Home sweet home …

Well , it’s nice to be back 🙂 It was an amazing trip filled with fun and adventure but in the end it’s always nice to get back and unwind. The unpacking complete, laundry , catching up on mail, dreading the bills to come … Hehe
I’ve uploaded all the pictures and video, ready for editing , well.. Almost… I did hit one little snag. It’s this cute little camcorder I picked up from Sony (DCR-SX43) , it seemed just perfect at the time, it uses an SD card to record and according to the box it works with iMovie … Unfortunately I am still trying to figure this one out. I’ve tried iMovie on my iPad, iPhone, Mac and to no avail. So off to the Sony website I went in search of clues… Sorry this software does not support OSX ! You have to be kidding ! Ok, I’ll try a few other sites such as the discussion forums at Apple.com, well, I found more people searching for the same answers…
If anyone knows how I can somehow convert the files so I can download my eight GB of video it would be hugely appreciated and I will be sure to pass on the advice to the other people faced with this problem.
My son & I were somewhat overloaded with gadgets on this trip ; 2 cameras, an iPad , iPhone , iPod , Nintendo DSi & the Camcorder , it was fun watching the people at customs marvel at the xray screen when our carry on went through. The funniest part was that the one thing that baffled each one of them was the novel my son had with him, I guess it looks like a big solid blob in the xray 🙂 the only pain with all these little gadgets is all the power cords and accessories that have to come along for the ride …
While we were away, a friend had a little baby girl (Congrats Ruby , welcome to this wonderful adventure called life ! 🙂 ) I couldn’t resist picking up a little Minnie Mouse outfit at Disney for her, I hope they like it.
My son’s first day back at school consisted of a Science field trip, kind of a cool way to get back into the swing of things. He’s doing so well at school, I am a very proud & lucky parent. Being a single parent has had it’s fair share of ups and downs but I wouldn’t give it up for anything .
On the trip back David was all ready talking about what we should do next year, and yes , you guessed it : Disney World in Florida ! Personally my preference would be exploring Castles in the UK, or a West Coast outdoor adventure involving kayaks, whales , mountains and massive old growth trees , but I think that should probably wait until he’s a bit older. David is 11 and right now it’s all about roller coasters , Harry Potter & Pirates 🙂
The great part about going to Florida , is that we have a place to stay and friends to visit along the way. We have an Aunt & Uncle who spend the winters in St. Petersburg and the summers up here in Canada. It’s a nice central location for exploring the state.
Now that we are back and I’ve completed my basement renovation, it’s time to hit the garden and get to work on the other outside work that needs to be done. This weekend we are going to refinish our deck and put together a gazebo. It will be nice to get the yard cleaned up and the garage emptied out, hey , I will be actually able to park my car in there again hehe…
I hope everyone’s spring is going well , I should get going on some sleep , work comes early …
Nite all , thanks so much for stopping by
– Namaste – William

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The perfect travel companion : ipad2

