Picture Source: The Skinny by Heavy Industries

Have you seen strange lights above Vancouver the last several nights? Well, it’s not a call for Batman (like I originally thought). 

Vectorial Elevation has been lighting up Vancouver since last Thursday and will continue until Feb 28, 2010.  You can take part in Vectorial Elevation as it is interactive artwork.  It is looking very popular with nearly 6 million hits to the site so far.

Another fun option for participatory art during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics – We Are Watching by visual artist Rina Liddle.  A part of Bright Light, We Are Watching offers people the opportunity to send in video clips documenting any aspect of the Olympic games and celebrations that are happening in Vancouver and Whistler.  The unedited footage will be projected, on a building in the Lower Eastside of Vancouver during the Olympic & Paralympic games.

Picture Source: Artabase

Make sure you take advantage of these innovative ways to tap into your creativity because they will only be here for a limited time.   Will look forward to seeing your masterpieces in the night skies of Vancouver!

Tweet This Post

Are you still looking for something special to do Feb 14?  Take an evening stroll down Granville Street for the 2010 Lunar Festival.  Lunar Fest is part of the Cultural Olympiad which is offering an amazing array of arts and popular culture events.  There’s lots of free stuff to do during the Olympics too.

About.com has some cool ideas for a fantastic Vancouver Valentine’s including events, gift ideas, romantic restaurants and more.

Are you dating, or married to, a geek? Great!  Here’s 10 Fabulous Valentine’s Day Gifts for Geeks that are sure to please.

Don’t have a Valentine?  Use high tech to find your soulmate with iRelate – a new iPhone app that uses over 1,176 different relationship combinations.

Whatever you decide to do, have fun and try not to eat too much chocolate!

Tweet This Post

Image courtesy of www.cnet.co.uk

A few days before the Apple iPad bombarded the media, Google’s Chrome team posted some mock-ups for a hypothetical Chrome OS tablet.

If Steve Jobs thought the Google Android teams were trying to kill Apple, I wonder how he feels about the GPad? Hmmm, what’s worse than killing an Apple? Baking it? Mmmm Apple pie.

Officially, a Google Tablet is just a possibility being floated around the Chromium project.  Take a look at the concept demo below.

Tablets are a hot item these days so I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about it soon.

Image courtesy of www.cnet.co.uk

A few days before the Apple iPad bombarded the media, Google’s Chrome team posted some mock-ups for a hypothetical Chrome OS tablet.

If Steve Jobs thought the Google Android teams were trying to kill Apple, I wonder how he feels about the GPad? Hmmm, what’s worse than killing an Apple? Baking it? Mmmm Apple pie.

Officially, a Google Tablet is just a possibility being floated around the Chromium project.

Tablets are the hot item these days so I’m sure we’ll hearing about it soon enough.  Until then, take a look at the concept demo video.

Tweet This Post

Source railway-technology.com

Translink’s recent estimates suggest passenger lineups of approximately 1 hour to take SkyTrains to Olympic events, instead of the original estimate of up to 2 hours.  Let’s hope they’re right!

If you’ve taken the SkyTrain recently, you may have noticed the barriers Translink has put up to help keep everyone in line, literally.  Be sure to dress warm as an hour waiting in line, even an orderly line, is long enough to catch a chill.

Regardless of Translink’s reduced wait-time estimates, it is still a good idea to give yourself lots of time to get to your destination.   When calculating your trip time, don’t forget to include some extra time for security screening at Olympic events too.  It would be a shame to miss out and arrive just after they’ve handed out the medals!

Not sure how to get where you’re going? Try out Translink’s Trip Planner.

Tweet This Post

A huge variety of pavilions and houses showcasing different regions, cultures and organizations from all over the world.

Try ziplining across Robson street while 6 stories in the air!

Or, if you’d prefer to be closer to the ground, take the Olympic Line streetcar, it travels between Granville Island and the Canada Line Olympic Village Station.

Tweet This Post

Source: Flickr Joe Gratz

The Olympic expedited tourist’s court has been put in place to handle any foreigners involved in less serious crimes, such as:

• simple assault
• impaired driving
• theft under $5000
• credit card fraud
• prostitution related offenses
• marijuana possession

The intention is to have short, day-long trials heard within 2 weeks of the criminal incident.  So, tourists, you’d better be good for your own sake.

Tweet This Post

Source: Flickr .jerry-b.

Make sure you have a hands-free device as the one-month grace period is over for the new BC cell phone law.

Check out Paul Breau’s Jan 6 post about the new BC law.

As of February 1, drivers caught talking, texting or emailing can expect a $167 ticket.

Ns and Ls, if you don’t want to be tempted, just put your phone in the trunk. Novice and learner drivers are banned from using any electronic device.

Remember, it is always better to pay more attention to the road than less.  A heightened road awareness is especially important during the Olympics with so many more people on the roads. Safe driving!

Tweet This Post

Picture source iLounge

To help you decide, check out these 10 Top Ten lists – the good, the bad & the ugly.

