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Jeff Donnelly’s new Vancouver Nite Club “Pop Opera will be located at Hastings & Granville

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Pop Opera the latest call-up to Donnelly’s Big League roster

Malcolm Parry
Sun

NINE CHEERS: Donnelly Hospitality Management founder-president Jeff Donnelly dreamed of becoming another Charlie Gehringer or Jackie Robinson. A second baseman in the Big Leagues, that is, and a pro athlete like his father, Brian Donnelly, who played defensive back for the 1971-74 B.C. Lions. But a signpost to the Langley-born, Surrey-raised 33-year-old’s real career was clear 20 years ago, long before he played two years of junior-college baseball in Mount Vernon, Wash. (he has dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship), hoping it would net him a scholarship to a major varsity. That’s when he spent after-school hours “picking up condoms and needles and cleaning up puke” from the bar of Vancouver’s then-Mr. Sport hotel, which his dad part-owned.

Until last week, Donnelly held 50- to 60-per-cent interests in five Vancouver nightclubs and four pubs that gross a reported $24 million annually. Then, those interests passed to the newly incorporated Donnelly Investments Ltd. in which Donnelly holds 70 per cent and three silent partners the remainder. Donnelly Hospitality Management Ltd. operates the nine facilities.

Last week, too, Donnelly opened his most glamorous property. That’s the 5,500-square-foot, 230-seat Pop Opera nightclub, located beside the downtown Birks store. He pays “in the mid-30s” per square foot for the premises, which cost a reported $1.8 million to acquire and renovate. Located smack-dab in the central business district, and somewhat remote from other nightspots, Pop Opera had earlier incarnations as the 1996 Hard Rock Cafe, Luce and — reflecting its West Hastings Street address — Dan Blaquiere’s Club 686.

Two other downtown joints should soon join Donnelly’s other club properties — Bar None, the Granville Room, the Modern, Republic — and the Bimini’s Tap House, Calling, Lamplighter and Library Square pubs. One will be a 65-seat lounge, he said. The other, a 375-seat club and attached 350-seat restaurant, should cost close to $5 million and be located in a new building by 2011. He “would love” to operate in the Hotel Georgia when Delta Land Development president Bruce Langereis completes a $300-million redevelopment of that iconic property.

He also wants a “dive bar,” like those once common in U.S. cities, where street-window liquor bottles had tags around their necks reading, say: “Single 55c, Double 80c.” He almost acquired one in Manhattan‘s Chelsea district recently, and regularly takes business partners and senior staff to inspect locales in that city, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, London, Tokyo and — later this year — Berlin.

“I’m in London three or four times a year, and that is the epicentre of nightlife,” said Donnelly, who designs all his own properties. “But we are comparable [in Vancouver], and we do things better than they do in L.A. We’re more professional — our door work, how we pour drinks, how we design our clubs. Our bars are open until 3 a.m. And, in places like Boneta, Chambar, George and the Cascade Room, we have a really cool cocktail culture.”

There’s uncool culture, too. Donnelly learned that when a fatal shooting put the kibosh on Loft Six, a second-floor Gastown club he and Bimini co-owner Steve Jennings opened at a cost of close to $400,000 in 2001. More stringent security was in place by 2003, when he spent a reported $750,000 converting the nearby Cherry Bay into the Modern dance club. Then, in 2007, he leased Gastown’s Lamplighter pub from Dominion Hotel owners Eric Cohen and Tom Gautreau, and spent what may total $1 million renovating the 270-seat premises. Last week, city hall approved his application for a 40-seat patio on the hotel’s Abbott Street side.

Donnelly’s biggest at-bat was the 300-seat, 5,800-square-foot Republic that cost a reported $2.5 million. Running to 3 a.m. seven nights a week, Republic shares the city’s-busiest-club status with Granville Entertainment’s nearby Roxy cabaret, which will mark its 20th anniversary this month. Republic partially fills the role envisaged for Granville Entertainment principal Blaine Culling’s stillborn Pravda, which was to house a pub, club and restaurant in a new, three-floor Granville Street building. Republic’s new-built premises are owned by the area-landlord Bonnis family.

Another Culling property, the old Foghorn’s, turned out to be Donnelly’s springboard to the bigs. He paid $40,000 for it in 2001, renamed it the Granville Room, acquired a now-defunct pub licence and planned a $250,000 renovation (and $350,000 more since). Opposing the plan, his dad called a $117,000 loan he’d made to aid acquisition of neighbourhood-pub-pioneer Peter Uram’s Bimini’s Tap House two years earlier. Donnelly recruited partners Jennings, Steve Ogden and club-scene veteran Murray Kryski, all of whom still invest in his projects. The Granville Room never became a pub, but has minted money ever since. It also put Kryski onside to help him acquire 80 per cent of Bar None for “about a million,” and the remainder six months later.

Donnelly no longer plays second base. But he’s still showing that job’s range, pivoting skill and right-and-left quickness on the business diamond.

SHE SAW LONDON: Self-styled “pantie queen” Kathleen Staples has hung ‘em up. After 14 years, she’s sold her wholesale and retail operations for an undisclosed sum to general manager Lana Diaz, and jokes that she’s “looking for a job as a receptionist or an exceptionalist.”

It’s been quite a ride. In the manner of then-common flower sellers, Staples began by offering late-night restaurant diners not long-stemmed roses but knitted-silk lingerie. Sales of the China-made garments for men and women rocketed when she gave their otherwise-ordinary colours such catchy names as Silver Screen, Fade To Black and Sugar-Frosted Grape.

Carried by The Bay, other retailers, and via her own West Vancouver store and www.staplesonline.com website, Staples sold three million pairs of women’s panties alone. Held as she liked to display them, that number would stretch from here to Winnipeg. Let’s guess Diaz is now targeting St. John’s, N.L.

