Police Truck Chase in Maple Ridge captured on video

Televised live this morning from a Global TV newscast. RCMP reopened Lougheed Highway to normal traffic just after 11 am, after this morning's police chase. Police say the man at the centre of a dangerous pursuit in Maple Ridge threatened to blow up a bridge before leading officers on a 30 minute chase.

RCMP Constable Dave Babineau says workers at a nearby farm first called 911 after a naked man showed up and stole a five-ton truck. He says they tried to confront him, but backed off because he was acting erratically.

Minutes later, police caught up with the suspect near Harris Road and Lougheed Highway, which is when he made the threat to blow up a bridge, but didn't name a specific span.

Police then pursued the suspect through the streets of Maple Ridge for nearly forty minutes, as he careened into medians and onto sidewalks, at one point smashing into two police cruisers.

Schwinn Electric Folding Bikes at Canadian Tire

Here's a cool folding bike with electric assist that can go up to 20km/hr and up to 20 km on single charge, with normal pedaling. Check it out - you can order it online from Canadian Tire here:




Schwinn, iZip and other electric/folding bikes are available in the USA from Amazon.com Bike Store:

Westjet flights to or from Vancouver 50% off today

50% off Westjet flights. Today only.

- Book by today, April 9, 2008 (23:59:59 MT) for travel from until June 24, 2008. Advertised fares are for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and may be slightly higher on other days of the week.

Westjet Seat Sale
Special fares departing from Abbotsford Calgary Charlottetown Comox Edmonton Fort McMurray Grande Prairie Halifax Hamilton Kelowna Kitchener / Waterloo Kona, Hawaii Las Vegas Los Angeles (LAX) London Moncton Montreal Orlando Ottawa Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Prince George Quebec City Regina Saskatoon Saint John
St. Johns Thunder Bay Toronto Vancouver Victoria Winnipeg
Book online now at Westjet.com

YouTube HQ Audio tips: Stereo, mp4, 44.1 KHz download and save FLV, MP4 videos

YouTube has started to create better quality versions of many videos, adding links that say, "Watch this video in higher quality." Adding &fmt=6 to the end of any Youtube video's url will give you Youtube's new high quality setting.

Getting iPod compatible mp4s:
Using &fmt=18 generates an mp4 using h264 with AAC stereo, which is compatible with video iPods. Using fmt=18, you get a video transcoded from the original clip the user uploaded. The bitrate is lower on the mp4 version, but since the resolution is smaller it compensates. The h.264 codec has better looking videos at lower bitrates. We finally get stereo on youtube with the mp4 version. It has a widescreen 16/9 aspect ratio rather than 4/3.



If you want to download HQ videos from YouTube, use the Better YouTube Firefox Extension from LifeHacker.

Embed High Quality Youtube Clips

This code works fine to embed the mp4 version. The query string var is "&ap=%2526fmt%3D18" specifying format 18.

Vancouver BC Translink : Lousy Bus service, Skytrain service

Where's the improved bus and Skytrain service now that we're paying higher fares???

TransLink reports an $87 million surplus in their 2007 financial report, giving the transit authority an accumulated surplus fund of $408 million. But don't expect any break in fares anytime soon.

Dale Parker, Chair of the TransLink board of directors, says the excess money is already alloted for the future. "We have to avoid thinking about this as a 'surplus,'" because that fund is already spoken for, either in terms of sustaining the expansion TransLink has put in place or starting the next round of transit service and road improvements to meet demands over the coming years.

TransLink says additional revenue outweighed the rising cost of operating transit last year. The report shows $301 million has been added to the surplus fund since 2005. TransLink says they'll be drawing on their surplus fund (currently at $408 million) beginning in 2009.

Translink says revenue increased as more riders bought two and three zone passes, because of the high cost of gas. Additional revenue was also generated by parking related taxes bringing in $5 million more than budgeted for.

Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan says TransLink has a bad habit of charging more tax than necessary. "That happens over and over again, I mean they've had surpluses in the past you'll remember because they got a windfall in the rise in property assessments."

Corrigan also says if some of the surplus was due to undelivered service , that's not really a saving because the public was inconvienced.

FIDO Overcharging on Fido to Fido Service? Ripoff alert

After receiving a couple of huge FIDO cell phone bills recently, I phoned customer service to inquire about some calls that were listed on the statements. I have the cheap 50 minutes + free Fido-to-Fido (F2F) plan. Apparently I was charged an extra $170 for calls to other local Fido users that should have been free.

