A Long, Straight Walk On The Cowichan Valley ‘Rail Trail’

The weather looked a little iffy on Thursday morning but by 10am the sun had broken through the overcast. Thinking it might not remain that way, Paulette and I decided to take Rylie for a walk right away rather than wait until the afternoon. It turned out to be a good decision as we ended up with sunshine for the entire 2 hours we were out on our hike. Our initial plan was to head out to one of our old standby’s the Glenora section of the Cowichan River Park.  But, we drove right past that exit.

The Rail Trail used to be an old railway track and leads to the Kinsol Trestle

Instead, we drove a few miles past until we found the entrance to another section of the Cowichan Valley Trail that connects Glenora Park to the Kinsol Trestle.  As I understand this is commonly called the Rail Trail. After spending an 90 minutes on this hike I can see why it’s called that – it’s as straight as an arrow and flat as a pancake! A sign told us it was a 15km hike to the Kinsol Trestle!

These natural canopy’s of trees growing over the trail seemed like a tunnel

We definitely weren’t prepared for a 30km return trip on foot yesterday morning but we did put a pretty good dent in the trail by walking approximately 7km towards the Trestle before turning around an heading back – all flat and all straight! Still, we did see an incredibly diverse amount of beautiful scenery along the way including tree canopy’s that made it seem like we were walking through a tunnel, farms and even a bit of a swamp that was pretty dried out because of the long, hot summer.

Even though it’s almost October the trees still have most of there leaves but the Maple Trees are definitely beginning to fall. It won’t be long now before most of our trails are completely covered with them.

Even though this trail was flat with no increase in elevation we kept up a pretty brisk pace so we both got a good workout. It felt like a perfect fall day with lots of sunshine but just cool enough to make it quite comfortable.

We didn’t run across any other hikers yesterday but we did see a few people pedaling by us in their bikes. I have to say as we neared the turn around point the bike option looked pretty attractive. It sure is a perfect trail for riding a bike and you can ride this trail from Glenora all the way to and over the Kinsol Trail then on to Shawnigan Lake south of Cowichan Bay.

Looks like someone is planning a Wedding Venue out in the boonies!

The strangest sight we saw all day was the above Wedding Venue being built way out in the middle of nowhere. I suppose there’s a road into the site but even so it’s still way out in the boonies!  It’s a beautiful spot though and who knows?  We were back home just after 1pm and spent a very relaxing afternoon.

In July, 2013 I photoshopped a bear we saw because I was too slow

Back in July, 2013 in a blog titled Our First Bear Sighting… I wrote about how we saw a big black bear walk right across our path. I was too slow to get my camera out and missed the shot. So, I simply photoshopped a bear in to show how close it actually was. Thursday evening I received a message from Lorraine, a local who must read my blog, giving us a warning:

Trust me it's still there. The bear is very big. It walked in front of our vehicle a few feet away. I was just getting out with our four happy little dogs. I got back in the car quickly. We sighted the bear Sunday 21st September.

Thanks for the heads up Lorraine. I’ll keep my eyes open and my camera ready!

Thanks for visiting!

Do You Prefer A Latte Salute, Dog Salute Or No Salute?

When i stumbled into my computer room at 6:30am yesterday and quickly put my coffee cup down on my desk before spilling it all over, I was looking forward to a good day without a care in the world. I woke up my computer screen, opened my email and saw a message from a fellow blogger simply titled Obama’s Salute. Huh? I didn’t have a clue what it was about but I quickly opened it to read the following:

I’ve noticed that you are always pointing out things people say about your buddy obama …. but as a US retired military I find this latest gaffe by him to be disrespectful as do many other military people.
Saluting the marines as he steps off his helo with a coffee cup in the hand he is saluting with.

President Obama salutes as he steps off Marine One in NYC

He included a link to a story about how President Obama, with a coffee cup in hand, had given a less than formal salute to a marine as he exited Marine One after arriving in New York City. So, it’s going to be “one of those days” I remembered thinking. But, after a quick check of the web news about this “worst thing that a US President has ever done since the last worst thing Barack Obama has ever done”, President George W. Bush rode in on Air Force One with his dog Barney!  Praise all gawds!!

