Here's how the roofing is going...

This is how it looks at noon.

The latest project around here

Try sleeping in with this going on....

Fun with photos

To get the top photo, I cropped the bottom one to 800 x 600, and then enlarged it again, to 1680 x 1260. This isn't the best way to get enlargements, but it works.

Just wondering....

Why is this maritime patrol aircraft circling our north shore with its flaps down, when the airport is on the other side of town about 15 miles away? Did this have anything to do with this being Canada Day? (Oh, Canada, our home on the natives' land) Enjoy your day, Folks.

The latest Firefox - new and improved

This isn't just a minor tweak to Firefox 3 - it's the full program, over 7 Mb, and includes new features that I haven't even tried out yet myself. If you're already using Firefox, click on the "Help", and choose "Check for Updates". If you aren't already using it, and would like to try it, you can click here to get their latest download.

We are all cousins, says a geneticist

A respected geneticist, on a TV program recently, says that his research indicates that we are all cousins.

He was looking for the Biblical Adam, and by checking the characteristics of 'Y' chromosomes of many individuals from various parts of the world, he has found a common feature in them which indicates that we are all descended from a common ancestor who lived about 60,000 years ago.

This would have been around the time that some catastrophic event killed off many species, including most humans, and it has been estimated that there may have been as few as only a couple of thousand humans who survived all that. One of those apparently was the parent of all future generations. He didn't look like those famous paintings either, and he lived most likely in East Africa, according to the experts.

So not only are we all related, but we've increased in numbers from a couple of thousand about 60,000 years ago to our current 6 billion plus, and we probably aren't getting along with each other as well now as we did back then, when our very survival depended on it. Come to think of it, our survival still depends on it, doesn't it?

More Windows 7 news....

This morning, I got an email from Irfan, of Ifanview fame, saying that he has now finished a new update to his famous viewer. A few weeks ago, he and I exchanged a couple of emails about problems I was having with Irfanview in Windows 7. I am very pleased to report that Irfan's latest update has fixed all that, and Irfanview is now working fine with Windows 7.

To get yours, click here and you can enjoy one of the world's best viewing and editing programs. Millions of users can't be wrong.

More on the Windows 7 special sale...

I was wondering if Microsoft is actually tracking those who have been actively participating in this Windows 7 testing program, so that we get an opportunity to have one of these discounted copies of Windows 7, and the answer is yes, they are keeping track of us. This morning, I got an email from Microsoft, inviting me to purchase my copy. I already had ordered it, so I replied to say thanks and let them know.

Since this test version of it is the Ultimate version, I would have liked a special deal on that, but unfortunately, there apparently isn't one. So after the retail versions are shipped, I'll be a few bells & whistles short, but I'll still be using Windows 7, and enjoying it.

My next question is: "When do we start testing Windows 8 ?" - Enjoy your day, everyone.

Windows 7 Pre-order sale....

I have a couple of things to gripe about with this deal: First, I think they ought to check the exchange rate on currency, because I don't think $50 U.S. equals $65.00 Canadian; and secondly, the Canadian website seems to be dragging its ass compared to its U.S. counterpart, because on the U.S. website, their resellers and Microsoft Store were shown as early as about 10:00 p.m., June 25th.

The Canadian Microsoft website however does show a list of their standard resellers, and by checking some of those, I was able to find two or three who did have purchasing information available for Windows 7 pre-orders. Not all of them listed both the Home Premium and the Professional versions however. One only lists the Home Premium. That's probably going to be the best seller anyway, because it gives you the best bang for the buck. The Professional version includes about three more features which most of us at home can live without, and probably will - including me. I ordered the Home Premium version, for a total cost of $72.75 from Staples. There's a limited number available, and I'm sure they will all be gone before the deadline of July 11 rolls around, so if you want a copy, better do it now.

Catching up on my reading today...

Today, I've been catching up on the news about Windows 7, and there's been some. Starting tomorrow, there's going to be even more. We can pre-order it at a nice saving, they say. I hope there's enough to go around for all us Windows 7 testers.

Today in the rain...

They got their bread later on.

Today in the garden

Some of the local flowers. I don't know what they're called, but they look lovely.

Fun with the camera...

I went out on the balcony to try to get a shot of a noisy bluejay in the trees below, but by the time I got the camera ready, it had moved on. So I took this instead. Maybe next time...

Today's weather...

Off to the west, there's a patch of blue sky, but closer to home, the rain is coming. It's one of those days - if you don't like the weather, wait half an hour.

Today's weather report....

After the long spell of nice sunny weather, it's finally raining, and we needed this.

Sometimes, getting upgrade reminders is good...

Above is one of our many local floatplanes, heading off to Vancouver Island probably.

This evening, I got an email from WinZip telling me about an upgrade to their version 12.0. At first, I didn't pay much attention, because I have their version 11 on my XP machine, and there's a cost to upgrade that to version 12. Then, just on an impulse, I checked the code for the registration of the version 11 on the XP machine, and compared that to the registration code that was included with the email about the version 12 upgrade. These were different registration codes. So I had evidently forgotten that I'd paid for a version 12 installation on this newer computer while it had Vista installed. I'd lost all that when I wiped out the Vista to install this Windows 7.

So I checked the WinZip email again, and it said that as a registered user of version 12, I was entitled to a free upgrade to version 12.1, and it helpfully provided my registration codes. So I downloaded the new version of WinZip, and entered my registration codes, and now it is back and working again.

Incidentally, this was no big deal, because there are two or three very good free zip programs available on the web if you ever need one in a hurry. WinZip is good, but it isn't the only one around by any means. Jzip and 7zip are two others that come to mind.

Today's photo: Roses

These remind me of a large rose bush on the front lawn back home many years ago.

A local wild flower....

This Foxglove showed up in our shrubs this year, and I hope the seeds start more next year.
These grow wild along the highway north of the city.

Another drive-by flower shot

For this one, I was stuck in gridlock, waiting for the light to change.

More Windows 7 leaked builds...

My spies tell me that this new background image is the biggest visible change in the latest series of build leaks from Microsoft. Those are now up to build 7260, and the most recent ones are all in a format for use on virtual machines, and aren't in the usual ISO Image format. So we are all being advised to just ignore all that, and stick with our RC version 7100 until the final release to manufacturing is created. Why waste time re-installing the operating system if you can't see any visible changes? There are some, if you know where to look, but mostly it's in the unseen parts that the latest improvements are. I like the RC just fine as it is. And I'm not looking forward to that new background wallpaper - as someone said on a posting about it, it's about as subtle as an elephant in your living room. And who needs that?