Tri Area News » Technology

Net-Zero house in Parkland County

Editor — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:16:34 +0000

Net Zero Home in Parkland County

Imagine a home that produces as much energy as it consumes, is built with the environment in mind, and yet is spacious and beautiful. Parkland County residents Dennis and Christy Cuku not only imagined a home like this, they built it. On Saturday, October 15th, they opened their home to the public to show that you do not need to sacrifice comfort, style or luxury to be green. “What Dennis and Christy have done is quite extraordinary,” said Mayor Rod Shaigec. “They have set the standard for what can be achieved with time, research and creativity. They exemplify Council‟s vision in the County‟s Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP).”

A day before the event, the Cukus received word that they had achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification. LEED is a rating system that promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes that use less energy, water and natural resources, create less waste, and are healthier and more comfortable for the occupants.

“Ours is the first executive-style home in the Edmonton region to receive LEED Platinum Certification and only the second residential building in the province of Alberta,” said Dennis Cuku. “Platinum certification is the most difficult performance tier to achieve and Christy and I are extremely excited about this designation.”

The Cuku home incorporates the most advanced energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. It is completely solar powered and does not have a gas line. It also produces as much energy as it consumes, giving it the “net-zero” designation. The home incorporates many environmentally-preferable materials, products and practices. Interesting concepts for a couple that own an oil and gas company.

“This dichotomy is so important for all of us Albertans to come to terms with,” said Christy Cuku. “Just because the oil and gas industry employs most of us, either directly or indirectly, doesn‟t mean we can‟t or shouldn‟t be taking measures to reduce energy consumption and the demands on fossil fuels where we can.”

Parkland County will be working with the Cukus over the next while to learn more about the technologies and practices used in the net-zero home and determine the best ways to share the information with other residents in the county.

“What I admire most about Dennis and Christy is their desire to share information with the public, to raise awareness of the environmentally-friendly things that can be done when building, renovating, and operating our homes,” said Mayor Shaigec. “We are proud to have them as residents and look forward to working with them in the future to share all they have learned with the rest of the community.”

More information on the Parkland Net-Zero home can be found on Cuku’s website: www.net-zero.ca.

Photos from the event can be found on Parkland County’s Facebook page.

Information on Parkland County‟s Integrated Community Sustainability Plan can be found at www.parklandcounty.com.

[Source: Parkland County]

High Speed Internet service starts up at Duffield

Editor — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:56:39 +0000

Parkland County announces high speed internet in Duffield

Parkland County is very pleased to announce that high speed internet service is now available from its new Duffield Tower.

Xplornet is the first Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) to collocate on the County’s new rural communication system. Residents and businesses in the Duffield area wanting high speed broadband may contact Xplornet’s nearest dealer, Starview Communications in Stony Plain at 780-963-9463 or sales@starview.ca.

The date for a second WISP to start service on the Duffield Tower will be released shortly.

The County intends to have two or more WISPs on each of its 10 towers. Over the coming weeks, the staged roll out of high speed service at all of its 10 towers will be announced, and the WISPs that are collocating on each tower.

For more information, contact Al McCully 780-968-8409 or amccully@parklandcounty.com

[Source: Parkland County newsletter]

Stony Plain offers free wireless internet

Editor — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:53:21 +0000

The Town of Stony Plain is installing wireless hotspots in several locations throughout the community.

“The Town of Stony Plain embraces modern technologies that lay the groundwork for new and more flexible ways to meet the needs of the community,” says Ken Lemke, mayor of Stony Plain. “We are very pleased to supply this service to our residents, businesses and visitors. By taking this step, we demonstrate our commitment to making Stony Plain a cutting-edge, convenient place to work, live and relax. These hotspots will provide a valuable service to our community.”

The new hotspots will be available at four locations:

Shikaoi Park
Stony Plain Golf Course
Glenn Hall Arena / Stony Plain Outdoor Public Pool (seasonal connection)
Rotary Park (seasonal connection)

Display signs advertising the service will be posted at each location.