After spending 30 minutes on the phone to FIDO Customer Service going over each call that should have been free, I was told that YES, they do have a technical problem with overcharging for Fido to Fido calls, and YES they are working to find a solution, and NO you will not automatically get a refund unless you phone them up and basically do what I did, and go through each phone number that you were billed for to find out if they were a FIDO customer.

Anybody else run into a similar problem? Or have you even noticed that you're being overcharged?

You can file a complaint with the CRTC HERE ,

but it doesn't look like they'll be very helpful, as they suggest discussing problems with your provider first. Maybe a class action lawsuit would be the best thing to resolve FIDO's service problems...

Comments?

How to make Paneer: Indian cheese you can easily make at home

Paneer is an Indian cheese which is used in many recipes for appetizers, main courses and desserts. It does not melt when heated. Paneer is very easy to make at home. Try this easy to follow recipe. Using whole milk, paneer contains about 20 - 25% fat. (To make a low fat version, try using 2% milk). Unlike most cheeses, paneer is also low sodium, unless you add salt when making it...



Here's another instructional video on how to make Paneer (but use lemon or lime juice instead of vinegar!):

American online stores that ship to Canada

With the Canadian dollar close to par with the US dollar, many Canadians are heading south of the border to shop, often facing 2-4 hour lineups at border crossings.

To avoid this hassle, why not order online and have your merchandise shipped right to your house? Online retailers that ship to Canada include JC Penney, Lands End, Altrec and Bare Necessities. You can access their websites from here or here.

Cheap flights on Westjet: Book online today

Westjet Flight Sale: Reserve online now at Westjet.com by March 27, 2008 (11:59 P.M. MT).
For Canadian destinations, travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays until June 25, 2008.
For U.S. destinations, travel from April 1 until June 25, 2008. Sample one way fares from Vancouver to:

Calgary $114
Charlottetown $294
Edmonton $124
Fort Lauderdale $251
Grande Prairie $159
Halifax $294
Hamilton $224
Honolulu, Hawaii $209
Kelowna $79
Kitchener / Waterloo $229
Kona $209
Las Vegas $139
London $224
Los Angeles (LAX) $181
Maui $249
Moncton $294
Montreal $249
Orlando $245
Ottawa $199
Palm Springs $164
Phoenix $185
Prince George $124
Regina $149
St. John $294
Saskatoon $139
St. Johns $324
Tampa $245
Toronto (Pearson) $249
West Palm Beach $251
Book online now at Westjet.com .
For Canadian destinations, fares are for travel until June 25, 2008 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and maybe slightly higher on other days of the week. For U.S. destinations, fares are for travel from April 1 to June 25, 2008 and travel day restrictions do not apply.

BC Ferries Coast Saver Fares: Save up to 40% on ferry fare: Tsawwassen, Duke Point, Victoria

BC Ferries has discounted fares substantially on a number of sailings between Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

Here's the scoop from the BC Ferries website:

"Introducing CoastSaver Sailings from BC Ferries. Huge savings on selected sailings between Vancouver and Victoria or Nanaimo, for all passengers and vehicles.

Arrive early to ensure space on these sailings or make a reservation. The CoastSaver Sailings offer is only available for scheduled CoastSaver sailings. The Coast Saver Sailing fare will only be applied at the time of ticket purchase."

Coast Saver Sailings are currently scheduled for travel between Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo on select sailings until April 30/2008.

Victoria (Swartz Bay) to Vancouver (Tsawwassen)
Vancouver (Tsawwassen) to Victoria (Swartz Bay)
Vancouver (Tsawwassen) to Nanaimo (Duke Point)
Nanaimo (Duke Point) to Vancouver (Tsawwassen)
West Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) to Nanaimo (Departure Bay)
Nanaimo (Departure Bay) to West Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay)

Coast Saver Sailings Fares : Savings of up to 40% on passenger and vehicle fares. Check it out here .

There's also some great off-season hotel rates available too: Vancouver , Victoria , Nanaimo . Book online or call 1-800-780-5733 and mention discount code 71430 for the best rates. Check out the deals at Fairmont Hotels too...

Amazon Canada DVD Sale: Get Free Shipping and Save up to 30%

Top Selling DVDs at Amazon Canada
Get Free Shipping on a $39 purchase and save up to 30% on best selling DVD titles. This week's top sellers and discount prices are:
1. Battlestar Galactica: Season Three
CDN$ 44.99
2. Stargate: The Ark of Truth DVD ~ Ben Browder
CDN$ 19.99
3. Planet Earth: The Complete Series on DVD
CDN$ 64.99
4. Enchanted (Widescreen)
CDN$ 22.99
5. Atonement (Widescreen)
CDN$ 22.99
6. Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity DVD ~ Jeff Dunham
CDN$ 12.99
7. Dexter - The First Season DVD ~ Michael C. Hall
CDN$ 29.99
8. 101 Dalmatians DVD ~ Clyde Geronimi
CDN$ 22.99
9. I Am Legend [Blu-ray]
CDN$ 29.95
10. I Am Legend (2-Disc Special Edition)
CDN$ 27.99
Prices subject to change...
Shop online now at Amazon Canada

Westjet seat sale: Half price flights today only. To and from Vancouver BC

50% off Westjet flights. Today only.

