Welcome to Nest

I just got a Nest Learning Thermostat on the weekend. We've wanted one for a long time. It's a pretty high tech device. It is supposed to intelligently learn the habits of the household, and adjust the temperature accordingly. That seems like a great idea during the Canadian winter. In our house, no one is home for much of the day, so the temperature doesn't need to be at the same level than in the morning and evening. Same goes for when we're sleeping. Of course, there have been many thermostats over the years that you could program, but this one self programs, and perhaps can do it better than I could.

The Nest Thermostat that I have mounted in my living room.

Now to be fair, you can manually enter a schedule, and I already have, since I know that at night, I can turn the temperature down. But I'm waiting to see how Nest adjusts to our habits and begins to adjust the temperature accordingly during the daytime. If it truly works, I expect that it will automatically start setting itself in to "Away" mode for most of the daytime hours, since both me and my wife are at work. That's certainly an opportunity to save some money.

On the one hand, I am definitely not the first person to use Nest, so I believe it should probably work just fine, but I also know results can vary. So for now, it's just a wait and see situation. I've only had the thermostat for two days. No matter what, it's a pretty cool device. I'm a guy who likes gadgets, and I am really interested in affordable home automation going mainstream. Therefore, this product is right up my alley.

PS. As a side note, the same company has also announced "Nest Protect" as of today. It's an intelligent smoke detector, and apparently also works with your Nest thermostat. I will have to write about that another day.

Jumbo Glacier Mountain Ski Resort

B.C. approves Jumbo Glacier Mountain ski resort

The CBC quotes NDP Leader Adrian Dix:

"The government has made its decision presumably to try and gain political benefit but the economic, environmental and community interest is being abandoned here."

Sometimes it's hard when you are pitting nature against economic growth. It's clear that the development will bring a lot of jobs to the area, not just at the resort, but in the nearby communities. Their hospitality industry will grow exponentially, and will likely bring money for developments that the residents will benefit from.

As a snowboarder I obviously have a biased view here. I like the idea of a year round ski resort for sure, and that's something that will make this development unique.

I share the residents' and the environmentalists' concerns to an extent though. I hope that between the developer and the government, we can have this resort built with the least amount of impact on the  wildlife.

More Money for the Police?

Police want more cash, mayor wants more efficiency

Gordon Kent from the Edmonton Journal writes:

Much of the police increase covers inflation, wage increases and the full annual salary of officers hired partway through this year, but there is also a proposal to add 29 officers along with 13 sheriffs and paramedics.

Public Safety is definitely a major focus for me. I think Mandel is right that the police need to be more efficient, but we need to make sure they have access to the resources they need.

During the last couple of years, seeing our murder rate climb has been disappointing to me, and I'm sure many Edmontonians. We want to feel safe in our city, and not just in our own subdivisions, but everywhere we go.

There's plenty more to be done in crime prevention as well, but our police are the front line, and we should support them.

Obama FTW

Well it looks like Obama will get 4 more years. Obama got 303 electoral votes compared to Mitt Romney's 206. Technically there's still 29 electoral votes to be assigned from Florida, but the race was so close there that the numbers haven't yet been confirmed.

Interestingly, Obama also carried the popular vote in the country, but only by a slim margin. Obama got a total of 60,481,241 votes while Romney received 57,678,067. For a while last night, CNN was projecting Obama as the winner, but the popular vote still favoured Romney. What's interesting is that Obama won by a large margin when it comes to the electoral votes, but clearly, based on the actual number of votes, The United States is actually quite divided.

However, I've said it in my previous post, and I'll say it again. Obama is the right decision. In the last four years, there has been steady improvements in the American economy. He's accomplished an unprecedented amount of health care reform, and he's ended two wars. In his second term, it looks like he's going to continue working on the economy, while tackling the immigration issues that plague the United States. By the end of his 8 year presidency, I think Obama will have a legacy that his nation can be proud of.

Why the US Election Matters to Me

Obama, Romney pull out the stops in last weekend of U.S. campaign

In just two days, Americans will go to the polls and decide who will be the next president of the United States.

