3/31/04
3/30/04
3/29/04
3/28/04
3/25/04
3/22/04
3/20/04
the great canadian song contest: "A few years ago, the late, great Peter Gzowski of the CBC asked his listeners to nominate the best Canadian songs of all time. He played many of the nominations on his show, and had a sm"
Given the latest round of viruses targetting microsoft products it was time to make the transition to another email client. I happy to report that it was seamless and surprisingly easy. I moved from the latest version of outlook to the Mozilla Thunderbird mail application. Open source, actively developed and of course free.
Nidelven IT - Introduction to Thunderbird, part 1 (installation and configuration) Leave Outlook Express or Outlook 2000 as your default email client until **after** you have imported your email address book and email. Otherwise it won't work.
But you think, what about virus protection, i'd have to pay for that. Nope. I run Norton antivirus due to some nice rebates they provide as a hook in with Quick Tax. However, save yourself that money and get
AVG Free edition.
Moving away from Microsoft products and installing antivirus software cuts your risk substantially from the majority of viruses and trojan horses. If you are on a cable hookup you should have a firewall. Built into Windows XP or there are numerous free ones out there. Email me for suggestions if needed.
Nidelven IT - Introduction to Thunderbird, part 1 (installation and configuration) Leave Outlook Express or Outlook 2000 as your default email client until **after** you have imported your email address book and email. Otherwise it won't work.
But you think, what about virus protection, i'd have to pay for that. Nope. I run Norton antivirus due to some nice rebates they provide as a hook in with Quick Tax. However, save yourself that money and get
AVG Free edition.
Moving away from Microsoft products and installing antivirus software cuts your risk substantially from the majority of viruses and trojan horses. If you are on a cable hookup you should have a firewall. Built into Windows XP or there are numerous free ones out there. Email me for suggestions if needed.
Lisa - this is for you :-)
Awareness and Action: Focus on Urban Sustainability
UBC - JUNE 2004 - ASTU 400P
An Interdisciplinary Field Course on sustainability open to all students in
any faculty in any year!
WHO: Open to all students in all Faculties and Community Members
WHAT: A summer field course focused on urban sustainability, active
transportation and community engagement.
WHEN: Weekdays 9am Noon June 2-25th, 2004
WHERE: Urban classroom at Science WorldŠDaily excursions in Greater
Vancouver.
WHY: Earn 3 Credits and Field Experience. Learn and contribute to a
sustainable future.
How do I sign up? Register at UBC online for ASTU 400: Section P
Come to the Information Meeting in IHPR Library Processing Centre 4th
Floor Thursday March 25 12-1:00pm.
Application Forms will be available at this meeting...ignore other
deadlines. If you are having trouble registering - let us know at the
meeting and we can help you out....
Check out our Website http://www.basinfutures.net/urbancourse
If you have any other specific questions that can't wait until the
information meeting...please email the
Course Instructors:
Rob VanWynsberghe (Institute of Health Promotion Research -IHPR)
rvanwyns@interchange.ubc.ca
Janet Moore (Department of Curriculum Studies) janetmoo@interchange.ubc.ca
Awareness and Action: Focus on Urban Sustainability
UBC - JUNE 2004 - ASTU 400P
An Interdisciplinary Field Course on sustainability open to all students in
any faculty in any year!
WHO: Open to all students in all Faculties and Community Members
WHAT: A summer field course focused on urban sustainability, active
transportation and community engagement.
WHEN: Weekdays 9am Noon June 2-25th, 2004
WHERE: Urban classroom at Science WorldŠDaily excursions in Greater
Vancouver.
WHY: Earn 3 Credits and Field Experience. Learn and contribute to a
sustainable future.
How do I sign up? Register at UBC online for ASTU 400: Section P
Come to the Information Meeting in IHPR Library Processing Centre 4th
Floor Thursday March 25 12-1:00pm.
Application Forms will be available at this meeting...ignore other
deadlines. If you are having trouble registering - let us know at the
meeting and we can help you out....
Check out our Website http://www.basinfutures.net/urbancourse
If you have any other specific questions that can't wait until the
information meeting...please email the
Course Instructors:
Rob VanWynsberghe (Institute of Health Promotion Research -IHPR)
rvanwyns@interchange.ubc.ca
Janet Moore (Department of Curriculum Studies) janetmoo@interchange.ubc.ca
3/16/04
From: Patrick Condon [SMTP:patrick.condon@ubc.ca]
To: Smart Growth BC Livable Communities Listserv
Cc:
Subject: [SGBC]Small is Beautiful at SEFC; A Modest Proposal for Modest Lots
Sent: 16/03/04 8:45 AM
Importance: Normal
Below is a commentary piece for submission to local media. Please
distribute if you so choose.
_______________________________________________
>Small is Beautiful at SEFC ; A Modest Proposal for Modest Lots
>
>Patrick M. Condon. UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Liveable
>Environments
>
>
>
>I just don't get it. The City of Vancouver feels lucky to get one million
>dollars an acre for SEFC waterfront land, but most other land in the city
>is worth many times that.
>
>If my duplex here at 7th and Collingwood were to burn down tomorrow, the
>charred 3,300 sq. foot parcel would sell for about a half million. That is
>about 150 dollars per square foot, or over six million dollars per acre!
