Whidden Wanderings

2011-10-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs Bio by Walter Isaacson

Got the book today and after a brief look, it's going to be an important book for me because it describes the computer industry over the past 40 years. Every time I wanted to buy an Apple computer, I always found something much more affordable. At work one time I even got to play with an Apple Lisa when they were rare in the stores in Toronto. However, several times I tried to use one of Jobs magical machines and always had to reach for the manual as they weren't intuitive for me. My computer hero was Bill Gates rather than Steve Jobs. However, some of the issues he dealt with in his life were familiar to me so it will be interesting to see what he has to say about them since I've finally solved my version of those issues. More when I've read the book.

25 Oct 2011

Reality Distortion Field

Jobs "reality distortion field" lives on in the book. On page 84 it is said "The Apple II would be marketed , in various models, for the next sixteen years, with close to six million sold." From Wikipedia's article about the Commodore 64, "During the C64's lifetime [1982-1994], sales totalled between 12.5 and 17 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer model of all time." In case there is any doubt about the comparison between the Apple and Commodore products, "For a substantial period of time (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year,^[7] outselling the IBM PC clones, Apple Inc. computers, and Atari 8-bit family computers." Thus the C=64 out sold the Apple in only three years.

Wikipedia's account of the Apple ][ series [original, Plus or +, IIe, IIc, IIGS, IIc Plus] "Throughout the years, a number of models were sold, with the most popular model remaining relatively little changed into the 1990s. By the end of production in 1993, somewhere between five and six million Apple II series computers (including about 1.25 million Apple IIGS models) had been produced."

Consumer Cost Contributed to Success of C=64

"The C64 made an impressive debut at the January 1982 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, as recalled by Production Engineer David A. Ziembicki: "All we saw at our booth were Atari people with their mouths dropping open, saying, 'How can you do that for $595?'" The answer, as it turned out, was vertical integration; thanks to Commodore's ownership of MOS Technology's semiconductor fabrication facilities, each C64 had an estimated production cost of only US$ 135.

All four machines had similar standard memory configurations in the years 1982/83: 48 kB for the Apple II+^[14] (upgraded within months of C64's release to 64K with the Apple IIe) and 48K for the Atari 800.^[15] At upwards of US$ 1200,^[16] the Apple II was more than twice as expensive, while the Atari 800 cost US$899."

More comments about pursuing enlightenment in India, the fruitarian diet and other issues from the first 100 pages of the book shortly. The book is 571 pages with 19 pages of notes.

26 Oct 2011

Having finished reading the bio, here are some comments on SJ and myself

The book includes: adoption trauma of SJ, aversion to authority of SJ, business drive of SJ, charisma of SJ, controlling personality of SJ, counterculture self-image of SJ, design passion of SJ, diet of SJ, Eastern spirituality interest of SJ, fasting practise of SJ, hallucinogenic drugs used by SJ, illegitmate child of SJ, LSD used by SJ, mood swings of SJ, offensive behavior of SJ, perfectionism of SJ, sense of abondment of SJ, social awkwardness of SJ, stare of SJ, worldview of SJ and Zen Buddhism interest of SJ just from going through the index. One intimate female relationship led to the possibility that SJ was subject to narcissistic personality disorder and that seemed to be a mostly good fit.

From the Wikipedia article about Narcissistic personality disorder:

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder[1] in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity.[2] Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness.

Causes

The cause of this disorder is unknown, according to Groopman and Cooper. However, they list the following factors identified by various researchers as possibilities.[3]

    An oversensitive temperament at birth is the main symptomatic chronic form
    Being praised for perceived exceptional looks or abilities by adults
    Excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback
    Excessive praise for good behaviors or excessive criticism for poor behaviors in childhood
    Overindulgence and overvaluation by parents
    Severe emotional abuse in childhood
    Unpredictable or unreliable caregiving from parents
    Valued by parents as a means to regulate their own self-esteem

Some narcissistic traits are common and a normal developmental phase. When these traits are compounded by a failure of the interpersonal environment and continue into adulthood, they may intensify to the point where NPD is diagnosed.[4] Some psychotherapists believe that the etiology of the disorder is, in Freudian terms, the result of fixation to early childhood development.[5] [RMW: or an ongoing attempt, maybe even subconscious, to solve the problems resulting from his abandonment]

A 1994 study by Gabbard and Twemlow[6] reports that histories of incest, especially mother-son incest, are associated with NPD in some male patients.

BPD

However, my own experience led me to conclude that I suffered from some of the significant characteristics of borderline personality disorder, though the closest I came to harming myself was more frequent thoughts of suicide than I was comfortable with. However, as I examined each of the attributes after becoming aware of them, they seemed to dissipate dramatically and a good talk with a friend after drinking too much resulted in the thought of suicide also dissipating, but because of the blackout effect of the alcohol, I couldn't remember anything he said, leading me to significantly reduce my drinking as I wanted to remember future events if they could be this influentail. I couldn't help thinking as I read the book that he may have had elements of both narcissistic personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. I don't identify with the symptoms of NPD. No mention in the book was made of the influence of thoughts of suicide in his life.

From the Wikipedia article about Borderline personality disorder:

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person (generally over the age of eighteen years, although it is also found in adolescents), characterized by depth and variability of moods.[n 1] The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the disorder often manifests itself in idealization and devaluation episodes, as well as chaotic and unstable interpersonal relationships, self-image, identity, and behavior; as well as a disturbance in the individual's sense of self. In extreme cases, this disturbance in the sense of self can lead to periods of dissociation.[1]

BPD splitting includes a switch between idealizing and demonizing others. This, combined with mood disturbances, can undermine relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. BPD disturbances also may include self-harm.[2] Without treatment, symptoms may worsen, leading (in extreme cases) to suicide attempts.[n 2]

There is an ongoing debate among clinicians and patients worldwide about terminology and the use of the word borderline,[3] and some have suggested that this disorder should be renamed.[4] The ICD-10 manual has an alternative definition and terminology to this disorder, called Emotionally unstable personality disorder. There is related concern that the diagnosis of BPD stigmatizes people and supports pejorative and discriminatory practices.[5]

Signs and symptoms

Borderline personality disorder is a diagnosis about which many articles and books have been written, yet about which little is known based on empirical research.[6]

Studies suggest that individuals with BPD tend to experience frequent, strong and long-lasting states of aversive tension, often triggered by perceived rejection, being alone or perceived failure.[n 3] Individuals with BPD may show lability (changeability) between anger and anxiety or between depression and anxiety[7] and temperamental sensitivity to emotive stimuli.[8]

The negative emotional states specific to BPD may be grouped into four categories: destructive or self-destructive feelings; extreme feelings in general; feelings of fragmentation or lack of identity; and feelings of victimization.[9]

Individuals with BPD can be very sensitive to the way others treat them, reacting strongly to perceived criticism or hurtfulness. Their feelings about others often shift from positive to negative, generally after a disappointment or perceived threat of losing someone. Self-image can also change rapidly from extremely positive to extremely negative. Impulsive behaviors are common, including alcohol or drug abuse, unsafe sex, gambling and recklessness in general.[10] Attachment studies have revealed a strong association between BPD and insecure attachment style, the most characteristic types being "unresolved", "preoccupied", and "fearful".[11] Evidence suggests that individuals with BPD, while being high in intimacy- or novelty-seeking, can be hyper-alert[6] to signs of rejection or not being valued and tend toward insecure, avoidant or ambivalent, or fearfully preoccupied patterns in relationships.[12] They tend to view the world generally as dangerous and malevolent[6]

Individuals with BPD are often described, including by some mental health professionals (and in the DSM-IV),[13] as deliberately manipulative or difficult, but analysis and findings generally trace behaviors to inner pain and turmoil, powerlessness and defensive reactions, or limited coping and communication skills.[14][15][n 4] There has been limited research on family members' understanding of borderline personality disorder and the extent of burden or negative emotion experienced or expressed by family members.[16] However the effect of expressed emotion by family members may actually be opposite (paradoxical) from the anticipated effect on individuals with such illnesses as depressive disorders and schizophrenia. For BPD such effect may be neutral or positive as opposed to negative, a counter-intuitive result.[17]

Parents of individuals with BPD have been reported to show co-existing extremes of over-involvement and under-involvement.[18] BPD has been linked to increased levels of chronic stress and conflict in romantic relationships, decreased satisfaction of romantic partners, abuse and unwanted pregnancy; these links may be general to personality disorder and subsyndromal problems.[19]

Suicidal or self-harming behavior is one of the core diagnostic criteria in DSM IV-TR, and management of and recovery from this can be complex and challenging.[20] The suicide rate is approximately 8 to 10 percent.[21] Self-injury attempts are highly common among patients and may or may not be carried out with suicidal intent.[22][23] BPD is often characterized by multiple low-lethality suicide attempts triggered by seemingly minor incidents, and less commonly by high-lethality attempts that are attributed to impulsiveness or comorbid clinical depression, with interpersonal stressors appearing to be particularly common triggers.[24] Ongoing family interactions and associated vulnerabilities can lead to self-destructive behavior.[18] Stressful life events related to sexual abuse have been found to be a particular trigger for suicide attempts by adolescents with a BPD diagnosis.[25]

SJ and my experiences with childhood abandonment syndrome

In addition to these two phenomena, SJ and I share an experience of abandonment: his with his natural parents giving him up for adoption, his later meeting his mother and a full sister but never contacting his natural father though meeting him several times before he knew him as his father. My situation was a case where from about age eight or nine to about eleven or twelve, my Dad would take me from the farm to town to do some errands, then leaving me sitting by myself in the truck for hours on end while he had a few drinks with his buddies in the local beer parlour. As I grew older I eventually worked up the courage to go and page him out of the beer parlour but it never occurred to me to just leave him wondering where I went and walk the three miles back to the farm. Eventually he either quit asking me to go or I began to decline the offer to go with him. About age twelve, I remember very distinctly thinking "I don't know what I need [emotionally, psychologically, as a mentor] but I'm not going to get it here [on the farm] in this family, so I might as well put it aside and find a way to get it later from someone else." The search for that someone else would take fifty-four years when I finally was able to resolve the clinginess and feeling addicted to a person. It led to attending a group therapy session lasting six weeks at the local hospital which helped me resolve other issues and talk about my experience with abandonment.

