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The fist persistently warm weekend of 2013 was another great time to get outdoors in Welland, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, and Port Colborne.

Welland Farmers Market with Seasonal Vendors

I've been making a weekly trek to the Welland Farmers Market in order to familiarize myself with the fresh and local food suppliers. The Welland Farmers Market is housed in two permanent buildings right in the heart of downtown Welland. There is an amazing meat market in the older building. Miki's Smokehouse has made their return to the Welland Farmers Market and I'd like to invite anyone that likes authentic Hungarian fare to like Mikis on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mikis.ca

Birthday Celebrations in St.Catharines

My girlfriend Alie Balan invited me to join her family in celebrating her mothers birthday a week earlier than usual. Typically the event overlaps mothers day, although this year is her 60th birthday and her only daughters wanted to make it better than the usual. The real surprise was running into one of my co-workers fiancee - recently engaged. After all of the pleasant exchanges there was plenty of time to dig in and catch up with everyone.

Later in the evening there was a huge fire a couple blocks away from the park that we took Alies nephew to play.

Greater Niagara Circle Route - Epic Canalside Journey

Sunday morning I was feeling a little guilty about the greasy food from the previous night and decided to go for a stroll and a stretch. By the time I made it to Downtown Welland I thought it would be great to spend more time outdoors and walk alongside the canal. I set my sights on getting to Port Colborne. It has been years since I had a real canalside adventure on the Greater Niagara Circle Route.

Along the way I tried to get some of the cycling types in on it by suggesting a DQ end point. Ran into tandem cyclists, rowers, a dirt bike event, and plenty of pedestrians. Once in Port Colborner I left the Greater Niagara Circle Route to be greeted by a steady stream of motorcycles running along Main Street. It was a great finish - although it was a little sad that there were no takers on the DQ offer. After a powernap in Lock 8 park it was time to head back to Welland with the help of Alie who needed a break from her cosplay work.

NHL Playoffs on CBC Toronto

CBC Toronto has completely shifted its evening program schedule over to the NHL Playoffs and rather that protest it has been much more enjoyable. The evenings were a great time to use the BBQ and get everyone together for the big game. Unfortunately for the Montreal Canadiens fans the Sunday night event was a bust. There will be plenty of additional opportunities to see the playoffs play out.

It was an Epic Adventure Weekend.

I've been experiencing a series of perfect moments. The perfect moments where all of the problems find their solutions, everyone is in a state of celebration, and the tension of daily life is gone. This is a felling that currently carries across a half-dozen of the communities I'm involved with in Niagara. The only common point that I'm finding is myself therefore I'm doing something right - everyone can be happy.

Welland Cultural Development
In the Welland area the organizations that I've been working with are prepared for the sweeping changes and new opportunities. New parade routes, new equipment, and new partnerships. Celebrations are in order.

On Friday April 26th one of those celebrations took place at Humbled Hallows. One of the first art and poetry shows at the venue took place - a modern day forum or salon which inspired many that attended. I also managed to score some art for an extremely low price.

Niagara Falls Success Stories
In Niagara Falls the businesses and non-profit groups have been reporting success on nearly all fronts. More members, guests, sales, volunteers, and much more - it is as though the warm weather brought with it some success. I'll be celebrating that success again on Sunday April 28th at the Niagara Food and Wine Expo. Big thanks to the Above and Beyond Cupcakes for getting the word out about the event.

Online and in Business - Worthy Challenges
Online I've been inspired to try another project. It has been over a year since the last Zen Alliance / ARIDARIA client cleared the server and there are plenty of system resources left for some new projects. The first is a donation to the Welland Culture Day Planning Committee, which recently invited me to reach out to the community to establish an online and offline presence for them. The next big project is something that has been sorely needed in Niagara, something that could bridge different communities and develop standards for success. Both of these are projects that I cannot do by myself - I hope to be working with a Giant in the local marketing world to reach the last mile.

I know that perfect moments can be a calm before the storm. This storm is going to be worth the wait.

