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February 21st 2020 - 01:16
News
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Pet Food Recall - Not Here |
Wyatt Earp
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Category: Bosunīs Log
March 23rd, 2007
Itīs sad that yet again itīs taken a tragedy to awaken societyīs collective consciouses to an injustice. In this case itīs the scandalous realm that is commercially rendered-meat based pet foods....
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Always Last on the List |
PawPrint.net Web Site
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Category: Bosunīs Log
March 20th, 2007
As a web designer, it seems that updating my own web site is always the last of the list of tasks and from speaking to other web designers around the world it seems this is a common thread. However, bucking tradition, I finally made a major update to my own site......
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Happy St. Patrick;s Day |
Category: Bosunīs Log
March 17th, 2007
I have always felt I had some kind past-life in Ireland or something and today is, obviously, the day to celebrate it. My very first experience of tasting beer, unlike many Canadians who probably tried something by Molson - I tried Guinness. It was at the Ireland Pavilion at Expo 86 in Vancouver - I was 13 and I think that the taste I was offered was for more of a joke then anything else - but I loved it and the hook was planted for life......
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Around Our World in 14 days... |
Category: Bosunīs Log
March 9th, 2007
The last 2 weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of activity - from the CCGA-P AGM to spending a week with the CEO of the International Maritime Rescue Federation to a trip to Edmonton for the CCGA National Board Meeting - and now quick prep to teach a weekend Navigation Course - life is been more of a blur then usual......
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Coast Guard Auxiliary - Pacific AGM |
Team SAR Crest
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Category: Bosunīs Log
February 22nd, 2007
Itīs that time of year again. This weekend is the 2007 Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary - Pacific Annual General Conference and Training Day. Kellei and I are off to attend as usual, helping out in various ways and looking forward to meeting more CCGA-P members and representatives from other SAR communities around the world......
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The Ultimate Home Movie System |
Our HD70 Projector
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Category: Bosunīs Log
February 18th, 2007
A while back I reported on our new HD70 home theatre projector. Since then we have been working to create the best possible home theater that we can. The latest efforts surround the screen and we have been experimenting to find the best projection screen solution for our system......
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Algae Drunkenness |
Category: Bosunīs Log
February 17th, 2007
Some of the attempts of spammers to get past my spam filters are fairly oblique. Today, one that did get through had the subject "Algae Drunkenness" This lead me to begin to think of what exactly drunk algae would do, that is once I got past the chuckle of how algae would get drunk in the first place......
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Construction Overlow Error |
the
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Category: Bosunīs Log
February 15th, 2007
I wonder what life would be like if other industries expressed errors and mistakes in the same way that software does - for example our new patio doors that were cut to the wrong length for the jam - is this an Overflow Error? or perhaps just a Type Mismatch?...
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Ding Dong the Clippyīs Dead! |
R.I.P. (Rot In Pieces) Clippy
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Category: Bosunīs Log
February 11th, 2007
Pretty much from the start most everyone hated Clippy - the useless and annoying MS Office assistant. I guess that is why it took Micro$oft a decade to realize that they could help cut down the bloat of Office by nixing it...???...
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Back From the Simulator |
From the Outside Looking in
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 29th, 2007
Kellei and I are home after our trip to Newfoundland to test out the CCGA-Pīs new Fast Rescue Craft Simulator. This was for one of the final tests to ensure this new simulator will work for the training program of the Auxiliary. Being that it is the first of itīs kind in the world - itīs really quite impressive!...
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Now Weīre Spoiled |
Optoma HD70
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 18th, 2007
While it may be a bit late - it was worth the wait. Back in November Kellei and I decided to combine our resources and jointly get each-other a single Christmas Present rather then going to individual route. We chose to get a new projector and retire our TV. It arrived Yesterday!...
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New Year Resolution |
Checking out the plane
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 30th, 2006
For my new year resolution I resolve to not make any new year resolutions... but in doing so I have already broken it....
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Pop Goes The Stadium |
BC Place Stadium - Post-Deflation
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 5th, 2007
Some of you probably already read about this - but the Teflon roof of BC Place Stadium in Vancouver tore and the whole thing deflated after all the wind storms in BC lately... Described by one radio DJ: "The suoffle that graces the Vancouver Skyline - BC Place has fallen - someone must have really bumped the oven!"...
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Back to real life |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 27th, 2006
Well, Christmas is all done (collective sigh) and we can get back on with our real lives. Itīs not all the usual grind though... jsut think of all those exciting bills you can leaf through......
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Tracker Re-discovered |
The classic: Amiga 500
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 14th, 2007
Long long ago... in a different era of technology I was an Amiga user. Being both an Amiga user and a musician I quickly found that I could do great things with MODs when I finally sold my Amiga - I went looking for a PC replacement, but never found one... until now!...
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Happy Birthday Kellei! |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 17th, 2005
The love of my life is celebrating her birthday today - Happy Birthday Kellei....
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Our hopes to the Picton Castle crew |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 11th, 2006
For those that havenīt heard... An International search is underway for a 25-year-old Canadian woman missing in the Atlantic Ocean since Friday when she was swept off the tall ship Picton Castle on Friday night....
