Country 107.1 is presenting a concert benefitting Abbotsford's Canuck Place Children's Hospice. It features Aaron Pritchett, Gord Bamford, AJ Woodworth and Jesse Burch & the Derailers on stage. 100% of the proceeds from tickets go to Canuck Place. The concert takes place in the Rodeo Ring at Abbotsford Exhibition Park (enter grounds at Gate 2)! Doors @ 6pm, Show @ 7pm

Tickets are $33.69 (includes tax) general admission/all ages show. You can purchase your tickets online at www.ticketweb.ca.

Thanks are due to the Country for Kids sponsors: Pit Stop Portables, Rite-Way Fencing, Ray's Security and the Abbotsford News.

For more information, check out a video of the interview Aaron Pritchett gave on City TV.

It's a great cause so why not tell all your friends about it and come and enjoy some of the finest Country Western music.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Country For Kids Abbotsford August 18, 2011

Technorati Tags: Aaron Pritchett, Abbotsford, Concert

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It is estimated that there are more than 6,000 wineries in the U.S., another 6,000 in Australia, and over 360 in Canada and each may produce 10 different wines or more.  Add in Europe and South America and you clearly have a very, very crowded market-place.  Even if you decide to purchase through your local wine store, the choice is formidable.  The BC Liquor Stores Product Catalogue, for example, lists 3103 table wines.  If you are one of those wineries, how can you try to ensure prospective customers hear about your wine.

Shiraz Wines Extra-ordinaires

One way is to give a memorable name that delighted customers might share with their friends.  However that has already been done quite widely.  Just look at these wine names from the BC Liquor Stores Product Catalogue among the 245 Shiraz wines that are included.

• Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz - Yalumba The Scribbler 07 Australia
• Cabernet Shiraz - Long Flat 08/09 Australia
• Cabernet Shiraz - Majella The Musician Coonawarra 06/09 Australia
• Cabernet Shiraz - Shot In The Dark 08/09 Australia
• Cabernet Shiraz Pinotage - Winds Of Change Organic 09/10 South Africa
• Extramadura - Mad Dogs & Englishmen 05/06 Spain
• Lucky Penny Red Australia
• Painted Turtle - Shiraz Canada
• Shiraz - Shoofly 2006 Australia
• Shiraz - Barefoot California United States
• Shiraz - Binder Mitchell Gunslingers Barossa 06 Australia
• Shiraz - Bird In Hand Two In The Bush Mt Lofty 07/08 Australia
• Shiraz - Black Swan Australia
• Shiraz - Black Tractor 07/08 Australia
• Shiraz - Chapel Hill Parsons Nose Mclaren Vale 09/10 Australia
• Shiraz - D'Arenberg The Dead Arm 00/07 Australia
• Shiraz - Fat Bastard France
• Shiraz - Fetish The Watcher Barossa Valley 2008 Australia
• Shiraz - Funky Llama Argentina
• Shiraz - Gray Fox 2003 United States
• Shiraz - Henry's Drive Morse Code Padthaway 08/09 Australia
• Shiraz - Henry's Drive Dead Letter Office 06/07 Australia
• Shiraz - Kangarilla Glimmer Of Hope 2008 Australia
• Shiraz - Kilikanoon The Lackey 07/08 Australia
• Shiraz - Lulu 07/09 France
• Shiraz - Mollydooker Carnival Of Love 07/09 Australia
• Shiraz - Razor's Edge Mclaren Vale 05/08 Australia
• Shiraz - Shotfire 06/08 Australia
• Shiraz - The Little Penguin Australia
• Shiraz - The Lucky Country 07/08 Australia
• Shiraz - Two Hands Angels Share Mclaren Vale 06/07 Australia
• Shiraz - Two Oceans South Africa
• Shiraz - Woop Woop 09/10 Australia
• Shiraz - Xanadu Next Of Kin Margaret River 08 Australia
• Shiraz - Yellow Tail Australia
• Shiraz Cabernet - Kangarilla Hellbent 07/08 Australia
• Shiraz Cabernet - Mollydooker Two Left Feet 2009 Australia
• Shiraz Cabernet Petit Verdot- Wirra Wirra Scrubby Rise 09 Australia
• Shiraz Grenache - Timbuktu Offshore 2008 Australia
• Shiraz - Cat Amongst The Pigeons Nine Lives 07/09 Australia
• Wild Horse Canyon - Shiraz Canada
• XOXO - Shiraz Cabernet Canada

Wine Labels On The Edge

If even extra-ordinary names are commonplace, how else can you stand out from the crowd.  The answer is to be ‘on the edge’ in more ways than one.  As the Vancouver Sun tells us, Holy Moly ... Vancouver firm wins top awards for innovative wine labels in San Francisco competition.