- Book by today, March 13, 2008 (23:59:59 MT) for travel from April 1 until June 25, 2008. Advertised fares are for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and may be slightly higher on other days of the week.

For example, One-way flights starting from:

- Vancouver to Las Vegas $104
- Vancouver to Maui $199
- Vancouver to Honolulu $184

Westjet Seat Sale
Special fares departing from Abbotsford Calgary Charlottetown Comox Edmonton Fort McMurray Grande Prairie Halifax Hamilton Kelowna Kitchener / Waterloo Kona, Hawaii Las Vegas Los Angeles (LAX) London Moncton Montreal Orlando Ottawa Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Prince George Quebec City Regina Saskatoon Saint John
St. Johns Thunder Bay Toronto Vancouver Victoria Winnipeg
Book online now at Westjet.com

New blogs to check out

Here's some new blogs that may be of interest to some of you:
Seattle-deals.blogspot.com: Seattle shopping and travel deals
Edmonton-hotels.blogspot.com: Edmonton travel: hotels, flights
Searchthang.blogspot.com: Search products, travel deals
Natural-news.blogspot.com: Natural supplements, health info

If you have a related blog that you would like to exchange links for, leave a comment...

Staples Canada March Coupon: Save $20 off $200

Get $20 OFF $200 or more with online code 7644381061416021 at Staples.ca

For Staples USA, click here.


Shop online at Staples

Folding bikes: Dahon, Schwinn, electric bikes ...

I've had a folding bike for a few years now, and it's a great way to get around in spring or summer. If you get a 20" aluminum frame model, they only weigh around 25 lbs., so they're easy to carry around, throw in the trunk of your car, or carry on public transit or in your boat! Check out this cool video of a Dahon folding bike:



Best place to buy a folding bike online is Amazon.com , or in Canada: folding bikes on eBay Canada or Canadian Tire .

Turmeric is a wonder spice: May prevent heart disease, cancer, alzheimers and more

Curcumin from Turmeric Extract
The spice found in most Indian curry dishes might also help prevent the ravages of heart failure, a new Canadian animal study has concluded.

Researchers at Toronto's University Health Network found that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, both prevents and dramatically reverses enlargement of the heart in mice.

According to Dr. Weil, Turmeric is useful for all inflammatory disorders and for autoimmune conditions. It also may have a role in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. (Elderly villagers in India appear to have the lowest rate of Alzheimer's in the world, perhaps due to the fact that Indians eat turmeric with almost every meal. Some animal studies have shown that curcumin blocked the formation and accumulation of the plaque that characterizes Alzheimer's.)

Overall, turmeric appears to have significant anti-inflammatory and cancer-protective effects. These seem most evident at doses well below pharmaceutical strength, which suggests that it would be wise to consume more foods spiced with turmeric.

Vitamin World has a New Customer Exclusive - Free US Shipping on orders $50 or more
Enter Code: NEW2VW at checkout. Web orders only. Expires: 2.29.08

Nutritional supplements are also available online from:

Westjet Seat Sale: Half price flights from Vancouver today

50% off Westjet flights. Today only.

- Book by February 20, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. M.S.T.*
- Travel from April 1 until May 31, 2008, or end of season.
- Travel on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

For example, One-way flights starting from:

- Vancouver to Palm Springs $119
- Vancouver to Maui $199
- Vancouver to Honolulu $184

Westjet Seat Sale
Special fares departing from Abbotsford Calgary Charlottetown Deer Lake Comox Edmonton Fort McMurray Grande Prairie Halifax Hamilton Kelowna Kitchener / Waterloo
London Moncton Montreal Ottawa Prince George Quebec City Regina Saskatoon Saint John
St. John's Thunder Bay Toronto Vancouver Victoria Winnipeg
Book online now at Westjet.com

Video Game "The Bigs" Developed locally by BlueCastleGames for 2K Sports

Blue Castle Games is the recent winner of an award for best new videogame company at the ELAN awards in Vancouver:

For more information on Blue Castle Games visit their new website here: .
For more info about THE BIGS game, click below:



THE BIGS is available for Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and Sony PSP...