Photo above found at the Apple website Apple.com

I was delighted a few days ago when a fedex driver showed up at my doorstep a week early with my new ipad2 🙂 The timing was perfect as we are set to go on vacation next week and this gave me time to set up the device and become familiar with it.
So far my experience with Apples newest toy is amazing. Not to sound cliche but it truly is magical. Easy to use , versatile and so very portable, the iPad is a perfect travel companion.
I already own an iPhone so getting this set up and learning the basics was a breeze. The initial sync is time consuming depending on how much you are loading up onto it. I quickly filled the iPad’s memory to the brim and then went through and deleted apps and extras that I thought were better suited for just the iPhone. It’s a good idea to leave yourself a good chunk of available memory for the programs and media that you will undoubtedly add as you use it.
The app store on the iPad shows you which of your apps can be upgraded to the larger versions. It is really handy although I found that it didn’t quite find everything that it could have. A little browsing around quickly remedied the situation though. I am still using a number of iPhone apps on the iPad which fill a portion of the screen unless you hit the magnify button which enlarges the app. This is handy but results in some blurriness which is workable on some apps and not so much on others. Hopefully most apps will be available in both sizes quite quickly, the numbers seem to be growing rapidly 🙂
I have approximately 150 + apps loaded on the iPad at the moment ; and yes , I am an app addict hehe . This is my first post using WordPress on the iPad, it sure is much handier than the computer I find. The built in keyboard works like a charm and if you prefer the wireless keyboard from Apple is available. I have one set up with a dock and speaker. It took all of a minute to get it up and running which was nice and it’s great to have the option of using either input method.
I also tried a few other accessories such as the camera kit and hdmi adapter. The camera kit is easy to use and small enough to fit in any camera case easily . It’s great that so many companies are now using SD cards, the plethora of card readers in the past was getting insane. My son’s Wii, DSi and camera all use the SD cards as well as a Sony camcorder I picked up at Christmas time. The HDMI connector which allows you to hook up the iPad to a big screen tv is a lot of fun. Lego Harry Potter and Infinity Blade sure look cool on a 52″ LCD ! One drawback is that a long HDMI cable will cost as much as an Apple TV, so hopefully in the future Apple will add AirPlay functionality to apps like it does with movies and other iTunes media.
I put a screen protector on the iPad today , after learning my lesson from the iPhone. My poor phone gets quite a beating at work and without some sort of protection the glass gets completely destroyed after a while which is a very expensive fix. Of course with kids a screen protector also helps tremendously, especially when they are playing a game and have munchies at hand… Think peanut butter and / or Doritos 🙂 Of course we adults can be just as bad at times !
I was shopping around for a protective cover today. The local stores seemed to have plenty of iPad cases but mostly for the 1st version, it might be best to shop online for now until retailers catch up with this new device. There are tons of options available out there to suit every style and use. Some cases even come with built in keyboards for those who do a lot of typing.
I have been reading a lot of articles regarding the new iPad and how it marks the beginning of the post PC era. Personally I agree somewhat. If you sit down and list the types of things you’ve done on a computer in the last month, you’ll probably find that there is very little that can’t be done on this little touch screen. Around the house and at work , the iPad can be a great alternative to a big bulky desktop or rather expensive high powered laptop. Sure , I was drooling over the newest MacBook Pro when it was released but now that I think about it , do you really need one ? Don’t get me wrong, we haven’t quite reached the point where home computers are obsolete, my many photographer friends can attest to that. There are still a number of things that tablets such as this can’t do yet and that’s where a higher horsepower computer comes in handy . There is also the little problem of syncing all of these devices which is something you still need a computer for. Personally I think for home use, the perfect set up is an iPad for every day use, a Mac mini with a few external drives to act as a iTunes server and syncing device and an Apple TV to stream media to the home theatre. This is our present set up and it works beautifully . If I do decide to get back into professional Photography again one day then I will probably look at an iMac or MacBook but unless a person has a specific use in mine those computers seem more like overkill these days….
Well a few more days and we are off to Disneyland & Legoland 🙂 we can hardly wait to get away, it should be a blast ! We will be sure to be posting a few pics , videos and greetings during the trip .
Have a great weekend everyone ; best wishes , and don’t forget to keep smilin’ ( they’ll wonder what you’re up to hehe )
If you are looking at purchasing a new iPad and are curious about them here is the link to Apple website : http://www.apple.com/ca/ipad/
Namaste – William , thank you for stopping by , be sure to come again and stop by and say hi on twitter any time 🙂 twitter

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Apple’s Ping

itunes logo copyright Apple Inc.

Apple has always impressed people with their amazing products. They continue to improve and expand on things on a regular basis.
I’ve been using quite a variety of their hardware and software offerings over the years starting with the Apple II , iPods, apple tv, Mac mini, iPhone , MobileMe , iLife , etc….
iTunes has grown quite a bit over the years, starting with music and continually adding content to include books, movies, tv shows, podcasts, apps , etc
It’s newest foray is Ping ; a stab at sharing which , like iTunes, started with humble beginnings.
Every day I see new Artists signing up to this service and it’s great to watch it grow , but the question is : did they start too small ?
People have come to expect a lot from this company , so many were rather disappointed in Pings meek start.
Myself, I am optimistic that Ping will grow much like iTunes and continue to add new features.
Social integration is a must have to get customers on board. A share button allowing posts to be viewed on other networks such as twitter, Facebook, & foursquare would really help.
Adding more than music would also be a great boon. Having people share all their iTunes likes such as favorite movies, apps, tv shows , etc would really draw people with varied interests.
Another hurdle Ping faces is that it is part of iTunes rather than a separate entity on the web… Wouldn’t Ping.com be cool; with links to iTunes and maybe even a MobileMe version. Tying all these together might be a feat but a variety of options would really help.
Beginnings are always tricky… People always want so much at the onstart , but like I said , I am optimistic and am sure if people stick with it, Ping will evolve into something really cool 🙂

If you would like to check out my Ping profile just for fun my email is : williamanddavid@me.com

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Spring Cleaning

Spring is here and the warm weather has set in finally 🙂 We’ve been hard at it this weekend spring cleaning both inside and out. It’s great setting up the yard with summer fun such as badminton, croquet, soccer net & the tent for little back yard camp outs. Our little Chihuahua has had a blast running around the yard, for such a little puppy she can sure move fast. Curious to see how she takes the remote-controlled 4×4 my son has.