Brandever's wine labels earn a Double Gold for the labels produced for Blasted Church Vineyards in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.  This small Vancouver firm is making its mark in the often staid wine-branding field, with cutting-edge labels such as Swear to God (Chardonnay 2008), Bible Thumper (Pinot Gris 2008), Holy Moly (Petit Verdot 2008), Cross to Bear (Malbec/Syrah 2008) and Nothing Sacred.

“We do things that are out in left field and daring,” said Bernie Hadley-Beauregard, founder and owner of Brandever Strategy Inc., which won nine of the Wine Label Design Awards handed out at this year’s San Francisco International Wine Competition in June for its innovative labels for these made-in-B.C. wines.

Here are some of the winning labels:

The Double Gold Individual Label Award for Nagging Doubt wine, also of Okanagan Falls, also is on the technical edge of label design.  It uses codes on the label that allow the buyer to scan it with a smartphone and see a video showing how the label was created.

Brandever, which has won awards for its offbeat labels at previous San Francisco wine competition shows, also had 20 of its wine labels exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art this spring.

Perhaps surprisingly if you are looking for advice on Building A Wine Brand, then you might wish to listen to the news from India.

A global wine brand that comes out of India: that's the ambitious goal of Pune-based Good Earth Winery, says Navin Sankaranarayanan, the company's CCO.

This is a company focused on marketing. “We believe 40 per cent lies in the quality product and 60 per cent in everything else around it to build the brand, from proper labels to expensive manpower,” says Sankaranarayanan. “We are looking to create aspirational brands.”

According to Vinexpo statistics, India has become the 10th largest growing nation for wine consumption, in value and volume terms, for the period 2009-13. According to the grape board, by the year 2020, India has the potential to become a world player in wine.

Clearly the task of standing out in that even more crowded wine market-place will take much more than just innovative wine bottle labels.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Award Winning Wine Labels

Technorati Tags: brand, shiraz, wine label

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The 6/49 TV ads from BC Lotto are a frequent reminder of how great it is to be all by yourself with some good friends in beautiful places.  The British Columbia provincial motto, the most beautiful place on earth, suggests that whatever you might wish will be found here somewhere in the province..  Indeed that is true.  There are many contenders.  However if you wish to get away then Saturna Island, the second largest and least populated of the Gulf Islands, would be a strong choice.

It has been home to First Nations peoples for thousands of years.  Saturna was explored by Spanish sailors and named in 1791 after their naval schooner, the Santa Saturnina, which was one of the ships in the Spanish expedition that discovered the Strait of Georgia.

Although the population rises in the summer there are only 350 long term inhabitants. There is only one campground on the island and accommodations are limited, so if you wish to spend a vacation on the island, lodging reservations are recommended.

Saturna Island for great nature

In addition to the beautiful views in all directions, Saturna Island is blessed with a wide variety of natural life.  Nearly half of the newly created Gulf Islands National Park incorporates undeveloped wilderness land on Saturna Island.   Here is a partial list of what you may find:

• The 497-metre (1,630 foot) summit of Mount Warburton Pike offers a 360 degree view of the surrounding Gulf and San Juan Islands, which you will share with wild goats, soaring eagles, falcons and vultures.
• magnificently gnarled Garry oaks and the red-barked arbutus trees
• a protected Peregrine Falcon nesting site
• a myriad of seabirds, orcas, porpoises, seals and sea lions thriving in  the surrounding ocean

Saturna Island for great wine

The Saturna Island Vineyards are situated on a bench of land nestled between the waters of the Pacific, and a magnificent soaring sandstone and granite cliff face on the south side of the island. This creates a micro climate which is unique to the region, and is similar to the northern Mediterranean. There are 60 acres of vineyards that are ideal for the cultivation of classic European grape varietals. These include Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, and Merlot under vine. The summers are warm, and the winters are mild; which gives the ideal conditions for a long growing season.

Saturna Island for great living

That northern Mediterranean micro-climate, which is so good for wine-making, is also excellent for living.  If you have the yen to put roots down, then fine properties do come on the market from time to time.  There is a great waterfront residence just across the road from the Winery, Long Field Cottage at 16 Trueworthy Road.

