Monthly Archives: May 2009

Twitter @johnarobb Weekly Updates for 2009-05-31

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  • People have been trying to go off the grid for a long time. The Grid just keeps getting bigger. http://bit.ly/VKqaY #
  • http://twitpic.com/5w8jc – Out exploring with friends. This was the widest part of the cave. #
  • http://twitpic.com/5w8ma – My friend Ron in the narrowest part of the cave. #
  • I don’t normally like Flash in web design unless it moves the story along. Here’s one that does work for me. http://bit.ly/E4Pvh #
  • Recommendations for tweetlater replacement? tweetlaterblog.com is up but not updated, @tweetlater is not updated either. #
  • It’s either human error or a machine problem, either way it’s never easy. #
  • Who would of thought that competitive Cheerleading would be big in Cambridge, Ontario. Almost 500 kids in the local club! #
  • Dreamweaver is my editor of choice. Although there is nothing like good old notepad for quick edits @RichCurrie #
  • I’m in the market for a new car so I’ll be interested in hearing what you have to say about the Malibu Hybrid. @josephfung #
  • RT @movi_boni: The Taking of Pelham 123 is awesome! Travolta’s best performance in years. Denzel is fabulous! Intense from start to finish. #
  • This guy gets it @unmarketing. #followfriday #
  • http://twitpic.com/6b1io – why I love having a camera in my blackberry. #

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Six Degrees of Separation Twice in One Week

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This just blows me away.  I’ve been working with two people off and on for more than a year.  In the last week it turns out I’m only one or two steps from knowing these folks through other connections.  

Last week I went to a meeting with a colleague who is transitioning out of a role.  I saw her complete, hyphenated, name on the screen.  At the same time she mentioned that she grew up in Kitchener.   I asked if she knew a family in Kitchener that had the same name as her maiden name (wow, that sounds archaic).  It turns out she not only knew them but that she was part of that family.  I told her I used to occassionally have lunch with Paul from that family.  She informed me that the Paul in question is her dad!  What makes it even more interesting is that Paul had given me a piece of advice when my wife was expecting our first daughter.  He said that when our children are born we are given an imaginary piece of rope that keeps us connected to our kids.  We don’t know how long this rope is but everytime we get upset with our kids we lose a little bit of the rope.  He made that point that it’s important that we pick our battles with our children wisely as we don’t know how much rope we have left before our children choose to disconnect from us.  That advice has stuck with me these past 10 years.  

That meeting was last Thursday.  Today is Wednesday and in conversing with an associate in Toronto who is an avid rock climber I mentioned my friend’s son is also a rock climber.  He asked me the simple question, “what is his name?”  I told him and he says, “oh, I used to climb with him at the Grotto in Guelph back in the lat 90s.’   Will is in Toronto, my friend is in Cambridge and his son is in BC.  That’s a lot of distance to cover in just two connections. 

I was amazed at how little ‘distance’ there is between these connections.   Do you have any similar stories?

Pictures of How Ontario Produces 10% of Canada’s Wind Energy

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Canada Hydro Developments Wind Farm near Shelburne, Ontario

Canada Hydro Developments Wind Farm near Shelburne, Ontario

On a recent geocaching trip we drove through what turns out to be Canada’s most productive Wind Farm.  It is an amazing sight to see all those windmills that essentially stretch across the horizon.   I was very pleased to see wind energy generation on this scale.   

Canadian Hydro Developers are operational on phase I and  phase II of the Melancthon EcoPower Centre, located near Shelburne, Ontario. With the completion of phase II, the project now generates 199.5 MW of wind power, making it the largest wind farm in Canada, accounting for more than 10% of the country’s entire wind energy capacity of 1,876 MW. But while this is a landmark development for Canadian wind energy, wind only provides for 0.8 percent of Canada’s total electricity demand, largely because of the country’s vast hydropower resources.

Construction of the Melancthon EcoPower Centre began with the 67.5 MW phase I in the spring of 2005 and achieved commercial operation in March 2006. Construction of the 132 MW Phase II of the project began in the autumn of 2007. Completion of the project puts the province of Ontario at the front of the provincial wind energy race in Canada.

That windmills (is it really a mill?)  are magnificant in their size.   Standing close to one makes you feel very small.   They day I was there the blades were turning at about 5 rpm and you could barely feel the breeze that was moving them.  These are very effecient windmills.   They were also much quieter then what I recalled from my visit to the wind farm in Palm Springs many years ago.  

You can get an idea of where these windmills are located by looking at the map for this image of Windmill Generations.

Windmills, Part of Melancthon Wind Farm

Windmills, Part of Melancthon Wind Farm