NauticEd - First impressions

I'm always looking for ways to increase my boating/sailing knowledge. I've enjoyed doing instructor led courses through the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron but they don't always have the course selection that I want and the timing isn't always convenient.

I happily stumbled upon NauticEd the other day. They have a variety of interesting looking courses available online. Some of the interesting looking modules include: Storm Tactics, Coastal Navigation and Weather.

They also have a certification program that will get you on your way to an RYA certification or a qualification cert for bareboat chartering. I'm not sold on the certification usefulness at this point but regardless I think there are some useful looking courses.

To try it out I did the free Navigation Rules Clinic. I was pleased with the course layout. It was easy to follow, the content was quality and it made a dry topic more palatable. They promised that everyone would take away something new from the course, even if you are experienced. I did!

The test at the end of the course was 30 questions of multiple choice. My only critique is that some of the questions are set up so that a couple of the possible answers are jokes so you only really have to consider 2 possible answers. This make the test a bit more fun to read but doesn't really challenge you to consider the possibilities.

I really like the graphics that they use on their course and test. They are clear and easy to interpret the situation. They have some video content but I wasn't as impressed by that. They preface each of their videos with canned marketing material that takes time and doesn't add value. The videos are also animated a little to fast so it isn't easy to follow what is happening without replaying them several times.

The cost for the payed courses is in line with an instructor led course and I think if they are the same quality then they are worth while.

I'm considering doing the Captains Rank course that provides most of the content for under $400. Not a bad price for a winter's worth of content. I'll post on my decision and results.

If you are looking at doing one of their courses, below is a promo code that gives $15 off. (FYI. They offer the promo code referral feature to anyone!)

Tassimo - A bad idea made worse

A few years ago we switched our office coffee maker from a regular drip coffee maker (with fresh ground beans) to a Keurig machine. I tend to lean towards the tree hugging side of values so I had some issues with this new machine. The Keurig is wasteful. However, everyone in the office loves the thing so I accepted it.

Fast forward two years. Christmas of 2012. I, and I'm sure millions of others, found a Tassimo machine under the Christmas tree. Specifically I received a Bosch T20.

Now, I admit that the Bosch machine is a sexy bit of technology. It is a sleek design and it is easy to use. However, that is where the good story ends. My experience with the Tassimo system has not been great.

First let's talk waste. While the Keurig is a fairly wasteful system, the Tassimo takes this to an exceptional level. With the Keurig I can get a full cup of coffee out of a single K cup. The Tassimo makes a half cup of coffee and it often, depending on the flavor choice, takes two of their T DISKs for the half cup. As shown in my post picture, two make coffee for a couple of friends it creates a mountain of T DISKs.

Neither the Tassimo T DISKs or Keurig cups are recyclable, re-usable or compostable. Millions of these things are being used daily (I'd love to know the number) and non of them are recyclable. The best you can hope to do is pry off the aluminum covers and compost the grounds. (I've tried this and it is a pain)

Next, let's talk cost. I used to buy bags of unground coffee beans. If you buy a good brand, it will cost you around $10 for enough beans to last a week or two. These T DISKs are brutally expensive. Depending on the flavor you can pay between $0.50 and $2 per cup. We've found that COSTCO gives the best deal on them but it still is crazy expensive compared to beans.

Last, let's talk flavor. I've had reasonably good success with the Keurig coffees. They are consistently mediocre and occasionally pretty good. Despite the hyped technology of the Tassimo, the results have been overall pretty poor. I think the best example of that is the hot chocolate. My daughter wouldn't drink her Cadbury hot chocolate from the Tassimo. If a little girl won't drink hot chocolate it has to be bad. She is usually very happy drinking the cheapest No Name brand stuff, yet this $2 monstrosity went down the drain.

We have 4 boxes of T DISKs left in our cupboard. When those are gone our Tassimo machine is going in the closet. Back to the bean we go.

Panasonic Sport Headphones (RPHSC200K) are brutal

I do a lot of running, biking, and other active sports. I tend to do most of these carrying my IPhone 4 so that I can track my progress using TrimbleOutdoors.com app AllSport GPS (I really need to do a review of that app some day because I love it).