President George W. Bush’s Barney the Dog Salutes

Wondering what my blogger friend would think of this I emailed him back and we both ended up having a laugh:

ME:  I don't think it's any more disrespectful than George W. Bush saluting the marines while carrying his dog.

Other Blogger: LOL....good memory….Both disrespectful

ME: I agree. But Presidents are human, make mistakes and have a lot more on their minds at any given time than the average guy.  I'm surprised they don't do stupid things more often.

Thankfully, by 7am, my first major crises of the day was over and I was still on speaking terms with the other blogger. That, in itself, is somewhat of a miracle because when it comes to politics, these types of things can quickly escalate into nasty exchanges. But, what would I know about that, right? 

Did Karl Rove (aka Turd Blossom) actually forget about Barney? 

Being a glutton for punishment, I checked out a few frothing, spittle laced right wing conservative sites to see how they were reacting to President Obama’s salute. It was just what I expected – faux outrage on Faux News. To begin with “latté” and “coffee cup salute” are just things these deranged nutbar conservatives made up, the President doesn’t even drink coffee.  Trust me – I know – I’m his “buddy”.

Presidential salutes never seemed to bother Fox before Barack Obama became President. That’s right, President George W. Bush was photographed saluting his Marine guard without even bothering to put down his dog! He did this on many, many occasions and Karl Rove was probably standing right behind President Bush when he saluted. The crazies rule on Faux and the craziness never stops!

Thanks for visiting!

Windows 10, Internet Explorer 11, & Google Chrome*

10 14 14   Windows
10, Internet Explorer 11, & Google Chrome*

Dear Classmates, 

I downloaded Windows Technical Preview
(which is the raw Windows 10 in progress) October 1, and am using it every day. 

Will give full demonstration of the
Fantastic features coming with Windows 10. Cortana
(like Siri), Internet Explorer 12 and more will be added later. 

They have a section called
Windows Feedback, so if you have any suggestions on improving Windows operating
system, please send them to me in an email.

 

This is my Start menu screen. I get
this screen when I click the Start button or hit the Win key on the keyboard.

 Great new screen, combines
Windows 7 Start button, but vastly improved and Start Screen. You may customize
both, which I did. I love it.

 Come see Windows 10 in action.

--------------------------------

 Will demo Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7 and 8.1.

--------------------------------

Will demo
Internet Options in Internet Explorer 11 including:

1. Text Size, Menu Bar, and Status Bar

2. Home Page.

3. Privacy including Pop-up Blocker

4. Content: Auto Complete

5. Advanced: Disable script debugging….

 

Will demo Google Chrome including:

1. Bookmarks

2. History

3. Settings

4. Advanced Settings.

5. Autofill

6. About Google
Chrome

========================================

========================================

 
.

 

 

 

The New Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter Could Be A Great RV Alternative to Apple Air Play And Chromecast

Have you ever been stuck in an RV Park or, gawd forbid, boondocking in the dry, barren desert with no cell or Wi-Fi service?  And, you happen to have a great movie on your tiny little laptop but no way to stream it to your TV? Or what about that dozen or more of your favorite DVD movies you carry around?

Yesterday, Microsoft announced a $59 Wireless Display Adapter that connects to the HDMI and USB ports on a TV — those without a USB port can use a USB power brick — and lets users mirror what’s on their smartphone, tablet, or laptop within a 23-foot range without having to connect to WiFi.  Microsoft uses Miracast which lets two devices that have Wi-Fi in them talk to each other without having to go through your internet network. You might want to think of it as super-duper Bluetooth.

Some Microsoft competition for Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast

If this sounds eerily familiar, it’s because Apple’s AirPlay, Google’s ChromeCast and Roku offer similar features however they require a WiFi connection to your local area network in order to stream content to your TV. Miracast does not. AirPlay Mirroring works with Apple TV and iOS devices. ChromeCast does most of its magic through web apps. As for Chromecast mirroring - fuggetaboutit. Chromecast let's you mirror your Chrome browser only. Miracast promises to work with both Apple and Android!

The Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter plugs into HDMI & USB ports

Windows 8.1 supports Miracast or if you have a smartphone or tablet that runs Android 4.2 or later, you most likely have Miracast, also known as the "Wireless display" feature. Many new TV’s are coming out with Miracast capability built right in. But, unless you purchased a TV in the last year, it's probably not Miracast-ready. Instead, you'll need a dongle like the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter.

Wi-Fi Direct allows two devices to establish a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection

The foundation of Miracast is WiFi Direct. As mentioned earlier in this post this technology allows devices to connect easily with each other without requiring a wireless access point and to communicate at typical Wi-Fi speeds for everything from file transfer to Internet connectivity. Miracast can mirror videos in 1080p and 5.1 surround sound audio. Even copyright-protected materials like your DVDs and music can be mirrored, thanks to a DRM layer.

If you are interested, you can pre-order the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter  today online at the Microsoft Store or Best Buy, with a release date set for Oct. 31. And, in case anyone is thinking about asking, no I don’t get a commission from Microsoft, Apple, Google or anyone else. However, I can be bought, I would gladly accept any offers from any of those companies. In the meantime, as your humble tech servant, I will continue to try and keep you up-to-date as best I can.

Thanks for visiting! 

Idiot Of The Day – Newt’s Oops! Obama Didn’t Say That!

Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a politician who has always had a bit of a “foot in mouth” problem. That made him a perfect eventual candidate for my Idiot of the Day Award. It was only a matter of time.

True to form, Mr. Gingrich came through just this morning as he rushed to Twitter to try and be the first GOP’er to attack President Obama over his decision to launch airstrikes in Syria with the assistance of 5 Arab allies (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Jordan and Bahrain) in an effort to begin to “destroy and degrade” ISIS.

Never mind that he along with Republicans like Sen. John McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham and the entire talking loudmouths of Fox News have been clamoring for war with Syria, or anyone for that matter, it’s dogma for them that whatever President Obama does they must find a way to criticize him even if it shows they are total hypocrites.

In a rush to Twitter to criticize President Obama…..

Compounding his error….

Newt got it terribly wrong….no apology offered….just an excuse!

On June 14th of this year Gingrich said this "We have no choice at this point: The United States must quickly begin airstrikes," the former Republican House speaker said on Friday on "Crossfire" on CNN. "The alternative is to accept that Iran will come marching in, and Iran will end up dominating both Iraq and Syria.  So, Gingrich finally gets his wish and the first thing he does is rush to Twitter to make a totally incorrect attack on the President. Hypocritical? Yes, but typical for this bunch!

Most seriously, and unlike Speaker Gingrich, US Lt Gen William Mayville says some of its overnight air strikes in Syria disrupted an imminent attack on the West by al-Qaeda veterans from the so-called Khorasan group. The raids in Aleppo province came hours after the US, backed by Arab allies, launched the first air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria. The Aleppo raids were carried out by the US alone, the US military said. The Khorasan group was in "the final stages of plans to execute major attacks".

Thanks for visiting!

A Beautiful New Trail Hike On The Last Day Of Summer

Our plan Sunday morning was to drive down to Victoria to pick-up Carrie and Mason to take them on a new trail hike I discovered just a few days ago while browsing the web. The trail winds right around Langford Lake on the western outskirts of the city not far from where Carrie and Mason live. We were looking forward to it as Sunday morning was perfect weather and it looked good for Mason’s first hiking experience. But, the plan didn’t work as when I called Carrie she had already made other plans.

The trail begins by walking out from a dark canopy to an elevated boardwalk

Well, no problem, Paulette and I along with Rylie decided to go on the hike anyway as we were looking forward to seeing this new trail. That way we’d be able to check it out just to make sure we’d be able to push Mason’s hiking stroller as he’s still a little young to be hiking 2 or 3 miles on his own. Next summer, though, we’ll have him out there training!