VAULTS TEMPO: Swiss bankers never blow their own — and especially their clients’ — horns. But the Yamaha Tyros II electronic keyboard appears to be different, especially for Adrian Hartmann, 65, who joined Zurich‘s Foreign Commerce Bank after plans to be a Swissair airline pilot fizzled.

“Music was always my second half,” said Hartmann, who likely upset 1960s bosses by playing his Gibson and Chet Atkins guitar in the country-and-western style. Not that earning $1,000 for a New Year’s Eve gig mightn’t have changed their views.

“Now, music has become my primary half,” said Hartmann — [email protected] — who was transferred to Toronto in 1978, and moved to Vancouver two years later for the chance to begin private asset management. Five years with a Cayman Islands-based money-management firm followed. In 1985, the FCB asked him to open a representative office in Vancouver, and he and wife Hedy have been here ever since.

She’s the dance-and-fitness instructor he met aboard a Lake Zurich cruise vessel in 1965, when he played for her staging of a fashion show.

She’s also the subject of A Woman Like You on Hartmann’s CD, Adrian: How I Sing & Play, Vol. 2. Many of the other 16 titles are Elvis Presley covers. But there’s another original, My Vancouver, Hartmann hopes may be a welcoming anthem for the 2010 Olympics. The song somewhat echoes late B.C. minstrel Evan Kemp’s cowboy-two-step style, albeit without the yodelling you’d think might come naturally to the Swiss.

“I hate yodelling,” Hartmann said, hitting the keys of his $5,400 instrument and breaking into a most unbankerly Don’t Be Cruel.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Jeff Donnelly’s new Vancouver Nite Club “Pop Opera will be located at Hastings & Granville

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Pop Opera the latest call-up to Donnelly’s Big League roster

Malcolm Parry
Sun

NINE CHEERS: Donnelly Hospitality Management founder-president Jeff Donnelly dreamed of becoming another Charlie Gehringer or Jackie Robinson. A second baseman in the Big Leagues, that is, and a pro athlete like his father, Brian Donnelly, who played defensive back for the 1971-74 B.C. Lions. But a signpost to the Langley-born, Surrey-raised 33-year-old’s real career was clear 20 years ago, long before he played two years of junior-college baseball in Mount Vernon, Wash. (he has dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship), hoping it would net him a scholarship to a major varsity. That’s when he spent after-school hours “picking up condoms and needles and cleaning up puke” from the bar of Vancouver’s then-Mr. Sport hotel, which his dad part-owned.

Until last week, Donnelly held 50- to 60-per-cent interests in five Vancouver nightclubs and four pubs that gross a reported $24 million annually. Then, those interests passed to the newly incorporated Donnelly Investments Ltd. in which Donnelly holds 70 per cent and three silent partners the remainder. Donnelly Hospitality Management Ltd. operates the nine facilities.

Last week, too, Donnelly opened his most glamorous property. That’s the 5,500-square-foot, 230-seat Pop Opera nightclub, located beside the downtown Birks store. He pays “in the mid-30s” per square foot for the premises, which cost a reported $1.8 million to acquire and renovate. Located smack-dab in the central business district, and somewhat remote from other nightspots, Pop Opera had earlier incarnations as the 1996 Hard Rock Cafe, Luce and — reflecting its West Hastings Street address — Dan Blaquiere’s Club 686.

Two other downtown joints should soon join Donnelly’s other club properties — Bar None, the Granville Room, the Modern, Republic — and the Bimini’s Tap House, Calling, Lamplighter and Library Square pubs. One will be a 65-seat lounge, he said. The other, a 375-seat club and attached 350-seat restaurant, should cost close to $5 million and be located in a new building by 2011. He “would love” to operate in the Hotel Georgia when Delta Land Development president Bruce Langereis completes a $300-million redevelopment of that iconic property.

He also wants a “dive bar,” like those once common in U.S. cities, where street-window liquor bottles had tags around their necks reading, say: “Single 55c, Double 80c.” He almost acquired one in Manhattan‘s Chelsea district recently, and regularly takes business partners and senior staff to inspect locales in that city, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, London, Tokyo and — later this year — Berlin.

“I’m in London three or four times a year, and that is the epicentre of nightlife,” said Donnelly, who designs all his own properties. “But we are comparable [in Vancouver], and we do things better than they do in L.A. We’re more professional — our door work, how we pour drinks, how we design our clubs. Our bars are open until 3 a.m. And, in places like Boneta, Chambar, George and the Cascade Room, we have a really cool cocktail culture.”

There’s uncool culture, too. Donnelly learned that when a fatal shooting put the kibosh on Loft Six, a second-floor Gastown club he and Bimini co-owner Steve Jennings opened at a cost of close to $400,000 in 2001. More stringent security was in place by 2003, when he spent a reported $750,000 converting the nearby Cherry Bay into the Modern dance club. Then, in 2007, he leased Gastown’s Lamplighter pub from Dominion Hotel owners Eric Cohen and Tom Gautreau, and spent what may total $1 million renovating the 270-seat premises. Last week, city hall approved his application for a 40-seat patio on the hotel’s Abbott Street side.

Donnelly’s biggest at-bat was the 300-seat, 5,800-square-foot Republic that cost a reported $2.5 million. Running to 3 a.m. seven nights a week, Republic shares the city’s-busiest-club status with Granville Entertainment’s nearby Roxy cabaret, which will mark its 20th anniversary this month. Republic partially fills the role envisaged for Granville Entertainment principal Blaine Culling’s stillborn Pravda, which was to house a pub, club and restaurant in a new, three-floor Granville Street building. Republic’s new-built premises are owned by the area-landlord Bonnis family.