Here are some photographs to whet your appetite:

For more information, you can contact the Real Estate Agent for the property, Annabel Young.  She will be delighted to explore with you how this property and Saturna Island can provide your ultimate living experience. Full details of this residence can be found on the MLS listing: 296625.

… and it is all just 15 minutes away

The Tourism British Columbia website has perhaps the best short description of Saturna Island:

Saturna Island is a short floatplane haul from Vancouver and Victoria – the two most urban, densely populated cities in BC. Yet this is by far the most remote, crowd-free refuge in the southern Gulf Islands. A tiny population combined with cozy accommodations, the bare minimum of retail activity and the island's well-protected natural beauty make Saturna a prime R&R locale.  Saturna draws visitors who appreciate peace, pleasant outdoor activities, and abundant quality time with books, binoculars, journals, art supplies and creative imaginations.

They also include the following map of the Island: Another useful source of information is the Saturna Island Tourism Association (SITA) website.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

16 Trueworthy Road, Saturna Island BC, a Waterfront Home for Real Living

Technorati Tags: British Columbia, Gulf Islands, Saturna Island, tranquility

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I will preface this post with the cold fact that not all blogs or websites will benefit much from using the Amazon Associates program. That being said, since the program is free to use, it is at least worth trying out.  It is a great affiliate program that is simple to implement and can make surprisingly large sums of money. But for any site or blog to make any serious money from the program, they should fit at least most of the following criteria:

• Your site gets a good amount of traffic - Obviously no one will be clicking on your affiliate links and purchasing things that will give you commissions if no one visits your site.
• Your visitors are loyal and trust your site - This one is huge! Much more important than just having traffic, having loyal visitors will be the most likely users to convert with your affiliate program. Most of the search engine traffic you receive won't.
• Your site has information relevant to the products you're marketing - Believe it or not, a lot of webmasters will use an affiliate program and market products that have nothing to do with their site's content. Of course, you can be a little creative, but try to market products that you know your readers will want to buy.

Where In the "Buying Cycle" Is Your Audience?

Even with the above criteria met, you're still not guaranteed to make money through the Amazon Associates program because perhaps your readers are at a different stage in the "buying cycle" than the products you're marketing.

For instance, if you write a blog that offers tutorials on Photoshop, you probably won't get too many people clicking on your Amazon links to buy Photoshop because they already have it and are looking for tips on how to use it. However, if you're reviewing the newest version of Photoshop, your affiliate links might be a bit more lucrative.

Great Buying Hooks

Now that we do indeed have a loyal audience and have considered what they are interested in buying, let's look at the way we can link them into Amazon and start buying stuff, so we can get that commission. Remember, they don't necessarily have to buy whatever product you link to; they just have to buy something on Amazon through the affiliate link on your site.

Challenge Your Readers to a "Hypothetical" Shopping Spree!

As cheesy as this might sound, this idea works incredibly well, particularly for sites that review a slew of products for a particular niche. Just write up an article of how you would spend $1000 (or however much money) on products related to your topic, and then at the end of your article, call upon your audience to go on their own "hypothetical" shopping spree and post what they would buy in the comments (just be sure to give them the Amazon affiliate link as their entrance to the spree). Odds are some of them are bound to buy something that they realize they could use.

Allow Readers to Review Products

As great as it is to review products yourself on your site, I've also noticed very positive responses (in terms of affiliate commissions) to articles in which a dedicated reader of my site reviews the product. I suppose this is because people are less worried of a biased review since the reader has nothing to gain if you decide to purchase the product through the affiliate link. Remember, for both your own and your readers' reviews, to keep your reviews genuine and honest. If you lie to sell a poor quality product to your readers, you will soon find that you have no readers and no one clicking your affiliate links.

Best-Seller Lists

One great aspect of the Amazon Associates program is that it gives you great detail about whether or not people are clicking your affiliate links and what they're buying. Once you've gathered enough data to determine buying trends and popular products, make a best sellers list! This is a surprisingly effective way to gather more support and trust toward your affiliate products and gain more sells.

By-line:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges.  She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Amazon Associates Success Tips

Technorati Tags: Affiliate marketing, Affiliate Programs, Amazon Associates

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The Golden Ears Bridge across the Fraser River in British Columbia has been in operation for 9 months now. It was being constructed for almost two years before that. Unfortunately it has been invisible in Google Maps until now. Many have commented on the invisibility of the Golden Ears Bridge, which is a major landmark. Although repeated messages have been sent to places where Googlers congregate such as the Google Maps Forum, the organization seemed blind. As usual, they seemed to be relying on computer-generated data rather than inputs from humans.