The only problem with this setup is that the earphones that come with the IPhone just aren't great for staying put when active. They are fine when loafing around but the minute that I start moving they are out of my head. I end up spending most of my activity adjusting them or putting them back in.

So, I decided that I would break down and buy a decent pair of sport headphones so I did some looking around online and perusing at FutureShop . My criteria when selecting headphones weren't elaborate. I wanted something with a reasonable sound spec and something that was in an in-between price range. My second criteria was based solely on the fact that I figured a cheap set wouldn't be any good but I didn't want to spend $100 on something that I would be beating around with outside.

I settled on the Panasonic Sport Headphones. At the time these were $59.99 + tax (they have since dropped in price). They were from a reputable company and met my criteria.

The performance of these has been less than stellar.

The sound quality is dismal. They have absolutely no bass output (despite what the package assured). They sound as though they are only half inserted (so I find myself constantly trying to jam them in further).

They sort of stay in when running but I still find they rattle out to some extent.

The volume control is laid out the same as a standard set of Apple headphones but the rubber coating makes them practically useless when active.

I would avoid these headphones. There are really no positive attributes.

Chrysler Canada - Certainly no Subaru Canada

Four years ago, 6 months into our new-to-us Subaru Legacy, our Legacy blew a head gasket. If you've experienced this problem you know that it is a major problem and cost. In fact the cost was estimated at over $3000. At the time our Legacy had 140,000km on it and was 40k out of warranty.

We took it to the dealer for repair with the expectation of having to foot the entire bill. We were amazed, two days later, when the service guy at Fox Subaru called us and told us that Subaru was going to cover the entire bill. I had no expectation of this and would have begrudgingly paid the entire bill myself. Fox went out of their way to try to get me a deal. To this day I have nothing but positive things to say about Subaru despite the fact that my Legacy continued to have other mechanical problems (including a second head gasket!)

Fast forward to Christmas 2011. Coming home from a Boxing Day party our Torque converter went on our Jeep. This manifested with it slipping out of gear, going up a hill, and never returning. We had the Liberty towed in to the nearest Jeep dealer (Dobson Chrysler).

The service at Dobson was actually pretty good. They kept me informed, they were pleasant and they fixed the problem. The total cost was $2600.

This was the second major problem I had on the Jeep in just over 5000km. A full Turbo rebuild in October wasn't exactly cheap. However, this time, I was (only) 5000km over warranty. I called Chrysler hoping that they might help me out considering the problems I had and how close it was to warranty. Alas, they called me back and wouldn't do anything to help.

So, lesson learned? Subaru helped out way beyond what would reasonably be expected and Chrysler wouldn't do anything when (I think) it would have been reasonable.

I still enjoy driving my Jeep but I'm just not sure I would buy another. I wonder if Subaru would take it on a trade??

2006 Jeep Liberty Diesel - Major Service

I thought it might be a good idea to keep a running tally of major service that I have to have done on my Jeep. This might serve as an indication of quality (or not) over time. I haven't been the only owner of my Jeep so this isn't comprehensive but I assume (perhaps naively) that there wouldn't be too much bad that would have happened in the first 75,000km before I bought it.

I'll count major service as anything that doesn't fall under normal wear and tear (tires, brakes, oil).

Description	Solution	KMs	Cost
BAS/ESP censor light	Reset Sensor	75,000	Warranty
Key Stuck in Ignition	Replace shifter assembly and shifter lock cable	81,000	$480
Check engine light on Codes: P0299, P0401,P2264,P0513,C2202	Replaced Turbocharger, EGR valve and EGR system.  Ended up being 12.5hrs of labour! Luckily I had 64km left on warranty!	99,936	$700 ($5000 covered under warranty!)
Slipped out of gear and never returned...	Torque converter was replaced along with a crap load of other parts that were collateral damage. Total transmission rebuild!	105,000	$2600
Back gate window wouldn't open	New Lift Gate Handle	110,000	$166
Back seat window wouldn't close	New Left back window regulator	111,000	$429
Leaky rear axle & front right wheel bearing	New axle seal and bearing	150,000	$1200
Little performance...lots of black smoke	Another new turbo	180,000	FU Jeep...I'm outta here!

