Michael Lang's Blog

Amy starts up Speech Language Therapy practice in Waterdown

2011-05-24T10:06:00.002-04:00

Amy has been working for several years in the Hamilton/Burlington area with a couple of SLP practices. She started out with ABI (Adult Brain Injury), and has expanded her skillset to include working with small children. A couple of weeks back she decided to launch her own practice using her own name.

You can see her site at Talking Matters

The Quaglia's get a new pool

2008-05-13T17:33:00.003-04:00

Lots of adventure on the street, as the neighbours decide to get a new pool.

It is a newer design of pool, where the entire pool is formed at a factory, and then shipped on the back of a truck. A hole slightly larger than the mold is dig, and equipped with plumbing and heating as well as drainage. The pool is then dropped into the hole and the sides are filled in to support the pool.

In this case, there was no direct path from the street to the backyard, so the pool had to be lifted by crane over the houses and into the installation. The street was only shut down for a few minutes, and the entire exercise was over in about 10 minutes. Folks from around the block and down a few streets did stop by to check out the activity.

Prep for the job was done over the previous week, as parts of the existing patio had to be removed, and the hole had to be dug along with supporting trenches and locations for equipment. The pool was brought on a truck and had to be carried on it's side as it was much wider than the trailer. The crane had to be set up in the front yard, and a lot of time was spent by the crew making sure that everything was set for the lift before actually giving it a go. One operator worked the crane in the front of the house while the crew worked several ropes tied to the pool from around the property to control any sway and movement of the pool as it was hoisted in the air and over the house. At one point the pool was about 10 feet over the house.

Once the pool was lowered into position, the crew very carefully disengaged the crane and worked to start filling in the sides of the hole.

You can see more photos of the exercise at my Flickr site.

Florida is for kids too

2008-05-07T21:58:00.003-04:00

March break is an exciting time for kids. I know that is not an earth-shattering statement.

This year was very different for us as the children have started to grow beyond the toddler years and into the young child years - as an average. Our Spring Break trip to Florida really helped to underscore that point for us. We started out planning to spend some time in the Orlando area, and then see where the vacation lead us. After a couple of days by the pool, and a fantastic day at the Disney Typhoon Lagoon water park, we decided to head west to Tampa and try out the Clearwater Beaches.

There are some folks that we know who were concerned that we might attempt a sun n fun vacation in Florida with 3 small children in tow. And the prospect of spending hot and sticky days in Disney World with 3 small unhappy children was not very interesting to either of us parents. Fortunately for us, this turned into a very exciting time for the kids.

I used some hotel points and got a room at a newly opened Marriott Residence Inn in Treasure Island. Redone in a Miami style, it was the perfect location for an oceanside vacation. From here we could explore the Tampa area and the beaches in Clearwater. The kids had a great dinner with us at Crabby Bills in Indian Rocks Beach, where we had stone crab. BTW it is called stone crab because the thick shell is quite stone-like.

The highlight of our trip was probably the time the kids spent on the beach. On our way out we stopped at Clearwater Beach for a couple of hours, and that is where all the fun really got started. The boys had a chance to pick up shells on the sand, and run around in the surf. P got his finger stuck in a mussel that was still alive, and N was very impressed with the pieces of kelp that had washed up on the beach. They talked about the ocean for days afterwards.

On the return trip to Orlando to get our flight back home to the frozen North, P thought he should tell us that he really didn't want to leave Florida, and maybe we should move there. I should really expect more from the little ones as it is very refreshing to see that they are not necessarily buying in to all of the commercial theme park material they see on TV. Except for those lightsabres that snuck into our luggage...

Our New Airstream Camping Blog

2007-11-02T15:57:00.000-04:00

I have moved our Airstream blog from blogger to here.

Thanksgiving 2007 photos

2007-11-02T10:30:00.001-04:00

Everyone has been asking me for recent photos of the kids. You can always check out our Flickr site for family photos, and here are 3 highlight photos that I think are the most current:

N is really growing up fast.

P loves to smile.

G sure is cute.

The photos were taken at our place by Penny over the Thanksgiving weekend this year (Canadian Thanksgiving, that is!).

The Culture: You're doing it wrong!

2007-10-01T14:14:00.000-04:00

The Culture: You're doing it wrong!

This is just plain funny, but I think he also has a point.