Books specifically about abandonment have only appeared in the past ten years and one of the more prolific researchers is Susan Anderson. Especially refer to her books: THE JOURNEY FROM ABANDONMENT TO HEALING: The Five Stages that Accompany the Loss of Love (Berkley 2003) and TAMING YOUR OUTER CHILD: Overcoming Self-defeating Patterns (Ballantine 2011) Prior to her work, professionals tended to refer to the work of Elizabeth Kubler Ross and her work on the grieving process covered in her book On Death and Dying, published 1997, which I read many years ago just after it was published. However due to the differences that Anderson itemizes, there are significant differences between grieving and abandonment and treating them require different approaches. I doubt that SJ ever became aware of the distinctions or ever pursued an appropriate treatment of his own abandonment issues. I investigated the Eastern religions and read extensively about them but never felt they would provide what I needed as far as enlightenment was concerned or a guide to a worldview I thought would guide me through my life. Aside from drinking too much on many occasions, I never used marijuana, LSD or any other hallucinogenic drugs.

From the Wikipedia article about abandonment:

Abandonment of Family

Desertion refers to intentional and substantial abandonment, permanently or for a period of time stated by law, without legal excuse and without consent, of one's duties arising out of a status such as that of husband and wife or parent and child. It can involve desertion of a spouse with the intention of creating a permanent separation. Desertion of one spouse by the other without just cause is called malicious abandonment. Child abandonment is often recognized as a crime, in which case the child is usually not physically harmed directly as part of the abandonment; distinct from this is the widely recognized crime of infanticide. Child abandonment is also called exposure or exposition, especially when an infant is left in the open.

Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring with the intent of never again resuming or reasserting them. Causes include many social and cultural factors as well as mental illness. An abandoned child is called a foundling (as opposed to a runaway or an orphan).

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abandoned child syndrome

Abandoned child syndrome is a behavioral or psychological condition that results from the loss of one or both parents. Abandonment may be physical (the parent is not present in the child's life) or emotional (the parent withholds affection, nurturing, or stimulation).[1]

Parents who leave their children, whether with or without good reason, can cause psychological damage to the child. This damage is reversible, but only with appropriate assistance.[2] Abandoned children may also often suffer physical damage from neglect, malnutrition, starvation, and abuse.

The abandoned child syndrome is not recognized as a mental disorder in any of the medical manuals, such as the ICD-10[3] or the DSM-IV,[4] neither is it part of the proposed revision of this manual, the DSM-5.[5]

Many countries, including Russia and China, have an extremely high rate of physically abandoned children. A 1998 Human Rights Watch committee report found that more than 100,000 children per year were abandoned in Russia. Parents are separated from their children for many reasons, including trouble with the law, financial insecurity, the child's mental or physical challenges, and sometimes population control policies. Involuntary loss of a parent, such as through divorce or death, can also create abandonment issues.
[edit] Symptoms

Symptoms may be physical or mental, and may extend into adulthood and perhaps throughout a person's life.

    Alienation from the environment -   withdrawal from social activities, resistance towards others.
    Guilt - the child believes that he/she did something wrong that caused the abandonment (often associated   with depression)
    Fear and uncertainty - "clinginess", insecurities [6]
    Sleep and eating disorders - malnutrition, starvation, disturbed sleep, nightmares [6]
    Physical ailments - fatigue, depression, lack of energy and creativity, anger, grief [6]

Atlas Shrugged and SJ

From a blog:

Was Steve Jobs Influenced by Atlas Shrugged

the author states that SJ attended the opening night of "Atlas Shrugged, part one." None of the accounts record what his opinions of the movie were. If it was influential, that would be very uncharacteristic of SJ as he would typically describe something as "insanely great" if he liked it.. I suppose we should be thankful he didn't trash the movie as he was likely to do on other occasions. Wouldn't that be ironic: the most commonly used example of the success of AR's philosophy calling the movie "crap."

For a worldview kick in the pants that for me provided the enlightenment and a worldview I could identify with, reading "Atlas Shrugged" for the first time and with two friends attending two of the Ford Hall Forums in Boston where we saw Ayn Rand speak on stage was just "what the doctor would have ordered" for me.

From what I understand from the biography, if SJ read the book, it didn't have the passionate or significant effect on him as it did for me. Thus, I would not be surprised if he never read the book, or if he actually did, he threw it aside as being crap, garbage, shit and other like terms, as he often described things he didn't appreciate. A third option is he read it, it did provide a major influence BUT he decided to keep his admiration for the author and book to himself and never shared it with any close family or friend. Steve Wozniak could only say: "He must’ve read some books that really were his guide in life, you know, and I think… Well, Atlas Shrugged might’ve been one of them that he mentioned back then." This is an effect that Ayn Rand found hard to understand and it reduces my esteem for him. If you find something important and helpful, say so. His devotion to Zen Buddhism, use of LSD and marijuana, his mood swings and black and white thinking aren't characteristics of someone who reads AS and finds it a significant influence in his life.

Interview with Steve Wozniak after 8:00 min Atlas Shrugged

5 Nov 2011

Hypercritical Podcast →

Spoiler alert; if you plan to read the book, do so before listening to these podcasts.

A weekly talk show ruminating on exactly what is wrong in the world of Apple and related technologies and businesses. Nothing is so perfect that it can't be complained about. Hosted by Dan Benjamin and John Siracusa.

For a perspective from a well read techie on the subject of Steve Jobs and Apple check out the following two podcasts. After the first one, John observed that people who were going to read the book decided not to after the first podcast. He spends part of the second episode clarifying some comments from the first but he explains he had high expectations and that's why the title for the first is "The Wrong Guy." Steve Jobs isn't the wrong guy; Walter Isaacson is the wrong author.

Having lived through the time covered in the book and worked in the computer industry as a tech specialist and programmer, I had high expectations, too, but hadn't read many of the other accounts of SJ, just the media and internet bits I came across. However, I found I agreed in large part with both podcasts and appreciated the many points they covered. Well done, John and host Dan Benjamin.

The Wrong Guy
Episode #42 • November 11, 2011 at 1:00pm 78 min.

John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Steve Jobs. Topics include Isaacson’s failings as an author and biographer, the technical cluelessness on display in the book, and Steve Jobs, Enemy of Progress.

Hypercritical episode # 42

The Scorpion and the Frog
Episode #43 • November 18, 2011 at 3:00pm 102 min

John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin continue their discussion of Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Steve Jobs, starting with listeners’ reactions to the last episode, then (finally) talking about content from the book and the man himself. Less fire and more introspection than last week.

Hypercritical episode # 43

18 Nov 2011

Cheers, Ray

In memory of a buddy

2011-08-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

Why I wait so long to re-establish contact with someone I considered a good friend, I'll never know. A few years ago I decided to see if Harvey Hartman was still in Edmonton but couldn't find someone by that name in Edmonton so tried calling one in Leduc, thinking he might have had reasons to move there. Right name, wrong person but he knew of a Harvey John Hartman who had died in an accident. It was great when the Edmonton Journal microfilms were at the Stanley Milner Library just downtown but they have since moved to the U of Alberta library and I just kept putting off the trip until recently.

The gal at the desk thought the info should be online but after getting me access to the Edmonton Journal files all they had was a list of the obits for that day and a note "to see the obits go to the microfilm."

Well, I got the microfilm and found that Harvey John Hartman, who died accidentally in 2002 was brother to Helen and Dennis but he had six sisters in all and two brothers, of whom Dennis had moved to Australia. Harvey had married and had two daughters.

I was working in the Manning IGA in 1964/65 and one of the cashiers, Helen, was married to the local Forestry rep. We got to be good friends and eventually she told me about her brother, Harvey, 15 year old, who came in spring/summer of 1965 to visit for a couple of weeks. We met and instantly hit it off and we spent much of the two weeks together.

Years earlier I had gone fishing in the river just east of us on Uncle Percy's land and the water had been unusually high for a spring runoff. I usually didn't have any luck but then Dad didn't usually catch many either. This time he was pulling them out left and right. Eventually he felt sorry for me and we switched places and I continued not getting anything and where I had previously caught nothing, he continued to pull them out left and right. What a frustrating fishing trip. Years later I eventually broke my poor results streak catching my first ever fish.

