PRODUCT IMPROVEMENTS - Microsoft Word

A handy improvement from Microsoft to its flagship Microsoft Office Suite would be to          integrate search.  

While it is not the end of the world to have to copy and paste something from word into a search bar, we have learned from using our browsers that a right-click option directly to search is in fact very handy.

Could Microsoft find it be problematic if people do not have Bing as their default search engine?  

They shouldn't.  

In that case they should allow whatever the consumer's choice is to run.

Easy-peasy.

I submitted my feedback here for Word.  I am going to trust that they can make the leap and apply the same thinking to Powerpoint and the rest of the crew.
It is hardly as interesting as Dell's crowdsourcing IdeaStorm, but at least it is out there and showed up easily enough in search rankings.

Will I ever hear back?  I'll keep you posted.

POOR DESIGN - excess packaging

Too much packaging.

It bothers all of us with an environmental bent, but packaging that has to be replaced once you get it home is really over the top.

Non-resealable foods fit into this category.

I'd like to buy ham from Maple Leaf, but I am afraid I just feel horrible about throwing out their plastic and adding my won to the mix.

How much more can it cost Maple Leaf?  

I will pay the difference. Have you surveyed customers to see if I am alone?

I would like to say that I will never buy a product like this again, and by and large that is true.  But until I find bacon that comes in a resealable pack, I will.

WINNIPEG HOME

Stew and I are thrilled with our new Winnipeg home.  

You could could almost fit 4 of our Toronto Cabbagetown lots into this lot.  No, seriously our previous lot was 20 feet and this is 75.

Lots of lawn to mow? Perhaps.  I see lots of space to eventually turn into gardens.

Enjoy the pics below, but keep in mind it is not full of our stuff yet because we are too excited to share with our friends to wait until October. 

The 15th is our current move-in date.  

We are in Tuxedo, close to Assiniboine Park, (about 30% bigger than Central Park in NYC with loads of gardens and other stuff to see), and a bike ride away from my parents.

Main Floor

When you first come in there is a spacious entrance and the wide staircase leading up, but we forgot to snap a photo.  The living room is 22'x13' with a wood burning fireplace, crown moldings and original (but refinished throughout the house) pegged oak floors.  

The bay window has a combo of original leaded glass + new side windows that open to let air in.  A colour change to something more neutral, like a taupe, or perhaps slate, will be near the top of our to-do list.

The dining room is a spacious 15'x12 with another bay window, this one with a built-in seat in front (that I picture having a white-leather cushion on it to match our dining room set).  It has the same pegged oak floors and crown moldings, interesting plaster work on the ceiling and paneling on the lower half of the wall.  

The very first thing I may do inside the house is to paint around the panels with some white paint to make them pop (see below) and put artwork on the walls to see if we can make this (mustard?) colour work, at least while we tackle the rest of the painting.

(Thanks for the idea, mom)

Our panels are already a shade or two lighter, so let's see what some white trim will do.

I like to think the white trim in our last dining room worked rather well against our white furniture.

This shot is taken from the doorway to the dining room.  The kitchen is small at 13'x10', but well designed and the space feels maximized.  The only eat-in space is a stool height counter that faces a blank wall, but Stew and I thought "Why would we sit here, when we've got such a gorgeous view from the dining room table a few feet away?".   We will figure out what to do to that space, if anything, at a later date. Not a huge priority, though it might be nice to paint the blank wall with blackboard paint in the interim...

We lucked out on the double oven, not only is it cute, but apparently St. George is a premium brand. 

Here's hoping I learn to take advantage of all the bells and whistles.

Switching the nobs and pulls to brushed nickel to match the faucet and appliances can happen on day one -   I already have the counts so we can shop.  

The back-splash will eventually be replaced with something like a glass subway tile but it is not high priority.

Right behind the photographer are the back exterior entrance and door into garage, which is where we will come in most often since the driveway and garage are back there.  

There is a good amount of space, especially for winter boots and parkas.  

Also back there, a wooden staircase to the basement.

Basement

The basement stairs open to the 20'x13' rec room where someone really allowed themselves to get creative with the stone fireplace, which we love.  You cannot see it well here, but there are about a half dozen flat stones that protrude like slabs from the wall that candles could be rested on.

Very unique.

Potlights and pegged oak in the basement?  More than I expected.