Nascar in Montreal

2007-08-05T12:50:00.000-04:00

Photo_08
Originally uploaded by LangFamily

John, Allen, Ken and I went to the first Nascar Busch series race in Canada, held this summer in Montreal. They raced on the F1 track, which was really interesting as many of the drivers had to get used to the setup as well as the fans! The Quebec fans were very enthusiastic, and Montreal was a great place to spend the weekend.

Next year we may have to reserve a table at Hurleys, that's if they don't already have our nameplate on it.

Grandpa at Valens

2007-07-15T13:12:00.000-04:00

Photo_071507_013
Originally uploaded by LangFamily

Grandpa came down for N's birthday party. We held it at Valens conservation area, and had a nice picnic lunch. Here Grandpa is taking N and his friend C for a walk through the forest to the wetlands, where the kids are about to how him things you can find in a marsh. Very educational for all of us.

Another blog... train-wreck funny...

2007-04-17T09:44:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while you trip across a little diamond-in-the-rough as you surf the Internet. Right?

Well, in this case, I didn't trip across it, it is not a diamond, and I didn't even find it. John did.

Check out the funniest online cookbook I have ever read. I just realized that I have been missing out on the whole casserole craze. And how easy they are to make.

And take a peek at the rest of her blog, if you really need some entertainment.

P Graduates!

2007-04-15T13:02:00.000-04:00

IMG_0634.JPG
Originally uploaded by LangFamily

P made it through his first year at Daycare. This year at the Graduation party, they brought in the reptile man. And was P ever impressed!

Here he is giving a special P back rub to a tortoise.

New York to London on Google Maps

2007-04-13T14:07:00.000-04:00

1. go to www.google.com
2. click on "maps"
3. click on "get directions"
4. type "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type "London" in the second box (the "to" box)
6. click on "get directions"
7. scroll down to step #23

Buffalo playoffs

2007-04-13T12:47:00.000-04:00

Photo_041207_047
Originally uploaded by LangFamily

You never really appreciate how fast the game is until you are at ice level. Peter, our goalie from Wednesday nights, sold me some seats to one of the Buffalo vs. NYI playoff games last season, and we were one row up from the glass. Talk about a fast game! And we got to see it from the goalie's perspective, which was different for a change.

Rob and I went, and had a great time. We went to the local Buffalo watering hole before the game and hung out with a few hundred Sabres fans, then ran over to the arena to catch the national anthems.

Best part might have been when an errant slapshot hit the glass a few inches from our heads. Nothing wakes you up better than a puck hitting another object at a hundred miles an hour.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

2007-04-11T15:31:00.000-04:00

...summarized from the book by Dale Carnegie (written in 1936).

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People:

* "Don't criticize, condemn or complain."
* "Give people a feeling of importance; praise the good parts of them."
* "Get the other person to want to do what you want them to by arousing their desires."

Six Ways to Make People Like You:

* "Become genuinely interested in other people."
* "Smile."
* "Remember that a man's name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language."
* "Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves."
* "Talk in the terms of the other man's interest."
* "Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely."

Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking:

* "Avoid arguments."
* "Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never tell someone they are wrong."
* "If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically."
* "Begin in a friendly way."
* "Start with questions the other person will answer yes to."
* "Let the other person do the talking."
* "Let the other person feel the idea is his/hers."
* "Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view."
* "Sympathize with the other person."
* "Appeal to noble motives."
* "Dramatize your ideas."
* "Throw down a challenge."

Nine Ways to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment:

* "Begin with praise and honest appreciation."a
* "Call attention to other people's mistakes indirectly."
* "Talk about your own mistakes first."
* "Ask questions instead of giving direct orders."
* "Let the other person save face."
* "Praise every improvement."
* "Give them a fine reputation to live up to."
* "Encourage them by making their faults seem easy to correct."
* "Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest."

The Big Skating Show

2007-03-31T12:25:00.000-04:00

Photo_032207_019
Originally uploaded by LangFamily

Every two years, at the end of the skating season, the Flamborough Skating Club puts on a gala event that gives all of the kids from the club a chance to skate in a show in front of their parents and invited guests.

N happened to be a member last year, and he was part of the skaters from the England team. Here they are getting dressed for the show pictures. It was quite an event, with lots of rented equipment and a production team made up of Club instructors and volunteer parents. I ran one of the spotlights for the show.

