Written by Neil Galloway
This photo was taken in Banff, Alberta, Canada. I was looking down from the hotsprings down the valley. In the bottom of the photo is the RimRock Hotel. Another shot from my Canon S50.
December 2007 Archives - Page 3
Dec
14
Dec
14
Written by Neil Galloway
I have always wanted to do a site for fake trading stocks and options, but I get it started and just don't take the time to polish it up.
I recently found a site that does just that and has an excellent interface and layout. It is called The UpDown. Basically, you sign up and get a $1,000,000 of fake money and you can make trades. What makes this site different is the communication and analysis tools.
Why The UpDown Is Great
It almost feels like a real web brokerage with the various tools you can use to research the stock. It also allows you to post your analysis of the stock when you do a trade (or even if you aren't doing a trade). These short analysis articles by users are viewable by all and have a rating system. You can see the top rated ones for bullish and bearish perspectives. You also can see the other users' performance and portfolio values.
You Can Earn Real Money!
On the site, they describe how you can earn money fake trading. Basically, you have to outperform the S&P500 over a given time period and refer friends to use The UpDown.
I'm going to try my hand at it to see if I can learn more and maybe get paid out a few pennies here and there.
Areas Of Improvement
First of all, I live in Canada. I cannot trade any of the TSX stocks on there yet. Some of the stocks that are traded in both countries make it not a big deal (like the Nortels and the RIMs), but it would still make it a lot more useful.
Secondly, there are no options. This would be quite handy to test out more aggressive trading strategies.
Dec
15
Written by Neil Galloway
These window cleaners were working away and a hazy day at the Incheon Airport just outside of Seoul, South Korea. I think this might have been the control center for the airport but I am not sure.
Dec
16
Written by Neil Galloway
We were driving around the loop on Saltspring Island in February of 2004 and had to stop to photograph these little guys.
Dec
17
Written by Neil Galloway
Outside the town of Batdambang in Cambodia there is a temple at the top of a small mountain. These were the stairs to the top. It took a little while to get up there and a lot of kids want to walk up with you in the hope of some monetary compensation, but the view was totally worth it.
I shot this with my Canon S50 point and shoot.
Dec
17
Written by Neil Galloway
For those of you who read my blog, I wrote about the GISTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite the other day.
It is a handy little device that records the time and GPS information of your travels. There is a software package that goes along with it that will tag all your photos with your GPS tracking data.
Anyhow, my article was part of a contest to win one of these devices. And since it is the holidays and I would really like one, I'm asking everyone to go vote for my article. Just go to the The BenSpark page and there is a voting widget on the right hand side of the page called Who Should Win a Gisteq PhotoTrackr Lite. There is a little widget below where you can click the radio button for my name and then vote. Just place a vote for me please.
Dec
18
Written by Neil Galloway
This is my home city. The Calgary Saddledome in the foreground with downtown in behind it. The Saddledome is where the Calgary Flames (National Hockey League), Calgary Hitmen (Wester Hockey League), and Calgary Roughnecks (National Lacrosse League) play. There are also concerts and other events here.
This photo was taken with a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens and I was standing on the hill on the west side of Ramsay's residential district in Calgary. I park up here and walk down the hill when I am going to a game.
Dec
18
Written by Neil Galloway
I am in the market for a laptop and it is actually my first one. Hard to believe that a computer engineer would never have owned a laptop, but it's true.
Anyhow, I have been shocked by the variance in prices and features from store to store and even within a store. I have a few basic requirements for my laptop. I have found very few models that contain all of these. They all seem to lack in one area or demand a huge price to upgrade to them.
The best packages for the cheapest price I have to say have been the Acer lineup so far. They even throw in an HD-DVD drive which I wouldn't even expect at this price range nowadays. A close second has been the custom configurations available with Dell.
| Feature | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Price | Under $1,000 |
| Processor | Intel Core2 Duo |
| RAM | Easy to Upgrade |
| Hard Drive | 120 GB |
| Video Card | Not integrated |
| Wireless | 802.11a/g and Bluetooth |
| Sound Card | Integrated |
| Operation System | Windows Vista Home Premium |
| Screen Size | 15 inch or less and widescreen |
This is a seriously hard setup to find in a lot of cases. I don't know why, but most places seem to skimp on one of these areas. The OS, Sound Card, Wireless, Hard Drive, and RAM I feel are very basic too. I'm not asking for anything great. The video card is usually the kicker. Very few notebooks that are considered high end have a discrete video card (not integrated).
