paulhillsdon.com

I’m incredibly interested in education. It is the political process of learning. And it is through learning that we move society forward. Thus, almost everything in this world of ours depends on education; a big burden I think many people forget nowadays.

In starting my long-winded series on education, I’d like to first point on something thats been annoying me for a while now: Technology is a means; not an end.

We all know that technology has changed our lives. And it’s not just this generation; it’s been happening ever since the first the wheel rolled down a hill or the first man-made flame lit brightly. What we must constantly remind ourselves however, is that technology in an enabler. It helps us achieve our goals.

When I first thought about how to reform education, I figured everything would be solved if my peers and I had laptops. Frankly, I eventually became concious of the fact that technology is only an instrument. So, when I’m constantly reading about how 1:1 laptops will revolutionize today’s classrooms, I can only shake my head. It is still doing new things, in old ways.

While technology opens many new doors in schooling and education, a lot needs to be redone from the ground up if we are talking about real change. I’ve based my thoughts on education reform around the 6 essential skills kids will need to succeed in the 21st Century, as put out by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills . Yes, technology will aid us in achieving those skills. But saying that by giving that kid a laptop, she will immediately grasp those skills is completely bogus.

Throwing technology into the old, bloated system of education that currently exists is a major waste of money. You will only see minor increases in whatever schematics you are reading. Frankly, it all comes downs to, how does technology help students achieve high test scores and complete thousands on mindless worksheets? That is what our current education system is all based around: marks and scores. It’s about getting the grades you need to get into the university you need to get the job you need to support the lifestyle you want.

I find something incredibly wrong with that mindset. Thus, when we think about education reform, you cannot make the assumption that by buying up thousands of laptops you are revolutionizing anything at all. You need to decide what education is actually about. From there you can then figure out where technology fits into enabling the achievement of that goal. It is only a means.

Still don’t have one. What the hell is going on? Around the web I heard I missed out on a shipment this Tuesday, and that WalMart is holding theirs for December 3rd.

I did some investigating on my own to see if the same thing that happened last week (lineups for Friday) were going to happen this weekend.

Best Buy in Langley told me there’s none this week and their official re-launch is December 8th!

Best Buy in Surrey told me they got nothing and to keep phoning in.

Future Shop in Langley said they didn’t get any last week (which is true) and they aren’t getting anymore this week. They told me to phone the larger FSs.

The new Future Shop in Surrey (Central City) had me wait on the phone for five minutes while she went and found out the situation. Remember, this is the store that promised they would sell them on Thursday, then changed their minds, and sold them all on Firday for their grand re-opening. The lady comes back to tell me that, get this, “We didn’t sell any last Friday” and that they have no idea when any are coming in (sounds like she asked the manager and got the typical response).

So, really, wtf am I supposed to do? Just watch them sell out Friday morning, right after telling me they aren’t holding any.

F.

• Politics: Martin’s BC Boys Back Dion
• GLBT: “We Belong” documentary exposes hate
• GLBT: The gay movement in corporate America
• 9/11: United 93 or World Trade Center?
• TV: Gervais & Merchant written “The Office” tonight at 8:30
• TV: SNL may put rehearsals online
• Transportation: Tips for Winter Biking
• Internet: Digg is 2 years old! Digg ‘em down!
• Apple: 80% would buy an iPod
• Nintendo: More Wiis this Sunday?
• Politics: Same-sex debate reignited
• Politics: America may redefine child porn
• Art: DIY Jewel Case Frames

I just recently found out that my 90+ year old great-grandmother has died. She passed away in the best way possible; her sleep.

While I wasn’t “close” to her, I do have fond memories of visits to her home for tea time and Christmas parties. This is the first major death I have experienced since growing to understand what exactly life and death means in this world.

Along with remembrance of what my great-grandmother meant to me, I’ve been thinking a lot about what her life purpose was. She came to Canada in the 50’s from Japan and ended up living in interment camps in Central BC for many years. After moving to the Lower Mainland, and surviving the death of her husband, she became the glue that held the large extended family together. It was because of her that we all gathered every Christmas and saw one another.

What did she accomplish in her lifetime? No big-time careers, no travelling around the world. Of my knowledge of her, I know that she raised 5 kids through tough times, and brought them to this country for a better life. She continously tried to improve and liven up the lives of those she touched. And that is perhaps, one of the greatest accomplishments one can make in life: bring happiness to your family and others.

And that has lead me to my purpose in life. While some may believe that their spirit lives on, or they go to heaven, or live with virgins in a holy land, or become reincarnated, I have come to the most logical conclusion I can: that there is no future beyond our world. We are just as every other creature: we are born, we live life, and we eventually die to make way for the next generations. That is the way of evolution.

This has been my way of thought for a long time now. Ever since birth, my parents decided not to impose a religion upon me, so that I would be free to adopt (or not) any such beliefs I grew accept. Thus I am today an atheist. However, if we live and then die, what is the purpose in life? Why are we here?

To answer that point, I suggest you take a look at this short documentary by Richard Dawkins. He comes to the conclusion that we have moved beyond a simple existence into creating our own purpose in life through goals. These goals that we set, whether about work, family, or other achievements, are supported by our development of technology. And to that end, life is what we make of it.