Cheering on our favorite hockey team as the playoffs get off to a roaring start. The Vancouver Canucks have had an exciting start playing against the L.A. Kings. As long as they stay out of the penalty box they should be able to advance. Would love to see them go all the way this year… Go Canucks Go !!!!!

My son, David, just finished up youth bowling for the year and has Soccer starting this week, he is so excited and has been practicing and working out for the upcoming season. They won their division last year 🙂

My fiancée, Colleen has been really busy with her business lately, so great to see things taking off and going well. We have a very cool product in the works and hope to be posting it on her website soon. Packaging is something I have to look into and really don’t have a clue about yet. Time to do a little research.

Be sure to check out her website : Guardian Angels Consciously ; she has some really interesting courses and products. She really loves helping people and it really shines through the work she does.

I’ve been reading a lot of news recently about the iPad that Apple introduced recently. The worldwide launch is set for the end of May at the moment. I am really looking forward to picking one up. I’ve always been an Apple person ever since running a business with a little Apple 2 back in 1995. It never crashed once unlike the windows/IBM machines so popular back then. Apple has consistently pushed the bar and brought out new and exciting products that people love. Clean , stylish, easy to use and reliable. I presently have a Mac, iPhone, AppleTV and several iPods and have had very little problems ever.

The iPad is very exciting, I really would love to see text-book publishers go hard and take advantage of this great technology. Students of all levels will love it. A few Universities are giving away iPads to their students while other Schools are banishing it due to reasons such as bandwidth problems , etc. I hope the wrinkles get ironed out shortly, it is only version one so the best is yet to come 🙂 One thing I would love to see is someone to come up with a stylus that would work with this type of touch screen which would be a boon to creative pros working on artwork or photography where precision is paramount. Another very useful use would be the ability to sign documents such as pdf’s which would really cut down on paper for people such as realtors.   I have read that a camera might be in the works although today most people carry phones with cameras built-in or little digital cameras that conveniently fit in a pocket. A few people complained about the lack of a phone , but the thought of holding a ten inch cell up to your ear just seems silly. Steve Jobs keynote introducing the new device really explained the whole idea quite well. I hope to see some of the touch screen technology transfer over to other products such as the iMac and macbooks. I am really looking forward to reading on the iPad, graphic novels will be fantastic. Marvel comics is on the app store all ready, i hope to see Vertigo to follow suit , my favorite was the Sandman by Neil Gaiman 🙂 It will be handy to have around the house. It was great to see Apple port a few programs over for content creation such as iwork. A way to blog directly to iweb sites would be great although WordPress is a handy alternative.

In the news lately , I’ve noticed Mother Nature getting quite nasty, the quake in China killing so many people and leaving so many homeless, the Volcano wreaking havoc in Europe, etc. Albertans tend to complain about the severe weather here in the winter, but I would gladly take -40c over the tragedies throughout other areas of the globe.

I am calling it a night , hope all is well in your part of the world ~ take care , pleasant dreams ~ Namaste ~ william

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Hey , back again , miss me ? :)))

Well , after a long break I feel inspired again and ready to blog. It’s been a busy couple of months with some huge changes and the future looks exciting ! Hope everyone had a great winter.

1st on the list of announcements is one of the websites I’ve been busy with is now up and running. It’s my fiancee’s business website : Colleen’s Place The site consists of two businesses ; Harmony within Life ~ Life Coaching and  Guardian Angels Consciously ~ Readings, Classes and Interesting Products & Services .  Be sure to stop by and take a peek. Things have really taken off and look for new additions coming soon !

My son David and I are working on a new and improved version of his website next with him at the helm. It’s a great learning experience and he has a blast with it. I’ll post a link in the next few weeks, once it’s all up and running.