Carmel California visit

2007-03-14T12:21:00.000-04:00

Photo_031407_030
Originally uploaded by LangFamily

For me, one of the more interesting places in California is Carmel-by-the-sea. Originally an artist colony, Carmel is a quiet town on Monterrey Bay that is a fantastic vacation destination. There are a series of ordinances that prevent extensive redevelopment, and maintain the feeling of Carmel as a reclusive retreat. That, and the rather high property values, manage to keep the town exclusive to a more refined segment of the population (politically correct?).

I had the chance to visit Penny and Allen when they rented a summer house there earlier in the year, and this is a picture of us on the beach.

Granpa's bird feeder

2007-03-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

DSC02119.JPG
Originally uploaded by LangFamily

P and N really seem to enjoy learning about nature things, which must be something that they get from their mother. I don't remember finding nature that interesting until later in life.

Here they are learning how to fill the bird feeder at Grandpa Lang's house. I think they look at it similar to fishing - here is how to build a bait trap for the birds. At least that is how Nicholas explained it to me.

The Culture: T minus two days

2007-02-28T15:05:00.000-05:00

John has been blogging about his upcoming trip to China. Even though it is a business trip, I bet he will have a great time. Read more about China and 'sleeve fish' at The Culture: T minus two days.

What to do in the Summer?

2007-02-14T12:42:00.000-05:00

After a lot of conversation, introspection, inspection, etc. we as a family have decided on something. We want to enjoy our summer. And that is going to include some vacationing.

I know that sounds almost ridiculous, especially since our kids are so young, but the point is that we are ready to branch out and get adventurous. We have been to the Carribbean, been to Florida, and have even bumped around closer to home a bit. But we have not travelled in one of these:

Now I know it may sound strange, but camping is not actually off-limits for me. Sure, I get harrassed by bugs on all of these trips. And I don't get enough sleep. And I am usually more tired when we get back from a camping trip than when we left.

But it may be a different experience for us now that we have 3 small children, who are very interested in exploring the world. And, while we have tented with them, and hoteled with them, we have not "trailored" with them (shout out to Melissa).

So, here we go. We started looking at tent trailers like this:

Basically a box on wheels, with a hard top and bottom, and tent material around the outside. Inexpensive and light. Unfortunately, no bathroom or shower. Really just a place to sleep, or keep out of the rain. And of course, tent material on the outside.

So, we took a look at Hybrids, also called Expandables, that look like this:

(Trailer may not be exactly as shown, Happy Family not included.)

And this time, while there is a full bathroom in some of these, and real beds (for really short people), there is still that tent material around the bunks. In fact, they fold up for travel, and fold out for camping. So, we are still not where we want to be.

Then we found this:

Wow. Rock Star trailer. It is a 2007 Starcraft StarStream 19RB. I think we might have a winner. Loaded out, and looks good too.

To satisfy our primary requirement, I think we can take the StarStream here:

And we can take it to sporting events, too. I hope the kids learn to like tailgating.

Tell us what you think.

Free Personal Video Recorder (PVR)

2007-01-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

Unless you have been under a rock lately, you know what a PVR is. For those whose eyes are just adjusting to the sunlight, a PVR is similar to a VCR, except it uses a PC, is digital, and can do a lot more.

There are a number of software options to do this:

1) Microsoft Windows Media Center PC. You have to buy a specialized PC, all the setup work is done for you, and you are bound to Microsoft for fixes and updates.

2) Tivo. Not available in Canada, and requires a monthly subscription.

3) Myth TV. Free. Linux-based. Open Source. The subject of this post.

There are a few downfalls to MythTV, not the least of which is the fact that it is very difficult to install, especially if you have not used Linux before. So, let me go on record as saying, if you have ever wanted to learn Linux, THIS is the best excuse to.

And you are going to want to visit these sites:

Myth TV. Main site.
Myth TV Wiki. Official hints and docs. VERY HELPFUL.
KnoppMyth site..

What is KnoppMyth? Well, if you want to spend a lot of time customizing and building your system by hand, you can go the traditional route and install an implementation of Linux, then install MythTV. Or, you can use the precompiled installation called KnoppMyth, which is a pre-installed MythTV built into Knoppix.

I have tried both ways, and the KnoppMyth way is by far the fastest method to get up and running. You can watch a video of the installation by Kevin Rose and the folks at Revision3 here.

What do you get with Myth?

* Basic 'live-tv' functionality. Pause/Fast Forward/Rewind "live" TV.

* Support for multiple tuner cards and multiple simultaneous recordings.

* Distributed architecture allowing multiple recording machines and multiple playback machines on the same network, completely transparent to the user.