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Attack of the Bots |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 12th, 2006
For those of you that know much about Search Engine Optimization you will have heard of "Bots" - the automated programs that crawl the web and fill the search engines with the data they use when people search for things... over the last few days the server on which bosunsmate.org resides has been pummeled by thousands of these - to the point where it actually crashed the server several times!...
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Attack of the Bots Part 2 |
Just For Fun
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 16th, 2006
I thought a follow-up to our last report about the search engine robots descending en mass upon out web sites was in order. We have resolved the problem and some people may be interested in the solution......
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New Look for the IMRF |
The IMRF seb site
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 20th, 2006
Iīve been busy lately working on a web site for the International Maritime Rescue Federation mainly coding on the back-end, but yesterday I worked with their chair to create a new look for the site - and weīre both really happy with it......
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Translations Growing |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 9th, 2006
After little more then a week the translation system already has over 1000 translations providing a start to making our XDe powered web site available in 12 different languages......
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Forum Update |
Screenshot of the new Forum
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 2nd, 2006
After I updated the gallery I figured, why stop there? so I just updated the forum as well... It now displays your profile photo along with posts and is multilingual aware!...
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Photo Gallery Update |
Screenshot of the new Gallery (5 col)
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 1st, 2006
Call it an early Christmas present... Iīve updated the gallery to allow setting the number of columns and images per page. I also added all the new translation code to that module - so soon it will be available in different languages......
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Who Stole our Weather |
Dories
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Category: Bosunīs Log
November 28th, 2006
Someone certainly must have, because this isnīt anything like our weather - it canīt be... -19C almost 1.5ī of snow... in BC - come on!...
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SNOW! |
Category: Bosunīs Log
November 26th, 2006
Not something we get too often out here in BC... but we have it today! About 9cm so far, which is huge for us - so much for my planned Coast Guard Training day......
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Waterspout Forcast |
Victoria MCTS Dashboard
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 5th, 2005
The 4pm forecast yesterday actually included a risk of waterspouts, Iīll get into that and take a small look inside the Victoria Coast Guard Radio station courtesy of photos from a friend...
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The Unexpected |
The House Fire - shortly after my arrival
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Category: Bosunīs Log
August 25th, 2005
I was going to write about 60tn certifications - but given what has happened in my backyard - I think I will permit myself a short departure into what, for me, has been a somewhat surreal occurance - my house (not my home) caught fire....
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First to drive the new FRC Simulator |
The new FRC Simulator Prototype
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Category: Bosunīs Log
October 10th, 2006
I was privileged today to be one of the first people to drive the CCGAīs new FRC Simulator. This is a fairly major milestone in the progress of the first FRC Simulator in the world - and itīs awesome to be right at the forefront of this exciting new project......
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Whatīs Up with the Weather |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 29th, 2005
Perhaps the better question would be what is down. Seeing as something at the Environment Canada web site isnīt working......
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Kellei Passed her ColRegs - no big surprise |
Category: Bosunīs Log
May 18th, 2006
I got a message yesterday from Kellei, having fun at RHIOT and much more relaxed after passing her ColRegs exam......
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Welcome Home Kellei - RHIOT Graduate! |
Happy Camper
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 24th, 2006
It may have been a foregone conclusion in my mind - but Iīm happy to welcome Kellei home after successfully completing RHIOT. She did great and thanks to friends that happened to be in the area - we have photos and video!...
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News from RHIOT |
Category: Bosunīs Log
May 22nd, 2006
Heard from Kellei this morning, all is well in Bamfield - with the two night runs behind her and a forecast for 60kn winds......
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Wind Storms & Power Failures & Crashes - Oh My! |
Category: Bosunīs Log
January 4th, 2006
What a crazy time... I had to rush to get my systems back to normal after this past harrowing weekend - but things are almost back to normal now - with a new main computer system running a dual core Athlon 64 and other goodies - I canīt complain......
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Kudos to my Dad... |
Larry Baker with the Leo Award
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 15th, 2006
Local sound designer Larry Baker (My Dad) won īBest Sound Editing in a Documentary Program or Seriesī at the 2006 Leo Awards Celebration Awards Ceremony Friday, May 12, 2006 at the Westin Bayshore Vancouver BC. The Leo Awards are where the best and brightest film and television talent and programs in British Columbia are honoured for their work....
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Mr & Mrs Baker |
At our wedding site in Sechelt BC
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 17th, 2006
What an amazing day! I can happily call myself a married man now and a very happy one. You can find our most of what happened inside (photos too) if you care ;)...
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Training Into Tow |
Kellei at the helm - towing the vessel
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 14th, 2006
Itīs that time of year again... things always pick up in the summer and this season is not looking like any exception. SInce Kellei leaves for RHIOT on Tuesday we have been out training a lot. Yesterday was supposed to be a 2 hour slow boat handling training session - we ended up with much more then we planned - but it was all good!...
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SARsim |
Prototyle console for the SARSim
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Category: Bosunīs Log
February 10th, 2006
Well, Iīm off to Victoria _again_ for more CCGA meetings - this time centered on the new Fast Response Craft simulator project they have in the works......
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Halifax Citadel |
Kellei holding the powder bucket
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Category: Bosunīs Log
October 5th, 2005
Our final day centered around the Halifax Citadel - which, knowing us, also included some emergency first aid for another visitor......