Another Culling property, the old Foghorn’s, turned out to be Donnelly’s springboard to the bigs. He paid $40,000 for it in 2001, renamed it the Granville Room, acquired a now-defunct pub licence and planned a $250,000 renovation (and $350,000 more since). Opposing the plan, his dad called a $117,000 loan he’d made to aid acquisition of neighbourhood-pub-pioneer Peter Uram’s Bimini’s Tap House two years earlier. Donnelly recruited partners Jennings, Steve Ogden and club-scene veteran Murray Kryski, all of whom still invest in his projects. The Granville Room never became a pub, but has minted money ever since. It also put Kryski onside to help him acquire 80 per cent of Bar None for “about a million,” and the remainder six months later.

Donnelly no longer plays second base. But he’s still showing that job’s range, pivoting skill and right-and-left quickness on the business diamond.

SHE SAW LONDON: Self-styled “pantie queen” Kathleen Staples has hung ‘em up. After 14 years, she’s sold her wholesale and retail operations for an undisclosed sum to general manager Lana Diaz, and jokes that she’s “looking for a job as a receptionist or an exceptionalist.”

It’s been quite a ride. In the manner of then-common flower sellers, Staples began by offering late-night restaurant diners not long-stemmed roses but knitted-silk lingerie. Sales of the China-made garments for men and women rocketed when she gave their otherwise-ordinary colours such catchy names as Silver Screen, Fade To Black and Sugar-Frosted Grape.

Carried by The Bay, other retailers, and via her own West Vancouver store and www.staplesonline.com website, Staples sold three million pairs of women’s panties alone. Held as she liked to display them, that number would stretch from here to Winnipeg. Let’s guess Diaz is now targeting St. John’s, N.L.

VAULTS TEMPO: Swiss bankers never blow their own — and especially their clients’ — horns. But the Yamaha Tyros II electronic keyboard appears to be different, especially for Adrian Hartmann, 65, who joined Zurich‘s Foreign Commerce Bank after plans to be a Swissair airline pilot fizzled.

“Music was always my second half,” said Hartmann, who likely upset 1960s bosses by playing his Gibson and Chet Atkins guitar in the country-and-western style. Not that earning $1,000 for a New Year’s Eve gig mightn’t have changed their views.

“Now, music has become my primary half,” said Hartmann — [email protected] — who was transferred to Toronto in 1978, and moved to Vancouver two years later for the chance to begin private asset management. Five years with a Cayman Islands-based money-management firm followed. In 1985, the FCB asked him to open a representative office in Vancouver, and he and wife Hedy have been here ever since.

She’s the dance-and-fitness instructor he met aboard a Lake Zurich cruise vessel in 1965, when he played for her staging of a fashion show.

She’s also the subject of A Woman Like You on Hartmann’s CD, Adrian: How I Sing & Play, Vol. 2. Many of the other 16 titles are Elvis Presley covers. But there’s another original, My Vancouver, Hartmann hopes may be a welcoming anthem for the 2010 Olympics. The song somewhat echoes late B.C. minstrel Evan Kemp’s cowboy-two-step style, albeit without the yodelling you’d think might come naturally to the Swiss.

“I hate yodelling,” Hartmann said, hitting the keys of his $5,400 instrument and breaking into a most unbankerly Don’t Be Cruel.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Posted in Other News Articles | 1 Comment »

Even some Realtors fear ‘losing everything’ amid housing woes

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Realtors live close to the edge

Stephanie Armour
USA Today

Realtor Robert Millosh prepares for an estate sale in the house he grew up in and now owns. He wants to move to a cheaper place, but the house isn’t selling. By Todd Plitt, USA TODAY

Realtor Shirley Van Scoyk at her Pa. farm. The lack of business “eats at your soul,” she says. By Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

Jack Jentzen never saw it coming. Four years ago, as a real estate agent in Elgin, Ill., he was enjoying the rewards of the most frenzied U.S. housing market in decades, and money poured in.

Now he’s fighting to keep his home.

The real estate slump that hit in 2006 eventually stifled home sales, shrank prices and unleashed a wave of foreclosures. And as it did, the hardest-hit victims included a group of people, such as Jentzen, who never imagined they had anything to fear: real estate agents themselves.

Tens of thousands of Realtors have been forced to quit the industry in the past couple of years. Some are enduring their own agonizing foreclosures. Agents who had staked their fortunes on galloping home sales now struggle to afford health care, utilities and other basics.

Some, like Jentzen, are trying to build new careers. Others are pursuing drastic and aggressive tactics to tough out the housing slump, from embracing new marketing plans to spending thousands to earn advanced designations they hope will help them stand out from the competition. Some say the housing collapse is undermining their professional self-esteem.

“I’m looking at jobs that are way lower than what I was once making,” says Jentzen, 43.

He’s feeling increasingly desperate. His wife, Laura, a wedding photographer, has multiple sclerosis, and they’re spending thousands out of pocket on her prescriptions. He also lives with and cares for his father, who has lung cancer and is on oxygen. Jentzen and his 17-year-old daughter now have no health insurance because they can’t afford it.

Jentzen is interviewing for a host of jobs outside of real estate to try to continue making his mortgage payments. But so far, he continues to be turned down as overqualified.

Disappearing income

“The realty industry is quickly becoming a shadow of what it was,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com. “For those who remain employed, their compensation has plunged. Realtors were also among the most aggressive housing investors. Many made the error of working and investing with leverage in the same industry, something financial planners counsel strongly against.”

That was true for Jentzen. As his business started to wither away, so did his financial security. He took out an equity line on his house. He exhausted most of his savings. The value of his home plummeted, and his lender cut off his equity line. Credit card bills climbed.

“The money in the bank is going to run out. If we lose this house, what do we do? What does my daughter do? My dad? I felt depressed and saw a psychologist. The market’s just so tough now.”

Signs of the trend:

•Real estate agents are fleeing the business. After steadily rising during the housing boom, the number of real estate agents fell by nearly 25,000 from December 2006 through December 2007, compared with a growth of 12,500 from December 2005 to December 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall employment of real estate agents dropped from 1.5 million in 2006 to 1.47 million last year.