It was said that the reason for the delay was that the Golden Ears Bridge had not been included in the database used by Google Maps.  One of these is maintained by TeleAtlas.  However the Bridge was added to the database as of March 31, 2010 and still there was no change.  MapQuest, the Google Maps competitor, was not asleep at the wheel and almost immediately included the Golden Ears Bridge in its directions information.

It was only this morning that finally Google has registered the Golden Ears Bridge in its database.  Use Google Maps to help you find the way across the Fraser River from Langley to Pitt Meadows and here is the route that Google will provide.

It was good to finally see the Bridge taking up the important role it now has in Fraser Valley transportation.  However in a somewhat ironic announcement, Google later in the morning announced that it was now Keeping Canada’s map current.

The map of Canada is constantly changing – new roads are being built, highways are being renamed, and bike trails are opening. To keep up with all these changes, we’ve started using new map data in Canada. This new base map is built from a wide range of sources, just as we recently announced for the US in October. In Canada, we’ve made use of data from organizations such as the National Hydrography Network and Canadian Council on Geomatics. Once again things like satellite imagery and Street View were also helpful to make a rich, thorough base map.

That’s all very well.  However if only they had worked more promptly in synchronizing with their existing map database contributors such as TeleAtlas, perhaps the Golden Ears Bridge would have been on our screens at least a month earlier.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Golden Ears Bridge BC now on Google Maps

Technorati Tags: Google Maps, Langley, MapQuest, Pitt Meadows

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If Phishing is a new term to you then please read this post. Wikipedia will tell you that “phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.” Often it may look like a message from your bank, or it could be Paypal or eBay. The phisher does not know whether you really have an account, but tries everyone in the hope that some may fall from it.

Here is one of the best phishing exploits I have seen. I have now twice received a message apparently from Google within the past three days that read as follows:

When you click on the link, then you see the familiar Google Gmail Welcome page. 

Except that this is not the regular Google page.  If you look up at the address field, you will find the URL is on the domain, .

Checking WhoIs for this page you will find that the administrative contact is the following person.

Undoubtedly if I had keyed in my Gmail username and password, that gentleman would have had access to my Gmail account and could do whatever he wished with it.  Needless to say I immediately changed the password, in case he had already been there.

This is a particularly difficult one to spot, so it is important to be extra vigilant.  Google has some good information about Messages asking for personal information.  It also provides more detailed information about Suspicious results and strange behavior: Phishing attacks in other words.

You can forward such phishing Gmail messages to phishing@google.com and can send the Phishing URL to the Google Phishing team using their Phishing Report.  Google also provides a link to Stopbadware.org, where you can learn more about malware that can infect your computer.

Some phishing attacks are not too difficult to spot, often including spelling mistakes and somewhat curious links.  This particular current Gmail phishing incident is highly professional and the only clue is that URL address when you click on the apparent Google link. 

Please spread the word rapidly.  If you are on Twitter, then please ReTweet the message below.

Undoubtedly many people will be taken in.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Latest Gmail Phishing Very Tough To Spot – Watch Out

Technorati Tags: Gmail, password, Phishing, Twitter, Uniform Resource Locator, URL

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Well that has changed although you may have missed the memo.  As MG Siegler has pointed out, Google Profiles Is Taking An Important Social Step With Vanity URLs.

The problem with Google’s movement towards becoming more of a social entity is that it lacks one cohesive place to tie everything together. Google lacks a singular area – like a Facebook profile page – where all that Google knows about you can reside and be easily seen. Actually there is such an area, Google Profiles and Google is now making it quite a bit easier to find.

So are you on Google?  You can check this out with the following search for your name on Google Profiles.

If you already have a Google Account and have a Gmail address, then you are well along in joining this new potential social network.

Mike Elgan believes this will be Google’s ‘Facebook Killer’.  He feels that Google is just one acquisition away from offering a social network that does everything Facebook does, minus all the things everybody hates about Facebook.  That acquisition he is pushing for is that Google should buy Twitter.

The end result of this integration would be a social network far better than Facebook.  Rather than being a link dead-end like Facebook, Profiles would be a launching pad of discoverability for everything you want to promote. It would be cleaner, faster and easier to use than Facebook. And it would be a one-stop shop for both social networking and Twitter.