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Mining Museum |
The Worldīs Largest Violin
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Category: Bosunīs Log
October 4th, 2005
Anik had planned a visit to the Mining Museum before heading back to Halifax - we had never heard of it and we are so glad we didnīt miss this. It was amazing!...
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Cape Bretton |
On the Cabot Trail
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Category: Bosunīs Log
October 3rd, 2005
The day after ISAR - only 3 hours sleep but still abuzz with joy - we depart for Cape Bretton...
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Oklahoma |
Sunrise in Yukon Oklahoma
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Category: Bosunīs Log
August 29th, 2005
So, Iīm in Oklahoma - about as far from the sea as I ever like to be - back working on fibre optic systems for a telco. So this next week of log entries will be a departure from the norm...
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Building a Virtual FRC |
Category: Bosunīs Log
August 19th, 2005
After a fairly extensive photo-shoot of our new rescue vessel the time has come to realize a three year dream and build an on-line virtual tour / inventory of a typical Fast Responce Rescue Vessel...
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On To ARTE |
Draft Logo for ARTE Team
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Category: Bosunīs Log
October 19th, 2005
My letter has arrived - I guess this is the next adventure - moving on to the CCGA Advanced Rescue Trainer Evaluator course......
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Coxswain Standards and JRCC |
Part of the 12 hour Coxswain Standards dev. session
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 23rd, 2006
It was an amazing yet busy weekend! Meeting with the President and executive Director of the CCGA about the SAR module. Taking a tour of JRCC and meeting the OIC, and Superintendent of SAR (who we knew from ISAR) and finally working for about 20 hours on the Coxswain Training Standards with the ARTE team... so, how was your weekend?...
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Defining Training Standards |
Advanced Rescue Trainer Evaluator Team
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 18th, 2006
We are back at it again - working to define the Coxswain Training Standards for the CCGA and the training delivery for the region......
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Add JRCC to the mix |
VIPs touring JRCC
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 18th, 2006
Looks like Kellei and I are finally going to get to take a tour of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria (JRCC) as part of our coming trip for various CCGA Business......
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SAR Module 1.0 |
A sample Report from the SAR Module
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 5th, 2005
Itīs finally made it to a 1.0 release. The new SAR module currently in Beta Testing for the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary - Pacific should revolutionize SAR reporting......
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Introducing Tagging |
Tag Cloud for Bosunsmate
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Category: Bosunīs Log
March 25th, 2007
Another little upgrade Iīve been meaning to make for some time is to add tagging to the XDe system. Seeing as this web site has more, in terms of news, then most others - I thought Iīd start here. You may notice the tags associated with the recent log entries...
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SGML Validation |
Category: Bosunīs Log
March 28th, 2007
Thanks to an updated version of the Firefox extension for HTML validation Iīve been able to clean up some of the generated code from the XDe Modules as the new version validates XHTML better then before....
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April Tools Web Site |
Category: Bosunīs Log
March 31st, 2007
Last year, Kellei and I had a great time participating in the April Tools Wooden Boat Challenge, a mixture of inventive boatbuilding, team antics and kidsī mini-boatbuilding blended with a variety of community activities. This year Iīve had the honour of building a web site for the Society that organizes it......
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Google Tops April Fools Prank List |
Modified Google Logo
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Category: Bosunīs Log
April 2nd, 2007
This year I think Google wins for Best April Fools Prank with TiSP (The Toilet Internet Service Protocol) They went all out promoting wireless Internet through household plumbing including an entire web site devoted to the hoax! Now, why canīt more companies take a lighter approach to life like this......
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Training under a Harvest Moon |
Category: Bosunīs Log
April 3rd, 2007
Monday nights are our typical Coast Guard Auxiliary training nights and yesterday was no exception. We went out training for 2 hours on the water to complete some navigation exercises that were canceled 2 weeks ago due to weather. Throughout most of this we were treated to the most magnificently harvest moon......
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ISAR 2005 Results |
Kellei and her winning Can-Am Team
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Category: Bosunīs Log
October 2nd, 2005
Collectively our Pacific Region Table stacked up 10 trophies before the night was out. Including all the National and International trophies that Canadian teams can win!...
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ISAR Day 1 |
Helo Exercise
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 30th, 2005
WOW! What a day! Team selections last night pulled Kellei to the Can-Am team leaving our team as Sidney, Campbell, and myself - todays events being Chartwork, SARex, and Radio Comms....
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ISAR T-4 days |
ISAR Logo
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 24th, 2005
Everyone is here now - and we had a great training session last night - Iīm blogging early today before we head out on the water for another full day of simulated SAR...
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ISAR T-3 days |
Training with Cape Caution on Thromanby Is.
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 25th, 2005
What a wonderful training day! We got so much accomplished and I think everyone had a great time doing it....
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ISAR T-2 days |
Sidney, Kellei, and Campbell
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 26th, 2005
Another great day of training yesterday - in Gibsons this time and on a different vessel - our crew communications (one of the most important things) is finally clicking....
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ISAR Travel Day |
Halifax Airport Promotional Image (hmmm - looks like a long line to me)
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 27th, 2005
By the time most of you read this - weīll already be enroute to Halifax - itīs finally actually happening!!!...
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ISAR T-5 days |
ISAR Logo
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 23rd, 2005
The Team arrives today for our final weekend of training. Amid well wishers from the community and thoughts sent by email itīs really starting to become larger then life....