•After seeing its membership swell 89% from 1998 to 2006 (hitting nearly 1.4 million), the National Association of Realtors saw its numbers slip 1.5% last year, to 1.34 million. In July this year, the NAR had 1.26 million members.

•Payroll employment of brokers has dropped from a peak of about 380,000 jobs in spring 2006 to 340,000 jobs currently, Zandi says. Many more non-payroll jobs have been lost. And more losses are coming as home sales sink back to levels last seen in the early 1990s.

“Some members are saying there are too many Realtors out there who are bringing additional competition, and a shake-up is expected,” says Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. “We do anticipate lower membership going forward since housing recovery is taking longer.”

Ramona Garcia, 38, of Corona, Calif., considers herself one of the lucky ones. She and her husband were Realtors. After the housing market collapsed, she forged a new career selling jewelry through a direct-sales business called Silpada Designs. She took a risk when times were tight and decided to buy a starter kit and some jewelry to sell and began planning parties of friends and neighbors to display the jewelry and try to drum up sales.

It was nerve-racking at first. But she says her business experience and the determination she developed as a Realtor allowed her to turn a side business into a prosperous new career that now helps support her family.

“I consider it a blessing,” Garcia says.

Not only that, she says she enjoys the work far more than being a Realtor, which meant having to always make herself available for clients. Throwing jewelry parties, she says, is fun and has renewed her confidence. Her husband found a job as a site-acquisition rep for cellphone companies.

“I love my job, and I didn’t love real estate,” Garcia says. “Real estate was very stressful. The phone would ring up to midnight. I was always on pins and needles.”

Yet the experience, in the long run, turned into an advantage. “Being a Realtor for 10 years and being that responsible for big things in people’s lives — it creates a business background. Return phone calls on time. Don’t flake out. This is a fun job compared to a necessary job.”

But others who are being forced to leave the career, take second jobs or face bankruptcy are feeling frustration. It often takes a personal toll.

Shirley Van Scoyk, a Realtor in West Chester, Pa., spends her days on her farm with the horses she boards and her 80-pound American bulldog puppy. It might sound idyllic, but days with no work feel agonizing to her. At the moment, she has only one listing — her son’s house. It’s been on the market for three months.

Loss of confidence

“The hardest thing, where it all starts to unravel, is the effect of the difficult market on my self-esteem,” Van Scoyk says.

When home sales were booming, she reveled in snagging sales and closing deals, and then snacking on crackers and soda in her car on the way to a settlement she’d struggled to move to the table.

“When the market is challenging like this, all the drama is gone, the hunt is gone, and this eats at your soul,” she says. “I love doing business, and there is less business to do. I am in mourning for my work life. … I worked hard to get to be a Realtor. It made me a professional and a success. That bothers me worse than the income loss. I’m so incredibly depressed by not having work.”

Real estate agents and brokers had the biggest decline in sales of any industry in the past 12 months, according to an analysis by Sageworks, a financial analysis and research services company.

Finding new careers

Some Realtors who hope to withstand the real estate recession have been flocking to training programs. The number of NAR members who hold at least one professional designation rose by nearly 21,000 over the past year, reaching a total of more than 428,000 — more than one-third of the NAR’s membership. Some may receive a designation such as senior specialist, serving seniors. Others might pursue the rank of CIPS, for certified international property specialist.

Meanwhile, though, pay for Realtors is dwindling. Overall median Realtor income was $42,600 in 2007, down 10.7% from $47,700 in 2006, according to the NAR.

That’s a far cry from the boom times. In 2005, real estate agent commissions in the USA peaked at 67.1 billion, according to Real Trends, which does research on the residential brokerage and housing industry. It plunged to 49.9 billion in 2007. During the boom time, agents in the higher-end market were easily taking in six-figure incomes, with a few in the luxury market even grossing more than $1 million a year.

Those fleeing the business the fastest tend to be those newest to real estate, people who have had less time to establish their business. Realtors in the business for two years or less fell to 18% of overall membership in NAR last year, from 23% in 2006.

Some real estate agents, on the hunt for better housing markets, are moving to other areas. Others are willing to take second jobs or pursue careers they feel aren’t as reliant on a mercurial housing market.

Robert Millosh, a Realtor for Re/Max in Middlesex County, N.J., says he’ll need to find some other job to stay in the area. He used to earn at least $30,000 annually as a Realtor. Right now, he says, home sales are so dismal that he’s looking at a job change or a move to Florida or Pennsylvania.

“I am almost broke and struggling to get by from day to day,” says Millosh, who is 45 and single. “I’m having an estate sale for most of the furniture I have that I don’t need. My life has been ripped apart.”

Milltown, N.J., is a quaint small town, the kind of place families want to move to. They have an all-American Fourth of July celebration, with a parade, fishing, rodeo, a band in the park and fireworks at night. Millosh says it would be a hard place to abandon, but he might not have a choice.

He says he got in over his head after he began caring for his mother. His house was valued at $411,000 last year when he refinanced, and this year houses in his neighborhood were selling for less than $300,000. He’s trying to sell his home for $349,000. His grandmother and mother built the house in 1951 for $18,000, and Millosh took out a mortgage in 2004 when his mother began to have medical problems. The original mortgage was for $100,000.

Now, he is looking at renting out rooms. Renting out his entire house or selling it, he says, could leave him homeless.

He took a bartending class in hopes of getting a job but says he could find only jobs as a busboy. “I’ve been looking for a job since October of last year and have yet to find anything,” Millosh says. “I apply for anything, as long as it meets my minimum salary and travel area. I figured real estate would always be there for me.”

His situation was worsened, he says, after he opened home-equity lines of credit and took time away from full-time work to stay home for a while and care for his mother, who spent four months in a nursing home before she died in January.

“Part of the reason for the mortgage mess I’m in was my mother’s illness,” he says. “Now I’m losing everything because I tried to be a good son.”

