Spectacular design details of phase one of the new Oakridge Centre, Vancouver's massive mixed residential and  commercial masterplan, have been revealed in updated renderings just recently released.

The new  concept is one of 'skin and bones' according to the design rationale in developer Westbank's proposal for the first phase.

Phase one includes 2 mixed use but mostly residential towers and part of the future  public park, which will total 9 acres.

The towers include 504 market condos, which break down as 212 one bedroom, 260 two bedroom and 32 three bedroom units. There will also be a large connecting podium for retail and office use and a further 173,113 square feet of office space in the shorter building 3.

Check out some more of the lastest renderings from the architect below.

Have you been unable to take amazing photos of things faraway because your phone's zoom doesn't go far enough?

Then you need a telescope lens! It attaches directly to your smartphone and adds an extra 8x zoom so you can capture those perfect photos.

Compatable with: Iphone,Samsung, HTC and Huawei. Click here for demonstration.

A house on the 75 hundred block of Railway was listed as a 'Sport Home Hotel' on various travel booking sites such as Booking.com, BedandBreakfast.eu and Agoda, which all cater to European travellers.

The posts show that the 'hotel' has 5 different room types and can accommodate 2-4 guests in each room, with prices from $120 per night.

However, the property is not a licensed bed and breakfast.

The owner of the home, who bought the house in 2015, has never moved in and doesn't hid the fact that the hotel is illegal, but appears not concerned about the consequences. She did not believe that the city would fine her, and has encouraged neighbours to operate their homes as a hotel as well.

The house is usually unsupervised and guests can access it through a keypad on the entrance door.

The city of Richmond issued the home owner a warning letter previously and issued 2 tickets for continuous non-compiance of the city bylaws.

The city has also gathered evidence necessary for further enforcement action if needed and will take 'progressive enforcement action'.

According the city's bylaw, fines related to short term residential rentals are $1,000 per offence.

Posts for 'hotels' are currently still available on those travel website, but all dates are show as 'unavailable'.

To report an illegal hotel in Richmond, call 604-276-4345

As far as merchants go, Dave Scott may be Steveston Village's elder.

Dave's Fish and Chips on Moncton rivals few other pre 1980 establishments in the village. Budget Appliances, Marine Garage and the Steveston Hotel might come to mind of the few left standing (all with newer ownership) and the departure of many longstanding business such as Steveston Marine & Hardware and Mary's British Home.

This summer marks the 40th anniversary with his son taking over the day-to-day operations.

When Dave opened the shop at 31, he had never cooked fish and chips before, nor had he ever run a business. So he got help from his neighbour who was an accountant and crafted a business plan and took it to the bank.

Scott planned to open during the Steveston Salmon Festival. By the time they opend at 11am they had a lineup down the street, and that was it - they just kept going.

The original joint opened on Chathan Street then moved to its prestent location on Moncton in 1984.

According to Scott, the key to success is consistency. He maintained a simple menu and mushy peas with an abundance of tarter sauces as staples.

Dave is quick to express that he is not happy with the direction of Steveston, as he looks out his window looking at a 4 storey structure soon to house Save-on Foods of which seems to maximize every square inch of space to the sidewalk. "It's not quaint anymore. It's really busy. They really destroyed the BC Packers land; there was a good opportunity for a park" he states.

Metro Vancouver real estate is valued at 65% higher than it should be, based on local incomes, according to a new global house price index by The Economist.

The U.K. based financial publication's research team found that the region's home prices have risen by more than 60% over the past 5 years.

In terms on real estate value versus household incomes, The Economist reported that Metro Vancouver was the 5th most overvalued of 22 major global cities studied, after Hong Kong, Auckland in New Zealand, Paris, and Brussells in Belgium.

Vancouver is followed by London, UK and Sydney, Australia, both of which were deemed overvalued by 50% or above.