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ISAR T-6 days |
ISAR Logo
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 22nd, 2005
6 Days and counting (wish I could say that in the James Bond Voice of the evil maniacīs drone who always stands resolutely by the microphone while the empire is blowing up around him....
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ISAR T-7 days |
ISAR Logo
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 21st, 2005
Thus begins the count down to ISAR (Briefing Day is Sept 29th in Halifax) I will chronical training steps and events leading up to the actual competition......
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Bluenose II |
ISAR 2005 Pacific Team - Sailing Trip
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 29th, 2005
What A Fantastic Day! The Pacific Region ISAR Team all sailing on the Bluenose II after a great trip over to NS and some brief touring - weīre all geared up for the ISAR start tomorrow....
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Bosunsmateīs Scott & Kellei Baker Win at ISAR 2005 |
Kelleiīs Winning Team
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Category: Whatīs New
October 2nd, 2005
The Pacific Region team lead by Scott Baker won the one event that they wanted more then any other - the on-water SAR exercise (one of only 4 teams to locate the search object) Better yet, Kellei won the overall 2005 Can-Am Trophy as well as two Can-Am events!...
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Itīs Over! |
We use a fake one - but the imagry was perfect.
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 26th, 2005
Christmas is over, and all through the house everyoneīs bellies are bursting, even the mouse!...
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A Big Surprise!!! |
Category: Bosunīs Log
August 2nd, 2006
Iīm going to remain a bit mysterious here until I have photos in hand to truly announce something quite special that is happening tomorrow. For now. Iīll let you know that Kellei and I are going to travel to Victoria BC to pick up 2 items that for us and many of you hold very special memories......
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Notification Module |
Category: Bosunīs Log
April 10th, 2007
I spent most of the weekend building a new on-line communication system for my web sites (including this one) it improves email communications and allows users to send a receive messages on-site from administrators and other users....
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Tree View |
Tree-view in action
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Category: Bosunīs Log
April 16th, 2007
Iīve been busy plugging away at improving user interface again and have come up with another new component - Tree View - which allows me to display lists of data in a similar way to a file explorer. In most cases Iīm using it for the same thing on-line - but it will also soon form the basis for menu systems as well....
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Addiction |
Prize Garlic
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Category: Bosunīs Log
April 23rd, 2007
I must come to terms with this - my wife has an addiction... Yes, itīs true I have personally witnessed her sneaking out to assuage it at various times of the day. This signs are clear, it affects both our lives... yes, itīs true, my wife Kellei is addicted to gardening!...
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Sunshine Coast SAREX |
Myself, Shawn and Colin evaluating
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Category: Bosunīs Log
April 28th, 2007
Spent all day today down in Gibsons at the 2007 Sunshine Coast SAREX. A multi-agency training exercise for Search and Rescue. Kellei was the official photographer and I was acting as one of the evaluators....
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Some days are better then others... |
Category: Bosunīs Log
May 9th, 2007
Some days are much better then others and Wed. May 9th will certainly go down as a good one for us, because this was the day that we won the 2007 House of Dreams Contest from Mountain FM!...
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SEN - Limited |
Wyatt Goes to College
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 25th, 2007
Kellei and I just got back from 5 days of Simulated Electronic Navigation (SEN) training at Camosen College in Victoria as part of the CCGA-P Simulator Project. Unexpectedly Wyatt got to audit the course as well....
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World Matirime Rescue Congress |
Category: Bosunīs Log
May 27th, 2007
Weīre on our way... to England, Sweden, and Ireland - the excuse? The World Maritime Rescue Congress in Gothenburg Sweden June 3rd - but weīve got a whole lot more then just that planned......
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Arrive in Poole |
View from our room
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 28th, 2007
Itīs been a long day about 24h or it - but weīre installed in Poole now at the start of our trip to England, Sweden, and Ireland. It was a long flight from Vancouver and as we left we passed over the Langdale Ferry (our home run) likely with our dog Wyatt and Parents aboard....
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A Day in Poole |
Category: Bosunīs Log
May 29th, 2007
We had a bit of a lie-in today (quite a bit of one actually) to recover from the trip and then spend the day walking through Poole and getting to know the area......
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Meeting with the RNLI |
The RNLI Reserve Fleet
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 30th, 2007
Met with the RNLI today and after a fairly informative one hour tour from Barbara we spent several hours meeting with Ian to discuss training programs, which led into drinks, which led into dinner......
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Day 2 In Poole |
Category: Bosunīs Log
May 31st, 2007
Another day in Poole. We had plans initially to travel further afield - but we needed a relaxed day so we stuck around in Poole and had another day on the town....
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Travel to Sweden |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 1st, 2007
After a very early start (3am) we arrived in Sweden about 12 hours later to a beautiful hotel and many discoveries - this being the first time for both of us to travel to a country where we have absolutely no lingual ability......
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Pre-Congress Weekend |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 2nd, 2007
WOW - what an amazing display of SAR, vessels, aircraft, and people. Weīre reeling from it all to say the least. The photos show the tip of the iceberg only - but itīs hard to imagine all of what we took in in only one day......
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Pre-Congress Weekend Sunday |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 3rd, 2007
Day 2 of the weekend celebration of the Swedish Sea Rescue Society and the theme of today was Germany and Finland - go figure......
