Okay, it's a wrap!

I've made the tough decision to officially retire this blog of mine. I won't be posting any more entries on any of my Blogger sites in future.
I've gone on to other interests and this site sits here waiting for me to return to it. This final post brings this blog to a close. I enjoyed blogging here, and hope to do more of it in future on other topics that interest me. I debated keeping this blog active and posting whenever, but I'm being realistic. I'll probably start a new blog again when I get off the procrastination couch, but it will be over at Wordpress or I may even host my blog on my own site. Lot of what ifs I know, but who knows what the future holds.
Thanks to all who have enjoyed the short life of this personal expression of mine.
Peace.

Home after the holidays

I've just returned from one of the best holidays I've had in a long, long time.
My family toured Upper and Lower Canada during the summer. The area we travelled to includes Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa.
It was a very stress-less time and we really enjoyed ourselves.
I'd never been to either Ottawa and Quebec City and I wonder why I'd never thought to visit them before. Both cities were unique in their own way and I plan to go back in the future to explore them further.
Old Quebec City had wonderful charm that captivated us during our stay there. It didn't matter that it rained on us, since that really added to the atmosphere of the place. I'd say that walking down the rain-soaked cobblestone streets to visit the many old buildings and cathedrals in the old part of town was the highlight of our entire trip.
I love the province of Quebec and we also enjoyed our stay in Montreal. I even had the chance to meet up with an online friend while we were there!
I had been to Quebec years ago when I was younger, and at the time I wasn't impressed with the province or the people there. Something about my visit and the feeling of stuffy superiority made me vow not to return there. I am so glad that I changed my views and that we made the trip. Words aren't enough to show how much I enjoyed it.
Photos may help however. Here are some photos from our stay in Quebec city.

PDA Blogging

Testing out blogging software from pocketblog.com.
It allows me to blog using my pocket pc.
This will allow me another way to access this blog of mine.

Fallen by the wayside

It's sad when I see blogs that I enjoy reading and that I visit daily, suddenly stop posting and slowly fade away. I still check back on them and hope that the blogger has started reposting again to the blog so that I can continue to enjoy what they have to say.
It seems that this blog has fallen by the wayside as well. I've neglected it and seem to have lost focus with it. I don't feel like posting as many photos these days. Maybe it's because I'm not taking as many photos as I was in the past. I'm not that worried or concerned about all of this, as this is just a humble blog that I started for my own amusement. I don't expect that many people pass this way, and I'm sure the few that do, don't return. That's fine with me, as there are so many excellent blogs out there to spend quality time with. I'm not sure what the future of this blog will be. If you enjoyed reading any part of this blog, leave a comment so that I may be motivated to keep it going for those who visit.

Sorry GoogleAds..there's no room for you here

I recently had the lame idea to try Google Adsense on the site here. I signed up with google and supplied them my blog information. Ads popped up at the top of my blog almost overnight. I didn't like the look of them and how they made this humble blog look, so I've removed the script that makes them appear. If you have similar feelings about Google Ads on your blog, here's the steps to removing them. I took this information directly from the Google site with some minor editing by me.

If you're using a Layouts-enabled blog, simply click the edit link for your AdSense page element, then click the Remove Page Element button.

If you are using a classic template, please follow the steps below:

1. Sign in to your Blogger account at http://www.blogger.com Template tab
2. Click Edit current
3. Locate the AdSense ad code within the template code. The code will be similar to the sample code below:
   
   script type="text/javascript"
   !-- google_ad_client = "pub-0000000000000"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; google_ad_format = "728x90_as"; google_ad_type = "text_image"; google_ad_channel =""; //-->
   script type="text/javascript" src="%20http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js
   
4. Select and delete this ad code and save your template
5. Republish your blog to see the changes.

1. 
   

I don't plan to run ads on this site in future as I like the idea of keeping things simple. I imagine that blogs are like tv shows. Whenever a commercial ad comes on, I reach for the remote and change the channel until the ad is over. Blogs could be viewed the same way. Ads may be driving people away from some sites. I've seen some that suffer from ad overkill. If you visit enough blogs, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Ubuntu for the masses

I received a package in the mail today from Ubuntu. I had requested free Linux CD's a while back for the new version of Ubuntu that was released this month. I opened the package and found 3 CD's (2 for x86 systems and 1 for 64 bit PCs). They also threw in some Ubuntu stickers to customize my PC if I desire to. If you want to order your own free Ubuntu Cd's, just head over to this site and sign up. https://shipit.ubuntu.com/
It may take a while to get them however, so be prepared to wait. I wasn't that patient waiting for them. I didn't think they'd arrive, so I went ahead and burnt myself a copy of Ubuntu that I downloaded from their site. I burnt the DVD this week and the package arrived today! How's that for timing. I haven't had a chance to install it just yet, but I did test it out as a Live CD and I'm impressed.

Scanning for life signs

This blog has been neglected lately, for which I'm sorry. I'm still procrastinating about starting a new blog on another site with Wordpress, and everytime I start working on it, I get called away without making any real progress. I'm still not sure if it will ever see the light of day.
I'm happy today, because the scanner that I bought off ebay arrived today. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to scan transparencies. I've made a few attempts, but I'll still have to tweak the settings a bit to get the colour and contrast to my liking.
Here's a quick sample scan that I just made. It's from a trip I took to Thailand years ago.