankly..the HUGE mosquitoes. It is probably the worst Mosquito year in a very long time. At Canadian Tire there is a wide array of mosquito “solutions” yet, the cynical side of me questions the effectiveness of any of the solutions and really what the environmental impact is of some of the “solutions”.

Then it hit me....

did you know?

Some species of bats, such as the Little Brown Bat, can eat 500 - 1000 mosquitoes in one hour. So if we consider the night 8 hours, that can add up to 4000 - 8000 in a night.

With that in mind, I am happy to say that I am now the proud owner of a Bat House. My plan is  to encourage these wonderful creatures to take up residence in my yard. Bats are natures way to control mosquitoes and the West Nile Virus. I am now looking at finding a suitable location to set up my Bat house...

What is a Digital Nomad?

A digital nomad is someone who uses technology and the internet to work remotely—from home, the coffee shop, internet cafe, or even to collaborate remotely with teams anywhere in the world. These entrepreneurs & professionals frequently use new technologies like iPhones, iPad, Laptops, wifi, and web-based applications to work and earn an income wherever they live or travel.

ideally, I think it would be a wonderful way to work....it would be a fantastic way to slow down to the speed of life....not this insanity that big corporations feel they have the right to inflict on people.

here is a great link that may help you understand the term and what it can mean for you...more

 

A Wild Year - Banff National Park

 

A great example of the beauty in our own back yard....Banff. Enjoy

 

[ EDIT] Some people have reported the imbedded link is not working for them....click here to view on YouTube

Google +

What is this google +?


At its core, Google+ is a social network. The first thing users are introduced to is the Stream. It's much like Facebook's News Feed, allowing users to share photos, videos, links or their location with friends.

That's where Google+ begins to diverge from Facebook, however. The focus of this social project is not on sharing with a mass group of friends, but on targeted sharing with your various social groups. To do this, Google uses a system called Circles. Most social media services (read: Facebook, Twitter) haven't been successful with friend lists because they've been designed as a "tack-on" product rather than being integrated at every level.

Google+ Circles is an attempt to address that challenge allowing users to drag-and-drop their friends into different social circles for friends, family, classmates, co-workers and other custom groups. Users can drag groups of friends in and out of these circles.

It's clear Google has thought about every aspect and detail of Google+ thoroughly. The photo, video and mobile experiences are no exception.

Google has created a section specifically for viewing, managing and editing multimedia. The photo tab takes a user to all of the photos he or she has shared, as well as the ones he or she is tagged in. It's not just photo tagging, though: Google+ includes an image editor (complete with Instagram - like photo effects), privacy options and sharing features.

The video chat feature might be one of the most interesting aspects of Google+. The reason why group chat hasn't become a mainstream phenomenon, most people don't do it because it isn't a social norm. It's like knocking on a neighbour's door at 8 p.m. — However, if a group of friends are sitting on a porch and you just happen to walk by....it's almost rude not to say hi!

That's the concept behind "Hangouts," Google's new group chat feature. Instead of directly asking a friend to join a group chat, users instead click "start a hangout" and they're instantly in a video chatroom alone. At the same time, a message goes out to their social circles, letting them know that their friend is "hanging out." The result, Google has found in internal testing, is that friends quickly join.

One cool feature of Hangouts is that it doesn't place a chat window on the screen for each participant. Instead, Google changes the chat screen to whoever is currently talking. It quickly switches from video feed to video feed, moving faster in bigger groups. The maximum members in any video Hangout is 10, though users can get on a wait list and wait for someone to leave.

Content Discovery Through Sparks

To spur sharing, Google has added a recommendation engine for finding interesting content. The feature, Google+ Sparks, is a collection of articles, videos, photos and other content grouped by interest. For example, the "Movies" spark will have a listing of recent and relevant content for that topic.

The system is algorithmic — it relies on information from other Google products (e.g. Google Search) as well as what is being shared via Google+ and through +1 buttons.

The goal, according to Google is to make it dead-simple for users to explore their interests and share what they find with their friends. Google+ is attempting to become the one-stop shop not only for sharing content, but for finding it as well. In some ways, it reminds us of Twitter and its mission to become an information network, and "instantly connect people everywhere to what's most important to them."

The addition of these features in a mobile app isn't a surprise. What is a surprise, though, is the app's auto-upload feature. Any photo or video you take on your phone through Google+ will automatically be uploaded to your computer, ready to share. These uploads aren't public, but the next time you log onto your desktop, the photos button in the status bar will have a number, indicating how many new uploads are available for sharing. It keeps these photos and videos available for sharing for eight hours after upload.

Google freely admitted that its previous attempt at social, Google Buzz, did not live up to expectations, saying that part of the problem was that Buzz was just "tacked on" as a link on millions of Gmail accounts, something that Google won't be repeating. Google+ is a project that will roll out in stages.

In many ways, it reminds me of Gmail's rollout. Invites to Google's email service were so sought after at one point that people were selling them for $50 or more on eBay. While that type of fervour may not hit Google+, I expect the artificial scarcity will drive up interest while giving Google time to work out the kinks... I am patiently waiting for my invite.

No matter what Google says, Google+ is the company's response to the rise of Facebook. The two companies are in heated competition for talent, page views and consumers. While Google controls the search market and has a strong presence on mobile with Android, it hasn't been able to crack the social nut. Its most successful social product, YouTube, had to be acquired, and it still ranks as one of the most expensive acquisitions in the company's history.

Has Google finally nailed social with Google+? Only time will tell if Google has finally found its magical arrow.

Will you be checking out Google + when it comes available?

GREED!!!

The Calgary Herald ran a story today about  seniors being evicted from their assisted care facility at the Colonel Belcher that is owned by Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT.

The bottom line is it is all about money. The CEO of ChartWell is quoted ""The profitability of that community will probably improve after we make a significant investment and reposition the suites," Noonan said.

"We'll be able to charge whatever the market can bear,"

With an already stressed system for adequate housing for our seniors, this company is not concerned for the people they are effecting. It is all money driven.

This company did not negotiate in good faith with Carewest, they intended all along to turn this into a money making opportunity for themselves.

This is just another example of  our disregard for our seniors in our society......shameful...absolutely shameful!

"I'm just a human being trying to make it

in a world that is very rapidly losing its understanding of being human."

~ John Trudell

****Happy Canada Day****

Really the only thing to say is.....We truly do live in the best country in the world...