Final update: July 2015

After yet another major breakdown, involving the turbo yet again, I have decided not to pay the $6000 that the dealer wanted to fix it. I have traded the jeep (for $2000 trade-in value) for a Subaru. 

The Jeep diesels are getting long in the tooth, so I expect there aren't many being considered for purchase. If you are considering...don't.

I will never buy another Chrysler product. 

Review: 2006 Jeep Liberty Diesel

The week before Christmas our 2003 Subaru Legacy bit the dust. It had yet another head gasket go and the water pump needed replacing. I was sick of the (expensive) problems that it was giving me and didn't want to sink another $2500 into a car that was only worth probably $5000 (it had high KMs)

After a very quick search (I wanted a vehicle to drive before xmas) I settled on a 2006 Jeep Liberty Diesel at Summit Dodge in Fredericton.

I had a few basic criteria in mind when I started shopping. I needed something that was relatively rugged because we do occasionally venture into off-road situations. I also needed something that would pull my utility trailer. ("The gypsy wagon" as I call it) Other than that I didn't really have much preference.

I didn't expect to land on a Jeep. I have always had a soft spot for the Jeep Wrangler's but I knew that they weren't going to be practical for our family at this point. Out of curiosity I pulled into the dealer's lot with the expectation of looking at a few Wrangler's. So, what pulled me to this Liberty? Diesel.  (and the price was good)

There are very few Diesel Jeep Liberty out there. This might not sound like a selling point but the ones that do exist get very good reviews. They were only manufactured in North America for a few years and only a limited number were made. They just didn't catch on with the public. I've heard great things about the reliability of diesels and the better fuel mileage they get. So, I test drove this one, fell in love with the tractor-like diesel sound and signed the papers.

I have only had the Jeep for a month so far but I still really like it. I've had it off road a couple of times in some minor dirt and it handled really well. It is also very good in the snow. I've had my fully loaded utility trailer behind it and it was wonderful. With my Subaru, it handled the trailer but you could definitely feel it. With the Jeep, you can't tell the trailer is behind.

I did have a couple of hiccups in the first week. I had a BAS/ESP censor light come on after a couple of days and my CD player was acting up. I took it to the dealer, they reset two sensors, and I haven't had a problem since.

The only other (expected) downfall I've noticed is the fuel mileage. The Jeep definitely doesn't get great mileage. I haven't gotten a good working average from it yet but I will post that.

My intention is to update this blog post regularly, as required, with updates on the reliability and driveability of the vehicle. If you have any questions or comments about the vehicle please post below and I'll do my best to respond. I'm not a mechanic or professional test driver but I'll definitely give you an answer from a layman's perspective.

-------------Updates-------------
Here is a table that I'll use to track average mileages. I'll track and update this periodically as I remember to...

Type	MPG	L/100km	Trips Sampled
Highway	19.7	11.9	3
City	16.4	14.6	3
Average	18.1	13.3	6
Advertised: Highway	27mpg	City	22mpg

Review: Corel Video Studio

I bought a copy of Corel VideoStudio for a video that I was doing as followup to a company marketing event that we had done.

I was looking for a quick and easy editing suite that would give me the flexibility for some creativity but that wouldn't bog me down in the details.

I shopped around a bit and read some reviews and decided on the Corel VideoStudio product.

Overall I have been happy with the product. I've found it quiet intuitive and pretty easy to find my way around.

Here are the things I really like about the product:

• Price - At $70 you can't complain.
• Audio level editing - very intuitive and flexible
• Exporting - It has a ton of export functions

There were some things that I really don't like about the product:

• The library doesn't let you add descriptions for the video clips. This would have been very helpful given the hundreds of clips that I had for this project.
• The story board doesn't let you leave blank spaces in the main video line. This was a serious problem for me in the project since I needed to customize 50 different copies of the same video. 
• The transition effects are cheesy.
• The "Painting Creator" is pretty well useless.

Overall I am happy with the product and I would recommend it for small projects.