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First Day of the WMRC |
The Official Opening
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 4th, 2007
The first day of the congress and the "amazing-factor" is still rolling along. The line-up of compelling speakers was impressive and to top that off, there was tons of good information and networking from the trade show floor....
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Second Day of the WMRC |
World Maritime Rescue Congress
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 5th, 2007
Today was a barrage of information - a full day split into 6 groups of three presentations that were 15 minutes each - covering all manner of SAR related topics - it was daunting and exhausting and very informative all the once......
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Boat Cruise Day |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 6th, 2007
Today was a national holiday in Sweden and so rather then continue with the conference they organized a boat cruise for the day to explore the archipelago surrounding Gothenburg......
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IMRF Meeting & Group Discussions |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 7th, 2007
Today really was the official launch of the IMRF web site here at the World Maritime Rescue Congress in Sweden. I was afforded about 30 minutes to make a presentation about the site to the group and it went very well......
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WMRC Wrap-up |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 8th, 2007
The final day of the World Maritime Rescue Congress (WMRC) saw a new board of trustees and a summation of all the events and discussions of the congress ending at around lunchtime with a fun wrap-up dinner at a local golf course as a final farewell......
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Arrival of the Tall Ship Götheborg |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 9th, 2007
Today made up for the fact, in a small way, that we missed the departure of the Pacific Grace on their 2007 Offshore trip - the 60m Tall ship Götheborg returned here today after a trip to Shanghai and back reenacting a historic voyage where the first tall ship to bear itīs name was sunk at the entrance to this harbour mere miles from itīs home port....
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Last Full day in Sweden |
Looking out from the SSRS
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 10th, 2007
Today is our last full day in Sweden and we took some time to visit the Swedish Sea Rescue Society office and get a bunch of news up on the IMRF web site......
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To Ireland |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 11th, 2007
After a day of travel we have arrived in Ireland. Itīs a beautiful sunny day with a bit of haze so despite Gerryīs best attempt to drive us down the coastal route through Dublin, our visibility is a bit limited......
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Dublin |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 12th, 2007
We traveled into Dublin today to visit the Guinness Storehouse amongst other things. Along the way we stopped at a small harbour and got to see some of the local smaller boats and finished off the day with a side-trip up into the local hills......
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The Road to Galway |
Bulmerīs For Dinner
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 13th, 2007
We started somewhat early today and headed up to Galway to start are sojourn in the West of Ireland - a beautiful drive and much relaxation to be savored by all....
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Home again Home again Jig-ah-di-jig |
Wyatt Earp
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 18th, 2007
Today was a day full of lunches. As we traveled from Dublin back home and crossed eight time zones we seemed to keep eating lunch and follow the sun......
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The Cliffs Of Moher |
The Burren
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 14th, 2007
Today we experienced the rugged beauty of the west coast of Ireland in all itīs glory and drank deeply of all that we could. From the Burren to the Cliffs of Moher and the friendly people in Doolin - a wonderful day all around......
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Back to Wicklow |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 15th, 2007
We all awoke thinking it was Thursday - but being Friday it was time to head back to the East Coast for the rest of our stay in Ireland......
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Bray Head |
Bray Head (lookign North)
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 16th, 2007
Today we kept to ourselves and took a walk from the town of Bray where we are staying around Bray Head towards Greystones where Gerry and Kathleen live - it was a beautiful walk and a very relaxing and peaceful day full of natural beauty......
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Last Full day in Ireland |
Glendaloch
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 17th, 2007
Itīs hard to imagine that weīre traveling back to Canada tomorrow morning, but our three week European tour has come to an end - but Kathleen and Gerry ensured that our last day was chocker full of new and amazing sights!...
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Fun with AIS |
local vessel traffic
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 25th, 2007
One of the cool things we learned about at the World Maritime Rescue Congress was AIS - we already knew what it was, but never really played with it. Yesterday (my Birthday) I got an AIS receiver system working at home via a small hack into my HAM radio - with huge possibilities for the future......
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Robertson II Salvage - Official Press Release |
Category: Whatīs New
July 6th, 2007
This morning I received an email from Ryan Anthony Czyz, one of the crew of the Robertson II. He wanted to pass along a public letter and a press release to everyone. I have included the press release here and will post a second article with the letter......
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Robertson II Aground |
Robertson II Aground off Winter Cove near Saturna Is.
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Category: Whatīs New
July 6th, 2007
This post is my ongoing track of the news surrounding the grounding of the Robertson II on Minx Reef off Winter Cove near Saturna Island on Sunday July 1st 2007 - I have been adding to this complete news post as soon as information becomes available.
Last Update: August 21st 2007 0600h
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Robertson II Salvage - Public Letter |
Category: Whatīs New
July 6th, 2007
The following letter was received this am from Ryan Czyz with the request that it be made public. I have included the letter as it was received. A formal press release was also received and has been included in a separate post......
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One Year Today |
One year ago today
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 8th, 2007
Itīs time for some happy news for a change... Today is Kellei and My First Wedding Anniversary! So itīs time to celebrate......
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Half A Million Views |
Capture of current views - July 15th
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 15th, 2007
We set two milestones this month on bosunsmate... Our photo gallery exceeded 2000 images and those images have now been viewed over half a million times......