It's interesting as a Canadian to watch from a distance. It's also arguably important that we pay attention as well, because I think most Canadians have a stake in this as well.

For example, it's clear that the American economy affects ours, and has a global impact. In 2008, when the American economy crashed, it didn't take long for ours to suffer. The effects are still being felt globally, with some nations, especially in Europe, that haven't even begun to recover.

As an Albertan especially, you might think I would lean towards Romney. He has said time and time again that getting the Keystone Pipeline project completed, and importing oil from the oil sands is a major priority for him. This would bring a huge amount of money in to our economy, but for me, it's not the biggest factor. We will always find a market for our oil. The demand is not fading.

I think that if I could vote in the American election, I would be voting for Obama. He's taken a broken economy and has been able to make a partial recovery, even as globally many nations are not. The unemployment rate has declined since he took office, he's helped to save the automobile industry, and the big one for me, he's brought in much needed health care reform. It's my feeling that if Americans give Obama 4 more years, he will be able to finish what he started, and set up the United States to be stronger than they ever have before. And by extension, Canadians will be better off too, as our relationship with our most important ally strengthens.

New bylaw could bring suburban garages to mature neighbourhoods

New bylaw could bring suburban garages to mature neighbourhoods

ELISE STOLTE writes for the Edmonton Journal

Critics argue streets lined with large, front garages makes a community less friendly for pedestrians, as driveways interrupt treed boulevards and otherwise continuous sidewalks. Homes stand further back from the street, and windows are hidden by the garage walls.

 I think the notion that front garages make a neighbourhood less pedestrian friendly is misguided. There are plenty of neighbourhoods with front garages. In fact, that is almost exclusively the type of housing that is being built today.

I go for walks all the time in my neighbourhood, and I don't find it inconvenient, scary, or anything else when I'm walking in front of someone's driveway. Obviously you have to remain aware for people who may back out of their driveway, but typically they are going much slower, and you have more notice than if you were crossing a road.

The other argument, of course, is that front driveways obscure the character of a house. This might be true to some extent, but then again I've even seen some pretty nice garages too. What I do find to be ugly is in the older neighbourhoods where they have detached garages behind the house, and alleyways  mazing through the community, basically creating a secondary road system. Most alleyways are disgraceful. They aren't taken care of by the city as well as main roadways, and the neighbours don't care as much either. After all, it's just the back of their house. And don't forget there is a safety risk here as well. Motorists go speeding through alleyways, sometimes trying to take shortcuts, and if I'm a pedestrian walking in an alley, I had better be on the lookout.

Space

Image from http://www.freeimageslive.com/

Today, a man named Felix Baumgartner jumped from a space capsule roughly 127,000 feet above the earth. It was called the Red Bull Stratos project and it set a new record for skydiving. Of course, when you get up that high, it's not really considered sky diving anymore. It's Space Jumping!

While impressive, this wasn't on the same level as other human achievements in space like landing on the moon. But it does show that we are seeing a renewed interest in space, mostly because the U.S. government is letting go of some control, and letting private enterprise in to the mix. This is a huge step, and in the end with NASA's limited resources, it will allow us to discover more about space, and let more people experience space, than ever before.

In fact, today's stunt was only a very small part of this new trend. We now have a private company, Spacex, making deliveries to the International Space Station. Soon they will even be transporting our astronauts back and forth. Don't forget about Virgin Galactic, which will soon be taking "space tourists" for rides just beyond the stratosphere.

I think it's logical to assume that within my lifetime, I will have the opportunity to go to space if I want to, and it will become reasonably affordable. That's very exciting, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Check out the link below to see some highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I&feature=plcp

The Appeal of Banff

 

I've been to Banff four times this year. It's beginning to feel like I live there. But why do I keep going back? What exactly is the appeal of Banff? Well, I think it starts with the location. The town is situated on the most easterly side of the Rocky Mountains in Canada. In fact it only takes about half an hour to get to Banff once you enter the Rocky Mountains, and it's about an hour from Calgary. So I guess it's pretty convenient, but I live in Edmonton. So why would I go to Banff instead of Jasper?