------- Update -----
Here's a sample of a vid I did with it:

www.genieknows.com reviews

Rather than writing reviews for businesses here you can find them on my Genieknows.com profile page. I just checked and I guess I have 47 so far. I didn't realize I had written that many!

Reel mower - The good the bad and the ugly

I bought a reel mower last year as an alternative to my gas munching power mower. I really hate using a gas mower. They are loud, smell terrible, are wicked on the environment and completely NOT relaxing.

I did a fair amount of research but in the end I went for a cheap model, against most review recommendations. My thought was that I would use it as a proof of concept before spending more money on a deluxe model. The one I ended up choosing was the Yardworks Reel Mower 18" from Canadian Tire.

Overall I have been fairly happy with it. I have a fairly large lawn but this mower does a good job keeping it neat. There are some tricks though:

• Mow often. The more the merrier. If you wait until your grass is too long it will not cut it properly.
• Allow yourself a half width overlap. That will give you a more consistent cut.
  
• Keep the blades adjusted properly. This is easy to do and saves a lot of annoyance in the long run.
  
• Get rid of your dandelions. Try the Fiskar tool! Those little yellow buggers will drive you nuts if you don't get rid of them. This mower will not trim them.

I find that I enjoy cutting the grass now. It is quiet enough that I can use it first thing in the morning without worrying about bothering the neighbors.

I do still use my power mower for the first cut of the year when things are straggly and also when I get negligent and let my grass get too long.

I still haven't tried one of the deluxe models but I assume they work better. If they do, spend the extra cash.

My new favorite tool: Fiskars Weed Remover

I really don't mind weeds ...generally. I have lived peacefully with dandelions for years with no problems. I would not normally have been a person to go out and spend $35 on a week puller.

That being said, last year I bought a Yardworks 18-in Reel Mower as an environmentally friendly alternative to my smoke spewing gas mower. I've been mostly pleased with it and it does a good job on most grassy plants. It does not, however, handle dandelions well at all. Usually they simply slip underneath and survive unscathed, only to rear their heads tall and proud once I've passed. This does annoy me!

So, I bought the Fiskar Weed Remover tool as a last resort (before resorting to my gas eating power mower). I have been VERY happy with the tool. This thing actually makes pulling dandelions fun. Really! You can actually pull and launch the weeds several feet in one smooth motion. It has a similar action, and pleasing feeling, to loading a shotgun.

My only comment, they call this thing a "weed remover" but it isn't really that great at any weeds other than dandelions. That's ok for me though. They should just rename it "Dandelion Destructor" or "Dandelion Tormentor".

Why scooters are better than motorcycles

Last year, around this time, I decided to "upgrade" to a motorcycle. For the previous 4 years I had been happily driving a Honda Ruckus scooter.

I really did love my Ruckus and it worked without a single hiccup. The thing took only $5 in gas, it started first try on even the coldest mornings and didn't require long to warm up. The only issue with it was the occasional time when I wanted to go on a little bit of a longer trip. It topped out at 55 km/hr. So, I decided to upgrade to a slightly larger motorcycle.

I bought a 2001 Honda Rebel 250 last year. It is a great little bike. It looks like the one in this picture but with a cooler (customized by the last owner) paint job. I really do like my Rebel but I must say that there are a few things that I don't particularly like.

First of all, the thing starts like crap. It takes around 10 minutes for it to fully warm up. I need to use the choke on any day that is less than 30 degrees Celsius.

There are also some functional problems with the bike format. (or at least this one specifically). It is not practical to drive it in the rain at all. The shape of the front fender funnels rain onto your legs and into your boots. On the Ruckus I could wear dress shoes and pants in heavy rain and not get wet!

Although I do have saddle bags, they aren't nearly as practical as the under seat storage of the Ruckus. On the ruckus I could carry a 12 can case of beer. On the bike I am relegated to hard liquor because of storage. ;)

So, in summary:
Am I happy with my Rebel bike? Yes.
Would I recommend a Ruckus scooter? Yes!

I'll stick with my bike because it gets me places faster but I do miss the scooter sometimes.

By the way, if you are looking for scooter inspiration you need to check out battlescooter.

NB Liquor's new "Selection Lager"

Who would have thought that the making and selling of a new beer brand would be so controversial?