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Eye spy: U.S. scientists develop eye-shaped camera

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Julie Steenhuysen
Sun

An eye-shaped camera is seen in an undated handout photo. REUTERS/Beckman Institute, University of Illinois/Handout

A view shows the completed electronic eye camera, mounted on printed circuit board (green) for connection to a computer for image acquisition in this undated handout image. REUTERS/Beckman Institute, University of Illinois/Handout

CHICAGO – Borrowing one of nature’s best designs, U.S. scientists have built an eye-shaped camera using standard sensor materials and say it could improve the performance of digital cameras and enhance imaging of the human body.

The device might even lead to the development of prosthetic devices including a bionic eye, they said.

“This is the first time we’ve demonstrated a camera on a curved surface to really make it look like a human eye,” said Yonggang Huang of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who reported his findings on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Huang, who worked on the project with John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, developed a relatively simple solution to the long-running problem of transferring microelectronic components onto a curved surface without breaking them.

“If you simply bend it, those materials are brittle like a ceramic bowl. They break,” Huang said in a telephone interview.

To solve this, Huang and Rogers developed a mesh-like material made up of tiny squares that hold the photodetectors and electronic components. The squares are connected by tiny wires that give each component the ability to mold to a curved surface.

IMPROVING THE FIELD OF VISION

“This approach allows us to put electronics in places where we couldn’t before,” Rogers said in a statement.

With funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, Huang and Rogers built a digital camera that has the size, shape and layout of a human eye. Huang said the curved shape greatly improves the field of vision, bringing the whole picture into focus.

“Currently when you take photos, the middle part of the picture is very clear but when you go to the edge, it is not so clear,” Huang said. “The curved technology will make the entire picture clear.”

But the applications extend beyond taking better vacation photos.

“It really extends to all of the electronics that we use on humans. You want to have a curved surface to fit the human body. That is really the place it can be used,” he said.

Huang said the device could be used to make better imaging equipment, such as curved sensors to monitor brain activity that follow the contours of the brain. It could even be used in the development of an artificial retina or a bionic eye.

“If you want to develop an eye to replace a human eye, certainly you want the shape to look like a human eye,” he said.

“Right now we’ve already got a camera working. It works very well with computers. It’s just how to connect the camera to the brain. That is the issue to be solved,” he said.

© Reuters 2008

 

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Internet flaw a boon to hackers

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Glenn Chapman
Sun

While most businesses are still hustling to protect their Internet traffic, 15 per cent Fortune 500 companies have “done nothing” to defend their computers. Photograph by : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Computer security professionals crammed into a Las Vegas ballroom on Wednesday for the first public briefing on an Internet flaw that lets hackers hijack traffic on the World Wide Web.

“There is bunch of weird (stuff) going on out there right now,” expert Dan Kaminsky told AFP, confirming that attacks are being launched online despite efforts to conceal and patch the vulnerability in the Internet’s foundation.

Kaminsky, the director of IOActive penetration testing, was met with applause and cheers when he stepped to a podium at the premier Black Hat conference to reveal details of an attack that is a boon to ill-willed hackers.

An elite squad of computer industry engineers labored in secret to solve the problem, and released a software “patch” in early July but sought to keep details of the vulnerability hidden until Black Hat to give people time to protect computers from attacks.

The Domain Name System (DNS) flaw was figured out and spread online within two weeks of the patch’s release and US telecom giant AT&T was the first confirmed victim of an attack.

Kaminsky said that while most businesses are still hustling to protect their Internet traffic, 15 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have “done nothing” to defend their computers.

“How do you force a server to 1.badguy.com?” Kaminsky asked rhetorically as he addressed the crowd. “Oh, let me count the ways. God, it’s good to be finally able to talk about this stuff.”

Kaminsky stumbled upon the DNS vulnerability about seven months ago and reached out to industry giants to collaborate on a solution.

DNS is used by every computer that links to the Internet and works similar to a telephone system routing calls to proper numbers, in this case the online numerical addresses of websites.

The vulnerability allows “cache poisoning” attacks that tinker with data stored in computer memory caches that relay Internet traffic to its destination.

The flaw has existed since 1983 and may well have been exploited without victims noticing.

The vulnerability also lets hackers hijack emails and supposedly secure online transactions.

The potential for using it as a weapon in nation-sanctioned cyber war or organized crime sprees were “wide open,” said Jerry Dixon, former director of cyber security for the US Department of Homeland Security.

“I’ve spent the last month terrified of large companies having all their email stolen because of a bug I found out about,” Kaminsky said.

The vulnerability is centered in servers used by companies to access the Internet and handle email.

Home computer users whose online activities are channeled through Google, Yahoo, Microsoft or other major Internet properties should be safe because those firms have been alerted to the problem, according to Kaminsky.

“Most home users are more likely than not operating in a protected environment,” Kaminsky said. “It is more likely they will be less protected at work that when they are at home.”

That is because some companies have yet to safeguard their computer networks.

The patch is a temporary fix and doesn’t defend against every kind of what is referred to as a “man in the middle” attack.

The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), a joint government-private sector security partnership, is among the chorus urging people to quickly protect computers linked to the Internet.

Kaminsky built a web page, www.doxpara.com, where people can find out whether their computers have the DNS vulnerability. On Wednesday, he released details of the vulnerability on the website.

“We have to get better about fixing the infrastructure,” Kaminsky said. “We got lucky fixing this bug but may not be so lucky next time.”

In a warm touch, Kaminsky’s grandmother Raia Maurer baked cookies for the security experts attending her grandson’s talk.

“I’m so proud of him,” Maurer said. “He explained it so even I can understand it.”