They both have great hiking, and they both have great skiing. There's no question that both of these places are great if you love being outdoors. But I think when it comes down to it and you want to retreat back to the townsite, that's when you begin to notice some subtle differences. For example the fine dining experience is much broader in Banff. It has many more restaurants and Jasper and the quality of the restaurants seem to be a little bit higher as well. The other great thing it has of course is the shopping. Now I am no big shopper, but my fiancé does like to shop when we go, therefore it becomes a priority for me as well. The shopping in Jasper does not compare to what you can find in Banff.

It's also common that I find people believe the Jasper is closer to Edmonton than Banff is. Technically, this is true. Jasper is 376 km from Edmonton. Banff is 412 km. And what does that equate to in time? Well, according to a popular mapping service it turns out to be a difference of about nine minutes. I think I can drive another nine minutes.

Inevitably, if someone actually reads this, I will get flak from the Jasper fans. And by no means am I knocking Jasper in any way. I do think it's a great place to visit and Jasper national Park is a beautiful and amazing piece of Canada. But there must be some reason why Jasper National Park gets 1.8 million annual visitors, and Banff gets about double.

Since I seem to like Banff so much, here's some things to do:

Hike up to the Lake Agnes Tea House

Take a Bout Tour at Lake Minnewanka

Enjoy some brews and some live tunes at Wild Bill's Saloon

Dance the night away at the Dancing Sasquatch

James Bond

The James Bond franchise just recently celebrated 50 years. Clearly one of the longest running and most successful franchises in history.

Speaking of which, there's a new Bond movie coming on November 9: Skyfall

Inevitably, more bad guys will fall, which begs the question:

How Many People Has James Bond Killed in total?

Book Review: The Wealthy Barber Returns

I recently finished a great financial planning book called The Wealthy Barber Returns by Dave Chilton. I've always been kind of in to finance. For one thing, I understand how money works, especially in a business sense. But I've never been very good at following through on the basic principles of personal finance. It's only been in the last year or so that I have started to get serious about my finances.

What's nice about Chilton's book is that he keeps things simple. He puts finance in to perspective for all of us to understand. In the book, he keeps pushing the "Pay Yourself First" principle. This is the idea that before you do anything with your money, you should put a certain amount aside as savings. Of course, your options for putting that money away are varied and complicated, but the principle is the same. It's the single most important thing that I took away from the book, and total common sense. But remember that sometimes common sense isn't so common, and often times people don't follow this simple rule, even when they know they should. And one more thing, the earlier the better. The best time to start saving is now!

Here's another great lesson from the book. Learning to say "I can't afford it." He teaches us that it can be quite liberating to simply say those words. After you say that, the pressure is off. Often times we try to keep up with what our friends or neighbours are doing, even when we truly can't afford it. Once you learn to say "I can't afford it", managing your finances becomes quite a bit easier.

Dave Chilton doesn't really teach us anything new in the book. Frankly, most of the principles are the same as they always have been. Save your money, live within your means. It's basic stuff, but I recommend the book because it take these simple principles and teaches us how to apply them to our own lives.

Taking Ownership of our Country

Image by: Ssolbergj

I just finished watching Sicko by Michael Moore. It discusses the American health care system, and the unfortunate state that it's in. Their lack of universal health care and the health insurance and drug companies wielding so much power creates a system where many people fall through the cracks.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who can make good counter arguments with valid points, and I don't want to debate the integrity of Moore's argument, but the film did bring up a broader issue for me. That is the issue of ownership. I started to think about who owns this country, and of course, if you work it backwards from the government, you realize, we own this country. We, the citizens of Canada, are also the owners of Canada. When I thought about it this way, I thought not only of my privileges as a citizen, but of my responsibilities.

Unfortunately, I don't own property yet. But I do have an apartment, and I will someday soon be in the market for a condo. And whether it be in my apartment, or my condo, I will ensure a certain way of doing things is maintained in my space. I will make sure that my place looks a certain way and maintains a specific standard. I will ensure that the people who come in to my space are treated a certain way. This is my space and I must take the responsibility for it.

