Nanaimo Men’s Resource Centre seeks support

Here’s a note I received from  James Latour, Program Developer at NMRC.   In my opinion they are offering innovative and valuable services to both men and women.

Two weeks ago Nanaimo Men’s Resource Centre made the decision to cut staffing by 60%.  This means a much lower standard of assistance to our clients and community, and we will have to cut some programs and services.   This has come about due to a lack of funding. 

You will be interested to know that last year the BC Ministry of Community Services funded women’s services $49.2 million.  Men’s services received nothing.  Here are some interesting statistics you might not be aware of:

A recent Statistics Canada report says:

1.      “an estimated 7% of women and 6% of men in a current or previous spousal relationship encountered spousal violence during the five years up to and including 2004, according to a comprehensive new report on family violence…This means that an estimated 653,000 women and 546,000 men encountered some form of violence by a current or previous spouse or common-law partner.” 

2.      “11% of women and 7% of men aged 15 and older stated that they were stalked in a way that caused them to fear for their safety or the safety of someone close to them. This was the equivalent of 1.4 million women & just under one million men.”

3.      “In cases of current relationships in which emotional abuse existed, 25% of women and 19% of men experienced violence.”

On Friday, April 6th at 10 am, Theo Boere, the Executive Director, and Anne Leavitt, one of our Board members, will be on the Bill Good Show (CKNW 980 AM [New Westminster/Vancouver]) to talk about this issue and the impact on Nanaimo Men’s Resource Centre.  WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.  We need you to call into the show while it’s in progress.  You don’t necessarily need to speak on air, just tell the operator why you are calling and that you are in support of Nanaimo Men’s Resource Centre or funding for men’s services in general. This is an opportunity to make a significant difference with just one phone call!

These are the numbers for you to call:

604-280-9898    or    877-399-9898

Thank you for your ongoing support.

James Latour, Program Developer

Nanaimo Men’s Resource Centre

FSX SP1 released to beta team

Phil Taylor (Happy birthday Phil!) reports that the FSX SP1 beta is “soon” available.  Since then it’s become available to the beta team.  I’m downloading now, and will report when I am permitted.  Phil reports that there are known issues, with another drop next week to fix those up.

Vancouver+ development will go on hold until I’ve completed my testing.

Cable-stayed bridges in FSX

The Alex Fraser has been converted to FSX: new cables and new texture.  SkyBridge has new cables as well.

Click for hi-res version

Click for he-res version

Vancouver downtown screenshots

Downtown is beginning to take shape, buildings are done, airphoto adjusted.  I took a bunch of screenshots tonight.  Here are three of my favourites.  One of the great features of FSX is the detail of the terrain mesh (elevation) at a distance.  There are a few glitches in the scenery in these shots we have to work out … can you spot them?

Click for hi-res version

Click for hi-res version

Click for hi-res version

Vancouver+ for FSX status

I posted on the Vancouver+ support forum a status update at http://forums.simflight.com/viewforum.php?f=226  By  the way if you want to focus your view into this blog on a particular topic, use a tag, eg. https://jonpatch.wordpress.com/tag/vancouver or https://jonpatch.wordpress.com/tag/development .  See “Categories” on the right-hand panel for tags you can use.

From that post:

• Holger and I are making good progress on our respective portions and plan to go to beta in few weeks
• Scot Fraser is doing the configurator/installer (his last contribution was on Glacier Bay)
• We’ve added some new features for FSX, including the Lion’s Gate Bridge, Pattullo Bridge, Canada Place, CYPK photoscenery, new custom clearcut and other textures, highway traffic, and other bits and pieces
• This will be a new product, not an FS9 upgrade, so everyone will pay the same price (or close to it), likely the same as the FS9 product
• Major buildings and bridges converted to new FSX format

Overall, it’s been a large amount of work to convert to FSX, but the result looks great.  Both Holger and I will be betatesters for FSX SP1, so we will ensure full compatibility, although we cannot talk about the beta process.

Stay tuned for more …
 

Pattullo Bridge

For Vancouver+ Part 1, Version 2.0 (FSX):

Clearcut textures for FSX

Holger has done a great new custom texture for cutblocks, to be used in Vancouver+ for FSX and other future projects.

What’s your FASFRBI?

What’s your FSX Arbitrary Simplistic Frame Rate Benchmark Index?  Mine’s 19.4.  I created some bits that will help you determine your frame rate performance, so you can compare after you install SP1.  You measure frame rates at 5 locations (flight situations provided for EDDF, CYYZ, KLAX, KORD and north of KSEA) under 4 different conditions (full autogen, traffic, fancy water; no autogen, no traffic, fancy water; no autogen, no traffic, simple water; and the last repeated in full-screen mode).  I also provide an FSX.cfg file to ensure parameters are set properly.  Back up your old one first, so you can restore easily!!!  Best of all is a pretty spreadsheet where you can compile your results and show your friends.

Read the enclosed instructions carefully, and if you mess up your FSX installation, you’re on your own.  Download from http://www.jonpatch.ca/flightsim/FSX_Benchmark_17-Mar-2007.zip  Make sure you defrag first!  Note when comparing to mine that I am running XP SP2 with Nvidia 6.14.10.9371 drivers.