I don't remember what else we did that two weeks but I remember taking Harvey to the old fishing spot and again the river was unusually high. However we started fishing and would you believe, I was able to pull several fish out in short order. I told Harvey about my earlier experience with my Dad and offered to change places with him. It didn't make any difference, I continued to pull several fish out in the next half hour. While Harvey couldn't catch anything. What an experience. The universe blesses you when it darn well gets around to it.

When my application to take the electronics course in the fall at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) was approved, I mentioned it to Helen and she said she would talk to her Mom and Dad and arrange for me to stay at their house. So on the first of September I moved in with Harvey and his Dad and Mom staying in his brother, Dennis' room, who was currently living in Calgary. When Dennis came back at Christmas time, he stayed in his room while I stayed in Harvey's room.

Why I didn't stay in touch I don't know as the next year I got a shared room in a house just across the street south of NAIT. If I'd only got in touch when I first came back to Edmonton in 2000 I could have had two more years with my friend. This is the second friend I'd like to re-connect with, the other being Sylvan Sivertson who died of cancer in 1979 after having a family and children.

Best wishes, good friends, I miss you still.

finally made the leap ...

2011-07-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

... to getting TV, internet & phone from the local provider. TV includes digital and HD including PPV and VOD - tried them a couple of times but find them too expensive. Internet is the extreme version so plenty fast. With the phone just got the standard options. Got the 1 GB PVR as well. The TV is a Sony 32" w/1080p resolution, which most say doesn't make much difference on a 32" display. I also got a Sony Blu-ray player and still have the Toshiba VCR.

In addition to a new computer, Dell PIV 3.2 GHz, 3 GB RAM and 80 GB HDD with 500 GB and 1.0 TB external HDD to which I added a 23" Viewsonic 1080p monitor and ATI Radeon video card. Running Windows XP Professional w/SP3. I'm loving not having to go to local cyber cafes for my internet fix. I subscribed to Ancestry.com so can update my genealogy, which now is online in Salt Lake City on a server run by Paul's son.

I'm updating my local database.

In addition to all the computer upgrades, Bell had a $0.00 offer on the Palm Pre mid-2010 so got it and a few months later they dropped the monthly plan from $50.00/mon. to $35.00/mon. It would have been nice to save the extra $15.00/mon. Oh well. Loving the Pre and especially having Synergy update my Google appointments and address book from changes/additions made on the Pre.

In July 2011 considering buying the HP TouchPad tablet as seems to do all the things I want and reports say the Flash Player works fine.

With the results from the DNA family finder test, John Gammell in Ontario shows up as one of the matches, confirming that a Whidden/Graham descendent is the source of the line which they traced. Most other matches don't have any significant genealogy to match with but there are several Finnish connections now.

Genealogical bombshell....

2010-03-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

One of my sources advised me he had occasion to check his birth certificate lately (first time in over fifty years, apparently) and found his mother's name is NOT Maria Syrjanen but Mary or Maria Syrjala!!! What a shock. However, the recent research in which I'd found the family of Maria Syrjanen in Karelia (formerly eastern Finland, now western Russia) isn't a total waste as Annie Syrjala married Emil Syrjanen and a researcher was able to find Mary/Maria's passage from Finland to Boston with a note she was joining Annie Syrjala. We haven't had any luck finding further information. However, the search continues.

On the DNA front, I got the results of my mtDNA full genealogical sequence and found my haplogroup is U6a3. No exact matches at all any more and the only other close match doesn't reply to email, possibly having passed away. FTNDA has introduced a "family finder" test which takes advantage of the latest advances in DNA technology so now besides direct male and female ancestors can find other ancestors on the paternal maternal side and maternal paternal side. I have ordered that and results should be available about May 2010.

an interesting year, a new decade

2010-01-19T11:57:00.000-08:00

After watching a 13" TV using the remote control in the VCR to change channels but having to get up to turn the volume up/down (couldn't mute the annoying commercials) for many years I got a HDTV as a late birthday/early Christmas present. Then ordered Shaw HDTV service, phone and high speed internet. What a difference. Then discovered my PIII computer with 256 MB RAM was too slow so bought a used Dell P4 2.8 GHZ computer with 1 GB RAM and WinXP Pro. That made a big difference. With all of my data on a 500 GB Iomega USB HDD it was easy to switch to the new computer and I was able to install a bunch of new software. Also, there was a special on a ViewSonic 23" HDMI monitor and to drive that got an ATI Radeon video card that had more video RAM than my PIII computer did. Two final toys, a PVR with 1 TB HDD to record the new HD channels (don't use, cannot record PPV, VOD) and a Blu-ray player and the new "Star Trek" movie on BR. Very cool. As of 20 Jan. I've recorded over 700 GB of movies/TV shows so soon going to have to start deleting some of them. I've been able to record the new season of "Ancestors in the Attic" and "American Idol" and will record PBS's " Faces of America" and NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?"both starting in Feb.

For the Boxing Day specials I bought a Kodak 9 Mpixel camera, an 8 GB memory card and camera case plus a D-Link router.

For software/content I got the complete "National Geographic" magazine on DVD and Adobe's "Photoshop Elements 8." Now I spend a lot of time accessing the many new records added at LDS FamilySearch.org but must get back to the project of combining two 25,000 name databases so we can put them online for private access. They won't be publicly accessible because the resulting DB will be the basis of "Whidden NH, NS and beyond 1662-2002 a family odyssey" 2nd edition, expected to be four or five volumes.

I also signed up to do lookups on GenLighten for the Edmonton area accessing the main branch of the Edmonton Public Library, Alberta Archives, Edmonton city archives, the Edmonton Genealogical Society library, local cemeteries and churches and other repositories.

I had wanted to get the new Palm Pre when they were introduced to Canada in Sept. but so far am still using the relatively new Fido Nokia 3500C which has all the features I like but found that usng the internet is an expensive proposition, so don't do that anymore. I took over a hundred photos over the year and lots of flowers, including the begonia bed at city hall.

2009 was an interesting year and 2010 is going to be a fantastic year.

On the computer front...

2009-09-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

I got the HP printer that has the tray to print on special CD/DVDs so now when creating them to ship with the book can make a professional looking product instead of basically scribbling with a magic marker. What a difference. However, it is an inkjet printer and thus have to remember not to get anything wet as it ink will run.

Over the summer while out walking around found a store that used be downtown and carried Kingston USB memory sticks other than the 2, 4 and 8 GB everybody else has in stock. They had 16 GB and 32 GB at about $42.00 and $75-85.00 so I got the 16 GB one. What a difference.

I still don't have internet at home but I see the USB sticks are being offered free with a two year contract so I may get one of those. My techno-lust is in the direction of a Bell Palm Pre these days so we shall see what develops there.

Weather-wise we've had above average temperatures since 15 Aug and the hottest day of the year was on my birthday on Tuesday. Kinda neat.

On the genealogy front, I'm publishing a book about 150 pp "In Memory of Maria Syrjanen on the Hundredth Anniversary of Her Arrival in Amerika" and sending a few copies to cousins in the US. Also, upgraded my DNA test from y-DNA-37 to y-DNA-67 and ordered the mt-DNA Mega or full genealogical sequence as FTDNA had a special on for only the U haplogroup and only if you were one who had previously ordered the mt-DNA Plus test. Changed my haplogroup from U6a1 to U6a3 and submitted the result to a study being done in Latvia. Of six other U6a3s they have I have no matches.

Need more people tested, for sure.

Cheers, Ray
26 Sept. 2009

Still haven't got the new computer but....

2009-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

... my sister in Campbell River, BC on Vancouver Island does. Nice shiny new Compaq (well refurbished, which is why it only cost $279.00) with 19" LCD monitor, nice set of speakers with jack to use earphones - only two speakers, I later bought a three speaker set by Logitech also with earphone jack but has woofer, too - plus Brother inkjet printer which printed 8.5X11 photos on standard paper OK but failed when printing on glossy 4X6 paper so I got to take the paper back to Edmonton. Works fine in the HP printer I bought later so I could print directly on the surface of special CD/DVD media giving a professional look to the ones included with the book.

The computer/monitor cost about $500.00 or so with all the extra charges including recycling fees, the monitor was about $179.00. Later bought the printer and that was about $130.00. She got the Telus internet on a pay-as-you-go basis which means she won't own the modem after a year like the contract would have allowed so she has to return the modem if she cancels. I thought the cable companies made a big deal about the fact the telephone companies ONLY allowed their internet service by contract. Obviously it was hurting the telcos and they have responded to competitive pressures. I love the free market.

It took about a week for Telus to finally do the right thing on their end so we could connect to the internet but she got an extra months free service above the free month that came with the order. I had to add special filters to the jacks for the two phones she had (no filter on the internet connection) but things worked swimmingly after the frustrating wait. Others would have just thrown up their hands in the air and cancelled the service but she had decided not to pay the extra $100.00 that Campbell River Cable TV wanted to join their "co-op-like" service which was in the process of being taken over by Shaw cable. Telus internet cost $35.00/month.