[youtube]youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/13NPZ5Nv_fc[/youtube]

For my great-grandmother, I believe, life was about raising a family that was perhaps better than hers; to improve the lives of her children. And so, what is mine? That is something I am constantly thinking about, and developing over time. And while I have many goals I would like to achieve over this life, I think the largest and most important would be to find love and have a child.

Love is the single greatest feeling in the world. It surpasses any other chemical or emotional reation known to man. I would easily throw away any of my other goals just to be in love. And with that comes reproduction; to bring one of your own into this world. To raise a single-celled organism into a full grown human being in the hopes that you can set them on the right foot to experience the most fulfilling lifetime they can have.

I find it intriguing how despite any goals we may have regarding material items, work, sport achievements, or money; how it all comes down to the very existence of our species: to pass on the gene. I can only hope that I will one day accomplish it before my own death.

Problem 4: Sidewalks, Bicycle lanes and lighting

Overview and Solutions: Why don’t people walk or bike around? Let’s imagine there is no more sprawl, there are trains everywhere, and cars are rarely used except to go out of the Lower Mainland. It all comes down to design! Sidewalks should not be built in on only one side of the road, nor should it only exist in 1/2 of a town centres. For every road there should be a sidewalk. And nobody likes those narrow sidewalks that are right against the road; it’s scary! And even worse, is when it rains, because those cars whizzing by you are splish splashing you everywhere. Not a very fun thing.

There are maybe 10 dedicated bike lanes in my city and they never get used. Two reasons! One: Why are bike lanes on the road? This is even worse than the sidewalks beside the road; there is no way I am riding my bike down the side of a road with cars. A normal cycler cannot reach the speeds of a car; it should not be considered a motor-vehicle. And two: They need to be everywhere! When I want to bike around a park, it would be a lot nicer if I could simply bike to that park then drive there and then bike for an hour. Bicycle lanes need to be integrated with the new sidewalk designs:

During nighttime; cities can be eerie places, especially if they aren’t the big bustling downtown core areas. This is why we need lighting. To feel safe at night, we need lights down every sidewalk. Have you ever walked down that one silent, pitch black road late at night, expecting a serial killer to hop out from the bushes. Of course, the chances of that happening are slim, but if people are to walk around at night, they need to feel safe. Lighting is one way to achieve that security.

Now, I realize that many of these ideas are in implementation, such as the Gateway project to expand Highway 1, twin the Port Mann, and build the Golden Ears bridge, and North and South Fraser Perimeter Roads; the construction of the Canada and Evergreen lines; and planned improvements to transit hubs. However, if the Lower Mainland continues to take 10 years just to complete one project (aka: RAV), we are going to be in a much worse transportation situation than we are in today; even with these current projects. Action needs to be taken quickly! Plans such as the “Trains everywhere” idea would need to be in development today, so that construction could hopefully begin as soon as the Olympics are wrapped up. And even that would be a 2020 completion date: 14 years from now. It’s time for our government to step out to the plate, find the funding, and fast-track these projects before the rush hour expands even more.

Your thoughts?

It just keeps snowing! And the forecast seems to get colder every hour. I love it!

Here’s some pictures for those outside of the West Coast:

 paradigm4 (me)

 Airchinapilot

 nep

 SqueakyMarmot

cdnsue

 freedryk

 Right Antler

 seawallrunner

roland

Problem 3: Public Transportation

Overview: This goes hand in hand with Transportation corridors. If you’re going to expand the roads, you also need to get people off the roads, otherwise they will just fill up all over again; even with reduced population growth. Translink has been doing some very good things lately, including pushing the Canada Line through without much support and getting a large amount of LRT throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam and New West. However, for an area so expansive with so many people, the Lower Fraser Valley has the weakest amount of public transportation available. Buses should not be going around every hour. Skytrain should not just stop in bum town Whalley. As is shown by the sheer amount of people going from the Valley into Vancouver through the Port Mann, you’d think the government would get a clue: The situation is simply ridiculous.

Solution: If we are to get a hold of the growing smog in Vancouver, it’s time to expand public transportation drastically. There needs to be multiple tiers to our public transportation system (in descending order): high speed monorail/magnetic trains, Skytrain, LRT/Trolleys, and Buses. For a country that pioneered trains, we pretty much ditched it for roads a while ago. We need to turn back time. While train technology is less flexible than automobiles, I find it to be much more expandable, practical and efficient.

They are all over Japan, throughout Europe, and even a few in the U.S.: High speed magnet trains, or Maglevs. If the public are to get from Abbotsford, or even Surrey, to Burnaby for work; they are NOT going to want to ride a bus for two hours plus. Frankly there should be several high speed trains going through the major transport hubs throughout the North Shore, Vancouver, Tri-Cities, Fraser Valley, Richmond, Tsawwassen and White Rock areas.