With SP1 hopefully coming out in April, now’s the time to run your benchmark.

Some more Flight Sim RSS Feeds

This links are for use in an RSS Reader such as available at www.rssreader.com . 

• Technorati FSX tags: http://feeds.technorati.com/feed/posts/tag/FSX 
• WordPress FSX tags: http://wordpress.com/tag/fsx/feed/ (wow, is this boring, it seems to be mostly my stuff, I guess nobody on wordpress is blogging with the tag “fsx”)

These will generally notify you of recent and new posts, but not be all-inclusive:

• Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles on FS9: http://support.microsoft.com/common/rss.aspx?rssid=1823&ln=en-us
• Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles on FSX: http://support.microsoft.com/common/rss.aspx?rssid=11941&ln=en-us

Some web browser links for full list of articles:

• Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles on FSX: http://support.microsoft.com/ph/11941
• Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles on FS9: http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1823

FSX SP1 beta to be 2 weeks – Phil

Phil Taylor gives us an update on SP1 from http://forums.simflight.com/viewtopic.php?t=60730&start=15 : 

“We are working to get a beta out soon. I expect the beta to last 2 weeks, short but sweet.

Given there are no surprises in beta, a couple of weeks after the completion of the beta we will RTM. Fixing “showstopper” beta issues, finishing localization, final test pass, and release management wickets are what remains after the beta.

We have stated April and we should make that, given no major surprises.”

Links to Flight Simulator SDK

Microsoft is no longer hosting the Software Development Kits for flight simulator, but Arno has posted them here (FSX) and here (earlier versions).

Canada Place at night

… with Shaw Tower to the left.

Traffic and obstruction lights on the Lion’s Gate

Holger has added the obstruction lights and moving traffic to the bridge …

OK, one more …

Still to do: moving traffic, obstruction lights, minor fixes.  I want to acknowledge the following sources, without which the bridge wouldn’t be so pretty, and take  much longer to build:

• Photography: Nigel Grant, Buckland-Taylor Ltd.
• Engineering Drawings: Buckland-Taylor Ltd., British Columbia Ministry of Transportation

Lion’s Gate Bridge at night

Back in Soundings

In January I rejoined Soundings, the 25-voice vocal ensemble I was a member of from 2001-2004.  It’s a lot of fun to be directed by Denis again, and singing with a great bunch of people.  Denis has lined up some great repertoire for concerts in the Spring.  Selections aren’t final, but these sets will have a more contemporary component than some in the past.   Upcoming performances are listed at www.soundingsmusic.com .

Glacier Bay v2 for FS9 released

Holger Sandmann, along with his team (Rainer Duda, Michael Eder, Scot Fraser, Manfred Herz, Jay Langham, Jon Patch, Larry Silsbee, and Jim Vile),  has created what has become my favourite all-time scenery addon: Glacier Bay v2.  Here’s the blurb from Holger:

Glacier Bay v2 is a complete replacement of the default FS2004 landscape and scenery of more than 90,000 square kilometers (36,000 sq miles) of Southeast Alaska and adjacent areas of Yukon and British Columbia. Landscape enhancements include high-resolution terrain mesh, detailed shorelines, rivers, lakes, and glaciers, and accurate land cover data with custom seasonal ground textures. Inland water bodies can be made to “freeze over” via an on/off switch. Other landmarks include the settlements of Juneau, Haines, Skagway, Yakutat, Atlin, and Carcross as well as road and railroad networks, cabins, lodges, and lighthouses. We modeled or enhanced 16 main airfields (plus one fictitious airstrip), 20 unlisted airstrips, 16 seaplane bases, and seven heliports. We’ve also included AI ship traffic in various locations as well as optional flightplans for GA and floatplane AI traffic. Glacier Bay v2 is fully compatible with other third-party add-ons, including terrain mesh (FSGlobal, FS Genesis, etc.), ground textures (Ground Environment, BEV, FScene, etc.), and landscape enhancements (Ultimate Terrain Canada/Alaska, Misty Fjords, Tongass Fjords, Freight Dogs). A configurator panel (requires .Net Framework!) allows users to set compatibility options and to choose levels of scenery detail. We provide an autoinstaller and detailed documentation with a sectional map of the coverage area and a list of weblinks to real-world information. For feedback and questions, please visit the Glacier Bay v2 support forum at http://forums.fsaddon.eu/viewforum.php?f=10. This project is a collaboration of nine FS developers from Germany, Austria, USA, and Canada, logging more than 1000 hours of work over the past 14 months. We acknowledge the kind support of FSAddon.com. However, this project is independent of any commercial product. Enjoy!

You can download from AVSIM in two parts:

• Glacier Bay v2 Part 1
• Glacier Bay v2 Part 2

Be sure to try the many flight scenarios provided, they’ll take you to magical places.