Access to the Internet within these locations will be free for anyone with Internet-enabled devices. Users will be able to handle e-mail correspondence, get the latest weather, stock and sports updates, conduct business and search the news.

In 2009, administration – as directed by council – researched the feasibility of installing wireless hotspots at four strategic locations in town. Multiple wireless service providers were evaluated, each assessed for connectivity speed, security, cost, customer support and ease-of-use. The project was awarded to Telus.

Council approved administration’s recommendations based on the findings, and dollars were allotted for the project in the 2010/2011 municipal budget.

The project was awarded to Telus, which will supply a Sierra Wireless 598U air card and Cradlepoint – MBR 1000 wireless router at each location. The aircard ensures high standards of security and connectivity, and filters will restrict access to inappropriate sites. This technology will provide extended coverage range capabilities – from 200-250 feet to a maximum of 750-feet – at each location. A maximum 64 users will be able to connect to each device at one time.

The initial cost to install all four wireless hotspots is $3,000. Telus will also assess a monthly fee of $75 per month per location (approximately $3,600 annually).

Wireless access will be available as follows:

Shikaoi Park: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday
Stony Plain Golf Course: one hour prior to morning tee-offs to two hours after close
Stony Plain Outdoor Public Pool: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. daily (seasonal only)
Rotary Park: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily (closed in winter)

The first new wireless hotspot will be installed by June 1 at the Stony Plain Outdoor Pool. Connections at the remaining locations will be up-and-running by mid-June.

See wireless coverage.

[Source: Town of Stony Plain]

Google adds Spruce Grove to Street View

Editor — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:08:15 +0000

Photograph by: Google Maps, trinews.ca

Spruce Grove has joined a host of other municipalities worldwide that feature a “Street View” in Google Maps. Street View allows a user to zoom in on a street, like King Street, and then drive along that street “virtually.” Web visitors can now explore the city, much in the same way they would in car, but from virtually anywhere in the world. The views are all available in 360-degree panoramas: you can literally “look around” as you drive down a street.

Jonathan Lister, managing director and head of Google Canada comments:

Street View on Google Maps is about showing people places they might never otherwise experience, and helping them plan journeys, so we hope it will continue to help boost tourism, heritage, real estate, education, and everyday discovery.

Spruce Grove is one of 9 Albertan municipalities added today. The others are Airdrie, Drumheller, Grande Prairie, High River, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, and Red Deer.

For more information visit Street View.

Local photographers create online sharing group

Editor — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:57:51 +0000

photo by pixelens photography

There are many talented photographers in Stony Plain, Spruce Grove and Parkland County. A few of them have recently launched a new online photo sharing group on the popular site Flickr. The idea is to enable local photographers to share their photos from the Tri Area, receive feedback, and perhaps even sell some of their prints.

The group already features a variety of photos; including a beautiful sunset, a picture of the grain elevator, and a scene from the Farmer’s Day parade.

How to use Twitter

Justin — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:54:19 +0000

I’ve had several people ask me: “How on earth do I use this Twitter thing?” or the even more popular: “I signed up for Twitter but I don’t get it, it seems like a waste of time.” As someone who enjoys using Twitter, and finds it useful, I’m willing to guide you through the app. But first you have to promise me that you’re going to it a “good try.” Twitter is one of those apps that gets richer the more you use it and understand it. It’s not going to take a lot of time, but you really need to engage with it in order to “get it.”

Create an account

Before you do anything you’ll need to create an account at twitter.com. This involves choosing a username. Here’s my advice: keep it short; I would say 8 characters or less if you can. The reason will become more apparent later, but generally you need to know that people are going to be including your username in their tweets, and they only have 140 characters total to work with. However, it is also popular to choose your full name (ie. toddsmith).

You will also want to upload a profile picture and write out a short bio for yourself. Again, your experience will probably be a lot “richer” if you write a bio that succinctly interesting things about you: your work, your interests, etc…

Start following a few people

After this you should start “following” a few other Twitter users. If you don’t know anyone, you can start with me: http://twitter.com/mijustin. Generally, you follow people by visiting their profile (ie. http://twitter.com/username) and clicking the “follow” button. Anyone you follow will now appear on your Twitter’s “stream” or “timeline” (the ongoing list of other people’s tweets that you see on your Twitter home page).