Loads of potential for cozy down here and Stew and I have already secured a sofa bed and area rug that will warm it up.

The rest of the basement consists of a pine lined 2-piece and various clean and well lit laundry and storage rooms.

Electrical: 175 amps, all new last year.

Furnace: 5 year old high efficiency

Yippee!

2nd Floor

The master bedroom (13'x16') has an en-suite and a walk-in closet (right) both with windows, as well as another smaller closet (for Stewart).

Underneath the drapes, and all throughout the house, are some pretty fine Roman blinds.  

Nice material and subtle colour that will go with anything.

Expect a colour change here, perhaps clean, bright white?

That's not wallpaper but large shiny tiles with blue stripes.  Blue would not have been my first choice but the tiles are quite something so I will adjust.

The walk-in closet has a window, a built-in dresser and a double row of hangers.  

I will manage just fine.

The panoramic taken from the threshold of the master bedroom is not perfect but it gives a good idea of the layout of the upper floor.

Stewart, pleased with the stone tile in the bathroom.

Bath and lighting fixtures are great. No changes required.

From bathroom looking down the hallway toward the cavernous family room.

Guest bedroom at front of house (13'x12').  Great floors, great blinds, built-in shelves in the closet and an interesting ceiling - all the corners in the ceiling are rounded in all the bedrooms.

Using a panoramic view as a 360 view does not yield perfect reults, but helps somewhat to understand the family room (20'x13') on the second floor landing

Built-in shelves on south side near entrance to landing.  Big bay window with built-in seat on west side.

Gas fireplace and loads of highly polished built-in shelves on north side.  

Yes, that is a cable outlet above the mantle.

The living room furniture we had in Cabbagetown is likely to go in this room.  

But no, we will not paint the new fireplace white.

Interesting ceilings are ~12'-14'.

Love it.

Exterior

I'll have a much bigger post about my plans for the yard in my gardening blog.  In fact, I am sure it will become a recurring theme as there will be a lot to observe and plan over the next year.

For now, this is just a tour from the outside.

South living room window and garage.

While you can only see one garage in the above, but there are two and Stew couldn't be happier. I have to admit I'll be glad to park inside in the cold winter months too.  

We are both particularly glad that they are tucked behind the house instead of visible from the street.   

 

There is even a little spot to turn the car around.

The wall on the right is a patio with 2 walls.  It is curiously facing the driveway rather than the backyard.

The grape vines growing o'er top of it (which I wasn't expecting in Winnipeg) combined with the stucco gives it a mediterranean feel.  

Maybe a cantina one day?

Gate from back lawn to the 'cantina' patio.

Can you spot the cool feature?

A large circular window with the same metal grating used for the gate to the back yard.  

Just need to cut back some vines to show it off.

Are grapes too messy to have above a hot tub?

That is about it.  

(I will spare you the photos of the attic insulation.)

Thanks for taking the time to check it out.  

(please feel free to leave comments if you have not already)

Derek (& Stew)

EYE TEST APP

An app that could help you detect if you are colour blind.

The test used to detect colour blindness in a person consists of them being shown a series of images, like numbers, hidden in a circle of dots.  The numbers are distinguished by the colour of the dots and a colour blind person just sees a circle of dots, or sometimes a wrong number. 

Here is a YouTube video that demonstrates.

Here is an online demo.

Other than the interactive voice element making the test more interesting, and adding links to related resources for colour blind people, like immediately being able to connect to an opthamologist in your area through voice command, I'm not sure how much value the app would deliver over the options above for the development costs.

I've just Googled it and found they already exist, no surprise.

There just appears to be one on iTunes currently with some easy ways to improve and launch something better, including Siri integration, after all some empathy from the 'tester' would be nice when giving someone the news they are likely colour blind, and need to follow up with a doctor.  

Does 26 thousand ratings mean it could get enough traffic to pay for its development with ads?  

Doubt it.  Next idea.

'Why not check the app store first?', you ask?  

I prefer to noodle the idea and let it come to fruition naturally first.  It is an interesting process to allow an idea to germinate on its own - a work-out for the mind.  This may not have been the toughest work out, but each and every one counts.

If I check too quickly if an idea already exists (before sitting down to put pen to paper) I rob myself of an opportunity for some fun thinking and good mental exercise.  Then when a really good idea does come along, I've got a process to capture it.

That's the plan anyway.