I had taken my 1 TB Iomega hard drive so had some software I could install so ran PAF genealogy database with photos and several other specialty applications. I was able to use the internet connection to update the Windows Media Player library with album art, etc. Neat.

I replaced my Siemens monochrome display phone with nice, new Nokia 3500 with color display and all the toys besides the basic address book - mp3 player, 2 megapixel camera , photo and video (can't play the videos on the computer), instant messaging (could do that on the Siemens), Organizer with calendar, To-do list and notes , Alarm clock, Countdown timer (normal and interval timer) , Stereo FM radio and music player (radio required antenne not included and not available locally), Combo memory with 32 MB flash and 16 MB RAM – 8.5 MB user memory, Micro SD memory card slot (up to 2GB) and Lithium-ion battery. I was getting four or five days out of each charge until I started taking pictures.

Then I discovered the included memory only allowed me to take four pictures before I had to remove them from the camera and take four more. That was not going to work. Downtown and bought a 2 GB micro SD card and now could take pictures until the cows come home. However, eventually on one of those sessions the battery ran out so discovered I had to start out with a fully charged battery. As well, I could include all kinds of extra info with name/phone number like email address, picture, notes, etc. That was cute.

Got a Bluetooth adapter so move pictures from the camera to the computer but though that worked the first time and most other times, there were problems because Bluetooth had a limitation of the size of file it could move. Downtown to the Rogers store (Rogers owns Fido and there is no Fido store closer than Nanaimo) and got an expensive mini-USB cable so I didn't have to crack open the phone to remove the SD card and use the computer card reader to move photos to the computer. That worked much better and now had the Noki Suite program so could install it at home where I don't yet have internet access.

I eventually got a new ring tone, chose "Africa" by Toto, the first one after scrolling through many I had no interest in and basicaly about to give up altogether. Cost about $4.00-5.00 but I save a copy on my computer so can move it around as needed. Tried surfing the interent and did something pretty simple and then checked the account balance and realized it had cost $10.00 so won't do that any more. Tried to send email and discovered the key I thought was the space bar wasn't and the space bar is actually the "zero" key pressed twice. Then still couldn't follow the instructions for sending email so called tech support and the agent seemed to kinda know what I was talking about but not how to solve my problem. After being put on hold several times and consulting with the "experts" she came back with:

in the message window enter:

mail_sp_ _email-address_(_subject_ _sp_ _msg_) leave out the spaces between _sp_ & _email-address_, etc. ; the editor here doesn't like the angle brackets I had used

in the To: window enter:

3436

click send

That's all there is to it. Limited to about 140 characters including the required text above but at least you can send/receive email. I showed a fellow Fido user and he was amazed. Somewhat different than the FAQ on the Fido site, which is why I included it here.

Enjoy.

Got to Courtney where my collaborator for the book on the Whidden/Fisher lines, B. Page, lived and had an enjoyable afternoon after taking the bus from Campbell River to Courtney. Did some shopping trying to find something for Lois besides the computer for a Christmas present and since she's a long time Elvis fan it was easy when I found a CD in Wal-Mart (they don't have one in CR) with interviews and other stuff I'm sure she wouldn't have. She loved it.

BP gave me some updates for the book and then she took me back to the bus depot to catch the bus home. A great day. They have a monkey pod tree in CR so took some more pics of that plus the sequoia tree and many examples of the Haida art around town. Went to the museum where more Haida art is available plus fascinating displays on the salmon fishing around town, which at one time was the heart of the sport fishing activity also known as the 'Salmon Capital of the World'. Also found out what the meaning of the name for the plaza downtown was - a large salmon was called a tyee so the plaza is Tyee Plaza. Walked out on the large warf and looked at the displays about the many kinds of fish found in the area. The museum had a movie of the second largest non-nuclear explosion after the Halifax explosion of 1917. Rocks underwater in the passage in the straits on the east side of Vancouver Island had been causing ship wrecks for years so it was decided to remove the hazard by blowing it up. It was filmed and documented like no other project before it. Also went to a marine museum which featured the fishing boat that was depicted on the $5.00 bill that was in circulation when I was a kid. It was at a wharf in Vancouver for Expo '86 but later was in a bad state of disrepair. They moved it to Campbell River, built a facility to house it out of the water and set about restoring it by volunteer help. Nobody else was there when I took the tour so I had a personalized account by a very knowledgeable person. I took a few pictures and after almost three hours was on my way.

On the trip back on the ferry again sat up front and after spending so much time at sea I was beginning to think we wouldn't see any sea life a few dolphins made a brief appearance. What a great trip.

Ray Aug 2009

latest news on the computer front...

2008-08-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

I've moved from a 512 MB to 2 GB and now 4 GB solid state drive (SSD) and as the 160 GB hard disk drive (HDD) was getting full I bought an Iomega 500 GB HDD and copied everything to it and freed up over 60 GB of disk space, making my Pentium III computer much more usable.

Now that prices have dropped so much, it's time to buy a Pentium IV with 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD and all the other toys that it seems I cannot live without.

Life is good.

Cheers, Ray
Edmonton AB
August 2008

disappeared for over a year...

2008-08-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Not that anybody asked, but I've been busy for over a year printing Cerlox bound copies of the book "Whidden New Hampshire, Nova Scotia and Beyond 1662-2002 a family odyssey" (the title is rendered in Penguin font but that isn't available here), a limited edition to discover the things I need to know to proceed with a campaign to raise funds for a hard copy edition.

The book is two volumes, over 1,600 pages with 26 pages of B&W and color photos, table of contents and table of illustrations (both volumes have the TOC/TOI for both volumes), preface, appendix with updated register reports created after the book was generated in 2002, an introduction to DNA and genealogy, bibliography, source citations and index.

Having completed this limited printing, I no longer will take orders as have discovered what I wanted with this experience.

Included with the book is a set of CD/2-DVDs with maps of as many provinces/territories and states as I could get maps of, some PDF but many a scan of a paper map in JPG format with provided JPG and PDF viewers for Windows and Macintosh. These are only available if you buy the book; not available otherwise. Much more is included including many photos of Whiddens and others, scanned images of "Recollections of Thomas Jones Whidden" about 1863, "Whidden-Whitten" by Sybil Noyes, "Genealogical Record of the Antigonish Whiddens" by David Graham Whidden, "The Story of Some Descendants of Rendol and Sarah Whidden of Calais, Maine ...." by Foster Cook Whidden et al and "The Story of a Canadian Family" in three of seven volumes including Whidden, Longfellow, Rev. Hugh Graham and Gammell and other families.

Wish me luck in my fund raising campaign. I need patrons with deep pockets to pay for directory pages to print between 500 - 2,500 copies in hard cover. You will be very impressed with the result.

Look for an announcement later for info on the hard cover edition.

Ray Whidden
Edmonton, AB
August 2008

USB thumb drive is a wonderful thing

2006-11-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

About a month ago was browsing the local computer shop and they had a package deal for Encarta 2007 for $49.95 including a 512 MB USB 2.0 (compatible with USB v1.1) flash drive. As they are about $30.00 elsewhere, couldn't resist even though had a copy of Encarta 2006 and didn't expect to upgrade until 08/09. However, this neat device has allowed me to retire my Zip drive/several 100 MB cartridges. One disadvantage, it is so small that I've already left it behind at the cybercafe but now leave out my glasses case to remind me to put it back in the case before I leave. Now need a 1, 2 or 4 GB drive, as have a copy of Personal Ancestral File (PAF) v5.x plus the whidden.paf database (15 MB plus 8.5 MB) is installed and now able to update the database while at the cybercafe. Previously, was using PAF on the PalmOne PDA but only able to have about half of the database and that was read only.

Yesterday, a friend sent me a link for an 85 MB download from http://portableapps.com/ which is a version of several applications: Firefox v2.0, OpenOffice v2.0 and other tools that can be installed in the USB drive and run from there when I go to the cybercafe. Now I can get familiar with a variety of tools and always use them no matter where I am. However, the installed version of Portable Apps is 245 MB.

For example, during an upcoming trip to the Vancouver area I can show my uncle and aunt the latest work on the Whidden and Freeman/Jarvinen/Syrjanen families. Of course I could previously do that by taking it with me on CD-ROM but then that is read only, too. Now if they have additional information, I can just update the database as if I had a laptop computer. Just a thought; sure hope their computer has a USB port.

Just discovered I can save almost $200.00 by getting my bus tickets for an upcoming trip to visit my sister in Campbell River on Vancouver Island for the first time. The last time I saw her was when I was living in Toronto and was sent for two short courses at Microsoft and I had flown to Vancouver and rented a car to drive to/from Seattle. She came to Vancouver for the last of her cancer checkups so we were able to get together for an evening. We talk on the phone at least twice a month and sometimes weekly.

The weather has been cold with winter arriving two weeks earlier than usual in mid-October and most of November being five degrees Celsius colder than average but at the end of November went to twenty degrees colder than normal. Snow has accumulated so now we have snow banks three feet deep along the streets. This is January weather but then this is Alberta. After last winters warmer than average temperatures, we're back to real winter. I remember when I first started working in Manning in the 1960s when it was 60º F below for an entire week. It took me a month to thaw out my used car purchased earlier.