© AFP 2008

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Culinary delicacies on the waterfront

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Landmark seafood restaurant dishes out a tasty bit of Steveston charm in each and every dish

Michelle Hopkins
Sun

Shady Island Seafood Bar & Grill executive chef Tyler Day, 25, displays some of the Steveston restaurant’s signature seafood dishes in the unique dining area. Photograph by : Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun

SHADY ISLAND SEAFOOD BAR & GRILL

112-3800 Bayview St.

Richmond

Phone: 604-275-6587

– – –

Once home to 15 canneries, today the vibrant, historic and picturesque Steveston Village houses a plethora of wonderful restaurants, many on the waterfront.

Steps away from the boardwalk is Shady Island Seafood Bar & Grill, a landmark restaurant where you can enjoy the atmosphere of dining in a river port town, while watching fishing vessels and boats dance in and out of the harbour.

It’s a beautiful, warm Saturday night and Steveston is bustling with locals and visitors alike. We walk into the popular eatery, thankful we have a reservation because it’s chock full of patrons, many of them locals like me.

The restaurant — with rich, deep weather-worn hardwood floors, expansive windows that open to a sweeping view of the mighty Fraser and a décor befitting a quaint waterfront eatery — has been here for a few decades. It has earned a reputation for its famous fish and chips and oysters; whole Atlantic lobster and B.C. Dungeness crab; its curried prawns and grilled scallops; and its signature Cannery Row seafood platter for two, to name just a few.

Our friendly waiter, Chris Michaels, has worked here for more than seven years and is also the marketing director. He escorts us to our table with a smile. Right away, we are offered water and the menu.

We scan the well-thought-out list of savoury appetizers and ponder ordering a bowl of the succulent Mama’s award-winning seafood chowder, a hearty Manhattan red. Dennis and I decide to split the B.C. crab cakes, but alas, they are sold out. Momentarily disappointed, we choose the roasted garlic and Camembert ($13.95), which came drizzled with a mouth-watering mango and raspberry coulis, and French bread for dipping. It proved to be a delicious alternative.

For the main course — the seafood selection is more than accommodating for even the most discerning customer — I selected the hot Caesar salad ($17.95), which is accompanied by fresh halibut, wild salmon and prawns. Lightly bathed in a creamy dressing and served with shaved parmesan and croutons, it was a wonderful dish. Dennis chose the savoury Cajun halibut special, grilled to perfection and served with a brandied pesto cream sauce and garlic prawns ($25.95), a palate pleaser.

There is a level of freshness and creativity that is second to none here. It’s no wonder it’s a favourite amongst Stevestonites. The owner, Gerry Biggar, is a hands-on guy, and one who knows Steveston, having called it home for decades.

He recently hired executive chef Tyler Day. I was surprised to discover that Day is only 25 years old. This young chef is clearly talented. He trained at a couple of New York City‘s and England‘s finest restaurants. He even trained at Vancouver‘s renowned Bishop’s Restaurant before heading to the Big Apple to further hone his skills.

Day was smart enough not to take away any of the restaurant’s signature dishes, but he did admit he put his own stamp on a few. He is, however, responsible for the tantalizing halibut Dennis raved about and for introducing a number of fresh-sheet culinary delights.

Let the restaurant’s sommelier, Tomonari Machida, offer up his wine-pairing suggestions. Machida, who is responsible for the restaurant’s revamped and fine wine selection, invited us to try a Pepperwood Grove Zinfandel (California) red to go with our entrees. It was smooth and full-bodied, just the way I like it.

Seafood is the specialty, but if it’s not your preference, there are options such as grilled chicken penne, a New York strip loin and homemade mac and cheese.

If you have any room left for dessert, Shady Island is known for its decadent crème brulee and tasty fruit crumble. I can say from experience that both melt in your mouth.

Meanwhile, you can reserve a seat in the Vicky, an original 1942 gillnet vessel, which has been converted into a cozy and private little oasis perfect for a tete-a-tete or a party of six. It sits suspended between the main and upper floors of the restaurant.

Come for the ambience and return for some of the best seafood around. Shady Island Seafood Bar & Grill seats 120 inside and 100 on the two patios outside. Reservations are recommended on weekends.

By the way, the upstairs is soon to be converted into a wine bar, but the gorgeous antique bar stays.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

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Good Italian food roots La Quercia in Kitsilano

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme bring familiar feel to warm, modern restaurant

Mia Stainsby
Sun

Owners/chefs Adam Pegg (left) and Lucais Syme enjoy la dolce vita at La Quercia on West Fourth. The two previously cooked at La Buca restaurant on MacDonald. Photograph by : Jenelle Schneider, Vancouver Sun

LA QUERCIA

Overall: 4

Food: 4

Ambience: 4

Service: 4

Price: $$

3689 West Fourth Ave. (at Alma), 604-676-1007. www.laquercia.ca. Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday; dinner Tuesday to Sunday.

Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.

– – –

At La Quercia, should you be overcome with deja vu, that’s not what it is. It’s a trickster restaurant.

La Quercia, another sign that Italian food has rebounded, not only feels a lot like La Buca, the hip little boite on MacDonald Street, but the two owners, Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme, previously cooked there. Consequently, the food has a familiar ring. The room has a similar look — quietly modern and just the right size for a warm neighbourhood restaurant (30 seats). Weirdly, on the walk to the washroom (singular, not plural), you kind of walk through the small kitchen, just like at La Buca (although at the latter, you walk right through it, brushing elbows with the cooks).

La Quercia, which means “oak tree” in Italian, was named because of its “strong roots and its ability to live through drought,” says Syme. The restaurant, too, has good roots. Pegg spent three years in Italy taking a Slow Food Master of Italian cooking program; he’s cooked in Victoria at the Herald St. Cafe (he had lots of buzz during his time), as well as at Il Terrazzo and a bakery. Syme has worked at Cioppino’s, Bluewater Cafe and Raw Bar.

On the floor, the night manager has worked at Cioppino’s and for the celebrated Susur Lee in Toronto.