I believe he is over-valuing what Twitter would bring to such an acquisition.  Twitter has relatively rudimentary features and undoubtedly the Twitter owners will put far too high a price on their social network.  If Google was of a mind to add the social media trappings to Google Profiles, it would not be rocket science to do so.  The Google name would ensure people would flock to it.  Indeed how many of you reading this have already claimed your Google Profile once you heard about it.

All the concept needs is a little marketing.  Google Profiles is clearly a no-no. Thinking over possible names and remembering the precedent of the Google Chrome browser, one name jumps out.

Google Glitter!  The name would almost market itself.  The related concepts are multitudinous.  Status reports would be glints of course.  Perhaps if some related helpful ideas come to mind for Google, you could add them in the comments.   It undoubtedly would be much cheaper to buy the appropriate domain(s) and/or trademark(s) to allow the concept to shine than it would to buy that tottering whale.

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Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Are You On Google?

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Touring beautiful valleys that have fine wines is a pleasure that is hard to beat. Just think of the Loire Valley or the Napa Valley.

Somewhat less well known at the moment but certainly rivaling them in beauty and in the quality of the wines on offer is the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. As the world comes to British Columbia for the Winter Olympics in 2010, it is certain that this fabulous corner of the wine world will become very much better known.

Early in the week we toured four of the Fraser Valley wineries and can certainly vouch for the excellence of their welcome. The quality of the wines compares well with those found in the Okanagan Valley even though the climatic conditions are a little less favorable. The four we visited have quite distinctive appearances and certainly seemed to be appreciated by the other visitors we met from around the world.

The first on our tour was Township7 Vineyards and Winery From the website we learn:

The vines at Township 7/Langley were planted in the spring of 2000 and the winery opened for business in July of 2001. In the fall of 2003, a second vineyard property was purchased on the Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley. The Langley wine shop is housed in the beautiful south Langley countryside in a quaint building reminiscent, on the outside, of the many riding stables in the neighbourhood. Aside from the vineyards in Langley and on the Naramata Bench, grapes for their wines are grown in the Oliver area of British Columbia, a world-renowned location for growing grapes for the more full-bodied Merlots, Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs and Chardonnays that Township 7 produces.

Next we visited the Domaine de Chaberton Estates Winery. The website provides some fascinating history of this most impressive winery:

Domaine de Chaberton Estate Winery is the largest and oldest winery in the Fraser Valley. In 1975, Claude and Inge Violet, having sold their winery and vineyard in France decided to start afresh in the New World. The pioneer spirit was not new to the Violet blood line as Claude�s family had been in the wine business since 1644. After visiting California, Ontario and the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Claude and Inge purchased the land where the present site of the Domaine de Chaberton and the Bacchus Bistro are located.

Claude quickly became known as the �Mad Frenchman� when word spread that he planned on planting wine grapes in the Fraser Valley. After doing much research, Claude had found that the property was located in a microclimate with weather conditions much like those that exists in northern France. Their wines have won numerous awards in wine competitions held throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. The 2003 Canoe Cove Shiraz was chosen by a select panel as one of only 11 B.C. wines to receive the Lieutenant Governor General’s 2006 Award of Excellence in British Columbia wines.

Lotusland Vineyards, the next stop on our wine tour, was a most charming contrast to the overwhelming magnificence of the Domaine. The winery provides a whole array of premium organic wines:

About Us
David and Liz Avery had a dream – to spend their days outdoors in the vineyard and to share the fruits of their labour of love. Nestled in the Fraser Valley surrounded by snow topped mountains and just 27 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean, Lotusland’s three and one half hectare vineyard offers not only spectacular views, but also the perfect coastal climate for growing some of the world’s finest wine grapes.

Their first vintage in 2000, was the result of a great deal of hard work and both David and wife Liz remain hands-on proprietors – from planting to bottling, they are actively involved in all aspects of production. Additional labour is provided by an international array of hands they affectionately call “WWOOFers”. The World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program provides international travel and organic farming experience to men and women from around the globe. The Lotusland vineyard can change your world view, evoking the comment from one such visitor that she couldn’t believe how “big the sky was” here. Lotusland hosts up to five WWOOFers at a time and have had more than 40 people from Japan, Switzerland, and Germany, participate in the program.