The big news is that David and I moved in with my fiancee in the new year. It’s fantastic sharing our lives together and quite an adventure at times. Our previous home is up for sale at the moment, if you live in the Edmonton, Canada area and would like to check it out ; here’s the link :  Home for Sale

I have a few topics in mind and can’t wait to start blogging again on a regular basis. We are really looking forward to the new Apple iPad to be released in Canada, i heard the release date was pushed back until the end of May due to overwhelming response. Oh well, patience is a virtue or so they say, and by the time it get’s here there should be some amazing apps for it :))))

Just a quick hi tonight and thanks for stopping by , see you again shortly ~ Namaste ~ william

p.s. For you NHL fans out there ~ Go Canucks Go !!!!! Woo hoo :)))))))

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Black Bean & Chipotle Soup ~ Moosewoods Restaurant Daily Special

How surprising—the wonderful smoky flavor of even a tiny chipotle pepper can pervade a thick, hearty bean soup loaded with vegetables. It’s the perfect counterpoint to the mellow black beans.

Origin: Reprinted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special, Copyright © 1999 by Moosewood, Inc., Clarkson Potter, publishers, New York.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6Yields 8 cups

Prep Time: Prep time: 20-25 minutes

Cooking Time: Simmering time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

● ¼ cup olive oil

● 2 cups chopped onions

● 2 cloves garlic minced or pressed

● 2 cups peeled and diced carrots

● 1 ½ tsp. ground cumin

● 1 cup chopped celery

● 1 cup chopped green or red bell peppers

● 2 cups cooked black beans (two 15-ounce cans, undrained) (or cook 1 cup dried beans)

● ½ dried chipotle pepper, or 1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce (recommended)

● 2 cups chopped fresh or undrained canned tomatoes (12-ounce can)

● ½ cup orange juice

● ½ cup water

● salt to taste

● sour cream to top

● chopped fresh cilantro

How surprising—the wonderful smoky flavor of even a tiny chipotle pepper can pervade a thick, hearty bean soup loaded with vegetables. It’s the perfect counterpoint to the mellow black beans.

Origin: Reprinted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special, Copyright © 1999 by Moosewood, Inc., Clarkson Potter, publishers, New York.
Yield: Serves 4 to 6Yields 8 cups
Prep Time: Prep time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking Time: Simmering time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

● ¼ cup olive oil

● 2 cups chopped onions

● 2 cloves garlic minced or pressed

● 2 cups peeled and diced carrots

● 1 ½ tsp. ground cumin

● 1 cup chopped celery

● 1 cup chopped green or red bell peppers

● 2 cups cooked black beans (two 15-ounce cans, undrained) (or cook 1 cup dried beans)

● ½ dried chipotle pepper, or 1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce (recommended)

● 2 cups chopped fresh or undrained canned tomatoes (12-ounce can)

● ½ cup orange juice

● ½ cup water

● salt to taste

● sour cream to top

● chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Warm the oil in a non-reactive soup pot. Sauté the onions and garlic in the oil for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the carrots and cumin and cook on medium heat, sitting often for a few minutes. Add the celery and peppers, lower the heat, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the beans chipotle, tomatoes, orange juice, and water, and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. If you’re not using canned beans, add ½ cup of beans cooking liquid or additional water.If you like a thicker broth, you can blend one or two cups of the soup until pureed, and stir it back into the remaining soup. Top with optional sour cream and cilantro.

http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/

I have had a few cookbooks from the Moosewoods restaurant, they are great for trying out new and interesting dishes ! My favorite is Sundays at Moosewoods

To keep track of my favorite recipes I have been using a cool Mac program called Yummy Soup, it is really easy to use, my only complaint is the lack of a Twitter button and other sharing options 🙂

Yummy Soup

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Giving WordPress on iphone a try

Hello and welcome to my little piece of the web ! I’ve tried blogging a few times now but always found it hard keeping it up with a busy lifestyle of a single dad.
Wordpress seems to have alot of great features and the iPhone app is handy and easy to use so here goes the latest try !
I have a website in the works to play around with a bit of creative writing as well as show off visual works by some very talented and inspiring friends.
I will be sure to post a link once it’s been updated 🙂
You can find me on Twitter listed as willanddavid , (i am Will and David is my incredibly cool son.) Twitter is my favorite social site without all the bothers that come with facebook.
Give it a try if you haven’t yet :))))
So ; what will I blog about ? Oh , a little bit of anything… Life , the universe, but no mention of the number 42. Sorry , I don’t have any answers, I am just a little left of centre and tend to roll with the punches but as my favorite author once wrote ” there is always hope ….”
( Neil Gaiman )
Take care all, Namaste, and please drop by again – William
P.S. This blog is dedicated to my beautiful fiancée and loving son who both provide such an amazing adventure to my life :))))

 

 

 

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