James Shearer

I’m staying in a beautiful rural resort hotel which has all the amenities, facilities, top chefs, great food, comfy beds, all the good stuff. But do you know what is the greatest thing about this hotel…. ever?
Answer: “Good Morning”.
Every where you go, each smiling staff member always greets you with a “good morning”. Of course, […]

I am in the early stages of putting together a new business project and today I have been catching up on unread posts in my Bloglines. One I just came across was a post about venture capital aptitude test from Guy Kawasaki’s blog about a venture capital aptitude test.
This is an interesting perspective and has […]

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This afternoon I was a guest on the Mark Forsythe radio show on CBC Radio One. The topic was travel, in BC and further afield across the rest of Canada. Isabel Nanton, author and adventurer, was also on the show which lasted for an hour.

I answered questions and heard comments from callers. My background on travel across Canada was the reason for me being there and it was a great way to plug my website Trail Canada.

If you missed the show or loved it so much you want to hear it again, here it is:

James Shearer on CBC Radio (MP3 23mb)

Horray! My website Vancouver Events is finally back online!

After nearly 2 weeks of downtime due to a serious problem with the hosting company, VancouverEvents.ca is back in business just in time for Christmas events and all the events in Vancouver for New Year!

I don’t like to write bad reviews or publically bad-mouth a company or its products, certainly not on the record, which I suppose a blog is, but there is only so much I can take.

I have a bunch of websites hosted with a firm in Vancouver called WebServe Canada. I have had little problem with the service although there was a fair amount of getting used to the odd control panel processes they have in place. Recently this has become more and more problematic to the point where I have to ask a tech support person to do some really basic tasks such as adding a new site or modifying an email address. This defeats the point of having an online control panel in my opinion.

On Friday night a few of my websites went offline. This happens. The internet isn’t perfect and neither is the technology behind it so it didn’t bother me. By Saturday morning I was a bit concerned and that evening when it still wasn’t up and running I contacted WebServe technical support. I was advised it was a temporary fault which will be resolved “very soon”.

Sunday morning - no websites.
Technical support - “… will be resolved shortly” - how shortly? “a few hours”. hmmm…

Monday morning - no websites.
Technical support - “… will be resolved shortly” - how shortly? “a few hours”. grrrrrr…

Tuesday morning - no websites.
Technical support - “… will be resolved shortly” - how shortly? “a few hours”. Argghhh…

It is now late afternoon and the latest word from WebServe (if I read between the lines is) we are crap. That is my opinion of their service and their support.

According to the Better Business Bureau I am right.

With all that Canada has to offer and the constant flow of festivals and events it can be difficult to decide where and when to visit Canada.

Thanks to a handful of provincial tourist boards and the Canadian Tourist Commission, Trail Canada has launched a blog with articles by respected journalists and other sources.

This new blog is a perfect guide to inside information into very specific topics, be it dining in Prince Edward Island or visiting the Northwest Territories or exploring Victoria in Autumn, Trail Canada has a growing base of articles.

Visit the Trail Canada blog to read more and contribute your own articles.

I have finally managed to put all my Canadian wildlife photographs online.

At the same time, I wrote up some information on each of main species of animals found in Canada and some tips about where to see them and how to safely and responsibly watch animals in the wild.

Some of my favourite animals to watch and photograph include Grizzly Bears and Raccoons. Some of the more difficult to photograph are, despite the ease in which to find them - Squirrels and Birds. The reason why is because of their fast movements and small size - this can lead to out of focused shots and also missed poses.

The photographs are online now for everyone to enjoy.

Issue 2 of the Trail Canada newsletter was sent out today. Those of you who don’t have a free subscription, don’t worry. You can pick it up online at:
http://www.trailcanada.com/newsletter/

In the latest issue there is a section about vacations in Canada. Where to go and what kind of holiday ideas are given on Trail Canada.

Also featured is the new part of the website about “Things to do in Canada” and the ability for you to provide Trail Canada with some of your photos.

Subscribe to the newsletter today! It’s free…

I’ve created and published a new photogallery on Trail Canada.

The photos of English Bay and English Bay Beach are taken from around the area i live. Many are taken from my apartment and balcony.

Click here for photos of English Bay, Vancouver

These photos were taken from my apartment:
Looking over the Boathouse Restaurant, over English Bay Beach towards Stanley Park
Moon light over English Bay
Sunset over English Bay
Ships in English Bay and snow-capped mountains

This is where I live, Imperial Tower:
Imperial Tower and the Inukshuk
Imperial Tower, towering over the beach (the tallest building)

A great place to live! No wonder Vancouver is the most desirable place to live in the world. I second that.