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Decoding AIS Data |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 20th, 2007
For the last month or so I have been scouring the Internet trying to figure out how to decode the encoded data that comprises the AIS messages in NMEA format - I finally figured out how to do it......
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Mystic Charger |
Mystic Charger Box
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 25th, 2007
Itīs probably not what you would expect - but it sounds like something to recharge your spirit or to b used in astrology - in fact itīs just a replacement for a VHF radio charger......
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Ship Simulator 2008 |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 31st, 2007
From the site "Ship Simulator is a revolutionary simulation game that puts players at the helm of some of the most varied and detailed ships to be found at sea." I had tried the previous version and had a look at this one - being involved in the simulation program for the CCGA itīs always interesting to look at related concepts......
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Windoze over Windows Repair |
Category: Bosunīs Log
August 5th, 2007
Iīm going to geek out here a bit - but itīs for a public service. I just fixed a problem Iīve been having with my main graphics workstation after looking for a solution for over a year and I thought Iīd share. If you have ever installed Windows over top of another Windows (after a motherboard upgrade or serious system crash) the silly thing corrupts its own registry in a very hidden way - here is how you fix it......
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Athlon 64 X2 - One Week Later |
The new Sonata2 Case
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 10th, 2006
It has been a week now with the new Dual Core 64 bit system and things are going very well. Also yesterday marked the start of two 6 month courses Iīm teaching for the Coast Guard Auxiliary...
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The verdict: The Power Supply did it, in the office, with a faulty 12V supply |
My new TruePowerII replacement Supply.
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 27th, 2006
Basically everyone agreed it must be the power supply - and thatīs exactly what it was - just a coincidence that I found the failure at the same time as I replaced the memory (which is working great all 4GB of it!) the plus is the old memory allowed me to max out three other systems......
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Robertson II Aground - Latest |
Asleep on the jumbo boom
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Category: Bosunīs Log
August 21st, 2007
This is the closing text at the end of the most recent update to my running article on the grounding of the Robertson II back on July 1st. The news from this past weekend got me thinking and I though I would post it to my main blog as well as just the article for a change......
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Regularly Unscheduled Drivel |
NETSim component of simulator
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Category: Bosunīs Log
August 25th, 2007
We now return you to your regularly unscheduled drivel... I think as much as can be said about the Robertson II has been said for the time being - I need to look forward again to happier things, so itīs off to Newfoundland again for another test of the CCGAīs new simulator......
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Back in St. Johns |
Category: Bosunīs Log
August 27th, 2007
Back in St. Johns Newfoundland today - it was a long trip as usual - but the first day out made it all worth it as we got to test out our new small vessel simulator - that is really looking good now!...
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The Destruction before the Roof |
Taking off the floor
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 9th, 2007
Just over a year ago our mortgage helper house (in our backyard) caught fire and the top story burnt down. We finally have raised enough money and got the building permit to put a roof back on......
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Fast Rescue Craft Simulator |
FRCsim Training Simulator
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Category: Bosunīs Log
October 14th, 2007
To further promote the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary - Pacificīs new training program that includes FRCsim - a revolutionary new training simulator we have produced an introductory video that explains the program in detail....
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Add AJAX to the mix |
Category: Bosunīs Log
October 16th, 2007
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) has been around for a while now and Iīve decided that there is finally enough browser support to start integrating it into my XDe web module set. That and my main development serverīs HD choosing to stop spinning has made the last week interesting!...
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Migrating to Thunderbird |
Category: Bosunīs Log
November 6th, 2007
Iīve been using Eudora for email since 1997 - now that they have decided to drop support for it - I guess itīs time to switch to Thunderbird......
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Wind/Ozone Radar |
Category: Bosunīs Log
November 10th, 2007
Canadian university researchers have found a new way to track the movement of ozone between layers of the atmosphere, a discovery that could lead to improved forecasts and pollution warnings....
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Radar Training |
Category: Bosunīs Log
November 22nd, 2007
Went out training last night - a bit cold but a great evening regardless. This was another radar orientation exercise for some of the newer crew and thanks to a passing tug and tow was a great exercise....
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Let It Snow! |
Category: Bosunīs Log
November 26th, 2007
Well, I guess winter is here - today marks the first snow of the winter for us - albeit a very wet snow......
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2010 Mascots |
Category: Bosunīs Log
November 28th, 2007
Looking at the 2010 mascots that were unveiled yesterday I think we can safely state that they are "committee decision" materialized......
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Winter Forecast Fun |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 3rd, 2007
I think this morning setīs a record for the most weather warnings I have ever seen in my local forecast at the same time! Our snow is melting - but not quickly enough for the 100mm of rain weīre expecting - however perhaps the 70Kmph winds will blow it away......
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A Very PC Wish... |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 16th, 2007
Ever notice how liability seems to be taking over the world these days - how we tend to be able to do and say less and less based on the fear of litigation? well, in that spirit - here is a "Greeting" for you......
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Fun With Mapping |
Google Earth Snapshot of the Offshore
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 20th, 2007
Part of the reason Iīve been a bit quiet lately is because Iīve been working on an entirely new mapping system for the vessel tracking system. For anyone that has Google Earth I can at least offer a KML data feed for the tracker routes now - with the bulk of the new system coming in the new year....