The last stop of the afternoon was at the Fort Wine Company located just minutes from historic Fort Langley, the place where on November 19, 1858, the new colony�s governor, Sir James Douglas, read the official proclamation of the new province of British Columbia. We were in for a surprise:

The Fort Wine Co. is a premium fruit winery located in the picturesque Glen Valley. The winery has been recognized with numerous awards at major wine competitions for the fine quality, innovation and flavour of the pure fruit products. In fact, their wines have been competing with grape wines in some large competitions, and coming out on top. Fruit wines have arrived and are a delicious, fun and healthy alternative to the sea of grape wines available on the market. They are not snooty. They are not syrupy. They are for the young at heart and for those seeking something refreshingly different.

If you have a full day, then you can go from the mouth of the Fraser River right up to Chilliwack at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley. There is more information about the wineries tours on the Fraser Valley Wineries Association website. The other wineries that can be visited are:

Westham Island Estate Winery

A pastoral Agri Tourism designated Farm planting, picking and processing fruit into the fine home grown fruit wines sold at the winery.

Sanduz Estate Winery

offers a range of fruit and grape wines that awaken the palate, mind and passion within.

Wellbrook Winery

The Old Grainery Store at the Wellbrook Winery in Delta, British Columbia, takes you back into history.

Pacific Breeze Winery

producing the highest quality vinifera wines by exploring the differences that appellation and winemaking impart to a given varietal.

River’s Bend Winery

a recent addition to the growing sector of farm-based wineries located in Surrey, BC.

Vista D�oro Farms Winery

producing the highest quality infused fortified wines in British Columbia with old world passion

St. Urban Winery Ltd.

The owner and wine maker grew up in the vineyards of Slovakia and makes wines in the traditional European style. White wine grape varieties include Kerner and Siegerebbe, German Riesling hybrids. The signature red wine is from the Hungarian Turan grape variety.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Fraser Valley Wine Tour

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There’s a new feature on Google Maps that I find most impressive. On our recent move from LaSalle, Quebec to Langley BC, we intended to follow the Trans-Canada Highway. In our planning we did not want to use one of the more complex sites that gives many itineraries. We wanted something simple. At that time we could have used Google maps but instead chose MapQuest.

To illustrate the problem that gave us, here is what such a program will suggest as the route to follow.

As it happens this is a Google Maps image, but MapQuest would offer an identical route. The length is 4,861 km and it suggests it would take 45 hours of continuous driving. That’s a somewhat astonishing average speed of 108 km/hour.

We wanted to travel in Canada so at that time using MapQuest we used a new feature which allows you to step along the route specifying the points you which to pass through. More details are available on this Beta process for MapQuest.

The new functionality that Google Maps now allows is that you can drag the route with your mouse to pass through other points. Take a Google Maps Tour, to find out more on how to get driving directions. Since we wished to pass through Calgary, that’s the first point we changed.

This increased the length to 4,943 km and the driving time to 50 hours. Again this gave an unbelievable average driving speed of 99 km/hour, presumably based on driving at the limits on all roads. Since it still took us through the United States, we then dragged the route to pass through Winnipeg.

That still didn’t do the trick. The length had now increased to 5,068 km and the driving time to 53 hours. For the record this is an average driving speed of 96 km/hour. By dragging the route to pass through Thunder Bay, finally we did follow the Trans-Canada Highway.

The length was now shorter than for the first route at 4,770 km with a driving time of 55 hours. This equates to an average driving speed of 87 km/hour.

The whole exercise was extremely rapid and took much less time than it has taken to describe it. Clearly Google Maps tries to find the fastest route from Point A to Point B. It does not try to estimate the time to cross international borders. It also does not take into account the beauty to be seen along the way. However as a planning tool Google Maps can be highly recommended.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Following the Trans-Canada Highway with Google Maps

Technorati Tags: Google Maps, MapQuest

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The Montreal Gazette tells us that the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will be introducing a new virtual agent to help us all online. CodeBaby of Edmonton is providing this. I wonder what this new virtual agent will be called. You’ve got to be very careful not to create the wrong impression. Microsoft may be happy with Ms. Dewey but that would hardly be appropriate in banking. Perhaps it’s time to bring back Mary.

That should be safe. After all CodeBaby tells us it was the creator of Emily on the Sympatico website. That’s another good, respectable name. Surprisingly I wasn’t able to find Emily on the site: I wonder whether she’s still around. The only Google reference for Bell and Emily that I found was to a YouTube spoof on Internet Spying entitled Emily of the State. Hopefully the Royal Bank’s choice will get more respect.

Related: RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) – To Boldly Go .. Hello, May

Tags: virtual assistant

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Is Mary Coming Back To The Royal Bank (RBC)?

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