Skytrain is a proven technology that is synonymous with Vancouver. While it may cost a bit more, there is no method quicker to get around than to just fly over the roads. And I’m sure it’s cheaper going over than it is to dig under. Let’s expand the system. Skytrain will be serving the main areas through Vancouver and it’s bordering cities by 2010. It’s time to expand the service to both the North Shore, and even more importantly, to the Fraser Valley. Recent upgrades to the Fraser Highway prepared it for SkyTrain overhead in a potential future. Let’s make that future now. There needs to be at least one line running eastwards towards Langley, and one running south towards White Rock; minimum.

From there, the trolleys take over. Just like the new Evergreen Line that is being built in Coquitlam, both new and old tramways and quite efficient for smaller areas. Obviously attaching to major SkyTrain stations, the trams would take people to shopping areas, community centres, and even schools. Two societies in the Lower Mainland are making efforts to refurbish and restore the trolleys of old for use again: the Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway/Downtown Streetcar and the Fraser Vallery Heritage Railway Society. Currently, both projects have been barely off the ground; delays extending year after year after year. Translink and the cities should support the programs and plan integration between the organizations, because this will, if ever completed, be a form of public transportation. I think the historic railway is a fantastic idea, as long as it can still be used as an efficient form of transport (that is, does it hold enough people?). And in the areas where it cannot be sustainable, let’s build modern streetcars just like the Evergreen Line across the Lower Mainland and reserve the historic trains for tourist use.

Buses, HandyDART and Community Shuttles are both good and bad. In my opinion, the sleek and roomy, on-their-own-track train systems are much preferred over these road solutions. However, in areas where trains have yet to be built, buses can still be used. The problem with having dedicated bus lanes instead of SkyTrain and LRT lies in the fact that in will always be connected to public roadways and will be crushed if expansion is needed. And there’s no way a bus would be on a dedicated lane throughout it’s whole route; which means it’s quite likely it would get stuck in traffic. And my final points about buses over trains: buses have emotional drivers, trains are on tracks; buses are cramped and squished, trains are roomy and modern; adding more buses to the road clogs up roads, adding more trains to a track just speeds up wait times and space available in each train. Community Shuttles, by the way, are quite comfy and personal; it would be nice if the buses took a design cue

Here’s a quick sketch of the current rapid transit grid. The blue is Expo Line, yellow is the Millennium Line, red is the Canada Line, and purple is the West Coast Express. The map shows green SkyTrain extensions, and brown maglev/high-speed trains.

Problem 2: Transportation corridors

Overview: There are just too many people, which translates to cars, for the roadways to handle. Cities and budgets cannot continue to expand a different highway each year; it’s not sustainable. By the time they are updated, there will be even more people to just fill them right up. However, while public transportation (see below) will remove cars from roadways, the freeways and streets still need to be accessible to, most importantly, commercial vehicles. It’s not just the worker bees that are late for work; it’s also our goods and services which are being delayed due to outdated corridors.

Solution: Let’s look at our busiest roadways and either upgrade them or build new ones. Governments whine and complain that they do not have enough money; they have more than enough, they just don’t know how to properly organize and maximize it. If the 42 year old Port Mann is too small, let’s not spend years expanding it and leaving the public stuck in even more traffic (or worse; do nothing); let’s plan ahead and simply twin it. If the tattered 70 year old death bridge that is the Pattullo needs replacing; let’s get this done before it takes more lives. What just gets me is how much infrastructure was built in the 30’s to 60’s; nowadays all we’re doing is patching up and expanding all these old roads. Sooner or later, replacement is going to be necessary. If people really want something to get done; it will get it done.

When you’re at a family gathering, and everyone’s started watching Law and Order, I think it’s safe to say that the gathering should wrap up and people should return home.

I am so bored. I want to go home.

Treehugger posted a link a few days ago about Dual Mode Vehicles in Japan. Basically they are buses that can also hop onto tracks and run like a train. Frankly I find it to be a very intriguing idea; not only does it eliminate transfers from buses to LRT, but is also a more affordable solution providing one big transit service rather than multiple forms of transport.

Transportation as a whole really intrigues me quite a bit. Especially right now, considering we are apparently going to be seeing a paradigm shift in climate change and vehicles are a major pollutant right now. Are cars going to simply be more economic, or are we going to move into a more competitive market with several different fuels forms such as petrol, diesel, hydrogen, etc.? But cleaner cars doesn’t mean we aren’t going to need more roads. And road expansion is quite detrimental to our consistently growing cities and urban areas; just look at L.A. Frankly, the choice of not having a highway go through Vancouver was essential in the identity of the city and has paid off enormously. There are numerous problems concerning out transportation system, and here are my ideas on how to solve them:

Problem 1: Sprawl

Overview: Many of these problems lie in the simple fact that there is a vast amount of sprawl in the Lower Mainland (see map). Everything is so far away that we deserve an efficient way to get from point A to point B.

Solution: Let’s make sustainable plans. Design better: instead of moving out we should be moving up (Surrey, I’m talking about you!). Be sure to build balanced communities, where one does not have to hop a bus for 30 minutes just to reach a community centre or library. And let’s get a hold of immigration. A large percentage of population growth comes from a huge numbers of Asians and East Indians coming to Canada. Don’t drive too fast; you may lose control.