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Christmas at Merry Island |
Merry Island Lighthouse
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Category: Bosunīs Log
December 22nd, 2007
I write this via satellite internet from the lighthouse on Merry Island where Kellei and I will be spending Christmas......
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Happy Christmas from The Bosuns Mate |
Category: Bosunīs Log
December 25th, 2007
Happy Holidays to you and yours from Kellei and I - all the best this coming year and may it be safe, happy, and prosperous......
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Fun With Weather |
Sample Composite Weather Result Page
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Category: Bosunīs Log
January 1st, 2008
I feel a bit like Iīm in grade 5 again - For my holiday project I did... But thatīs basically what this was - a holiday project to build a better weather reporting system for my web pages - and thatīs exactly what I think Iīve managed to do......
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Faster, Better, Fluffy-er |
Category: Bosunīs Log
January 17th, 2008
If you have been paying attention to this site youīll have noticed quite a few subtle changes in the last few weeks. More recently a big speed-up but there is a lot of cool new fluff as well......
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Word of the day: Stressalanch |
Category: Bosunīs Log
January 20th, 2008
Stressalanch (n): The chain-reaction of everything coming tumbling down (or the perception thereof) due to far too much stress......
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New Photos of the Robertson II |
Taken Februady 25th - Thanks to David L.
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Category: Bosunīs Log
February 29th, 2008
Iīve been buried in work for the last month the the blog has suffered. As sad as it is I felt I must take a moment to pass along the latest images of the Robby at rest and slowly becoming one with the seas she had plied for so long......
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Of Farmed Salmon |
Save the Salmon
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Category: Bosunīs Log
March 8th, 2008
By way of a third party contact through my Father I found out about this rather well organized attempt to do something to save BCīs wild salmon. Itīs called Adopt-A-Fry and is focused on trying to find a way to ensure the wild salmon of BC will survive the devastation caused by industrial fish-farming...
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The Next Firefox is Coming |
Category: Bosunīs Log
March 12th, 2008
Iīm a pretty big fan of Firefox - working to try and get all my customers converted over from the insanely slow and insecure Internet Exploder series of unfortunate software applications... Looks like the soon to be released Firefox 3 is going to make it even easier for me to convince people!...
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A Day Out |
Pulling Together, Chris, Kellei, and I
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Category: Bosunīs Log
May 31st, 2008
OK, so Iīve been gone for a month... lifeīs been busy! But Iīm coming back in with a bang - Sailing with old friends on the Pacific Swift for a day - BANG!...
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Mountain Biking, Web Hosting, First Aid, and Explosions |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 3rd, 2008
What do mountain bike races, web hosting, first aid, and explosions have in common - well, last weekend for me anyway......
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Firefox 3 and Languages |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 9th, 2008
Been working on the back-end of all my web sites again in earnest lately - largely in the vein of translations and multilingual compatibility. At the same time Iīm now using the Release Candidate 2 of Firefox 3 as my primary browser and loving every minute of it!...
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Welcome Home Pacific Grace |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 14th, 2008
Itīs been just over a year since the grace left Victoria for places South and interesting. Today marks her return home and having tracked her progress across the Pacific these last months itīs wonderful to welcome her home....
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The printer knows |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 20th, 2008
I recently printed out a Service Overview from my printer and was very surprised to learn all that the thing was tracking silently in the background... For example, I know know that since it was purchased the paper trey has been removed 83 times!...
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R.I.P. Mr. Carlin |
George Carlin
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Category: Bosunīs Log
June 23rd, 2008
One of my favorite comedians has passed away. While he is well known for his sometimes unpredictable performances and for pushing boundaries - my favorite aspect of his humour was always his intelligent look at English grammar and the idiosyncrasies of our society....
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New Tracking Map Interface |
Sample recent vessel positions map
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 9th, 2008
I have mentioned this quite some time ago - but itīs finally online and running for the 2008 summer SALTS trips. New and Improved interface for vessel tracking that uses an advanced open-source mapping engine along with custom chart data for coastlines around the world....
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Power Failures, Wind Storms, and Forest Fires |
East Porpoise Bay Forest Fire
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 11th, 2008
Some days are mundane, yesterday was anything but. It started in the morning with an unseasonable wind storm - gusting about 40kn plus all morning. Then, for obvious reasons the power flickered off rendering my work day basically over. On going outside to find something "powerless" to do, I first sighted the water bombers descending over Sechelt......
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Log of the Pacific Grace (2007-2008) |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 12th, 2008
Throughout the voyage of the Pacific Grace 2007-2008 during the "Pacific Odyssey" offshore voyage Bonice Anderson kept a meticulous log of what transpired. A bound copy was presented to her upon their return. You can download a copy of it here....
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Fun With Street Maps |
Sechelt Street Map Example
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 17th, 2008
Now that the new mapping interface is running well, it seems many of my customers want street level data - only problem is that that data is very expensive (roughly $25,000.00 per year!!!) so I needed to find an alternative......
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Street Level Maps Ready |
Sample Street Map
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 29th, 2008
After a little over a week of work I finally have the entire Sunshine Coast road network mapped out, including ferry routes and some of the major routes to get here....
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My First Computer |
Heathkit H89 Computer
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 31st, 2008
I just found a photo online of my very first computer (now I feel old) it was called the Heathkit H89 (kit because you build it yourself) and was given to us by a friend of my father who built it....