Cheers, Ray

A busy couple of weeks

2006-09-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

Jack Whyte's new Templar trilogy book has been out since early August, I have my copy, read it and thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait until the second and third volumes are available. "Knight's of the Black and White" is the title. Get it NOW.

As well, celebrating forty years of living in Canada, in October an autobiography by Jack is coming to bookstores near you. As soon as I leave here, am placing my order for a copy.

This past Fri/Sat/Sun I spent visiting Kelowna, BC where stayed with a cousin. He has compiled his own books on the Antigonish Whiddens and is helping me with editting my own genealogy/family history book.

We enjoyed a couple of Swiss Chalet dinners, a Chinese smorgsbord and outings to the Summerland agricultural gardens, Kettle Valley RR where they have 90-min. train ride at 10:30 and 1:30 and a dinner available as well (we didn't take the train ride). We went to the city center park where the AIDS walk was taking place and we walked around and saw the lift lock in operation, stayed while the Rowdymen performed for about 45 minutes (Celtic folk music) and enjoyed the sights and smells of the flower gardens. Eddie pointed out various areas that were affected by fires in the past couple of years and we got some fruit at a couple of fruit stands: grapes, pears, apples and bumbleberry pie.

The weather was low 20s C and clear skies after a week or so of cloudy skies and rainy weather in Edmonton. A welcome change.

Summer half over...

2006-08-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

I sit here in the Bohemia cybercafe Jasper and 110 Street in Edmonton as the Cariwest parade begins to pass eastbound. The music is so loud I can no longer hear CHUM-FM on the earphones so will watch and listen to the parade. Having seen many of the Toronto Caribana parades over the years, nothing compares as it is now the biggest celebration of the kind outside the Caribbean. However, it is nice to have something like it in Edmonton. At the same time, the Edmonton Folk Fest is competing with the rainy weather with stars like Linda Ronstadt, The Neville Brothers, Bruce Cockburn, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, David Gray among others . Tickets are SOLD OUT. A couple of years ago I saw the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and though had noticed their music ("Mr. Bojangles" and many others over the years) didn't consider myself a fan. Well after that late night concert, I was definitely a fan as they've written and/or sung many of the great songs of the past 40 years.

Last weekend was Heritage Festival in Hawrelak Park, where they encourage you to make a donation to the Edmonton Food Bank, transportation is by ETS Park n Ride and a record number of cultures were represented (58 pavilions, 70 cultures) having displays set up in tents to show the cultures, dancers and food. One highlight was the Ken-Jujitsu display of swordsmanship where four-at-a-time swordsman make quick work of ten-foot tall bundles of fresh bamboo which were reduced to several two foot long bundles.

I tried various foods starting with the French pavilion and Crepes Suzette: Crepe with whipped cream & Grand Marnier sauce, Polynesian Big Kahuna Smokie Stick: Sizzling beef smokie with a delicious island blend of pineapple, garlic, & various spices and tropical smoothie but went back for the third or fourth year to the Scandanavian pavilion (including Finland, though not technically a Scandanavian country) and their Finnish rice pudding with raspberry sauce - so good I had two of them plus a Finnish lemon drink called sima. Last snack for the day was Chicken Arepa: Corn flour meal stuffed with chicken, served with guasacaca sauce at the Venezuelan pavilion.

The Ecuador display's music was a disappointment this year with one performer playing various flutes to recorded music. A three man group with two guitars and flutes is much better and thanks to my Palm portable computer I can carry several songs by a group I saw on the streets of Toronto many years ago around with me. The Nicaraugan dancers were a treat with their bright red trimmed white dresses.

While the Capital Ex (ex of Klondike Days theme; didn't go this year) and the Edmonton Grand Prix were on I took advantage of the Taste of Edmonton food festival in Churchill Square and after entrees like Penne and lobster (a disappointment as I could identify few bits of lobster, what was identifiable were small shrimps) and several other entrees, had two servings of fruit martini with a shot of Grande Marnier (a great way to get your Canada Food Guide fruit allowance). A steel band in the Cariwest parade is going by as I write this.

That will pretty well do it for the summer season as, though the Fringe Festival is coming up, I've never gone to it as doesn't appeal to me. New this year is a Latin Festival on the 19-20 so will definitely check that out.

2006-07-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

who-me.com has an interesting function: post your own info in the event someone is searching for you or once registered, post a note with details about a friend, relative or co-worker you would like to contact. Here is a note I posted about a friend I worked with, picking apricots in 1966, in an orchard in BC:

Reason for search: Friend
You are looking for ...
Last Name: Never_knew_last_name
First Name: Pete
Last Known City: Penticton
Last Known State/Prov: British Columbia
Last Country: Canada
Family Relationship: not related
Gender: Male
Year of Birth: 1940
Color of Hair: Blond
Color of Eyes: I don't remember
Extra Information:
I met Pete at an apricot orchard south of Penticton, BC summer of 1966. He is blonde, body builder physique, Italian background from Argentina. We bunked together for about 3 weeks. He cooked a wicked spaghetti sauce and ate two plates vs my one. He worked as a cook in lumber camps during the winter. We went to the Penticton Peach Festival and rode the rides.
Key Words/Phrases:
1 1940 <-> Category Approx Birth Date
2 blonde <-> Category Hair Color
3 steak & prawns dinner <-> Category Special Event Your Personal Contact Information For The Above Note Your Last Name: Whidden
Your First Name: Ray
[[login to who-me.com to get the following information:
Address:
Your City: Edmonton
Your State: Alberta
Postal Code: T5H 1V8
Your Country: Canada
Your Day Phone #: ]]
Your Email Address: rwhidden@hotmail.com
Your Gender: Male
Your Year of Birth: 1944
Your Special Message:
Get in touch by phone (leave message if phone off) or email with information how I can contact you. I would like to meet again if possible. Now single and still working in the computer business, which is what I did when grad 1967 from NAIT. Remember the steak/prawns dinner? Hope all is well. Ray
Your Photo: None
Your Pledge Amount: $10.00 <- Amount you pledged if successful Posted System Info
Posting Charge: No Charge (Free Trial Note!)
Posting Plan: FREE Trial Plan - Above note was posted at NO CHARGE
Display Status: Yes - Searchable/Viewable
Note Distribution: Allow note's information to be indexed and posted to major Internet search engines
Post this note to related newsgroups
Posted: Contact Permission: Only the person I am looking for and people offering free assistance may contact me. If you knew Pete and know of his current address, I'd appreciate it if you let me know how to reach him or let him know how he can contact me. If you have news but don't know his current address, would appreciate that, too. One friend passed away in 1979 and always thought I would get to see him again. Alas.

They wouldn't post this message elsewhere on the internet because it was the free, trial account, so posting it here should result in it being indexed by search engines.

Travails of a Palm Tungsten E2 user

2006-06-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

As in all things computer oriented, I've been able to break something. In this case it is the DataViz Docs-to-Go application loading in html files which contain the table-of-contents, cover page and chapter pages for several stories I want to read. What possibly could go wrong with plain vanilla text, you ask? Well, I'm still asking that myself but to get the Palm to read it, I had to convert them to Word 2003 .doc format and copy them to the Palm. Everything seemed ok until I decided to copy the TOC file after converting it and changing the color of the text from light blue to black. As soon as I tried to read it got a fatal error on the DataViz software. The fix was to get a tool from the DataViz website, remove the application and reinstall it. That worked for a while and then it started getting errors with some of the chapter files. Almost finished reading the first book and now have to go back to remove/reinstall mode. Darn!!!! I hope I don't have the same battle for the other ninety or so files or this could get old real soon.

Otherwise, an very happy with the music and genealogy software plus the other Palm programs. The world clock tool is particularly neat, showing the shadow on the dark side of the globe.

Palm Tungsten E2 and Hotmail II w/Firefox

2006-05-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have joined the MP3 world in a portable way with my purchase of a Palm Tungsten E2 and 1 GB expansion memory. The goal is to be able to view some text files I have, carry family photos around with me, access the genealogy database at the cybercafe and use the music/MP3 capabilities. Syncing with my copy of Outlook was easy, copying photos straightforward and loading over 500 MB of music required that I remove/re-rip several CDs that I'd been listening to on my PC as WMA files which the RealPlayer tool on the Palm wouldn't read. With a $32.99 pair of Panasonic headphones, I'm now one of those people you see on the street grooving to their own choice of music instead of the sound of traffic. It looks like I'll have to pay about $25.00 to get some genealogy software that will do the job as the MyRoots only allows 20 individuals in their demo mode. Bummer, since I still use the free Personal Ancestral File (PAF) from:

http://www.familysearch.org/

and their PAF for Palm seems to have disappeared. I think I managed to get a utility that converts from *.txt format to the format to read on the Palm though have Palm Reader and Adobe Acrobat Reader for the Palm.

UPDATE (12 May 2006): To get the Palm reader program (52Kb), you have to go through the registration process and when get a choice of what to download, it's at the bottom of the list.

UPDATE (18 May 2006): My full GEDCOM of 4.4 MB wouldn't fit on the Palm, so that means they must be using the main 32 MB RAM, actual capacity 26 MB, rather than the 1 GB expansion memory so had to cut it in half and 2.2 MB fit ok. Major bummer as can only have one database in at a time and have to hotsync to do that. Maybe time to pay for a gene product.