When you click “follow” on someone’s profile they’ll be alerted that you’re now following them, and they’ll have a chance to “follow” you back. Anyone following you will now see your updates, anytime you post a new tweet.

Post your first tweet

Here’s one of the funny quirks about Twitter: the interface prompts you with the question: “What are you doing?” but most users don’t answer that question (at least not all the time). Yes, that’s part of it, but you need to understand that Twitter is like a giant conversation. People use it to share interesting links, ask questions, search for topics, broadcast news, and have two way conversations. The point where you’ll really “get” Twitter is when you start doing those things.

Engage in the conversation

Replies: to reply to someone you can type in the “@” symbol and their username (ie. “@mijustin Thanks for that link; I’ll check it out right now“). You can also click the “reply” link on a particular user’s tweet.

Re-tweet: quoting people on Twitter is encouraged. If you want to take someone else’s tweet, and re-broadcast it to your followers, you simply type in “RT” and then “@” and the username (ie. “RT @mijustin These are interesting economic times; AIG lost nearly $400K a minute“)

Direct messages: if you want to send someone who is following you a private message use the letter “D” at the beginning of the tweet, and just type in their username (without the @ symbol): “D mijustin Did you get a haircut today, because you are looking goooood!“

Posting links: because you only have 140 characters, you’ll want to use a URL shortener when posting a link in your tweet. I’m currently using http://bit.ly. Here’s an example: “Just read a really interesting article on the Economist web site: http://bit.ly/Izk8N“

Posting photos: To quickly post photos, you’ll want to use a Twitter photo app (http://twitpic.com is the most popular). A lot of Twitter clients have this feature built in.

Understand Twitter search

“Search.twitter.com” is a really important component to Twitter’s usefulness. It allows you to search through all the different conversations on Twitter. Let’s say you’re interested in web apps. You could search for “web apps” or search for items that have been “hash tagged,” for example “#webapps”

Using hashtags will also be important to your overall experience. Here are some examples of tweets using hashtags:

“Back in the 90′s Commander Keen was my #favoldgame” – Your “#favoldgame” tag will now become a hyperlink that will bring you to a search page with all the other posts with the same hashtag.
“I just got back from the best cafe ever: http://axiscafe.com – #yeg” – When you want to tag your tweet with your location, use the airport code for that location (in this case “#yeg” means Edmonton)
“I’m starting a new business, and need advice on a #pos system and #financing. I’m also looking for a #rails developer.” – This tweet is meant to bring in responses. People searching for these tags, for example a Rails developer looking for a job, are more likely to find and reply to your tweet.

Use some Twitter apps

The really cool thing about Twitter is that it’s fairly easy to develop apps for the platform. The most important app you’ll get is a good desktop client. Tweetdeck is my current favorite. It allows you to see your twitter stream (the ongoing tweets of the people you are following), people’s replies to you, direct messages, searches and post tweets all on one screen. It also has Twitpic and the Bit.ly URL shortener built in.

This is important: get Tweetdeck and you will enjoy Twitter more.

If you have an iPhone you’ll want to download a good Twitter app for that as well. I was using Twitterrific for quite awhile, but now I’ve switched to Echofon, and I’m glad I did. This will allow you to keep up with people’s updates on the Twitter stream, post tweets from different locations, and upload photos.

For a list of other Twitter apps, click here.

Keep using it

Remember instant messaging? At first it seemed like a ridiculous concept: regular people typing out their conversations, using a strange dialect of emoticons and acronyms. There was a bit of learning curve. But after a couple of years, people started using it. A lot. And not just nerds – even normal people started using IM.

It’s the same thing with Twitter. It’s a great tool; but you’ll need to use it regularly to fully understand it.

Note: this article originally appeared on strongcaster.