I think you see where I am going here. As citizens of Canada, we should take responsibility, ownership for our space. We should make sure that it looks a certain way, maintains a specific standard. We should ensure that people here are treated in a certain way, and I think most of us would agree that we should be treating everyone fairly and hospitably.

This is why I reject the American notion that low taxes are always good. Sure, I believe that governments need to be efficient with our money, and should be held accountable when they are not, but we shouldn't be thinking about taxes just as us handing money over to the government. We really should realize we're paying for something, and I'm actually proud of that fact. To be honest, maybe we should be paying more. As Canadians we often get a sense of pride when we talk about our healthcare system to non-Canadians, as we tell them that we don't pay a dime for our care in the hospital. But internally, when we talk to each other, we know it could be better. And what about countries like Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, and Sweden that offer free post secondary education? Shouldn't we do the same? Shouldn't we be making sure we can keep up?

Many people believe that embracing these policies would mean we were socialists, and that this is a bad thing.  Some people might think that it would take away the notion of working hard and attaining your (American) dream. I reject this as well. There is still differences in lifestyle in those countries. In fact, you can bet there is still great disparity between the rich and the poor in those countries. But I think the difference is ownership. We know that everyone deserves the right to health care, and we know that everyone deserves the right to an education, but in taking ownership, we should realize that a high school education isn't good enough anymore. And if we're going to take pride in the place that we live, we should extend that to our entire country. We shouldn't just accept the fact that we have broken roads, run down schools and unsightly neighbourhoods. In the 21st century we shouldn't allow ourselves to deny some of our own people access to clean water, a warm bed and access to the Internet. Yes, I said the Internet. This is now a basic need!

As a so-called developed country, we cannot simply stop our innovation here, and wait for others to catch up. When we as a nation of people take ownership for our place on this planet, we can lead the way, and show the rest of the world the direction to go in.

Movies I'm Possibly Excited About

The Muppets: The hype for this movie is off the charts. The right blend of childish humour and adult references. The Muppets are a classic.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - If only because Simon Pegg is in it.

Snow White and the Hunstman: An action movie about Snow White. Pretty cool twist.

Chronicle: To Rent, not watch in theatres.

And one that I won't be wasting my time with:

Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace in 3D



Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

View From My Window

This is the view from my window.

Sometimes the sky can be really beautiful in the morning.

Just a Reminder: You don't always have to have the last word.

Sometimes people say things they don't mean. Have you ever done that? I know I have. If you're not sure, I'll tell you how you can recognize the situation. What ever you do, whatever you say, you immediately regret it. There is no period in which you felt like it was the right thing to do or say. The moment you realize you've done wrong is the exact moment it happens. As if you can see the words coming out of your mouth and you wish you could reach out, grab them and stuff them back in. It happens in the blink of an eye.

I think we've all been there. Usually you are mad at someone, and it's in our nature to have to win any argument that comes up, so we're constantly grasping for the key phrase that will add a sense of finality to the debate. Like, "This is my final statement, and it's so blunt and so truthful that there is no comeback for it, so don't even bother!" There. Done. I win.

Except, I don't win. In fact, it's at this moment that I lose. Why? Because just as I stated, there is no comeback. It's when I realize that what I said was so hurtful and the other person is so stunned, there is nothing left to say. I'm writing this post because I'm in a weird mood... I'm not reflecting on a recent event in my life. Although, I admit, I make this common mistake a little too often. I'm trying to learn that every time a dispute happens between me and someone else, that it's not an opportunity for me to one-up them. This post is a reminder to myself to be a little nicer, even when I don't agree with someone. Life really is too short to get all worked up over the little things. It's just a reminder to everyone: You don't always have to have the last word.

Nice Day

Check out my grade 5 looking sketch that I just made with Skethbook Express! My artistry definitely needs improvement, but I think it's a fun App to play with. Available now in the new Mac App Store!

Christmas Tree

Christmas is a magical time. But now it's over. Look at this cool picture I shot and edited using Camera+ for iPhone!



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