At home, am going to play around with VMWare from:

http://www.vmware.com/

where they have free, 30-day-trial downloads compared to Microsoft's Virtual PC which has a 45-day-trial download.

What's the deal about VMWare/Virtual PC? Well, on top of WinXP, you load the VMWare program and then can open sessions for DOS, WinXP, Win98SE and Linux on a machine with enough RAM and a big hard disk drive (mine is 160 GB). For example, I recently had to convert a WinXP machine back to Win98SE so I could read some Zip cartridges I had formatted in Drive Space 3 which is not supported under WinXP. With VMWare/Virtual PC, I could have just opened another session, installed W98SE and enabled the DS3 capability and read the DS3 cartridges on the same machine. As well, will be trying out Red Hat Linux and SUSE to see which I'll use on the second machine. Lots of fun. After the trial VMWare is $189.00 vs Virtual PC for about $129.00.

On the web-based email front, my Hotmail account from about 1998 or so has been upgraded to 2 GB storage with the activation of the beta version of Windows Live™ Mail (WLM). One problem is today I launched Firefox at the cybercafe and WLM thought I was using the old Hotmail format and suggested I upgrade to the latest IE and once switched to IE6 had what I expected to see; wouldn't you know it but WLM doesn't want to play nice with Firefox.
UPDATE: 2006/07/13 WLM now promises to work with Firefox v1.5
I wonder about Opera and Netscape . My gmail account now is up to 2.7 GB of storage space. My Yahoo account is still sitting at 1 GB, which is plenty. That makes a total of 5.7 GB of space between the three accounts. The several other accounts I had over the past few years have expired for a variety of reasons, most like www.alberta.com provided by Telus because they ended the service.

Cheers, Ray

Today is the first day of spring and winter just arrived....

2006-03-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

You read that right!!!!

This is the year Vancouver weather came to Alberta and we just had the biggest snowfall of the entire winter in the past week. My friend, who was beginning to think his purchase of a snow blower last fall was the worst investment in the past decade got to spend an hour and a half playing with his no longer "new" toy and cleared the sidewalks around his house.

The good news is the darn white stuff should be gone in two weeks or so.

Managed to find a copy of "X-15", a movie I'd seen when it first came out and never thought would find it on DVD but A & B Sound in downtown Edmonton had a copy. Enjoyed it a lot. With the "Right Stuff", "From the Earth to the Moon", "Apollo 13" and other space DVDs it makes an incredible story.

Recently, I also got "Riverdance: Geneva" and am enjoying it a lot. With a new five-disc Sony DVD player, also back to being able to quickly switch between five different CD/DVD discs without having to go thru the collection. I had to replace the Toshiba player as a friend gave me a DVD recorded in DVD - RW format and wouldn't play on the older machine. I will take it to BC at Christmas and give it to my sister and make sure all DVDs I send her are written in a format she can play.

Which brings me to the new computer coming this fall with Windows Vista, dual-layer DVD read/write, LCD monitor and all the other toys. One thing I will add is ATI All In Wonder so can save TV programs to the computer and convert VHS tapes to DVD. Next will be to get my record collection converted to MP3 format.

My aunt and uncle from Vancouver are stopping over for a day so will go out for lobster. I can hardly wait.

Have a great spring.

Cheers, Ray

now that Christmas is over, let's get on with 2006

2005-12-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

Well, the gift scene this year was books and DVDs:

Books:

• The Computer: an illustrated history which missed out on the Commodore Amiga computer and Multics operating system on the GE/Honeywell 600/6000 computers

• 2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur Clarke

• 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur Clarke

• The Known World by Edward Jones which Oprah described the other day as being the best book she's read in the past twenty years; a story of slavery

DVDs:

• The Ultimate Carson Collection - three disc library features some of Johnny and The Tonight Show's best moments and most memorable guests from the 1960's through the final show

• Oprah 20th anniversary six DVD set

• Stargate Atlantis season one five DVD set in new thinner jewel case with two DVDs per case half as thick as the older jewel case

Lots of reading and viewing for the new year.

Cheers, Ray

Jack Whyte's talk was great....

2005-12-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

I went to the main branch of the Edmonton, Alberta public library this past Tuesday to see Jack Whyte of “Dream of Eagles” fame and hear him talk about his new book, the last of the King Arthur saga, “The Eagle.” He gave some background about the entire project for those who may have not been familiar and then read for about 30 minutes from the early part of the book when Lancelot has returned from his excursion to the north where he met Morgas and tries to remember everything from his interrogation by her to relate to Merlyn.

He then spent about 20 minutes answering questions and for those who don’t have a Scottish background, the character, Donuil’s name is merely pronounced Don-el, not my convoluted Don- u – il. He also mentioned that one of the shipboard character in the MacAthol clans name is the Scottish version of Charles or Charlies.

His new project is one down and two to go, having finished the first of the Knights Templar series a day or so earlier in Calgary. Unfortunately the publishing process means it won’t be in bookstores until next October or so. Something about taking out all the Scottish accent or something. This series will have no continuity of characters and will recount the beginning, the peak and the end of the Knights Templar. He described it as “the greatest story never told.” I’m looking forward to it already.

This web site recounts some of what Jack said at the library:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/canadian_literature/59821

There were possibly a hundred or so other fans there to enjoy his presentation.

Well, the election is upon us and the question is “will the east support the Conservatives or are we doomed to have yet another Liberal government?” Stephen Harper had to bring up the gay marriage thing again on the first day of the campaign but at least seemed headed for a stunning second day with the promise of a 1% drop in the GST and eventual move of it from the current 7% to 5%. Now to see if he pulls a Chretien and reneges. I enjoyed the “Daily Show’s” coverage of the defeat of the Liberal government.

Just a quicky as on my way home after work and just wanted to leave a few notes.

Cheers, Ray

a poem

2005-10-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.penguinblogs.ca/whyte/archives/00000012.html

MOST
By David Johns

I am a shoe:
a comfortable fit with many
far less so with most

I am a book:
open to everyone
unread by most

I am a fusion: love and hate
discernible to some
opaque to most

I am imperfect:
Can not walk on water
but I give it my all
far more than most

reprinted here in case it disappears from there

November 13, 2003

I opened up a forgotten file this morning, in the middle of a "gotta-clean-up-these-files-before-anyone-sees-them" fit, and I came across a poem written by my grandson David, five years ago. Guess what? It was--and it remains--really good... considering that the kid was thirteen years old at the time and had barely become cognizant of the fact that he had an aged relative who wrote for a living... Anyway, here's the edited version of the poem. It's called "Most", and as I said, it was written five years ago by a thirteen-year-old:

Jack Whyte

editting proceeding on the book and other notes

2005-10-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

With the help of Eddie Whidden of Kelowna, BC editting is proceeding on the book. The first two copies have been printed and will go to Elsie Thoresen, RI to whom the book is dedicated and my cousins in Toronto, ON Phyl and Marion Clarke who gave me a copy of "The Whidden Family of Nova Scotia" many years ago. It's nice to see all that work in paper and have about eight pages of photos printed on the HP LJ 2550L color printer.

Where did the summer go? It is nearly 20°C today compared to below 10 in Eastern Canada and about 10-15 in Vancouver. Calgary about 21 makes a virtual heatwave. Hopefully snow will hold off until AFTER Halloween. After a wetter than normal September, October has been dry enough the farmers who had barely got 50% of the crops off (usually about 75-100% off at that time of year) can get the other 50% in the bins.

I will likely take my three weeks vacation in December and just hang around Edmonton. Next year I'm going to go to Campbell River, BC where my sister has lived for many years. I last saw her in 1995 when I went to Seattle, WA to attend three days of coarses at Microsoft and stayed in Vancouver for a couple of days before flying back to Toronto. We talk a couple of times a month and I hear the lastest about her small dog, Jasper, and other news of "the Island."

I am going to buy a Palm or CE PDA so I can read a number of text files I've got, including some of the Walter Gibson/Maxwell Grant "Shadow" info I got before it was removed from the net. Once I have that I'll be able to carry the Whidden genealogy database with me and no longer have to reply to messages by saying, "I will check the database at home and get back to you."
I'll be able to consult an up-to-date copy of the database. Now for how to keep the portable and desktop versions in sync.

Turning 61 is turning into a long-term project. My friend, Juan, and I went to Swiss Chalet before our birthdays in September (mine 22, his 24 or so) and had the chicken dinner and chicken salad sandwich. I got cards from my sister, Lois, and cousins, Marion and Phyl, and still have to get out for dinner with Adrian whose birthday is 25 September. Today I buy a second birthday present, the previously mentioned PDA. I had already bought season eight of Stargate: SG1 and will buy Stargate: Atlantis when it's released.

New CDs are the latest Backstreet Boys, an older Bon Jovi CD and the Swiss concert DVD, Rob Thomas solo CD and Ricky Martin's new "Life" CD.

Tatto was great, the book is cheaper by LaserJet than inkjet

2005-08-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

As the title says, the Centennial Tattoo was great, though the Klondike Days web site did their level best to make it sound boring. Fortunately, my friend, who had never seen a tattoo before checked out the Nova Scotia International Tattoo and Edinburgh, Scotland tattoo sites and decided to join me in seeing it. We both enjoyed it immensely and regret there will be no video tape or DVD.