Delta, Surrey BC Gateway Project Insanity: Complain to your MLA!

Both Environment Canada and Health Canada have issued reports that are critical of the Gateway Project that includes the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and creation of a perimeter road through parts of Burns Bog in Delta BC. The federal reports say the provincial government has not shown any evidence that freeway expansion will solve traffic congestion.

Independent transport economist Stephen Rees says one of the obvious mistakes made by the province is not making a train line to the Valley a priority. "If you want to see transit oriented development, you have to have the transit first. Not as an afterthought or a promise, or a possibly 'we'll get around to it when there's enough people', which is what we're hearing from the province."

Rees says the cost benefit analysis done by the province would not be acceptable as a term paper from a first year student, let alone justify the expenditure of billions of dollars of public funds.

Health Canada says the province has released artificially low air quality impact estimates. In its report of a Gateway Project study on air pollution, Health Canada says "the misdirected focus of this assessment is inappropriate and may be misleading to the general reader."

Rees says the BC government now needs to rethink this Gateway proposal, "And work towards a truly sustainable regional transportation and land use plan with municipal and regional governments. This requires putting transit first."

For more information, visit LivableRegion.ca or GatewaySucks.org or Stephen Rees's Blog.

Skytrain Virtual High Speed Ride: Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Vancouver

Take a high-speed ride on the SkyTrain. The trip traces a loop through Vancouver & Burnaby, New Westminster, beginning at Vancouver Community College on Clark and ending in downtown Vancouver at Waterfront Station. Video by Jeff Birmingham, on YouTube.

Westjet Flight sale: Deals from Vancouver

Save on sunny Westjet destinations from Vancouver when you book online by January 24:

Fort Lauderdale $221
Fort Myers $233
Honolulu $179
Las Vegas $119
Los Angeles (LAX) $161
Maui $219
Orlando $215
Palm Springs $134
Phoenix $155
Tampa $215
West Palm Beach $221

Book by January 24 (23:59:59 MT) for travel until May 17, 2008. Advertised fares are for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and may be slightly higher on other days of the week. Taxes, fees and surcharges are extra where applicable. Seats at these fares are limited and may not be available on all flights. Flights may not operate on certain days. New bookings only. All fares shown are one-way. Sale discount is applied to WestJet's lowest regular fares. Fares shown already reflect the sale discount.

Today's View of the North Shore Mountains, North Vancouver BC

North Shore Mountains as seen from Burnaby BC January 21/08
Click for larger photo...
Vancouver Hotels, Flights, Travel Deals

Today's Weather:
Enter a City or US Zip

Active Home Professional from X10 - Home Automation, Security

ActiveHome Professional from X10.com. X10 software and interface, combined with your PC, equals easy and affordable home automation.


Use ActiveHome Pro home automation system as basic home security - ActiveHome Pro can automatically adjust scheduled timers to turn on lights for a random number of minutes when you're not at home, giving your home that "lived-in" look.
It's easy to track home automation routines – ActiveHome Pro software lets you sort by rooms, so you can easily see what's scheduled to happen, and when.
Home automation software is easy to expand with plug-ins, so you can have the completely customized system you need.

Call anytime 888-570-4964 and mention promotion code 1472567 for special X10 deals.

Check out more X10 info and deals here

Free US Shipping from JCPenney.com

Free U.S. Shipping and Sale til Jan. 15/2008 at JCPenney Online


JCPenney Online SALE and Free U. S. Shipping on $99

Until January 15/08, get Free U.S. Shipping on orders of $99 when you shop online at JCPenney.com .
Use discount code WK50FS99 at checkout to receive free USA shipping on jackets, sweaters, lingerie, bedding, bath towels, kitchen ware, housewares and more.

JCPenney carries top brands like a.n.a, alfred dunner, bisou bisou, cabin creek, dockers, east5th, lee jeans, liz & co, levi's jeans, liz baker, mixit nicole miller, sag harbor, st. john's bay, units, worthington, chris madden, cuisinart, farberware, lenox, kitchenaid and more.

X10 Security Cameras - Cheap Wireless Home Security

Call anytime 888-570-4964 and mention promotion code 1472567 for special X10 deals.

I've got a few X10 cameras around home for security monitoring and they work great. I use a low-light black and white camera for night monitoring and a VCR with a 10 hour recording time that I cycle as needed. The color cameras work well during the day and the video signal can even be captured into your PC and monitored over the internet with their Active Home Professional kit.



More X10 info and deals here

Entertainment 2008 coupon book $10 off and Free Shipping

Entertainment 2008 coupon book now $10 off with Free Shipping - Vancouver, toronto, montreal, calgary, edmonton, winnipeg, ottawa and more. Discounts on restaurants, shopping, groceries, travel and more.

