Links

These are links that are of a more personal nature, and as such are not included in the course material Links. However, just as in the course area, I believe that all links should have some description, or review to let you know just why they are included.

Quick jump list

Groups I am associate with now.

Groups I was associated with in the past.

Eye Candy

Other stuff

Related to my Family.

Groups I am currently associated with in some fashion

	Fraser Valley Historical Railway Society. I am the current chair of this society, and the unofficial liaison for Kwantlen University College. We are focused on restoring the Interurban line and bringing back some of the old Interurban cars to run as a tourist and historical attractions.
	ACM Association for Computing Machinery. The international body for computing professionals focused on software (rather than hardware, see IEEE). I have been a member since 1972.
	ACM-SIGGRAPH Special Interest group for Computer Graphics. The original computer graphic geek group. I have been a member since 1972. There is a local SIGGRAPH chapter; however I have never been able to attend as meetings times conflict with other group meetings - such as VAUS and BAUG and now Scout Troop/
	IEEE Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers. The international body for computing professionals focused on hardware (rather than software, see ACM). I have been a member since 1975 (or so).
VAUS	VAUS The Vancouver AutoCAD User's Society. Long time member, and currently share the position of AUGI rep with Bill Fane of BCIT. VAUS holds the distinction of being the very first AutoCAD User group in the world. And upholds its' tag line of "The Oldest, and most dangerous AutoCAD user group in the world!"
BAUG	BAUG The Bellingham AutoCAD User Group. As the informal link between VAUS and BAUG. I attended all (but one) of the BAUG meetings in 2000-2001. Bellingham is a hot-bed of AutoCAD work, use and development. I live closer to the Bellingham meeting site than the VAUS site; when pressed for time, the closer one wins!
	AUGI AutoDesk User Group International. Yes, another user group. AUGI holds on-line training, provides another support option and sponsors one of the largest user group meetings ever -- it meets every night on-line.
DD	Destination Desktop. Held in May at a different location, this is the AutoCAD training event for Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Better than going to Las Vegas in December for AutoCAD University, a local and affordable conference focused on how to use the various AutoDesk tools. I was on faculty for the first DD, and have participated in some form with all but one of the DD's. We look forward to hosting a DD very soon at the new Cloverdale campus.
	10th White Rock Troop. In 2002 because I was no longer the only evening instructor, the local group found out I was "free" in the evenings. So now I am a troop advisor (aka leader) with Troop. For many years I have attended Scout camps, meetings and fundraising events. Now I get to plan them!

Groups I have been associated with in the past

	STC Society for Technical Communication. The international body for those interested in all aspects of Technical Communication. I was also a founding member of the local STC Chapter and a past-president of the West Coast Canada chapter.

Resources that I have found useful

	Zone Alarm is more than useful, it is a necessity if you connect to the internet. When I got my cable network connection from Shaw cable, the second thing I did was to download and install the free version of Zone Alarm. I was more that surprised to see the number of alerts that were generated in the next hour! Practice safe computing, get Zone Alarm.
	Gibson Research Corporation. This is where I found out about Zone Alarm. More importantly, this is where I found out why I needed Zone Alarm! Also the source for information about the click of death, -- if you have or use a ZIP drive from IOMEGA, check this out.
	Alchemy Mindworks creates some very interesting and affordable programs. In the lab we use at least 2 of them: Graphic Workshop Pro and GIF Construction set. I also have the Ultimate Screen Clock on my office computer. All tools that I would not be without anywhere! Oh, and they are Canadian as well! This is one of the sites that is also referenced on the Web for it's descriptions and user agreement terms. Watch out for the leather winged demon of the night!

Eye Candy

ATLAS of Cyberspace	A collection of maps is often called an "Atlas." You can map the cyber-world. This site has examples of many styles and ways of mapping cyberspace. This site changes a lot. Many useful links and tools to keep in mind next time you find linking to a new web site taking a long time. Look into weather maps for cyberspace.

Fun Stuff that's not graphic

	Books. I read a lot, but mostly for pleasure. Lately I have found Ian Rankin, and the Inspector Rebus series. There is a wealth of on-line material, two of which I have linked here. I have not yet met Ian, that I am aware of at least. When we were in Edinburgh a few years ago, I was walking around and saw many of the sites of scenes of the books. Some how that makes it more dramatic to relate to the "other worlds" in Edinburgh. The picture of Ian Rankin (by Ross Gillespie and Tricia Malley note: this may well be a copyright picture, and if so, I will replace it with a different link graphic) will take you to a site (www.ianrankin.net) that, rumour tells me, is Ian's own web site. St. Martin's Press logo will take you to the "official" web site (www.ianrankin.com) where you can find out more about the series I know there is also a TV series about Inspector Rebus, however I have not yet seen any more about these, nor have I found any tapes/DVDs on them. Please let me know if these are in North America yet.
Glenn's Pens	Well this might not be the right section for this.... I like pens. Not just any pen, but wood based pens. I am also interested in calligraphy and it's tools. One spot that I come back to every so often is the link on the left. Glenn's Pen page has all sorts of interesting comments on things pen. Of note is the directory of Pen shops around the world. My 2 favorite are the Vancouver Pen Shop and the Edinburgh Pen Shop. I don't spend much time in either because I spend too much in them.

Related to my family...

	Bayside Rugby Football Club. All my sons played at one level or another with Bayside. From Under 19's to the mini program, Bayside teaches them how to play the "real football" game (so much for the over padded NFL/CFL and that "other" footy game -- soccer!)
	The Sprung Group. Yes, The same name, The Sprung group of companies has it's headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. My uncle Phil, and many cousins, run this corporation. My late father, Douglas L. Sprung, invented the frame used in the SIS -- the Sprung Instant Structure.

Updated Sept 2006