Category: Technology


Spade foot

The local naturalists are having a presentation on the Spade foot on the 18th of April.

The northern limit of the great basin Spadefoot is the subject of the evening.

The naturalists also enjoy a presentation of members wildlife pictures before the main presentation as well.  Gerry Sanford and freelance published author Murphy Shewchuck are some of the members that regularly share unique captures at the pre presentation.

The event begins at 7:00 at the local community college lecture theater NVIT, 4155 Belshaw Avenue in Merritt.

Today in History:  April 11,1976

The apple 1 is created.

Off Voght Street in Merritt and  next to the Merritt Desert Inn is an electric car recharging station. I talked to a man recharging his car and he said his car a Tesia model S has a 500 kilometer range. He had come from Vancouver and took on 130 kilometers worth of free power from the charging station.

The man said that he spends 6 dollars a month on power for his 100 thousand dollar luxury electic car. There three models below it  with less range and according to him it takes more than over night to fully charge his car with the 110 service at home.

The car drove off with no noise and a happy driver on his way to Kamloops.

The charging station is  in the  same parking lot that the farmers market occupy starting May 18th.

A report in the Merritt Herald here said that  more stations are coming.

An update:
Another Tesia driver charging up here on 4/15/13 said his range is more like 300 KMs because of going up hill and he agreed that the return trip should have better results as that would be downhill . Merritt is 2000 feet above sea level that the coast drivers come from.

Today in History:  April 9, 1867

Alaska is purchased from the Russians by a vote of one.

Public access

The local library is on Garcia street in Merritt it has 8 public access PC type computers. The public can log in for an hour a day with their library card and for visitors out of the area a 1 hr pass code is available at the front desk.

The  library was built in the early 1990s and a big part of the plan was the acceptance of the computers from the Bill and Melinda
Gates foundation. although they have been updated by the regional district since the original gifting it is good to acknowledge those that give back to the community in this way.

From the 8000 people of Merritt and 10,000 more in the trading area ,thanks to goodness and the Gates bunch.

Today in History: April, 4, 1975

Microsoft corporation is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Calfs and lambs

A trip out highway 5A saw many spring calf’s and new born lambs along the road and in the ranches fields  that are intersected by the highway.

Once asked a local rancher Gloria Capp what the difference between a spring calf and a winter calf she replied ” one is born later”.

Nicola Ranch, Quilchena ,Cattle Company and  others along the lower road to Kamloops are quite pleasant to view from a car  as  it takes its way along the ” 70 percent load restriction ” road . These restrictions concern transports and commercial trucks and have made the route free of them at this time ,preferring 5  the divided highway with out load restrictions.

Today in History: April 2,1912

The ill fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.

Blue box

A source in the City thinks that they will be distributing the Blue box  recycle garbage cans that complement the  gray lidded plastic cans for garbage in April or May. The cans have been siting in a pile at the city works yard waiting for  the go ahead from the powers. The same truck is divided into sides one for recycle another for garbage. A mechanical  hydraulic arm picks them up and dumps them into a compression chamber and returns them to the curb. This is worker friendly taking a lot of the risk of injury away from the one man handler.

Water sewer and garbage rates are being separated from the property tax levy on the billing  from City hall this year.

Today in history:March 27 1998

The authorities approve the drug Viagra for impotence.

Better streaming

The Telus techs have two trucks and a flagging crew on Voght street in Merritt today. A sources says it is splicing fiber cable. The city paid 25 thousand dollars for a new website template that allows for direct updating at their office. A source said that the last time they were here it was to enhance streaming for that application. The source said they are not sure what the splicing is for today.

Today in history: March 21,1989

Sports illustrated ties Pete Rose to baseball gambling and game fixing

Williamson Sapsuckers

On Thursday the 21st of March the Nicola Naturalists will be presenting on the Williamson Sapsuker. The presentation is at the Nicola Valley Instute of Technology, at 7 PM . Membership or donations requested. They say that the:

Williamson’s Sapsucker has always been considered one of those rather rare and enigmatic birds.  With differences in the male and female plumage that are unique among all woodpeckers, it is nowhere truly abundant, and is Endangered in Canada.  The Merritt area is one of the strongholds of this species, but this local population was virtually unknown just 10 years ago, with many aspects of its biology only recently discovered.  Biologist Les Gyug of Okanagan Wildlife Consulting has been studying Williamson’s Sapsucker since 1996.  He is an engaging speaker and excellent photographer. Join Les for an informative and entertaining account of this little known species.

The presentation is in the lecture theater and no food or drink is allowed. Parking is free and the machine waved after school hours.

NVIT is at 4155 Belshaw St Merritt BC V1K 1R1

Today in History: March 14.1964

Jack Ruby is found guilty of assassinating JFK’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Smart dryer

This morning the Google home page is showing a caricature of a smart appliance and a calculator that says don’t panic. As the appliance spits out data. Also the hydro authority has sent out a monthly edition of their newsletter introducing the new online account and its advantages to the consumer. The ability to compare to neighbours and similar homes is one that may be appealing to those who don’t like machines that do too much.