On March 12, 2009 NB Liquor released their new "Selection" brand of Lagers and light beers. (http://www.nbliquor.com/whats-new.asp) The controversy around this is surprising. Almost 5000 hits on a Google search shows that people are certainly interested in this story.

The premise behind the brand is to provide a low cost alternative to the traditional brands and increase the market for domestics.

I must admit that a lager is not my preference for beer. For a good quality and tasting beer I usually go for a Picaroons and if I'm looking for, ermmm... larger consumption, I have been drinking Rickards Honey Brown lately. I'm certainly willing to give a new brand a try though so laid out the $18.67 for a pack of 12 tonight.

So, how is it? Well, I would describe it as similar to Molson Canadian. It does have its own distinct flavour though. It is very sweet and fruity flavored and I taste a strawberry after taste. Very little hop flavor. Very light colour. Fairly refreshing.

If that strikes your pallet then you will probably enjoy it. I can see this as a good hot weather beer. Sitting on a beach, baking in the sun and ice cold. It doesn't do well warm.

It only appears to be available in cans. That's disappointing because if I don't have a glass I definitely prefer a bottle. It's probably less environmentally friendly for that reason too.

So what do I think? I think that everyone in the province should feel it to be their civic duty to buy at least one box, drink it and decide for themselves. After all, who am I to say what you'll like...

Cheers.

Blackberry Geocaching

I recently got an 8830 Blackberry from work. I was quite excited by the GPS feature that it comes with. It also comes with some mapping software and will even do turn-by-turn spoken directions (for a fee).

Since I occasionally enjoy geocaching and since I don't own my own GPS, I thought it would be neat to do it with the phone since I always have it on me. I downloaded Google Maps mobile expecting that it would give me all I need for GeoCaching since it is great for road navigation. Unfortunately it has some quirks that make it almost useless for GeoCaching. Namely the fact that you can't easily (it is possible) get the coordinates from your current location.

I did some searching and came up with a nice little utility that is promising. It is still a work in progress, I think, but it is certainly usable the way it is. It's called GeoBerry. It does have a couple of quirks. It seems to have issues when my BB wakes up from hibernation (or whatever they call it on BBs). Anyways, I give many thanks to the author for giving his time on this app. It is a free app but I plan on giving a donation to help support it.

Olympus Stylus 1030SW Digital camera

The Olympus Stylus 1030SW is a great camera! I first saw the sister product, the 790, that a friend at work had bought. It was very similar to the 1030 and I had intended to buy it but when I looked at the spec of the 1030 I couldn't pass it up, even though it was around $50 extra. I'm not going to talk a lot about the spec here because you can read that on the Olympus site.

Now, this isn't a studio quality camera. In fact, even though it is 10.1 Megapixel, it doesn't even take a stunning quality picture. However, if you are looking for a camera that takes great snapshots in just about any condition, this is the one. The quality of the pics is as good as most point and shoot models... but how many of those can you take down a water slide?? This one you can.

The under water rating for this camera is 33 feet. That is plenty for your average pool, water slide or other standard water sport. We've gotten some great shots of the family at the beach and in the pool.

I took the camera scuba diving and got some great shots but 33 feet is a little tight for that setting. I took the camera to 30 feet and I don't really think there is a lot of safety margin after the rated depth. At 30 feet the camera's LCD started to push in and it took some time for it to come back out. I think I would want to get the optional underwater enclosure if I was going to take it diving again.

I must say that one of the coolest things about this camera is that it provides underwater audio as well as video. Not really practical but really fun to play with. I also really like the macro + LED feature.

It is also really nice to clean your camera by dunking it in clean water. Do that with your SLR!

The Good

• Very tough
• Good quality pictures
• Reasonable quality video
• Quick power on/off
• Quick focus
• Good macro settings (especially LED option)
  

The Bad

• Short battery life when depth gauge is turned on
• Not a great zoom
• Auto scene settings are kind of useless.
• It's not easy to use the manual settings (although...this is a point and shoot camera so what do you expect?)
  

Summary
This camera is exceptional at what it is, a fun camera that will go anywhere with no fuss. I would absolutely recommend it.