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Are they done yet? |
Category: Bosunīs Log
August 18th, 2008
I know that a lot of people love them but for those that donīt, myself included, I think itīs about time to turn off the Olympics and get on with real life......
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More on AIS |
AIS Receiver
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Category: Bosunīs Log
August 19th, 2008
Over the weekend I finally got my Java based AIS decoder software working and have started to post technical details on my AIS information pages for the benefit of others looking to accomplish similar tasks....
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Oh My Gotcha! |
Category: Bosunīs Log
August 25th, 2008
For anyone considering an upgrade to MySQL 5.1 BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE I just spent the morning working with a web host who also spent the night after what should have been a simple upgrade completely fried several databases! We did find the workaround though......
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Google Chrome - |
Sample of the comic-book release notes
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 2nd, 2008
Just when you thought it you knew the browser contenders - along comes Google Chrome to rock the boat. I feel like the proverbial bowl of petunias saying "Oh no, not again..." but here we are - released in a unique Google way - comic-book style......
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SALTS 2009 Summer Program Starts |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 28th, 2009
Today marks both the start of the SALTS 2009 Summer program, and my return to trying to keep this site up to date with some news of happenings around my world. I Was a bit reluctant to return to blogging here because my nautical endeavors have been reduced of late - but - probably better to continue and be less nautical then not to continue at all....
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Firefox 3.5 Launch |
Category: Bosunīs Log
June 30th, 2009
As promised Iīm going to keep this blog going - but talk about whatever Iīm currently thinking about and not necessarily try to make it relate to nautical happenings - so here we go with that... Today marks the launch of the latest version of Firefox (my favorite web browser) and I simply must rattle on about it....
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Robertson II - Two Years Later |
Sailing off the Sunshine Coast
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 1st, 2009
Strangely I received an email about the Robertson II just yesterday - exactly two years after the tragic night that she ran aground and left us forever. It reminded me that so many who will be touched (wounded) by learning of her fate, probably still donīt even know it....
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Getting over a cold |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 3rd, 2009
Spent the last 2 days getting over a bit of a cold - but it seems a good excuse to post these funny "pills" my parents gave me for my birthday. In reality they are just mints but I love the idea as a great joke....
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Which OS - My MS Muddle |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 6th, 2009
In my ongoing quest to get more performance out of my system, and thus more productivity for my day-to-day existence Iīm starting to bat around what will be my next operating system choice. As much as I complain about Micro$oft I know it will be some form of windows - the only question now is... which one!...
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Clarks Maritime Online |
Screenshot of the clarksmaritime.com site
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 7th, 2009
Iīm pleased to announce the launch of the Clarks Maritime web site, a home for the various nautical endeavours of Martyn and Margaret Clark (who will be familiar to many of you by name) This site was a joy to design and produce....
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2009 Minor Softball Team |
The 2009 PawPrint MiniMite Team
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Category: Bosunīs Log
July 9th, 2009
Back in 2007 I started sponsoring a minor softball team in Sechelt. This year they sent a little bag of goodies after the season had ended. It contained a photo, ball cap, and card of thanks....
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Positions Rolling In |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 18th, 2009
Itīs great to see the positions coming in from the summer program as the Pacific Swift and Pacific Grace ply our local waters. For the armchair sailor like me, this is about as close as we can get to be back out on the water......
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Inhibeo Egrotatio |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 20th, 2009
For those times when you really need to call in sick from work - you might as well have a good illness to use for the big "phone call" Seeing as Latin is frequently the language of choice for things medical... here is a good one "Inhibeo Egrotatio"...
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Killing a Virus on a Friendīs Machine |
Category: Bosunīs Log
July 30th, 2009
I spent the last 2 days working on a friendīs computer to remove a nasty little virus that the anti-virus software didnīt seem to do much about apart from detecting it. To help, I reported my findings over on my technical blog - but I thought it might be good to cross post that here for your reference....
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SV Concordia Lost - All Hand Safe |
The tall ship S.V. Concordia (from www.classafloat.com)
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Category: Bosunīs Log
February 19th, 2010
Just starting to get news articles about the loss of a vessel I can best describe as one on which I always wanted to sail but never did. It is always sad to hear of the loss of any vessel, tall ships make that loss feel closer to home. All initial reports indicate that all hands are safe and accounted for - that is the silver lining....
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Colregs Lights & Shapes |
Initial lights testing
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Category: Bosunīs Log
September 13th, 2010
For some time now I have wanted to improve the lights and shapes section of bosunsmate.org to include a more interactive experience with more light configurations. The HTML Canvas element that allows direct drawing in a web page should finally allow this...
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Mapping Enhancements |
Category: Bosunīs Log
August 12th, 2011
The vessel tracking system has been updated to include several enhancements that make it both easier to use and faster.As always, we have more in store but finding the time to fit it in around the īday jobī can be a real challenge!...
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Bosunsmate.org is Back Online |
Category: Bosunīs Log
January 18th, 2012
On January 18th at 8am PST we intentionally replaced the BosunsMate.org website with a redirect to the #SOPAstrike site effectively disabling our web site for the first time since 1992. This extraordinary action was taken to show support for the thousands of web sites and millions of people who spent the day rallying against this flawed proposed legislation....
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