Check it out

Westjet flight sale: Save 40%. Vancouver to Hawaii and more

Westjet flights 40% off. Book by January 9 (23:59:59 MT) for travel until April 30, 2008.
Canadian and U.S. travel. Book online today .
For Canadian destinations, advertised fares are for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and may be slightly higher on other days of the week. For U.S. and International destinations, travel day restrictions do not apply. Taxes, fees and surcharges are extra where applicable. Advertised fares are for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and may be slightly higher on other days of the week. All fares shown are one-way.

Book today to get 40% off Travel with
Westjet in Canada. Fares are limited.

- No advance purchase required
- Subject to availability
- New Bookings only
- Applicable taxes, fees and surcharges are extra
- Flight may not operate on certain days
- Fares only available on selected days.

Book today for 40% off flights until April 30, 2008. Fares are limited, and are only available for travel on selected days.

Choose from any of these great departure cities:

Abbotsford Calgary Charlottetown Deer Lake Comox Edmonton Fort McMurray Grande Prairie Halifax Hamilton Kelowna Kitchener / Waterloo London Moncton Montréal Ottawa Prince George Regina Saskatoon Saint John St. John's Thunder Bay Toronto Vancouver Victoria Winnipeg

International destinations include Maui, Honolulu Hawaii, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Palm Beach and Tampa Florida.

Earn one AIR MILES® reward mile for every $20 you spend when you or your travel agent book a flight online at westjet.com. Reward miles are awarded on the total fare excluding all taxes and Airport Improvement Fees. AIR MILES benefits are only available for Canadian residents at this time.

More info...

Starchoice Satellite: Crap! Avoid it! Lousy Service from Star Choice

I've had Star Choice Satellite TV for the last year and have never had so much down time on TV service with any provider. Snow, bad weather, mysterious circumstances, it doesn't take much for the satellite signal to disappear for hours on end.

Take my advice, stay away from Star Choice (aka Shaw Cable TV) and stick with your regular cable provider - they can't possibly be as bad as Shaw (StarChoice). Last time I called Star Choice when the service went down, I was told the wait time for Tech Support was in excess of 53 minutes. Never did get through to them, but I cancelled the Star Choice service the next day!

JC Penney Free Shipping and After Christmas Sale

Get Free U.S. Shipping from JCPenney Online

Free US Shipping on bedding, housewares, kitchen ware purchases of $99, plus savings up to 50% when you shop online at JCPenney.com until Jan. 7/08.

Save on comforters, bedspreads, quilts, coverlets, duvets, down comforters, bed in a bag, bedding accents, blankets, throws, pillows, pads, mattresses, sheets, kids bedding, teens bedding, bath towels and more.

JCPenney carries top brands like a.n.a, alfred dunner, bisou bisou, cabin creek, dockers, east5th, lee jeans, liz & co, levi's jeans, liz baker, mixit nicole miller, sag harbor, st. johns bay, units, worthington, chris madden, cuisinart, farberware, lenox, kitchenaid and more.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2007!

Online Shoppping Deals

BC Ferries Coast Saver Fares: CoastSaver Discounts

BC Ferries has discounted fares substantially on a number of sailings between Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

Here's the scoop from the BC Ferries website:

"Introducing CoastSaver Sailings from BC Ferries. Huge savings on selected sailings between Vancouver and Victoria or Nanaimo, for all passengers and vehicles.

Arrive early to ensure space on these sailings or make a reservation. The CoastSaver Sailings offer is only available for scheduled CoastSaver sailings. The Coast Saver Sailing fare will only be applied at the time of ticket purchase."

CoastSaver Sailings are currently scheduled for travel between Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo on select sailings until March 31/2008.

Victoria (Swartz Bay) to Vancouver (Tsawwassen)
Vancouver (Tsawwassen) to Victoria (Swartz Bay)
Vancouver (Tsawwassen) to Nanaimo (Duke Point)
Nanaimo (Duke Point) to Vancouver (Tsawwassen)
West Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) to Nanaimo (Departure Bay)
Nanaimo (Departure Bay) to West Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay)

CoastSaver Sailings Fares : Savings of up to 40% on passenger and vehicle fares. Check it out here .

There's also some great off-season hotel rates available too: Vancouver , Victoria , Nanaimo . Book online or call 1-800-780-5733 and mention discount code 71430 for the best rates. Check out the deals at Fairmont Hotels too...

More Merry Christmas Flash Animation from JibJab

JibJab is way too much fun - check it out and make your own funny flash animations...

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!