Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Artist's conception of Ventbase Alpha - Ken Brown Mondolithic Side Bar # 2 The pressures of living in a futuristic condo Living underwater, under pressure, can hurt. According to Phil Nuyyten, the owner of Vancouver based Nuytco Research Ltd. (and the publisher of Diver Magazine) the secret to living below the surface is to make sure that the air pressure inside a sunken condo is always at “one atmosphere”, the same ambient air pressure that you experience standing on land in Toronto. “ We can’t go mountain climbing without clothes and we can't go in the ocean without breathable air. We – mankind – are designed to live in a primordial swamp and we can’t stray too far from that narrow band, be it up or down,” explained Phil Nuytten. “ If the human body is breathing air and exposed to pressures beyond one atmosphere there are major physiological changes in the body. For example at depth pressure forces nitrogen out of your blood stream and saturates the body’s tissues.” Before

Artist conception of Dennis Chamberland's underwater habitat "Lions at the Gate" SIDEBAR OF STORY SIDEBAR WHICH APPEARED IN THE SATURDAY STAR BUT IS NOT ON THE PAPER'S WEBSITE. THIS IS AN UNEDITED VERSION OF THE PIECE BOTTOMS UP ON LAKE ONTARIO OWNERSHIP By Stephen Weir The layer of scum and muck that covers the bottom of Toronto’s harbour is thick, but, not as deep as the red tape a builder would have to wade through to construct an underwater condominium. Who owns the lakebed? Who controls the water and who would issue building permits are three important questions that don’t have definitive answers. “By and large the city ends at the waterfront,” said Gary Wright, the city of Toronto’s Director of Community Planning. “ There are a few cases, notably in Etobicoke where landowners have Riparian land rights (land owner is entitled to use the water on or bordering his property), but we wouldn’t be in a position to issue building permits.” Even though the city does

Two years ago I wrote two stories about houseboating in Arizona. One of the stories was travel related and ran in the Toronto Sun and a few other Sun Media papers. Another story, about the business of building House Boats, ran in Boating Industry Canada. that story has now been posted on Boating Industry Canada's website. www.boatingindustry.ca/news/news.asp?ArticleID=523

Boating Business ran a business feature in July 2007. The story was difficult to write because the people that I wanted to talk to were a continent away. The story began at a press conference at the Toronto Boat Show in February. It was a well attended conference since they were serving Italian wine and cheese. I got there after both were gone ... and most of the people I wanted to interview. In May I visited Italy and saw a number of Italian boat yards, came back to Canada and with the help of Kim Graham and associates, got in touch, via email and phone, with the people who makes things float in Italy. Boating Business has not posted the story. They did edit some of what I wrote, so, what follows is slightly different from what you will see if you buy a copy of the magazine (available at leading bookstores in Canada). As well, this Blog doesn't lend itself to magazine style layout for pictures and graphic images. Italian Trade Commission Romin’ Canada to increase business an

My most recent article appeared in the Toronto Star last Saturday. The story was about how condo developers depend on scale models of their proposed buildings to motivate buyers. The story talks about how most new condo owners purchase their units after seeing a model for only a few minutes and then wait years for the building to actually be built.