Craftsman 1350 B&S 27" Snowblower

http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B001J13KC4/178-0874935-2786800?ie=UTF8&searsBrand=core

Last January (2008) I decided to take the plunge and pick up a snowblower. We had a crazy year for snow in this part of the world and it was getting to the point that I couldn't get the snow out of my driveway because of the size of the snowbanks. 

My selection was limited at the time because everyone else in the world also decided at the same time to do the same. After much searching I found a Craftsman model (Craftsman 1350 B&S 27") that was only backordered 3 weeks. (that was good at the time!) Anyway, I jumped at it. 

It has been almost a year now that I've had it so I thought I would write a review. 

Things didn't start off well with this machine. The 3rd time I used it I had a major failure. A pully that drives the augar snapped in two. Of course, since this was a very common problem in that model (according to the repair guy) I had to wait two weeks (and two major storms) for a replacement.  

Since then it has worked relatively well. 

The good

• Throws snow like a demon. Easily throws snow 30'. (be careful of cars and windows!)
• Starts effortlessly with the electric start
• Doesn't mind the odd stone (I have a crushed rock driveway and thus blew as much stone as snow until it froze)

The bad

• The controls freeze quite easily and require manual intervention to free
• Eats gas (I'm not sure if this is common in snow blowers)
• The drift cutters won't stay adjusted and keep falling
• The reverse gear is almost useless

Summary

I don't have a lot of exposure to these as this is my first one snow thrower. I'm guessing that there are better models out there than this one and I would try a different one next time. That being said, it has saved me a LOT of shoveling again this year and I'm happy every time that can leave the shovel in the garage. 

RCA HPNC200 Noise Canceling Headphones

An I mentioned in my last post, I received a pair of RCA HPNC200 Noise Canceling Headphones for Christmas this year. My experience with these was much more positive than the wireless headphones.

The good

1. These headphones are nice and light and comfortable. While the earpieces could be a little bigger for comfort, they are nice.
2. The noise canceling works as advertised. They claim a 15db reduction in noise. It's not going to get rid of all of the background noise but it certainly cuts down on a lot of it.
3. They also fold and come with a nice little carrying case for traveling. They certainly aren't as portable as ear buds but they fold up pretty well.
4. They come with an airline adapter. This is really nice!

The bad

1. The battery compartment and the on/off switch (for the active noise canceling) are pretty cheap and I can see one of them breaking one of these days. We'll see and I'll post if they do.
   
2. They're kind of ugly.

Summary
I would recommend these. They sound pretty good and the noise canceling works pretty well too. I think they cost around 40 bucks.

RCA WHP151 Wireless Headphones

So, as part of my Christmas list this year I asked for a good set of headphones. My suggestions for these headphones were:

• Good quality
• Full ear
• Wireless would be nice
• Noise canceling would be nice

When Christmas morning came I was excited to see that I had received a pair of RCA WHP151 Wireless Headphones from my inlaws. Interestingly I also received a pair of RCA HPNC200 headphones from my parents. (see next post for this review)

The bad

1. My first grievance with these headphones is that I had to charge them for 24 hours before using them. On Christmas morning I wanted to play with my new toy just like my kids but I had to wait...no strike one.
2. There is a significant hiss from the wireless on these. If you are using them for anything low volume this will irritate you. One of my intentions for these was to use them while practicing guitar. This was not feasible when no accompaniment was playing. I read several posts on this problem so I think it is common. Adjusting input levels to max will help this problem immensely but unfortunately I haven't been able to get rid of it entirely.
3. The wireless is fairly susceptible to interference. The annoying hiss seems to increase if I am near certain other devices (or if I turn my head certain directions while I type this...)
4. They aren't the prettiest headphones I've seen by a long shot. Very retro hi-fi looking. I think RCA used the same mold that they used for my parents headphones in the 80's.
   

The Good

1. These are pretty darn comfortable
2. Sound quality (other than this hiss) is quite good. If you keep the volume turned up you'll be happy with the sound quality...if not the hearing loss!

Summary
Would I buy these....no. They list for around $60-80. That seems way to high considering the hiss problem. I do like using them for practicing drums because of the wireless capability though.