It's snowing - first one this year

Skiing started early this year and now we have our first snow fall in the city. It may not be sticking in all areas (ie sea level) but the upper areas are certainly getting accumulation. The morning commute should be an interesting one given that Vancouver drivers really don't get much experience with snow and as a result, they don't really know how to drive in it!

One of lifes interesting tid bits

It really is the little things in life that make each day worth living, you just never know when something interesting will happen. This morning I was driving into work just like any other day except that it was quite foggy. The fog was sitting pretty low

Fog in November is unsual for Vancouver so everybody was driving pretty slow. As I pulled up to an intersection I looked over at a building complex that had its sprinklers running. You have to wonder why a sprinkler system was running when it has been wet and foggy for days but that is another story. The cool thing about this scene was that the sprinklers were spraying a fine mist which was immediately turning into fog. It was like a special effects person had setup a bunch of fog generators on the lawn. Each sprinkler produced a column of fog that went straight up about six feet before melding with the rest of the fog. All in all it looked pretty cool.

Funny how the little things can spruce up a day.

Developers Corner

Many of us in the software field often have discussions about the latest tech or software development techniques. We glean these details from a variety of sources many of which we don't give a second thought to. Well today a coworker and I were having just such a discussion and the inevitable question came up, "What resources do you use to keep up with the latest tech?".

Now you can answer a question like this by rattling of a few resources that come to mind or perhaps send them a few URLs from your list of bookmarks, neither of these really covers the question completely though. I'm not sure about you but I use many different resources to keep up with the latest and many of these resources I visit only periodically. From these sites, blogs, etc I usually come across other sites that provide interesting bits, the net result being a bit of a spider web of connections. Hmmm, maybe that is why it is called the world wide web. :-)

Anyway, as a result of this discussion I thought it might be interesting to start posting sites I have found useful with the hope that others may also contribute to this list. These sites will span software development, software design, tools and technologies and probably a few sites talking about gadgets, etc.

To start of I've trolled my bookmarks to come up with a few sites I've found useful over the last while.

.Net Developers Journal - This is a Microsoft site that provides a good source of... you guessed it.... .Net related info.

O'Reilly OnLamp - The OnLamp site has been a favorite of mine for a while due to the combination of well written articles and coverage on some of the latest developments in software tech.

Raganwald - What we have here is a personal blog that talks about software development from a variety of angles. Stop by often because if todays post doesn't interest you tomorrows may.

InformIT - All things software. Includes info on software design, toolkits, developments in the markerplace, and much much more.

Safari - Although this is a pay site, I think it is invaluable for those who want to read up on the lates tools and techniques. Safari is an online book store that works on a monthly subscription. They have an excellent selection of books and some very useful search facilities. There is a 2 week trial giving you a chance to try before you buy.


Let me know if you have a favorite blog, website, discussion group or other resource.

Pumkin Mania

Halloween has come and gone and as many a year past, we carved up a number of pumkins this year. To make life just a little more interesting, we bought an extreme pumpkin carving book this year. You know, looking at the pictures it seems like the pumpkins should not be too difficult to carve.... Lets just say there is a reason the word extreme is in the title! :-)

This pumpkin is a template I found on the web and since Emma likes cats, it was a natural choice. The pumpkin came out quite nice and was certainly popular with our trick or treaters.

As I mentioned earlier, we picked up a new set of extreme carving templates. Being one that likes a challenge, I picked this template and went to it. A couple hours later it was done, doesn't look to bad I certainly need to refine my carving skills to get all the detail. Well, there is always next year!

Here are a couple of small pumkins we put in our tree just to add a little interest as people came up the stairs to our door. If you are looking for a way to get into pumpkin carving, I'd highly recommend the Pumpkin Masters books. They come in different collections several of which are good for beginners and they usually come with tools to help you with the carving.