For the Halifax tattoo check mid-June for upcoming events, usually late June, early July at:

http://www.halifaxmetrocentre.com

Check this link for a mini-review:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/Canada/Province_of_Nova_Scotia/Halifax-908494/Things_To_Do-Halifax-Downtown_Halifax-BR-1.html

For the Edinburgh tattoo:

http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/

When I bought the HP LaserJet 2550 L it said I should be able to print 5,000 pages with a single black toner cartridge which was good news as it cost me $100.00 in Canon inkjet cartridges to print one copy of the book so for $139.00 I should be able to print three copies of the book. Of course, the truth would come out when I actually printed one of the books and, LO!, the result is I WILL be able to print three copies of the book. So by the time I will have printed ten copies, I will have saved the cost of the printer in using toner cartridges rather than inkjet cartridges. A current article at :

http://www.cooltechzone.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1659&Itemid=0&limit=1&limitstart=0

says "a thumb rule, Laser printers are generally much more expensive than Inkjet printers" but this experience puts the lie to that. Things have changed over the past few years and I'm glad to take advantage of the new lower prices.

The color cartridges are a similar story so will be able to add more color pages than had been planning so will spruce up the book a lot.

Cheers, Ray

updates weren't destructive so don't have to rebuild the book

2005-07-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

I got the updates and they do not require the book to be rebuilt, thus saving about three months worth of work.

Whewwwwww!!!!!

Am beginning to get orders for the book, so will have to get at it and find out whether practical to do a hard cover version or whether it will be all cerlox. Will send a brochure and copy of the book to about twenty Whidden businesses in hopes they will subscribe to a full page directory entry and thus pay for about 200 copies of the book, now likely two volumes as 1,550 pages.

I cannot do that many pages in cerlox.

Am going to the Alberta Centennial Tattoo at Rexall Place on Friday. I saw the Canadian Centennial Tattoo at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, the highlight being an battle simulation with opposing sides and fireworks simulating the sounds and sights of battle.

I also saw the 1994 Halifax International Tattoo and bought the video cassette. One of the events there was two teams with cannons at one end of the stadium, start the race, disassemble the cannon, race with the parts to the other end over an obstacle coarse, assemble the cannon and the first team to fire their cannon was the winner.

I hope they don't disappoint as have convinced a friend to go as well. He was very impressed with the Edinburgh, Scotland web site for their tattoo but his response to the Klondike Days info about the Alberta tattoo is: "boring....." It better NOT be boring.

Hollywood is worried about the fact that people are not going to the movies this year amid surveys that say people prefer to see their movies at home. Duh!!!! Last year I saw more movies than I ever did in a theatre and found them mostly boring. I bought a couple of DVDs. This year, I've skipped the Brad Pitt show "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" because I was bored by "Troy". Saw "War of the Worlds" but won't be buying that DVD either. Do have the "Phantom of the Opera" DVD and will watch it several times and still the play the original cast recording CD. Don't have much on the horizon that I want to see.

I now have a collection of DVDs that allow me to watch a different movie every week and not see the same one for two years. Will buy season eight of Stargate though wasn't too impressed with the premiere of Stargate: Atlantis.

Is anyone else turning off the TV because the latest trend in commercials seems to be how annoying can we be in thirty seconds. First is the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) commercial with the crying baby who has apparently lost one or both parents due to a drunk driving accident. If such baby were in my room, I'd pick it up to soothe it but MUTE is the only way to soothe that abomination. Skip MADD.

Then Klondike Days decided to to the same trick with a young man who gets on an elevator and terrorizes the rest of the riders by punching his hands in the air while he shrieks in excitement about something the other passengers have no clue to. The text eventually clues us into the fact there are only 10 of them: Klondike Days, that is. MUTE. Skip Klondike Days.

MacDonalds has a creepy dog with his fangs showing suggesting it is hard to get a bargain these days and you should consider their special every day for $1.79. MUTE. Skip the deal.

It's beginning to seem the best thing to do is just skip television. There were times when I actually enjoyed some of the commercials. With this new trend, I'm afraid I won't even bother to see if the next generation of commecial pass the watchability test. I'll have already decided to skip TV.

Sorry for the rant. Feels better having done it.

There are no commercials in the books I'm reading: Jack Whyte's "Dream of Eagles" series of "Skystone", "Singing Sword", "Saxon Shore", "The Sorcerer: The Fort at River's Bend" and "The Sorcerer: Metamophosis." They are Whytes sweeping tale of the legend of King Arthur. It is followed by "Uther" a parallel book about the father of King Arthur. Whyte signed with Penguin to write a two novel followup of King Arthur's life after drawing the sword from the stone resulting in "Clothar the Frank" giving the background on Sir Lancelot, a Frankish knight who travelled to meet Arthur and the final story, scheduled to be released in October, 2005, by which time I should have finished the series.

This is the fourth time I have read the earlier books but will be only the second time reading "Clothar the Frank". Highly recommended. I've come to call the series "lessons in life by Jack Whyte". One of the few books I find my self laughing at while reading, which puzzles fellow riders on the bus.

Cheers, Ray

updates coming for book ....

2005-06-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

I have just received email indicating possible serious errors in the book as it currently exists so will wait until I see the corrections and determine whether I will need to completely regenerate the modified register report and begin again with the editing or possibly make "minor" changes as it is.

We can hope.

In any case, the latest developments are the purchase of a newer, faster computer: Intel Pentium III 1 GHz, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB and 160 GB hard disk drive and gradually moving things over from the slower machine. Along with the HP LJ 2550 L printer, now will be able to print the 1,550 page book in cerlox binding in two volumes by myself and include more than the two pages of photos I had planned (based on $1.00/page for color pages) since the LJ apparently prints somewhat cheaper than that.

The expected flood of the river valley of the North Saskatchewan river didn't materialize (peaked a one meter lower than flood levels), now we just have to batten down the hatches for the possible swarms of mosquitoes, though we can hope the city will spray to reduce the effects of the recent rains.

The annual Jazz Festival got cancelled but one of the local jazz clubs picked up the ball so there will be jazz this summer in Edmonton, along with the several other festivals that usually run. Added to that is the inaugural Grand Prix Edmonton, now sponsored by West Edmonton Mall. It will be a busy summer.

Still working so will miss some of the events though will take time off to see the Heritage Festival in August.

The local park, Giovanni Caboto park, is being upgraded with $80.000.00 of work and will be opened later this summer, though some of the work will continue in 2006. The goal is to create a European style park so it will be a welcome addition to the neighbourhood. For those who don't recognize the name, we know him as John Cabot as he did much of his exploring for England so his name was Anglicized but his original Italian name was used for the park. His statue won't be added though a local businessman's will.

Cheers, Ray

My first laser printer is a color printer.... a saga...

2005-04-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

After using ink jet printers for the past many years, I got fed up with the Canon MP700 printer because it would have to be taken back to the shop to clear a paper jam and went looking for a printer that opened up so you can simply remove a paper jam. Future Shop had a HP LJ 2550 L color printer for $379.99 and that was the last day of the special price and they only had two in stock. Have you ever had a no-brainer presented to you so clearly? So off I go home and get two copies of one test page printed by pushing buttons on the printer, another page by pushing another combo of keys and the Windows printer properties test page, which is a duplicate of the last mentioned page with the HP logo replaced by the Windows logo. However, I had to reboot my computer and when that finished, my printer had the three color cartridge lights lit and no more printing. Well, into the electronic documentation and cyan and yellow lights are flashing and that indicates the printer detects them as being non-HP equipment and won't print at all. The magenta light is solid which indicates it is low on toner but would continue printing but for the two flashing lights.

Next morning I call HP warranty support and he advised to hold down the START button while turning on the power to reset to factory settings, take out the toner cartridges and reinstall them one-by-one and if that doesn't work, to take it back to Future Shop. Talking to Future Shop, they cannot exchange just the cartridges, so have to take the whole box back. Well, once I get back home and do all the testing, including reinstalling the software, it still doesn't work, so off to Future Shop.

They still have the one unit on the shelf and I tell them I want to assemble it in the store to be sure it works, as expected and after doing so, no further trouble and back home with my new printer.

The interesting thing in the documentation is they say that a black cartridge should be able to print 5,000 pages, which means for $139.99 I should be able to print three copies of the book at 1,550 pages compared to $100.00 worth of ink jet ink to print ONE copy of the book so far. Heck, that means after ten copies I will have saved enough to pay for the cost of the printer. And with the cheaper cost per page for color printouts, will be able to include more photos than the two that I planned on, leaving the remainder on a companion CD-ROM.

I probably should have bought one years ago but the last time I checked, a HP color LJ was $600.00 and prior to that it was $900.00 about a year ago. My how they have dropped in price.

Cheers, Ray

Fixed the Wordperfect formatting problem

2005-03-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

After mentioning the problem here, went home and instead of trying to move the leftmost margin marker, moved the rightmost marker (which seemed to control indentation of lines after the first one) and set the paragraph format from centered to left justified and problem solved.