On a country by country basis, Canada was deemed the 3rd most overvalued country in the world for real estate prices, at 56% overvalued, after New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand's standing in the global index comes as the New Zealand government confirmed on Tuesday that it will introduce a previously proposed ban on foreign buyers purchasing New Zealand resale real estate. Overseas purchasers will still be able to buy presale homes, and Australian and Singaporean buyers are exempt from the ban.

Twelve of B.C.'s most accomplished painters are descending on McArthurGlen Designer Outlets in Richmond to find beauty in the daily scenes at the mall while promoting an upcoming art competition in the city.

This weekend, artists specializing in pastel, oil, acrylic and even goulash will prop their easels in the outdoor walkways between shops.

The twelve artists will all be competing in the master category of the Grand Prix of Art next month. It's an outdoor art competition that sees more than 100 artists race to finish a plein-air piece inspired by a location in Steveston.

McArthurGlen has partnered with the Grand Prix leading up to the big day to provide a venue for the artists to demonstrat what they do. The paintings will be on sale at the end of the day, with all proceeds going directly to the artists.

The artists will undoubtedly produce different pieces from the Grand Prix then what is usually depicted in Garry Point or the Britiannia Shipyards. Some shoppers may actually find themselves captured in a portrait, or some merchandise depicted as still life. 

The Grand Prix in Steveston will be on September 22.

Even if you have 'Location History' off, Google often stores your precise location. Here's how to delete those markers and some best effort practices that keep your location as private as possible.

But there is no panacea, because simply connecting to the internet on any device flags an IP address that can be geographically mapped. Smart phones also connect to cell towers, so your carrier knows your general location at all time.

TO PREVENT FURTHER TRACKING

For any device:

Fire up your browser and go to myactivity.google.com (You'll need to be logged into Google). On the upper left drop-down menu, go to 'Activity Controls." Turn off both 'Web & App Activity" and " Location History." That should prevent precise location markers from being stored to your Google account.

Google will warn you that some of its services won't work as well with these settings off. In particular, neither the Google Assistant, a digital concierge, nor the Google Home smart speaker will be particularly useful.

On IOS:

If you use Google Maps, adjust your location setting to 'While Using' the app; this will prevent the app from accessing your location when it's not active. Go to Settings Privacy Location Services from there to select Google Maps to make the adjustment.

In the Safari web browser, consider using a search engine other than Google. Under Settings Safari Search Engine, you can find other options like Bing or DuckDuckGo. You can turn off while browsing by going to Settings Privacy Location Services Safari websites, and turn this to "Never." (This still won't prevent advertisers from knowing your rough location based on IP address on any website.)

You can also turn Location Services off to the device almost completely from Setting Privacy Location Services. Both Google Maps and Apple Maps will still work, but they won't know where you are on the map and won't be able to give you directions. Emergency responders will still be able to find you if the need arises.

On Android:

Under the main settings icon click on "Security & location." Scroll down to the 'Privacy" heading. Tap "Location." You can toggle it off for the entire device.

Use "App-level permissions" to turn off access to various apps. Unlike the Iphone, there is no setting for "While Using." You cannot turn off Google Play services, which supplies your location to other apps if you leave that service on.

Sign in as a "guest" on your Android device by swiping down from the top and tapping the downward-facing caret, then again on the torso icon. Be aware of which services you sign in on, like Chrome.

You can also change search engines even in Chrome.

TO DELETE PAST LOCATION TRACKING:

For any device:

On the page maactivity.google.com look for any entry that has a location pin icon beside the word "details." Clicking on that pops up a window that includes a link that sometimes say "from your current location." Clicking on it will open Google Maps, which will display where you were at the time.

You can delete it from this popup by clicking on the navigation icon with the  stacked dots and then "Delete".

Some items will be grouped in unexpected places, such as topic names, google.com, Search or Maps. You have to delete them item by item. You can wholesale delete all items in date ranges or by services, but will end up taking out more than just location markers.