Month: November 2013

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, dear sister-in-law.

(Anna has always been skilled and clever at doctoring stock greeting cards and making them her own. With the arrival of e-cards, she had a whole new medium.) Thanks for the Facebook swipe, Anna.

Friend John Robert Colombo has left traces of his work all over the internet. Some of them existed even before there was an internet.

A couple more, under 2 minutes each…

It’s called the Google bubble, and you see different results in your bubble from those who are in a different bubble. This picture illustrates. All of the words are there in all cases, but the prominence of the words varies from bubble to bubble.

Many people don’t realize that their Google searches give different results from the results other people get when they enter exactly the same search terms. The first page of results has been tailored by things Google knows about you. Advertisers love this, of course, but it drives web site owners crazy. They waste big bucks trying to get top ranking. They think they have it… until they try searching for their company using a different computer. Suddenly, they find themselves buried away on page three.
If you don’t see what you’re after in the first page of Google search results, do dig deeper. There’s a lot more good stuff outside your bubble.
If you don’t like being tracked and profiled, but still like getting the power of Google’s search engines, use DuckDuckGo when you search. Your searches are not tracked and you’ve busted out of your bubble.

Danica and George admire the work of our Normandy neighbours. Designed by Richard and built by Nigel, a handsome new bulletin board stands at the main intersection of our Beach Hill commercial strip. The first poster announces a bake sale that Danica will contribute to this Sunday.
The street will look nice in the Spring… new sidewalks, more trees, spiffed up storefronts and loads of flowers. A lot of locals have contributed to a renewed sense of community around here, but a special shout out goes to our tireless “benevolent dictator”, Kate Tennier.

He loves her so much, he “wouldn’t trade her for go-o-o-ld”. If he did trade his lady for gold, he would be a pimp. But, no… his love is stronger than that. What a romantic!

This post comes via the new, free wifi at St. George Station on Bloor Street. I didn’t even have to enter the turn style to connect. The only inconveniece is a15 second video that users are required to run before they log in. Don’t have to watch it, though. 🙂

Wow! Look at that speed! 45 Mbps. And a couple of guys just asked me for directions to Simcoe Street. I was able to Google Map it for them. This could be handy. Let’s get more stations with wifi. So far, it’s only available at St. George and Yonge stations.

Living up to our Frozen North stereotype, University of Toronto scientists are studying icicles. Specifically, they have discovered the effect of road salt on the formation of icicle ripples. Who knew we kicked up so much salt into the air?

Seemed like an appropriate topic for ripple.ca.

Skaters from Bill Andersen on Vimeo.

The iPad finally arrived and I like the small size. It fits in my jacket pocket, light as a feather. If I can refrain from smashing it on the sidewalk like I did with my Playbook, it will serve me well.
It takes fairly good photos and works well for HD video. I’m very glad I got the Smart Cover, even though it seems overpriced at $45. The smaller virtual keyboard takes a little getting used to, but otherwise the Mini is just as easy to use as the full size iPad. Apple included some bonus free software with the new purchase. I got the word processing Pages, Keynote (like Powerpoint), Numbers (like Excel), iMovie, iPhoto and Garageband. They only cost 5 bucks each if you have to buy them, but free is nice.
There are bugs in the way the Apple software works… couldn’t upload to Vimeo from iMovie, for example, but that may improve. I would not want to do a lot of editing on any kind of iPad, but little tasks are possible and the thing certainly is handy.

Elevator Abstract, by Helen Andersen, pastel on paper, 1964
Helen was into industrial themes in the early 60s… sawmills, tugboats, construction sites, that sort of thing. We have had one from this period on our walls for years. I even had it in my bedroom as a teenager, but now we have acquired a few more. This one looks very handsome in a black mat, don’t you think?

We were at today’s forum (first time inside the notorious council pod) in support of our public library system. It was all very political and the numbers thrown about were weaponized, just as they are when the tax cutter camp makes its claims. Chart source
Nevertheless, there is obviously strong public support for our public library system and considerable civic pride in its excellence. Erosion of that excellence is a goal for some politicians who even went so far as to commission (at public expense) a bean counter’s report: Since The Toronto system has been superior to all other library systems in North America, we should eliminate that superiority and bring it into line with the mediocrity that other cities have settled for. Unbelievable “leadership” advice.
Anyway, past budget cuts have made sure that the public library system is maintaining itself with a two percent sliver of the total operating budget. Personally, I think it’s money well-spent.
Top photo: Our media-savvy librarians are fighting the mayor’s fridge magnet campaign with trinkets and trash of their own. We received cardboard reading glasses with which we could pose for photos. The snaps went onto instantly printed bookmarks we could keep. Then the photos went onto the library’s photo wall. These librarians are not just bookish.