Wednesday January 31, 2007 6:05 am Lethbridge Sunrise 8:06 Sunset 17:23 Hours of daylight: 9:17

A. Morning Musings

6:05 am It is -10 C at the moment with a high of 0 C forecast.

Here are the news.

CBC Headline: British Police Sweep Nets 8 Terror Suspects

Initial reports are that the suspects planned to kidnap a British muslim soldier and then behead him on television. Apparently this is a common tactic in the middle east, but it would be a new way to spread terror in western countries. It is discouraging to see these types of terror stories continue.

Canadian Headline: Appeal Court Set to Hear Steven Truscott Case

Truscott was 14 when he was sentenced to hang for the murder of a school friend in 1959. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he was then released after 10 years in prison. New evidence was presented in 2000 in a CBC documentary and in 2001 Truscott launched a formal appeal to have his case reviewed. The media has presented a strong case for his innocence, one that he has repeatedly maintained.

Australian Headline: (from The Australian): Jury Finds Former ATSIC Boss Committed Rape

ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission). The pack rapes occurred 36 years ago but were only recently brought to the courts attention when the woman read about another woman making similar accusations. This case has been before the courts in various ways for the last 4 years. Mr Clark, a former boss of the ATSIC, accused the media for the finding against him. Both this story and the previous story illustrate how powerful the media can be when they seriously engage in investigative reporting.

My weight is down 1 more to 189. I have now lost 3 pounds in 3 days. I still have a way to go, but it is beginning to look like I will make my goal in less than 7 weeks.

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at 3:20 PM

B. Plan

Immediate
Health	Walk	1 hr
Model Trains	Continue assembly of coaling tower	1 hr
	Follow tutorial for version 8 of 3rd PlanIt	1 hr
Technology	Digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings	1 hr
	Review & edit iPhoto files for 2005	1 hr
Literature	Begin reading "The Big Why" by Michael Winter	1 hr
Later
Technology	Read manual for cell phone
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Begin reading "iPhoto"
	Burn backup of images onto DVD
Mathematics	Make notes for "Mathematics: A Human Endeavor" ch 1
	Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 9: Elliptic Curves
Model Trains	Add ground cover to oil refinery diorama
	Purchase DCC system
History	Read Watson "Ideas"
Philosophy	Read & make notes for "Breaking the Spell"
GO	Complete reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go"
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #10

C. Actual/Note

	Model Trains 11 January 31
Model Trains Notes
10:20 am This will be my first session with version 8 of 3rd PlanIt software. Here is my first screen shot of the new version: The tutorial has been upgraded to reflect version 8, but the manual is still for version 7. I will work my way through the tutorial even though there will be some review of what I had done with version 7 a week ago. The review will do me good. The first step is to activate Tools -> Sectional Builder and then select Tracks and pick Atlas 100. Each click on a track button will place a piece of the track on the end of the previous section. It takes less than a minute to create a basic oval. The next trick is to learn how to zoom in and out of the display. Here is the original. One way to zoom in is to menu bar: The same menu options allow one to zoom out. An easier method involves simply using the scroll wheel on the mouse to zoom in or out! When in virtual mode, Option+enter flips the virtual screen between full-screen and the Mac default screen size (about 2/3 size). One can flip between 2D and 3D using the tab key. When in 3D, one can rotate the layout by holding down the ctrl key and pressing the left arrow key.   SUMMARY of the session: Much of the above, as well as the time, was spent trying to get the right keyboard commands for working between Mac OS X and Windows xp. 12:00 noon

D. Reflection

9:00 PM Today was not as satisfying as the last few. The hours just slipped away between my fingers. I am beginning to understand my digital camera, which is a good sign. But I didn't put together an intensive session with 3rd PlanIt and I failed to really engage in the new novel. We did get in our walk, but it was bitterly cold with the wind. We stopped off at a pub near home for lunch and that helped put my calories for the day over the calories burned. Not a good way to lose weight.