>Moreover, that's without a view of anything but the schoolyard across the
>street and the nearest water a ten minute walk away.
>
>OK, sure, the surrounding streets are not counted in that amount, and you
>need roads and such; but even if you include my share of the roads on my
>600 foot by 300 foot block (with city lane) and subtract the value of the
>pavement, pipes, and utility infrastructure necessary to service it, my
>lot still has a value in excess of 4 million per acre.
>
>Now again, call me naive, but I think the land at SEFC is at least as
>valuable as mine. So why doesn't the city simply do it the old-fashioned
>way, just like in the rest of our beautiful city: subdivide the land into
>urban blocks and sell off lots at 150 bucks a square foot?
>
>Using simple math it looks to me like the 50 acres might return, after
>deducting servicing costs, a cool 200 million. Take 30 million off the top
>for soil remediation, set aside 50 million to produce 500 units of
>affordable housing, 20 million for community facilities and sustainable
>infrastructure and, well, you get the idea. There is still 100 million
>left in the pot.
>
>In short, what SEFC needs is a sustainable development strategy based on
>traditional blocks and small lots. I may be in the minority, but my
>favourite part of our redeveloped downtown is the part of Yaletown that
>occupies traditional 300 by 600 foot urban blocks. There high rise towers
>press party walls against low-rise buildings, all on relatively small lots
>ranging from 3,000 to 35,000 sq. feet.
>
>This might seem crazy, but small lot low-rise development can provide just
>as many housing units as large lot high rises can. Under existing
>guidelines, densities in the developed parts of SEFC are not to exceed a
>floor surface ratio (FSR) of 3. That's "planner speak" for a prohibition
>on floor space area such that it cannot exceed site area by more than a
>factor of three. An FSR of three can be met in many ways. It could be met
>by three story buildings covering the whole site, or 5 story buildings
>covering 60% of the site, 20 story buildings covering 15% of the site and
>so forth. High-rise districts are not as dense as you might think. Towers
>must be widely spaced to prevent shading the streets below and the
>buildings beyond. Lower buildings don't have this problem and can thus
>cover more land. That's how low rise buildings can get you as many units
>per acre as high rise.
>
>A small lot, low rise strategy would also allow hundreds of local,
>national, and international architects to participate in the project.
>Hundreds of different examples of sustainable architecture would emerge -
>a showplace for the world and a lasting legacy.
>
>Not just architectural practice would benefit. A small lot strategy would
>allow scores of small developers a chance to participate, rather than the
>two or three out of town developers with access to billions. It would
>allow all of our local financial and credit unions to participate in the
>construction of this once in a lifetime opportunity, rather than the few
>global financial consortiums that finance mega projects. It would even
>allow individuals or groups of citizens a chance to buy their own lot,
>hire their own architect, and work with their own developer in bringing to
>life their dream home or co-housing project. In short, it would keep the
>money local, and draw on the talent pool and resources of British
>Columbians. This is sustainable economics for a sustainable South East
>False Creek.
>
>The city could take some of the apparently ample financial resources
>generated by the project and apply them to installing sustainable
>infrastructure systems on the site: community gardens, green sanitary and
>storm water systems, renewable and shared energy utilities, car sharing
>co-ops, streetcars, and neighbourhood recycling centers. Would this not
>give substance to our claim that SEFC will be North Americas most advanced
>sustainable community? And if we don't do those things (and they are very
>much at risk) how can we make such a claim.
>
>And what better way is there to develop an Olympic village than for it to
>truly BE a village, comprised of the built expressions of hundreds of
>individual aspirations. One suspects that the alternative approach, where
>one developer builds a single project on a large parcel will be as much
>real village as Disney's Frontier Land is a real western town.
>
>The city could market test this idea at almost no risk. The Olympic
>Village area will most certainly be low-rise buildings and will be built
>first. Certainly, the City could subdivide two or three 5 acre blocks now
>to test this idea. What has the city to lose? It has sustainability and
>150 million dollars to gain!
>
>But the experts say otherwise. They say that 1 million is the most you can
>get and that the only building you can profitably sell in Vancouver is a
>high rise. They say that only tall buildings and big projects are
>marketable: "This is the market in Vancouver! That is what people want!"
>
>They say that, even though here I sit, on a demonstrably less attractive
>parcel of land, worth four times more than they are offering. I just do
>not get it.
Patrick M. Condon
UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Liveable Environments
2357 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6T 1Z4
www.sustainable-communities.agsci.ubc.ca
3/13/04
FBI adds to wiretap wish list | CNET News.com
WorkEmail writes "A far-reaching proposal from the FBI, made public Friday, would require all broadband Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police. The FBI's request to the Federal Communications Commission aims to give police ready access to any form of Internet-based communications. If approved as drafted, the proposal could dramatically expand the scope of the agency's wiretap powers, raise costs for cable broadband companies and complicate Internet product development."
WorkEmail writes "A far-reaching proposal from the FBI, made public Friday, would require all broadband Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police. The FBI's request to the Federal Communications Commission aims to give police ready access to any form of Internet-based communications. If approved as drafted, the proposal could dramatically expand the scope of the agency's wiretap powers, raise costs for cable broadband companies and complicate Internet product development."
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