Below is a transcript of the newsletter:

As part of the recent upgrades on bchydro.com, you’ll notice your account online is now called MyHydro. With MyHydro, you’re still able to manage your account online as you did before, but you’ll also have access to new features that give you a closer look at your electricity use. Watch the video to learn how MyHydro helps you save energy, time and money.

Take a closer look at your electricity use

By taking a deeper look at your electricity use, you can find ways to save energy and money. With MyHydro, see how your electricity use affects your bill by:

  • Viewing your electricity use down to the hour and right up until yesterday to see when you’re using the most electricity.
  • Comparing your electricity use to factors such as average outside temperature, similar homes nearby and last year’s consumption.
  • Projecting your electricity use and estimated cost for the current billing period based on your consumption patterns.
  • Putting Power Smart tips into action and signing up for automatic email alerts to check back in and stay on track with your conservation goals.

Detailed consumption data gives you the right information at the right time, and helps you identify where you can save energy to keep your bill as low as possible (watch how the Greens track their electricity use to save on their electricity costs). While many of our customers can now view and track their daily electricity use, you may be among those customers who won’t have access until later this year. Make sure to log in to MyHydro regularly to see if your account is activated.

Manage your account online to save time

A growing number of BC Hydro customers regularly use bchydro.com to manage their account online. When you log in to MyHydro, you can view your bill and payment history, select a payment method, and even start, stop or move your service. When you log in to MyHydro, you’ll find these account functions in the account services toolbox.

Log in or create a MyHydro Profile

If you’ve always managed your account online, your BC Hydro Profile is now your MyHydro Profile. Never managed your account online? Create a MyHydro Profile and link your account to get started.

It appears in the material that yours and others in similar homes power consumption will be public , and the system certainly lends itself to eventual two rate system to take advantage of off-peak usage and since there is little competion  in the monopoly, that could mean that the lower rate could be the same as now and the peak rate move up in cost. Unless this efficiency brings all hydro down.

Opinion: this is really different and appealing to techies however our time is worth something and the prudent will control this and not let it dominate their time.

Today in History: March 11,2006

Chile gets its first female president, Michelle Bachelet.

5000 meters

A motorman from Beaver Drilling gave us a conversation last week. He said he is working on a Double Drilling Rig , in the Rocky Mountain Foothills. For natural gas, his state of the art rig is usually involved in oil exploration. The motorman sowed me a key chain model bit and talked about whip-stocking a method of pulling back in a hole and stopping rotation of the String and hydrological turning the bit and controls a horizontally inclined take off. This makes for a managed drilling platform into a field.

Shale gas production has had a dramatic effect on supplies and the industry suffering is setting its hopes on conversions from high carbon use such as coal and oil to clean natural gas. according to the Horn River News in gas suffering Alberta, June 19th 2012, this may take years, and there are concerns it may not be timely for Alberta if major players go elsewhere.

Editors note: There has been a free fall in gas prices since 2009 do to high production,

Today in History: February 25,1919

Oregon puts a penny tax on gasoline becoming the first US state to levy gasoline.

Today in History: February 26th,1993

The world trade center is attacked killing 6 people in an explosion

Consumer knowledge

We talked to a young man this week who was driving a 16 passenger Van. When asked why not an electric or hybrid he said he researched it and the cost of the battery replacement was prohibitive. We said 5 years and the battery at 2 figures would need to be replaced.

When we talked to a person driving a pick-up that was electric with a 1.6 liter charging motor the fellow said 12 years , the former fellow admitted that 5 years was low-end when asked to comment on that. When asked if there was a residual value to used batteries he was not able to comment.

A charging station is in Merritt and has yet to be seen being used other then by official electric vehicles , the announcement of Tim Hortons and free retail outlets is not a subject on the minds of people here today.

Today in history: February, 20 1942

Phil Esposito Canadian hockey star is born.

Gas prices

The shell station at the top of the hill on Voght street is showing a gasoline price of a dollar and 21.9 cents a liter that s up 10 cents from a week ago down town. An employee from the neighbouring Petro Canada in an interview said she was walking over to check the price of the competitor. implying  that was her directed job.

The summer driving season usually sees a spike in retail gas prices. These increases are a little early for the May trough September demand period.

Today in history: February 18,1229

The Holy Roman empire signs a ten-year truce putting the 6th crusade on hold.

TGIF

Merit of Merritt

Its good that it is friday….

There was a remembrance for the shooting victims of  an eastern university some years ago. Billed as “National day of remembrance and action on Violence against women. Dec 6th 2012.

Numbers of students had parts and Guest speaker Sharon McIvor presented.

The demeanor served to solemnize the relationship of women in society and how violence may affect them.Sharon is a lawyer and a professor at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology.

Today in history: December 7,2007

An oil spill in South Korea when a crane and a large tanker the Hebei  Spirit tangle.