* Compresses video in software using rtjpeg (from Nuppelvideo) or mpeg4 (from libavcodec). Full support for Hardware MPEG-2 encoder cards (Hauppauge PVR-250 / PVR-350). Preliminary support for DVB cards and the new pcHDTV tuner card.

* Support for the (very nice looking) hardware MPEG-2 decoder and TV out present on the Hauppauge PVR-350.

* Completely automatic commercial detection/skipping

* Grabs program information using xmltv.

* A fully themeable menu to tie it all together.

Some screens:

EPG

Photo Gallery

Video Player

Weather

Also, because it is themeable, if you don't like the layout of these screens, you can create your own. If you get stuck installing this, and believe me, you will, just try Googling Mythtv and your problem. There is a lot of independant work being done and it is spread across a number of different forums on the 'Net. Good Luck!

New Mac Blog

2007-01-14T00:06:00.000-05:00

Finally started my long awaited Mac Blog: Mac Mania

Everyone should play hockey

2007-01-05T11:15:00.000-05:00

Another disappointing loss in Hamilton, this time a 6-0 shutout. Not as bad as the previous week (we all lost count after about 7 or 8 goals).

I play on 2 teams, an oldtimers team in Hamilton and an oldtimers team in Oakville, both organized through Russell Hockey. While it is not contact hockey, it can be very competitive. The rules are very similar to shinny rules, with some minor exceptions. For example, there is a fixed length for each shift and the teams change lines on a timer instead of making substitutions during play.

As I am sure you already know, the most popular sport in Canada is hockey. Even more important, the most important television show other than the news, is Hockey Night in Canada. The reasons for hockey's prominence in Canadian culture are many, but let's just say for purposes of brevity that it is an activity that gets thousands of Canadians exercising during the cold winter months.

More about the league I play in is here.

Baby and Mommy are doing fine

2006-12-29T12:28:00.000-05:00

Baby and Mommy are doing fine
Originally uploaded by LangFamily.

One of the rare public appearances for the dynamic duo.

The holidays have been a bit of a blur, and now we are back on track. Baby Grace has had a bit of a difficult time at here first Christmas, as she caught a cold from her brothers and has been struggling to keep it together through all of the visits and excitement.

A Star is Born!

2006-12-28T12:23:00.000-05:00

DSCF0013.JPG
Originally uploaded by LangFamily.

Unidentified karaoke singer steals show.

The 80's are not dead, as evidenced by the impromptu performance of an unidetified karaoke singer, who decided to regale a mixed audience of Christmas partiers with his own personal lounge-lizard rendition of "Wild Boys" (Duran Duran), and other assorted holiday favourites. Sources suggest that several agencies have attempted to contact the singer, but he is holding out until he has assessed the job market for hockey players and superheroes.

Military History Wiki update

2006-12-15T12:52:00.000-05:00

A brief update on Military History Wiki is available here.

Military History Wiki was a project that I started a couple of years back to provide an online repository for articles and information related to Military History. I had a lot of help from a number of friends, and especially from my brother-in-law John, who also shares the excitement. The site used software available under free license from Mediawiki, and was set up to run in a similar fashion to Wikipedia. I personally funded the hosting costs for the site, and also donated a significant amount of personal time to site promotion and updating.

After a while, several astute authors and historians noticed that there were many articles of relevance already posted on Wikipedia, and they started to cross-post or copy the Wikipedia articles to the MHW site. While this managed to expand the number of articles rather quickly, it also diluted the amount of original material. This is not necessarily a bad thing - in fact, MHW was picked up at Armchair General Magazine, and several other online sites including Military Spot, and Society for Military History.

Over the past year the contributors at Wikipedia have finally gotten their act together, and you can read about what has transpired as well as any new Military History Wiki information, here.

P really likes his sister

2006-11-20T11:55:00.000-05:00

P really likes his sister
Originally uploaded by LangFamily.

P finally gets a chance to hold his baby sister. This is a very important moment for the little guy, as he has not been allowed to hold G until this point. He really enjoys her after this, and has even taken to getting his own baby doll so that he can mimic his parents as they care for her.

He loves to talk about how "cute" she is, and how soft her hair and skin is. He is very gentle, and tries to make sure that he is there to help out if he thinks there is something he can do to help.

My conversion to the world of Apple

2006-11-12T05:34:00.000-05:00

If you had met me a few years back, you would never have believed that I would even consider an Apple product.

