Category: Uncategorized

Hot, humid weather offered the perfect atmosphere for our annual Festival of South Asia held on Gerrard Street East this weekend. My shirt was wringing wet by the time I got home but I would never want to miss all the colour, music, food, costumes and customs on show.

Our so-called “Little India” is as much or more our “Little Pakistan”. It’s been a bit depressed, business-wise recently, but today the street was packed from curb to curb. We have some new restaurants… even an Irish pantry… and a few other new businesses suggest that things are looking up.

The festival is SO Toronto… a mish-mash of old Ontario carny stalls and kiddie rides, heritage actors from the CUPE union, South Asian drums and dancers, bangles and saris from India, cooking from Lahore and every kind of attire imaginable. And too much to photograph!

We have 478 days to go before we can vote Rob Ford out of the mayor’s office. October 27, 2014 is too far away.

What a pleasure to give credit and thanks to a company that has gone beyond expectations to keep a customer happy.
I use an EyeTV box to pull in TV signals to my Mac screen and, when I wish, to record shows for watching later. It’s a PVR without the monthly charges from the cable companies. I get 22 channels in Toronto. Works well.
About a month ago, though, all of my signals suddenly dried up. No more TV. I emailed the manufacturer, Elgato, a received a prompt reply with troubleshooting tips. No joy, so the tech people patiently walked me through some diagnostic tests and I sent them the results for study. It was decided that my little electronic unit… the hardware part… was the problem.

Black Apple Repair moved from a short stay in a storefront on Beach Hill, but not far. My friend Crawf and I found the proprietor at her new location alongside East Lynn Park.
As it happened, we weren’t looking for Apple or Blackberry repairs. Crawf’s car key fob had come apart and seemed to need some soldering. We phoned to see it Black Apple could help.
I am delighted to say that soldering wasn’t even needed… just an expert eye and a skilled touch on the key fob motherboard. Bingo! She got it working. No charge.
The least I can do is tell my friends where they can find someone to take care of any iPod, iPad or Blackberry repair needs.

I just spent a week tinkering with Ubuntu, an attractive version of the Linux operating system that offers a free and very solid alternative to Windows and Mac OS X. Then I learned that it tracks my internet use and sells the info to Amazon.
Ummmmm, No! This isn’t the kind of behaviour I expect from open source software. I don’t like the spyware built into the big pay systems either, but Microsoft and Apple are commercial, profit-seeking companies. You know they’ll sell you for a buck.
I was slow to find Richard Stallman’s take on this, but I agree with him. 6-minute YouTube video, next.

Everyone is all smiles now that Hayden has arrived safely. She took her time getting here, didn’t she Julianna? Never mind all that long labour now. Hayden’s perfect and Mom is fine, although probably exhausted.
From left to right: Proud father Brendan holds hours-old Hayden. Julianna, at the baby shower a few months ago. Joy-filled grandmother Ulli, who manages to look great even after very little sleep.
No shots yet of Grandfather Crawf or Julianna’s mom who’s here all the way from Korea. I’m sure there will be more photos soon.
BTW, I’ve known Crawf since high school. He and Ulli are staying with us while Hayden checks in and gets settled. Hayden is Grand Child Number One for Ulli and Crawf.
[Update] I have a couple of new photos. Julianna’s mom with Hayden and, of course, the star herself… just hours old.

Trikers, actually. Kathleen went on her inaugural run today, Canada Day! She let Danica have a test ride, too. The verdict? Great wheels! It will take a bit of practice to get completely comfortable with riding, but the traffic in the area is very light. The terrain is pretty flat, too. Good thing. The trike has only one speed.
Note the excellent examples being set for kids. Helmets are not legally required for riders over 18, but they are still a must. [Editor’s note: Danica has had one point subtracted from her excellent example rating, due to the “Look Ma, no hands” pose.]
Kathleen received favourable reviews from neighbours as she passed by and I would like to add my own. Way to go!

Blackberry stock could have gone either way today, when the first quarter sales results were released. The bears guessed right.
CEO Heins is on the ropes, so he went back on his promise to bring the new BB10 operating system to Blackberry’s unsuccessful tablet. He can’t spare the resources to keep his word and the Playbook is dead-ended. All it’s good for now is wi-fi web surfing, getting email, shooting HD video, taking photos, watching movies, video chatting and that sort of thing.

Watching a video or movie on your iPad screen? If you have an AppleTV gizmo attached to your big TV screen, you can see it displayed on your big TV screen via Apple AirPlay.

Double-click your iPad Home Button to see the bottom row of app icons shown above, then scroll to the left-most end of the row to see the buttons above.
When you click the AirPlay button, a window will open, letting you choose where you want to see your movie.
[Addendum: iPad 1 does not mirror everything that can appear on the iPad screen (such as web pages) but you can play many YouTube movies and other videos, sending them to your TV screen using AirPlay. Look for an AirPlay icon on the control bar under your video. If it’s there, you can stream it to AppleTV.]

The easiest way to understand how SketchUp helps you draw in 3 dimensions… the Beginner’s tutorial!

Think you’d like to try it? It’s a lot easier to move furniture around with a mouse than with your back! Grab the free version.
If you watch and do the 3 introductory tutorials, you’ll be amazed at what you can design. There are thousands of free 3D models to download, too. Need a refrigerator, easy chair or desk to furnish your interior? How about a tank to park in your driveway? Type your wish in the warehouse search box and see what’s available.

You can rotate your creations in space, to see how things look from various viewpoints. SketchUp lets you drop warehouse models into your drawing from within the app. (Window –> Components)
But watch the tutorials. The instructions are very good.