“There will be no foam this or scented that,” says Pegg. “Our menu is reflective of the simplicity and classic combinations of Italian cooking.”

Both evenings I visited, people arrived like moths to a light. The ones without reservations were turned away. At one point, I thought that included Food TV celebrity Bob Blumer, but he’d only disappeared into the washroom.

Pegg’s and Syme’s food (they both cook) speak of Slow Food and Italian regions. It has an artisan feel, especially the pastas. Ingredients are selected for quality and the regular menu is very small — the daily specials, which do change daily, make up a lot of the offerings. In fact, keep focussed because the verbal explanation of specials will separate the mindful from the distracted.

Like Trattoria Italian Kitchen further east on West Fourth, the menu is divided into antipasti, primi (pastas) and secondi (meat and fish).

I can see the food is meant to be light, but my one criticism is that some of the dishes tread too lightly with flavouring even when beautifully cooked. I wanted more intensity or even seasoning in some. The risotto, for example ($50 for two), uses the gorgeous Acquarello one-year aged rice (amazing texture and evenness), but despite the small bits of wild boar pancetta the dish was too subtle. The agnoletti, expertly formed, was in a brodo (broth) and I wanted just a little bit more intensity somewhere in the dish.

That being said, the flatiron steak with arugula, balsamic, pine nuts and Parmesan ($23) was juicy and delicious; squid with dandelions (a special and they didn’t give the price) and arugula was tasty; scallops with pork belly (another special) approached amazing (the scallops had not tightened at all in the cooking).

I don’t need to instruct you on desserts. They’ve got it in hand. They change frequently, but a summer favourite seems to be semi-freddo. We tried the almond semi-freddo, topped with a meringue swirl. Nice! Sticks of stewed rhubarb over a lemon cream was a simple country-style dessert I couldn’t get enough of; almond blueberry tart was more cake than tart — again delicious.

The wine list features mid-range Italian wines. Should you wish for something more exquisite, ask about their reserve list. Also, they’ll open wines sold by the bottle if a table orders two glasses of it.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

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Building permits plunge in B.C., most provinces

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Derrick Penner
Sun

The nationwide 5.3 per cent drop in the value of building permits was much worse than the one per cent monthly drop markets had been expecting, and the biggest monthly change since November of last year. Photograph by : Peter Battistoni/Vancouver Sun files

VANCOUVER — British Columbia was one of six provinces to see a decline in the value of building permits issued in June, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

Builders took out just over $1 billion in permits in June, a 6.1-per-cent drop from the $1.13 billion taken out in May, with the decrease driven by a substantial drop in non-residential applications.

The value of building permits across Canada plunged 5.3 per cent to $6.3 billion in June, as plans for both residential and non-residential projects declined from the month before, Statistics Canada said in its report.

The most significant decrease occurred in Ontario, where the value of building permits – a key indicator of construction activity – fell 7.9 per cent to $2.3 billion. Six provinces saw declines in their numbers.

Nationally, the residential sector experienced a 4.4 per cent drop to $3.6 billion, generated by lower values in multi-family permits in all provinces except Saskatchewan.

In non-residential building, permits fell 6.6 per cent to $2.8 billion due to declines in commercial and industrial intentions, the federal agency said.

The 5.3 per cent drop was much worse than the one per cent monthly drop markets had been expecting, and the biggest monthly change since November of last year, according to TD Securities economics strategist Millan Mulraine.

June’s sharp drop places the value of permits 9.1 per cent lower than in the corresponding period last year, Mulraine said.

“On a city-by-city comparison, the  report was fairly ugly,” Mulraine said, “with Montreal (down 12.1 per cent), Calgary (down 15.2 per cent), Vancouver (down 13.4 per cent) and Saskatoon (down 16.7 per cent) all posting double-digit declines.

“On the whole, it is now becoming  clear that the Canadian housing market is continuing to cool, as the level of  activity moderates to more sustainable levels. And we expect this correction  to continue at a measured and orderly pace,” Mulraine said.

 

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Economic growth slowing in B.C.

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Consumer confidence at lowest level since 2000, report says

David Akin, with file from Derrick Penner
Sun

British Columbia consumers, who have fuelled the province’s robust domestic economy over the past couple of years, are becoming reluctant, which will restrain provincial economic growth, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s latest report.

The conference board, in the latest edition of its semi-annual Provincial Outlook report released Wednesday, forecast that growth in B.C.’s overall economic output is slowing largely because the difficulties that have plagued its export sectors are crimping consumer optimism.

Growth in the output of B.C.’s total economy will have slowed to 2.2 per cent by the end of 2008, according to the conference board forecast, but will recover modestly to 2.9 per cent in 2009.

“The domestic economy [in B.C.] is facing contracting housing starts, softening wholesale and retail trade and a construction industry that has hit the wall,” the report said.

Forestry is forecast to contract by just over 13 per cent this year and manufacturing output will drop by 51/2 per cent, by the conference board’s estimate, with 20,000 jobs lost in the manufacturing sector alone.

“The export sector downturn has already pummelled consumer confidence,” the report said, with consumer confidence at its lowest level since 2000.

“Soaring construction costs, labour shortages in the construction industry, pessimistic consumer confidence and alarming contractions in employment in key provincial industries will plague the domestic housing sector over the medium turn,” it added.

Booming Saskatchewan will lead all provinces in economic growth this year, while Ontario and Quebec will suffer through a difficult year, said board forecasters.

The widening prosperity gap between the West and those in central and eastern Canada presents federal policy-makers with some unique challenges. The West may need policies that slow growth and curb inflation while central Canada has few inflationary worries but needs some economic stimulus to encourage growth.

“It’s very difficult to set a course for the Canadian dollar and interest rates when you have such huge differences,” said Glen Hodgson, a vice-president at the board and an author of the report. “I mean, Alberta‘s arguably had an inflation problem now for three or four years. It’s probably going to be imported now by Saskatchewan and Manitoba where there will be very strong pressure on labour markets.