Well, finally, I have made the plunge. And I am here to tell you that the water is actually quite warm, and not as scary as you might think. And the more that I work and play in the world of Apple products, the more I realize how significant this decision has become.

A little background: until a little over a year ago, I had several MS Windows machines and a couple of Linux boxes. My work laptop was an IBM Thinkpad - which was actually a fantastic machine in it's own right. I firmly believed, along with the Windows masses, that if it was not happening in the PC world, it was not immediately relevant. And this generally made sense. The latest "in" software was usually written for Windows, the latest games were written for Windows first, and the files that I exchanged with my colleagues and customers at work were authored in Microsoft Office for Windows.

Unfortunately, it also meant that the majority of hacker and virus activity also happens in the Windows world. And this was fine for me for a while, until one fateful day when I picked up a virus on our main PC that just refused to go away. As I scrambled to try to rescue a number of important files, including family pictures and personal records (unsuccessfully, I might add), I stumbled across some of the claims made by Mac users and how happy they were with their simple to use and as yet uninfected Mac OS X systems.

I am not new to the world of Macintosh. Those who have known me for a while will remember back when I worked for Xerox Canada. Back then I believe it was Mac OS 7. Macs were used extensively in the graphics industry, as they were the primary tool for graphics designers. Much of the software used in the graphics industry used to be available only for Apple machines, so if you worked in the industry you usually had a lot of exposure to Apple products. This was back in the age of Extensions and Control Panels, when Mac users occassionally suffered with technical issues like hard drive drivers and Extension conflicts that would cause random crashes when you least expected it. And multitasking in Mac OS was absolutely terrible. In many instances outside of the graphics arts industry, Macs were treated more as toys than as real computers.

Fortunately for all of us, Steve Jobs and Mac OS X changed all of that. And for me, the discovery of Mac OS X Tiger was the end of MS Windows on both my home and work machines. I sold our home PCs, or relegated them to the basement as fileservers (see FreeNAS). And at work, I managed to get my laptop changed to an iBook.

I haven't looked back since. All of the applications that I used to have on my Windows PC were either available on my Mac, or have even better equivalents. I am now using devices and software that was designed to be easy to use, instead of requiring a significant amount of time and effort for me to learn how the developer wanted me to work.

And I have not lost a single document yet. Knock on wood!

GTEC conference material posted at Sun Microsystems

2006-10-30T23:27:00.000-05:00

A couple of months back I attended the GTEC conference in Ottawa Canada as a partner of Sun Microsystems. The conference is designed as a technology show for IT folks in the Canadian federal government circles. I had the opportunity to meet with the Sun folks in Ottawa for extended periods of time, worked with some of them in the Sun Microsystems booth, and also met a couple of their reseller partners from the Ottawa region.

I noticed some interesting trends at the show. Several major vendors scaled back their presence significantly, including EMC, Oracle and Symantec. I mention these three because I frequently come across either the vendor or their partners at tradeshows. Also of note was a significant variance in attendance at the workshops. Folks seemed to be really interested in security, records management, and regulatory issues for IT. There was not as much attendance at purely technical presentations or demonstrations.

On the second day I presented a brief discussion of the risks and benefits associated with regulatory compliance, and some of the tools and technology that Sun Microsystems and AXS-One offer. The link to my presentation can be found at the Sun Microsystems site here.

Channel Management News blog

2006-10-18T17:39:00.000-04:00

In 2006 I published an online newsletter for channel managers, called Channel Management. At the time I was the Regional Sales Manager for Canada and the East USA for Blueroads, a channel management software vendor that offered channel CRM as a service. It was an exciting time and industry to participate in. Unfortunately, the Board of Directors did not like the direction that the CEO was taking the company in, and decided to make some serious changes to the sales model and management team. As a result, I was let go as were the other sales managers. I made some new friends, learned a lot, and still maintain relationships with many of the people whom I met in the short time at the company.

One of the more interesting folks I have stayed in touch with is Axel Schultze, who was the founder and CEO of Blueroads. Since then, he has published a few blogs, written a book, started an organization and also kicked off a couple of new companies. He is a true advocate of software-as-a-service, and sincerely believes that it is the best way to interact electronically between sales channel partners. I will post more about Axel in an upcoming post.

Some people have been asking me what I have been doing since the Blueroads days. You can read more about my professional life at LinkedIn.

Personal Blog

2006-10-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, I finally decided that it is time to get my own blog online. Stay tuned for more...