The book is now printed and bound it for $6.00 in two volumes and after going through it since seeing it in print is different than editting it on-screen, will send it off for a cousin to do some editting. It has the usual cover and front page stuff, two pages of color and B&W photos including one of Paul Whidden and family, me, Helen Whidden, Elsie Thoresen and David Graham Whidden and his wife, all responsible for Whidden genealogies over the years.

The preface is about fifty pages long, then the body starts off with updated Whyddon genealogy, a few pages on the first Whiddon known in the western hemisphere, a Captain Jacob Whidden who died and is buried in Trinidad but was a colleague of Sir Walter Raliegh. Then starting with Ichabod, on for fourteen generations, bibliography, index of material that will be on the CD-ROM including additional register reports for Newcomb, Hart, Freeman/Jarvinen and Faulkner, sources and index.

Will try to finance it in whole or in part by selling Whidden business directory space and hope to be able to print a thousand copies, hopefully getting a hundred or so in libraries though Canada, US and some in England.

It took about five Canon inkjet cartidges at about $20.00 each to print so is not cheap.

Cheers, Ray

New features being added to the CD-ROM, creating an index, preface

2005-03-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

Lots of fun to report this week.

THE GOOD NEWS FIRST:

I'm putting all the photos collected over the past few years on the CD-ROM along with all the resources I can add, such as the electronic version of Miller's "History and Genealogy of the First Settlers of Colchester County....." among others.

Using a CD-ROM allows me to include all the material scanned in Nov 2004 in Seattle which is one researcher's work over 20 or so years photocopying material throughout New England and elsewhere.

Also, I'd several times looked through the several CD-ROM encyclopedias I have for various presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens so decided to make the ultimate list of sovereigns and prime ministers/presidents, so those tables will be on the CD-ROM.

I was going to include several other register reports on Hart, Jarvinen/Freeman, Newcomb, etc. in the book but with it reaching 1,500 pages and going to two volumes, those will be on the CD-ROM. Newcomb ends up being 300 pages. The others are mostly under 50 pages.

THE CHALLENGES:

I don't know what is wrong with my copies of Word97 and Word2000 because drag and drop clearly has a little check mark next to it but I can insert a picture from a file and it goes in ok but the only way to move it across the page is to modify the margins and I cannot put two pictures side by side. Well, I do have Wordperfect 8 which I haven't used in a long time and wouldn't you know it but it makes using pictures a dream. Drag and drop at your pleasure, resize, put captions under them and everything works like I thought Word should. I guess I'll have to get the latest version of Wordperfect after all.

So I now have two nice pages with my picture, Paul David Whidden's families color picture (he is co-author, having provided info on John/NH/1662 descent to the current day) and David Graham Whidden and his wife's B&W picture, Helen Henritzy Whidden's B&W picture taken about 1940-50 and Elsie Thoresen's (she provided 7,000 individuals in the WFNS supplement but asked to be mentioned as a contributor) color picture.

The body of the book has pretty much the same format throughout, though the bibliography is two column format and the index is three column format. However, the preface has many different formats, including tables, bold text, tables, graphics, bulleted lists and other features and every once in a while find the whole preface has gone bold on me or margins changed or the current option I can't seem to fix: the first line extends further to the left than my margin and the remaining body is further to the right than the margin. Doesn't let me fix it no matter what and the stupid tiny icons Wordpert uses don't let me play with tabs/margins/etc. like I've gotten used to Word. However, Word didn't work as I expected in creating table of contents (toc) entries and seems to put in headings without my chosing them merely based on bold and font size settings. Wordperfect reveal codes (I never dreamed I use that feature again but it's proven invaluable here) let me identify and remove the offending codes and set font size/bold/toc entries as I wished and it WORKS!!!!

In the meantime, I have started saving multiple copies of the preface to recover from when something "seems to happen on its own." Also finding hitting undo instead of making more changes is a good idea. One of the hazards of being a touch typist is you've entered a lot of typing before you realize you should have "undo"ed and have gone beyond the level of undo supported. I thing my ideal wordprocessing program would be a combination of the way Word and Wordperfect work. I doubt if such a program exists, though.

I am now half way through printing the first draft of the final copy of the book and manually created the toc entries so contents is three pages. Haven't linked preface and the body of the book yet, thus the need to manually create those entries which gave me another chance to go through the entire 1,500 pages and make minor changes. Of course, will now have to redo the index but hadn't yet printed that. Will in the next few days.

Lots of progress since the last notes.

Cheers, Ray

Book final draft update....

2005-03-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finally finished adding the notes and references from the trip to Seattle and have generated the final draft of the book and it ends up only 1,400 pages compared to the earlier draft of 1,300 pages. Still not sure if will do one volume or two (what happens in a two volume set when you lose one of them? Do I put the index in both of them, adding about 300 pages? Questions, we've got questions.) Probably take well into the summer before finished but who knows....

I've done the rough edit and in the process of adding index entries, which I've never done before and is easy enough but more time consuming than I'd imagined. I mistakenly set a "timothy" entry to "index all" and now removing those, where I see them. Will have to see if I can automatically remove them without removing the "timothy whidden/whidden, timothy" entries.

Lots of fun.

The current file is about 15 MB so have broken it into three smaller files to more easily manage the intermediate work and then combine them before creating the final index. I've decided to include several other trees that I have in the appendix, like Eaton, Newcomb, Hart, Freeman/ Jarvinen, maybe Smith if it's not too big, and several others; there won't be much in the way of notes in them, so just descendants lists in modified register format.

I've decided to only include a few photos as the cost of color pages is in the $1.00/page range so will include a CD-ROM with the contents of the Seattle scans and the photos I've collected over the past 10 years.

Have discovered if I register with the Post Office, get a cheaper rate so will definitely do that. Thanks to Eddie Whidden of Kelowna, BC for that tip.

Have just discovered a "dead media" article by John Dvorak of PC Magazine fame and will read that when I get home. It's going to substantiate my fear that electronic media is ok for compiling the data but acid-free paper is the best media for long term data storage. At the same time, have discovered a company offering to emboss data on metal foil:

Preserving information

Babylonian clay tablets, Mayan hieroglyphs and Etruscan tombstones all have survived thousands of years. Yet our own civilization’s records last mere decades, victims of ephemeral formats, "throw-away" media or perishable technology. In contrast, metal foil, embossed with simple, human-readable text, will last forever when stored with minimum care. It will resist:

Mold, Mildew & Insects
Moisture
Heat & Sunlight
Cold
Atomic or Electromagnetic Radiation
Technology obsolescence
Deterioration of ink or paper

Web page at: http://www.enduringfuture.com/index.html

Interesting idea but their cheapest price is $1.00/page from a top price of $2.50/page so only good for one of a kind. (so why do they shorten this to "one off"?)

Cheers, Ray

Beyond the Sea

2005-02-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Recently saw "Beyond the Sea," the biopic about Bobby Darin, one of my favorite singers. He sang "Splish, Splash." "Dream Lover," Mack the Knife" and other great songs. Kevin Spacey wrote, acted and directed and did a great job. Definitely will buy the DVD.

Back again....

2005-02-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Finally got a copy of Captain John D. Whidden's seafaring book: "Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days From Forecastle to Quarter-Deck and enjoyed it immensely. He covers his life from age twelve, when living with his maternal grandparents in Marblehead, MA twenty-five years later when sailing is no longer a profitable enterprise for American boats.

I've tracked his and third wife's graves to Evergreen cemetery in Los Angeles. It seem there were no children.

I highly recommend the book and note there is a second edition published after his death in 1922 with a longer preface.

a couple of urls for Whidden researchers

2005-02-16T12:40:00.000-08:00

Here's some other urls:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/whidden/

and

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/board/an/surnames.whidden/25/next

2005-02-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a url for Whiddon/Whidden families compiled by Edward L. Whiddon of Alabama:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~elw827/

2005-02-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

Go here for some comments over the past several years:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/whiddenwhittenmorefamilyinfo/

or here for some genealogy info:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rwhidden/idxsnweb.html

or to select among several options:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rwhidden/

Whidden Wanderings by Ray Whidden

2005-02-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog, a word I hate but it's forced it's way into our vocabulary and I suppose we're stuck with it and since I can't come up with a better one that every one instantaneously adopts, enough whining. I've had other homes on the free web and lets hope this one, like Yahoo, sticks around longer than Webjump and Angelfire.

My interests are computers, an industry I've worked in since 1967 when I worked for Honeywell Information Systems (HIS) when a mainframe computer was 16 K bytes, a control panel so you punched buttons for the register, memory address and memory contents (keyboards came around a few years later), 4800' reel tape drives (disk drives also came a few years later), card readers, card reader/punches, paper tape readers, paper tape reader/punches, drum printers and magnetic drum mass data storage.

I now do phone tech support in a major Edmonton call center but won't be going to Dell who are currently hiring for their midnight shift.

I lived for 30+ years in the Toronto area but have been living in Edmonton for the past four years.

As well as working in computers, I work with computers in my genealogy hobby and currently finishing off the database in preparation of a final draft of a Whidden genealogy expected to be 1,300 + pages with CD-ROM including photos and research material.

I invite readers to drop by and leave your comments.

Cheers, Ray
Edmonton, Alberta
celebrating 100 years as a province in 2005
February, 2005