UPDATE: For those finding AVSIM a bit slow, try http://www.flightsim.com

Networking opportunities in Victoria and Vancouver

I’ve been having a lot of fun over the past few weeks engaging with the business community at networking events and presentations.  Here’s some of the recurring events that I’ve attended or been brought to my attention on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

Selected Networking Events

Check the website or contact for more information on membership requirements, cost, dates, and locations. 

Event/ Organization	Frequency	Location	Contact	Focus/Comments
BC Human Resources Management Asn (BCHRMA)	Monthly	Victoria	www.bchrma.org	Human Resources.
BCAMA (American Marketing Association, BC Chapter)	Several per month	Vancouver	http://www.bcama.com/	Sales & Marketing.  May have activities in Victoria as well.
BC Technology Industry Association (BC-TIA)	Frequent	Vancouver	http://www.bctia.org/	Business/technology.
Business Network International	Weekly	Victoria	http://www.bni.com/ http://www.bnicanada.ca/	Business. Many chapters in Victoria, required attendance and other criteria.
Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce	Frequent	Victoria	http://www.victoriachamber.ca/	Business.
Green Drinks	Twice monthly	Victoria	http://www.greendrinks.org/	Environmental.
IEEE Joint Communications Chapter	Monthly	Vancouver	http://www.comsoc.org/vancouver/	Technology.
Mid-Island Science Technology and Innovation Council	Irregular	Nanaimo	http://www.mistic.bc.ca/	Business/technology.
OD Café	Every two months	Victoria	Bert.Elliott@gov.bc.ca for info, and to confirm attendance in advance	Organizational Development.
Sales & Marketing Executives Victoria	Monthly	Victoria	http://www.smevictoria.com/	Sales & Marketing.
Sidney Breakfast Club	Monthly	Sidney	Contact Bill Cooke for details and to confirm attendance in advance: cooke@ieee.org	Business/Technology.
University of Victoria Events	Regular	Victoria	http://events.uvic.ca/calendar.php  Use filter to narrow down types of events of interest	Various.
Values-Based Business Network	Regularly	Victoria	http://www.vbnetwork.ca/	Socially-responsible business.
Vancouver Board of Trade	Frequent	Vancouver	http://www.boardoftrade.com	Business.
Vancouver Enterprise Forum	Monthly	Vancouver	http://www.vef.org/	Business/technology.
Vancouver Island Advanced Technology Centre (VIATeC)	Monthly	Victoria	http://www.viatec.ca	Business/technology.

Sustainability

At a meeting of Organizational Development professionals the other day, Michael Keller kindly led us through a process called Freelisting, using the term “Sustainability” as the seed term.   Learning about the process was fascinating, and the session brought up varied issues for people.   I was reminded how strongly I feel that (a) sustainability is an important concept to many people, (b) the anger many people feel towards the damage we are inflicting on our planet is misdirected and (c) how the divergent forces have the potential to lead to a better life for everyone.  

Periodically a large meteor strikes the Earth, the last being the Chicxulub Impact of 65 million years ago.  This impact is estimated to have released two hundred thousand times as much energy as all the nuclear weapons on the earth simultaneously exploding, and air pollution on a scale thousands of times greater than what we are producing.  The majority of the Earth’s species were wiped out.  

And these events pale in comparison to the creation of Earth and its ultimate destruction as the Sun ages and expands.   

So if you believe there is a higher power, or Creator or God, I suspect he/she does not believe we are destroying the Earth; rather it is our playground, our school, our home.  We can no more destroy the earth than we can destroy a thought.  The Earth does not need us as stewards; it will continue with or without us, regardless of what we do.  The most we could do is alter it in ways that are trivial compared to the transformations it has seen in the past and will see in the future.   

The Earth provides a microcosm in which we can learn to manage our resources and maximize our quality of life.  We have the option of making life quite miserable for ourselves, or improving it dramatically.  But it’s not the earth we’re saving against some demonic external force.   It’s not short-sighted politicians, or greedy capitalists or intolerant environmentalists that are these demons.  

If anger comes up when you think about the environment, are you aware of who you are really angry with?  Who are you really saving?   

What are you personally doing to improve the quality of life on this planet that does not blame others, but focuses on personal responsibility and action?    

References 

Carnegie Endownment for International Peace
http://www.ceip.org/files/nonprolif/numbers/default.asp
Total world stockpile of nuclear weapons: 5,000 Megatons  

University of Wisconsin – Stout, Department of Physics.
http://physics.uwstout.edu/geo/asteroid_local.htm
Energy released by meteor that killed the dinosaurs:  5×10²⁴ J (or about the energy equivalent in 80 billion Hiroshima size (12.5 kiloton) bombs   

American Geophysical Union
http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/sharpton.html
More on the Chicxulub Impact  

John C. Lahr Consulting
http://jclahr.com/alaska/aeic/magnitude/energy.txt
Comparison of earthquake energy to nuclear explosion energy.J.C. Lahr, Revised 8/28/00   

No FSX SP1 yet …

Phil Taylor reports ACES are fighting a couple of bugs this week, this time the kind that infect humans.  And there’s a couple of other issues slowing things down.  So there’s a (likely) short delay in releasing SP1 to the beta team.

Thanks for the update, Phil.