After parking the car at the trail entrance we walked through a dark canopy of trees that led to a beautiful elevated boardwalk.

Leaving the canopy, we walked across an elevated walk over a marsh

Emerging from the dark forest we walked right out into brilliant sunshine and another wide elevated boardwalk that crossed the marshy wildlife sanctuary at the north end of Langford Lake. It sure must have taken some effort to build this boardwalk as we were quite a ways up from the lake bottom.

Then we were back in the tall timbers where it was nice and cool

After crossing the boardwalk we were quite happy to see the now wide, crushed rock trail leading into the forest as it was pretty hot out in the sun. This appears to be a very family oriented trail and park as there were several spots with picnic tables that afforded great views of the lake.

There were a few public fishing docks scattered along the trail

Another thing we couldn’t help but notice was how many families with children there were on the trails.  There were kids of all ages from teenagers right down to babies being pushed along in strollers. We’ll definitely be taking Mason on this hike in the near future.

There were also several spots where docks were built out over the lake so folks could enjoy fishing without having to go out in a boat. It sure was a perfect day for that too.

Another elevated boardwalk took across the south end of the lake

As we approached the southern end of the lake, another long elevated boardwalk took us right across to the south end where we were able to get a good look to see the entire length of the lake.

We did the entire loop hike around Langford Lake

In the end, this was a perfect 90 minute hike that left us a little tired but not nearly exhausted as it was a pretty much level walk for the most part. I think we’ll be adding this trail to our long list of regular places to enjoy a morning or afternoon.

Sorry I couldn’t make it on the hike, Grandpa, but I’ll be ready next time!

Thanks for visiting!

G+ Can Auto-Backup iPhone Photos To Your Computer

Not having too much to talk about tonight, I turned to my always trusty cache of techie topics for blogs and pulled one out of the hat. It turned out to be a good one that I’ve been meaning to write about for some time now as it has resolved all kinds of issues I’ve had over the years concerning transferring photos from my iPhone to my computer.

I had tried all kinds of methods including the unwieldy and unpredictable Apple iCloud as well as several different apps designed to perform this function. I’ve never been able to figure out what iCloud was supposed to be doing as it only seemed to work when it felt like it. Some 3rd party apps worked but they required me to do something other than just take the photos and were more trouble than they were worth.

A simple setting in the G+ app on my iPhone changed all this and for the past several months any photo I take using my iPhone is automatically transferred to G+ Photos and therefore accessible from my computer. It’s simple. It’s automatic. It works flawlessly with no required action by other than a few initial settings. You must, of course, be a member of G+ but by now most bloggers I suspect have relented and created an account. Given the free storage available it’s a no-brainer.

Here are the simple steps required to activate this feature:

Go to the App Store and download the Google+ App and sign-in

Click on the 3 Bar Menu icon

Click on the Gear Icon to display Settings

Click on Camera and Photos

Ensure Auto Backup is ON and click to go to Settings

Make the changes shown below by the red arrows

If you follow the steps above, all of the photos you take with your iPhone will be automatically transferred to G+ Photos where you can easily download the ones you want to your computer or simply leave them on G+ to save disk space. Normally, it will take a few minutes before your iPhone pics show up in G+. However, if you’re in a hurry and can’t wait then just click on “Back up all photos and videos” and they will be transferred immediately to G+ Photos.  It’s pretty slick!

Another thing I should mention is the option of “When to back up photos or videos”. I’ve defaulted to “Over Wi-Fi only” so that my photos aren’t uploaded using my valuable 5GB’s of cellular. By selecting “Over WiFi only” my photos will upload shortly after I arrive home and am connected to our home network.

In G+ Photos just click in the Search Box and a drop-down menu will appear

Once your photos have uploaded to G+ you can easily see them by going to G+ and navigating to G+ Photos. Here’s a nice tip: just click in the Search Box and a drop-down box will appear showing you all the different places photos are stored.  If you select Auto-Backup you’ll see all of the photos you have taken using your iPhone. If you happen to want to use a photo for your blog, just select and download it to your computer.