Now that I'm getting back into volunteering there is one persistent issue that nearly every organization seems to have a problem with - getting people involved. I dealt with many of the same issues at Brock University as a student leader during the inception of Facebook and while learning from past leaders that had to constantly compete with the home media revolution. This is a battle with two fronts. The first and most pressing issue is the communications divide between older groups that didn't embrace technology or stunted their own community online by delivering only to the existing member base. The other is what I call apathy, this runs the spectrum from those that don't care to those that cannot find the time due to one-sided recreational commitments.

Getting Welland Online - Agency

There are hundreds of web developers and would-be internet heroes in Welland, there is no lack of skill. In Welland there are issues regarding agency and value in web development. Very few older groups are willing to allow the young and technologically proficient members take the lead on a web based project due to the risk associated with publishing materials online. Among the groups that have allowed semi-proficient older members to take the lead there have been issues regarding privacy, urgency, and accountability.

The solution is usually for admins to get over themselves. There are always new outreach channels and none of them are inferior to the last. Allow younger members to take the lead on a project and sign on as an executive in the organization. Many groups have their secretary publish a newsletter - create an additional position that covers taking the publications of the secretary to a group website, facebook page, or any other web platform that your group could find new members in. If it exists on paper then it needs to exist online.

By making them an agent of the organization there will be a legal liability to their actions and a drive to complete projects rather than being the person that always recommends then never delivers.

Television and Apathy in Welland

Apathy is a spectrum disorder in the volunteer community and among all of the remaining clubs. In terms of time commitments the vast major of members are still spending more time in front of the television, tablet, or monitor than they are in any non-screen based recreational activities.

The solution is involvement and fostering a local-first mentality. Welland lacks 24-hour meeting spaces and other elements found in developed communities that need to drive up membership. These public commons allow the television and ipod-social masses to take the first step while remaining connected. Cut the cable, establish shut-down times, and plan your media consumption ahead of time. After going cold turkey on television you may find that you prefer to get your news through SMS-pushed twitter feeds or through a small radio. Breaking the television habit is viable for all skill levels.

Get a Calendar - Then Add These

Welland needs people, this includes the people that are already involved to come out to our signature events.

Visit the weekly Farmers Market, you are a short walk away from the Welland Historical Museum. Go there.

The Welland Museum is a short walk away from the Community Wellness Complex. The Community Wellness Complex will be host to the Welland Culture Day on September 28th, 2013. Go there.

The Welland Rose Festival will start on June 1st, 2013 with the opening ceremonies being held at Memorial Park all day long. The Rose Fest will end on June 23rd, 2013 with the Welland Rose Parade going from the Welland Farmers Market to Memorial Park in Welland. Go there.

I'm finally putting together a set of images from around Niagara and will be testing their display on the site and with 3D devices over the next couple of months.

3D Images and video may have been a bit of a fad from the last couple of years - most of this is due to the fact that few media pieces exist for these devices. Just in case that changes there will be plenty of Niagara history available to the future.

I'm made the main image one of my MPO images renamed to jpg and I've attached a raw MPO to this post so that users can get an unedited version of the file.

This is the second year of making the daily trek to Niagara Falls each day. There are many interesting things to do in Niagara Falls for visitors, unfortunately for the local crowd some of the best and cheapest activities remain seasonal.

Frijoles Fresh Mex

Between the pricey dishes and the random fees most of Niagara Falls is a bust for people looking to save a dime, plenty of value for those that have time and money. Frijoles is the solution, Fresh is in the name. One burrito is enough for almost anyone, one burrito is equivalent in filling value to a footlong sub from one of the sandwich shops. Except you will never experience the spicy madness of the Scotch Bonnet Tin Sauce at a sandwich chain. Frijoles is worth the trip to Niagara Falls on its own.

Scenic Route to Welland

I drive to Welland in the dark each night in the Winter, the darkness becomes friendly and the glow of the three major cities has been a simple pleasure. This year has been interesting as the Welland glow has changed colour to match the new streetlamps. Just stop by Welland for some beer and wings this winter and compare the different glow of each city from the dark countryside.