1. 10 Reasons To Buy An iPad
2. 10 Reasons Not to Buy One
3. 10 Things To Know About The Apple iPad
4. 10 Reasons Why I Like The iPad
5. 10 Reasons I Don’t Want An Apple iPad
6. 10 Things Missing From The iPad
7. 10 Features That Would Make iPad A Hit
8. 10 Things Netbooks Still Do Better Than An iPad
9. 10 Reasons Apple iPad Will Put Kindle Out of Business
10. 10 Reasons Why the Apple Will NOT Kill The Kindle

13 Top Tens sounded kind of weird so here’s 3 bonus lists:

• 10 Apple iPad FAQ’s
• 10 Reasons Why The iPad Would Fail Without The Apple Logo
• 10 Reasons The Apple iPad Could Fail Catastrophically

Tweet This Post

No cell phone use while driving (except hands-free)

We’ve all heard about it – but if you need the facts about the use of cell phones while driving – here they are. With thanks to the www.hellobc.com site.

It’s official, as of January 1, 2010 in British Columbia (though I’m told there is a month grace period), it is against the law to drive while using a handheld cell phone or other electronic device. Any violation of the law will net drivers a $167 fine. If a driver is caught texting or emailing, three points will also be added to their record.

What’s allowed? Hands-free cell phones that are voice activated, or activated by one touch, provided they are securely attached to the vehicle or the driver’s body (such as an earpiece). Learn more from DriveCellSafe.com. They also have a bunch of great downloadable .PDF documents.

Still, if you really need to use your cell phone while driving (and I really hope that you won’t) – you can check out some of your options:

http://reviews.cnet.com/bluetooth-headset-buying-guide/

Safe driving,  Paul

Tweet This Post

1) EBook Readers

Sony eReaders
- Available in-store in Canada (can wrap and get under the tree)
- great for everyone. Students can read their class notes, women can read their romance novels without shame, dads can read their work documents.
- 2 versions:

*PRS-300 is the Standard edition. 5″ display, supports PDF, Microsoft Word, BBeB Book, as well as ePub/ACS4.  Lasts up to 2 weeks of reading on one full charge.   $239

*PRS-600 is the Touch edition. 6″ display, touch-screen, supports PDF, Microsoft Word, BBeB Book, as well as ePub/ACS4, MP3 and AAC audio files. Lasts up to 2 weeks of reading on one full charge.  $349

2) Point-and-shoot Cameras

Canon SD1200 IS   – $180
- basic camera
- It’s tiny, comes in a bunch of colors, and Canon’s been refining the basic PowerShot UI for so long that even a baby can use it
- takes great photos with its 10 megapixel sensor

Nikon S1000PJ   – $500
- features an integrated LED pico projector that lets you beam your photos and videos on the wall as soon as you take ‘em.
- 12.1 megapixel sensor, five-way VR image stabilization, and 5x wide-angle zoom should help you take some stunning shots to show off.

3) DSLR Cameras

Canon Rebel T1i   – $779 for just the Body. $830 for the starter kit.
- Best bang-for-the-buck DSLR
- a pretty great deal at around $850 for a kit from a reputable seller
- you get a variant of the EOS 50D’s 15.1 megapixel sensor, a 1080p movie mode, a 3.0-inch Live View display, and a UI we’ve found novices pick up quite easily.

4) Television

Samsung 46″ 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV  – $2900
- for the environment-loving geeks out there
- Super slim, energy efficient LCDs are all the rage this holiday season and with Yahoo! Widgets, DLNA streaming, nice picture quality, a backlit remote and optional WiFi
- 1.2-inch thick, skinny edge lit LED frame
- (Also available in 40- and 55-inch sizes)

5) Laptops

Dell Studio 15 Laptop  – $699
Dell’s Studio 15 doesn’t start out as the flashiest laptop in the world, but you can certainly make it that way, with a wealth of custom graphics and colors at your disposal. It’s more than solid underneath that 15.6-inch 720p display, with a 2.2GHz Intel T6600 Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB drive.

6) Netbooks

Acer Aspire One   – $300
- With Windows XP, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD and a 10.1-inch screen
- Wireless G, built-in camera and mic, plus multi-touch mouse pad

7) Accessories

Western Digital MyBook 1TB HDD  – $120
- Hard Drive storage is going to get bigger and bigger and cheaper and cheaper.
- There’s no excuse to not backup your work files now. Don’t get into trouble by losing your project or homework because you forgot to backup your data!

Camcorders

Flip Ultra HD  – $250

- Built-in 8GB flash memory (up to 120 minutes of recording time)
- Shoots full 720p at 30fps
- HDMI Out lets you watch your High Def videos right on your TV
- Advanced compression technology reduces video size for quick and easy    uploading and sharing to Youtube
- Rechargeable batteries included

Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1  m- $500

- Record directly to an SD or SDHC memory card
- Waterproof to 3 metres, the VPC-WH1 can be fully submersed without worry
- 720p resolution, 30x optical zoom, 2.5″ LCD monitor rotates 285 degrees so you can view images from just about any angle

Merry Christmas everyone.

Tweet This Post