“Meanwhile Canada would benefit from lower interest rates, but the Bank of Canada can’t cut rates because they’re worried about inflation nationally.”

Hodgson said just as the Bank of Canada struggles with the right balance for its monetary policy, the federal government has some tough choices when it comes to fiscal policy. While Prime Minister Stephen Harper often touts the benefits of his GST cut to keep the economy afloat, Hodgson said a GST cut was probably the last thing a province like Alberta needed because it can fuel inflation.

In the last decade or so, federal bureaucrats in the department of finance and at the Bank of Canada have come to view inflation as the greatest danger to the national economy and have often counselled their political masters to take steps to counter inflation. Sometimes, as was the case with the Conservatives’ GST cut, that advice is ignored.

“You have to think about the regional implications of all your policies, both spending and tax,” said Hodgson. “Alberta probably didn’t need a cut in the GST, for example. But if Ontario avoids recession, it’s in part because of tax cuts, both federally and provincially, that provide a little bit of stimulus.”

In its semi-annual provincial outlook, the conference board says Saskatchewan‘s economy is booming thanks to surging commodity prices, particularly oil and potash, and as a result the economy will grow by 4.2 per cent this year.

In fact, the conference board said workers are now leaving Alberta and heading east to Saskatchewan to make their fortune. The report says that as a result, retailers in Canada‘s flattest province may be in for a particularly good year. “The positive labour outlook, combined with lofty wage gains, is spurring a spending spree. Retail sales are expected to soar by 12.2 per cent in 2008.”

Meanwhile in Ontario, where manufacturers have had particular trouble coping with the one-two punch of a fast-rising Canadian dollar and skyrocketing energy prices, economic growth will be just 0.8 per cent, the conference board said.

Next door in Quebec, it will only be a little bit better this year, where growth of 1.4 per cent is expected.

“Since the middle of 2007, the Quebec economy has been at a near standstill. The weakness in the manufacturing sector has eroded economic gains made in other industries,” the report said.

Only the province of Newfoundland and Labrador will see slower economic growth than Ontario this year. After a stellar year in 2007 with double-digit economic growth, the conference board said the pace in Canada‘s most eastern province is stalled. The board predicts growth of just 0.2 per cent there this year.

Overall, the board believes Canada‘s economy will grow by just 1.7 per cent this year.

The forecasters at the conference board, an independent think-tank, are much more optimistic than the Bank of Canada, which said last month that it believes Canada‘s economy will grow by just one per cent.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

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Renovating the kitchen will give you the biggest bang for you buck

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Savvy sellers are realizing that the way to a homebuyers heart is through the heart of the home

Sun

ARE THOSE MY CABINETS?

ADD A LITTLE COLOUR

SHEDDING SOME LIGHT

EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE KITCHEN SINK

HOW MUCH IS IT GOING TO COST?

The home seller understands the way to any potential homebuyers’ heart is through the kitchen. Over the years, the kitchen has shed its once humble beginnings as a place to simply prepare and serve meals, to more of a place where friends can socialize over a glass of wine or where children can do their homework. With the kitchen becoming one of the most multi-dimensional and functional rooms in the house, kitchen renovations have attracted the attention of many who are looking to increase their home’s resale value or would simply just like to enjoy the improvements to their home.

Nevertheless, many sellers would rather not deal with the expense and length of the project before they sell their home. But for many, kitchen renovation can mean top return for the prospective home sellers. According to the Appraisal Institute of Canada, kitchen renovations represent a 75 per cent – 100 per cent return on investment, which is the second highest return in the home next to bathroom renovations.

Fortunately, home renovation is not as difficult as one might expect; the recent expansion of renovation centres across the country has led to a burgeoning “do-it-yourself” project culture. The “do-it-yourself” renovation can be a cost-effective way to increase the value of your home without the high price of a trained professional.

MAXIMIZING YOUR KITCHEN APPEAL

Here are a few steps you can take to increase the equity in your home.

ARE THOSE MY CABINETS?

According to Rona.ca, kitchen cupboards are one of the best investments one can make in terms of return on investment on the home. Many homebuyers’ first impressions of the home take place in the kitchen, and much of that is highlighted by the kitchen cupboards. By spending a few more dollars on high quality cabinetry and hardware (knobs and handles on cabinets), you can expect your investment to reward you handsomely.

ADD A LITTLE COLOUR

By either painting the walls and/or cabinets, it will update the look of the kitchen with minimal costs and make the room more spacious.

SHEDDING SOME LIGHT

Lighting is often one of the last fixtures to be considered, and often forgotten when the kitchen is remodeled. But by adding new light sources to the kitchen, it can be a great way to bring together architectural and decorative balance to a room. Good lighting can highlight certain features of a kitchen such as the backsplash to create a more colourful and robust look.

EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE KITCHEN SINK

Every kitchen needs a sink and faucet. But when it comes to the resale of the home, few home sellers see the value of replacing the sink. “The faucet and sink are one of the most important features of a kitchen. When homebuyers enter the room, they naturally gravitate toward the sink and test out the faucets”, says Mike Mazza of Mazza Renovation Group Inc, “it provides a sense of hearth for many buyers because they spend a majority of their time in the kitchen”.

HOW MUCH IS IT GOING TO COST?

Financing your “do-it-yourself” project can be quite overwhelming. Many renovation centres offer financing options, but usually charge up to 18 per cent interest rate after the introductory “interest-free” period is over. For a more prudent option to finance your project, visit your local financial institution. Financial institutions such as CIBC can offer a lower interest rate than those typically found at renovation centres. The CIBC Home Power Line of Credit allows would-be renovators the option to pay a lower rate of interest (because it uses the equity in your home) and offers the flexibility of interest-only payments. By going to your local financial institution rather than the renovation centre for your financing needs, you can save hundreds of dollars on interest.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

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