Why I Want These Requirements
Here are a few explanations as to why I want these things for me. My goal is the best performance for my needs, at a reasonable price, that will last for a few years.
Price
That is just my budget range. I will go over it a bit if the deal looks okay, but I don't need to spend a bunch on a laptop.
Processor
You do pay more for having an Intel chip and especially for a Core2, but they have proven they have better power saving performance and better processing performance for multimedia applications. I re-encode a lot of video for my iPod, PSP, and DS so shaving time off it would be really handy. I also use Photoshop on a weekly basis.
That being said, if I found a laptop that had all the above requirements I would take an AMD Turion chip as well.
RAM
RAM can be a real rip-off when you are upgrading it through the store. I want at a least 2GB, but some places charge $100 for this. I was on Dell's site and configuring a laptop. They wanted $500 to upgrade an Inspiron from 1 GB to 4 GB of RAM. I can purchase that RAM for $140 from a local computer store and upgrade it in 10 minutes myself.
Hard Drive
Having a huge hard drive isn't critical for me. I have USB external drives that are far cheaper and more for storage anyways. I just need basic apps, the OS, and extra storage for some pictures and video. 120GB will do that for me. Plus, hard drives get cheaper over time so if I feel the need to buy another one, I will.
Video Card
I do occasional gaming and video cards themselves just improve responsiveness of a system. I have edited video on occasion and I use Photoshop, so having a discrete video card is important.
A discrete video card is one that has its own memory and isn't integrated onto the motherboard. They offer far better performance than the integrated cards. The technical specifications for a notebook video card should state whether it has shared or discrete memory. An excellent reference for video cards in notebooks is Notebook Reviews Mobile Graphics Card page.
I am not just interested in games either. Windows Vista has what is called the Aero interface. It just looks and feels a bit nicer (this is an opinion). Not all of the low end, integrated video cards are capable of even displaying it.
Wireless
You need 802.11 for internet today, that is no question. The bluetooth just gives you the extra flexibility for enabled devices to be wireless. The headset for Skype, mouse, keyboard, printer, cell phone, and the list goes on. Whatever will help cut down on wires in the future saves on the mess and the money to buy cords/cables.
Sound Card
Integrated sound cards are the cheapest and I don't really care that much so the cheapest one will be good enough for me.
Operating System
I want Windows Vista Home Premium because it is the basic new Windows OS that has the Aero interface. No sense in prolonging the inevitable, so I might as well get it now.
Screen Size
I don't want the 17 inch or desktop replacement types. The smaller the better, so 15 inch is as large as I will go.
Dec
19
Written by Neil Galloway
My sister-in-law was concentrating on her sewing task late one night. The glow of the sewing machine's lamp was kind of neat. I took this with the Canon S50 point and shoot camera. I loved that camera, but ended up leaving it in a taxi cab in Quito, Ecuador on a holiday in 2005.
Dec
19
Written by Neil Galloway
I have been playing my guitar a lot more lately and trying to learn some of my favourite songs. Anyhow, my latest accomplishment has been learning Cannonball by Damien Rice. This is excellent song. The lyrics are a bit different, but the tune and guitar work is great.
I have a few methods I used to learn this song.
Listen To It
This is pretty much a given. You need to know the song inside and out. Not having to concentrate on lyrics lets you focus on the music style.
Get A Hard Copy Of The Lyrics and Tab
This should be your reference sheet for learning the words and a place to scribble notes or chords onto.
Not everyone will interpret the song the same way, so look for something that looks like your style or in your difficulty range. I went with this Cannonball tab.
Find A YouTube Lesson
This has been one of the best ways for me to learn this song. Here are my favourite lessons for Cannonball.
riggamortus' 2 Lessons
They have a lot of the detailed notes in them. The lesson is in 2 parts, but the second one has most of the good stuff in it.
wildfw5's Cover of Cannonball
This guy does not do a lot of the individual notes but he has the chords down pat and plays a much easier version that still sounds great.
Damien Rice In Central Park
This is a live performance by Damien Rice himself. You can see his hands pretty good and this is one of my favourite acoustic renditions of this song.