Niagara Falls Cineplex

Even in the dead of Winter the Cineplex is the biggest draw for locals on the south side of Niagara Falls. Located on the same grounds as the Niagara Square Mall, which is experiencing an extended slow period due to slow development in the land around the mall. In Niagara the Cineplex in Niagara Falls is among the cleanest and most spacious of cinemas, although it comes at a cost. Admission to the Seaway Cinemas in Welland are typically between 10% to 30% cheaper, although that is to a flat floor cinema facility. As anyone that frequents a Cineplex Odeon facility knows the Tuesday night discount makes the cinema experience a little easier on the pocket book.

Niagara Falls Festival of Lights on the Cheap

I'll admit that much of the tourism in Niagara Falls is an effort to exchange amusement for money. This pushes the question 'what if the amusement were free?' The answer is simple - it was free already. While the drive up the Niagara Parkway may not be as stunning as seeing the city covered in snow from the Skywheel it is a little over $10 per person cheaper. Each year I make it a point to do a 'lights off' run through Dufferin Islands, the park that has dozens of trees wrapped in mesh lighting. This can be troublesome with some of the other vehicles plowing through the park with their high beams on and it would be nice to see a notice asking for some courtesy. Did I mention this is free? The good volunteers have made this free for a very long time - take at least a quarter of that money you saved and donate it to keep this tradition alive.

Would like to post more, but four is the limit for now. Try these local activities and save some money to pay off debts before interest rates go up.

In 2012 the Responsive Web Design took centre stage as part of the ongoing transition to HTML5. I've been working to improve the way websites function and how users can access content.

Unfortunately there are many other existing players online that cannot change the foundation of their existing web data management systems. In my future there is likely to be more conversion than construction.

Also started looking into the basics of Android development again. The OUYA project could be a real game changer in that market and lead to a burst of development for both the OUYA and AppleTV products.

As it turns out I'll be helping with the Welland Rose Festival, as a member of the board of directors and a co-chair of the feature event. I hope that all of the businesses that left during the recession can make a comeback, alongside some new ones.

Since many businesses from outside of Niagara have made it their mission to specialize in festivals it has been difficult to convince local groups that the guest numbers have increased. I'm hoping that the most successful businesses in Niagara will be able to look at their figures and decide to return to Niagara's most resilient festival.

It's especially exciting this year due to the fact that we've already been able to double the number of spaces for participating vendors at the two-day event. This is alongside the childrens area that includes an inflatable park, enchanted princesses, and numerous freebies. For the adults we plan to expand the time for live performances and include local wine alongside the beer tent. For the early birds on Sunday a pancake breakfast will start the day. If the stars align, all of this will go according to plan.

Thanks to the increasing number of volunteers we've been able to pass on savings to vendors. A festival of this size still takes a lot to put together and once all of the sponsors are on board we can release details about your favourite brands and businesses that believe that Wellands oldest and largest festival should also be one of Niagara's biggest events.

I know I'd like to thank last years major sponsors in advance since their contributions from previous years have been able to let us get a head start. Major gifts from Leons Furniture, Casino Niagara, and the Fallsview Casino contributed to our success in 2012 and will help again in 2013.

Feel free to contact me or Tiea Rudyk online or through the Rose Festival office for more information.

The OUYA has been touted as the best bet to reset the gaming market. It is also going to replace my Wii as the media centre unit of choice. At roughly the size of a Rubiks Cube it will be an easy fit.

Tegra3 Wayne Processor

The OUYA is going to be small and open-source, but the best part is that it will be using an energy efficient ARM processor. The popular Tegra3 ARM processors from nVidia will be in the OUYA in early 2013.

Square Enix, Namco Bandai, and Clear Channel Support the OUYA

The commitments of game publishers and broadcasters to bring their high quality content to the platform indicates that this will be a multimedia powerhouse.

Boxer8 and Julie Urhman

The Boxer8 team has been doing a great job so far in promoting the hardware, software, and content of the OUYA. Hopefully the console doesn't get caught up in price wars online, high retail markups to deal with the fact that retailers cannot sell the games for the console, or worst of all if ANY of the promised content is locked out for Canadians. Clear Channel specifically may be up against some issues related to the dominance of Astral Media in Canada - I'd rather have both than just one of the two.