iMac Upgrade

I finally got around to upgrading to the latest OS, 10.6 aka "Snow Leopard".

For $39 I consider it free. As one should expect it was pretty uneventful. Pop in the DVD and 45 minutes later it's done. On the surface nothing seems different but as I understand it's all under the covers. e.g. full 64-bit support and a host of other technical upgrades. I did notice however that apps like iPhoto and Safari run significantly faster and can you believe it, I got back 50Gb of space. When is the last time a Microsoft upgrade needed less space?

That's probably how things should be. Same look and feel but only better.

If you haven't done it already, go for it.

Creating CO2

This is my latest aquarium project.

It's called a carbon dioxide (CO2) reactor. It's a device used to dissolve CO2 into the water. It's hooked up to a 1.5 juice bottle filled with yeast, sugar and water. All that's needed to generate the CO2.

Plants need light and CO2 in order to thrive, and you want a lush healthy planted aquarium you need both in large quantities. Approximately 5 watts of light per gallon. And about 20-30 ppm of CO2.

CO2 ussed by plants for creation of organic compounds, this process is commonly known as photosynthesis. Although fish exhale CO2 through respiration it's hardly enough to make any impact, in fact it only contributes to about 1ppm.

The powerhead is used for agitation and thus dissolve the CO2 bubbles into the water while inside the plastic tube, but I found this wasn't happening too efficiently because the bubbles were actually large enough to float to the top of the water and escape. So I added a recirculation tube that keeps the CO2 moving in and around at high speeds and chopped up into little tiny misting bubbles (see the video). After about a week there are pretty significant results.

Here's a video of it. I actually shot it in high-definition 1080p but my darn version of iMovie is old and wont export in HD. I'll update it to HD after I upgrade.

Marathon Chaos

Toronto City Hall bufoons are in talks to restrict the number of fall marathons to 1 largely due to the traffic chaos caused by both the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon and the Goodlife Toronto Marathon.

Sure it causes an inconvenience but it seems like a small price to pay to get a sleepy city like Toronto on the map for some potentially international premier events. I've run both events and truthfully it's the Goodlife marathon course that's causes the most congestion. That course runs all over the place whereas the Waterfront course is basically the lower downtown and across the Lakeshore. The new route through the East Beach neighbourhood is wonderful for participants and residents. In fact the Waterfront marathon disruption is no worse than Caribanna.


Toronto planners can learn from Chicago. I was there last year during the July 4th weekend. No question this is a world class city capable of hosting many major events and simultaneously for that matter. For example the July 4th weekend coincides with the Taste of Chicago. Streets are closed for food stands, yet Grant Park and Navy Pier still runs fireworks all weekend long. Museums, parks and tours are open, and somehow traffic still moves, buses still run and the city is bustling with locals and thousands of tourists.

True, the Windy city has the advantage of being master planned but there is something that Toronto can consider ... And that is people called Traffic and Transit Officers. During these events these men and women clad in bright green vests assist to move traffic and people along the busy streets. Unlike alot of TTC workers, these individuals love their job and are happy to help you get where you're going, and with a smile.

Instead of preventing great things from happening, why not do something to make them better.

Aquascape

Last year for his birthday, Aidan got a nice little 5 gallon aquarium from his uncle. We started with a couple of fish, little did we know they would breed like rabbits and we'd end up with over 25 new inhabitants.

Nature says you can't sustain that many fish in a 5 gal. tank (I think the rule of thumb is 1 fish per gallon), anyways we witnessed a few float the top last week. So last week I ended up at Big Al's Aquarium store to buy a 20 gal. tank. As much as I like fish I also love the look of a natural planted aquarium, i.e. real plants. So today I splurged and picked up a Hagen High Output T5 dual lamp. This is like the BMW of marine lighting. Wow, spectacular lighting for both fish and plants!!! Awesome piece of harware, looks nice too.

The fish are really happy cause they have clean water and lots of room to swim and we'll get around to finding a nice variety of plants and mosses to fill the aquarium.

2010 Financial Outlook

Don't think that we're out of the woods yet. If you listen to CNN you might think the US economy is on the upswing but the reality is that unemployment is not signifianctly down in the US or Canada. Almost 1 in 4 borrowers in the U.S. owes more on their mortgage than what thier home is worth. The U.S. contiues to be the larget debtor nation in the world and that's not going to change anytime soon.

Check this out: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/business/economy/02modify.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

My 2010 prediction is that there will be a serious decline in the stock market in March when it's apparent that the growth we've see isn't organic but because of injected stimulus money. You know, Toronto hired 1500 new city workers last year, how was that going to stimulate the economy?

Continued low interest rates isn't going to do anything except put downward pressure on the US dollar and bond yields so my bet is on gold. And I don't mean the Olympic kind, I'm talking bullion.

Urban Prairies

I came across a term today I've never heard before. Urban Prairie.

It sounds like a peaceful setting, but in fact it's used to describe cities or neighborhoods which have been abandoned due to the economic downturn. Lots and homes which have been mowed down and overrun with weeds and various vegetation. It generally refers to Detroit but could be other cities as well.

It's truly difficult to fathom that this is a picture represents the growing state of cities and towns of one the wealthiest countries on the planet.

Happy New Year! 2010

Happy New Year everyone. Hope 2010 brings you lots of health and happiness.

Wallace and Family.

What?