Posts Tagged ‘social networking’
[NEWS] Fourteen links
- By at least one metric, New Brunswick now lags economically behind a more dynamic Prince Edward Island. CBC reports.
- NOW Toronto looks at toxic fandoms. (“Stanning” sounds really creepy to me.)
- This CityLab article looks at how the particular characteristics of Japan, including its high population density, helps keep alive there retail chains that have failed in the US.
- MacLean’s looks at Kent Monkman, enjoying a new level of success with his diptych Mistikôsiwak at the Met in NYC.
- Can there be something that can be said for the idea of an Internet more strongly pillarized? Wired argues.
- I reject utterly the idea of meaningful similarities between Drake and Leonard Cohen. CBC did it.
- Toronto Life looks at the life of a Hamilton woman hurt badly by the cancellation of the basic income pilot, here.
- Inspired by the death of Gord Downie, Ontario now has the office of poet-laureate. CBC reports.
- Is Canada at risk, like Ireland, of experiencing two-tier health care? CBC considers.
- A French immigrant couple has brought the art of artisanal vinegar to ile d’Orléans. CBC reports.
- Shore erosion is complicating the lives of people along Lake Erie. CBC reports.
- MacLean’s notes how Via Rail making it difficult for people without credit cards to buy anything on their trains, hurting many.
- Michelle Legro notes at Gen that the 2010s is the decade where conspiracy culture became mainstream.
- This essay by Robert Greene at his blog talking about what history, and historians, can do in our era is thought-provoking.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 22, 2019 at 11:45 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Toronto
Tagged with atlantic canada, canada, clash of ideologies, conspiracies, drake, economics, environment, first nations, food, france, glbt issues, gord downie, great lakes, history, ile d'orléans, internet, japan, kent monkman, lake erie, leonard cohen, links, metropolitan museum of art, new brunswick, new york city, news, ontario, poetry, popular culture, popular literature, popular music, prince edward island, public art, québec, rail, social networking, tragically hip, united states
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
- Bad Astronomy notes the very odd structure of galaxy NGC 2775.
- Dangerous Minds reports on the 1987 riot by punks that wrecked a Seattle ferry.
- Bruce Dorminey reports on a new suggestion from NASA that the massive dust towers of Mars have helped dry out that world over eons.
- The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at how changing technologies have led to younger people spending more social capital on maintaining relationships with friends over family.
- This forum hosted at Gizmodo considers the likely future causes of death of people in coming decades.
- In Media Res’ Russell Arben Fox reports on the debate in Wichita on what to do with the Century II performance space.
- Joe. My. God. reports on the decision of Hungary to drop out of Eurovision, apparently because of its leaders’ homophobia.
- JSTOR Daily reports on the debunking of the odd theory that the animals and people of the Americas were degenerate dwarfs.
- Language Hat reports on how the classics can be served by different sorts of translation.
- Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers how Trump’s liberation of war criminals relates to folk theories about just wars.
- The LRB Blog reports from the ground in the Scotland riding of East Dunbartonshire.
- Marginal Revolution shares a paper suggesting that, contrary to much opinion, social media might actually hinder the spread of right-wing populism.
- The NYR Daily looks at the nature of the proxy fighters in Syria of Turkey. Who are they?
- Drew Rowsome interviews Sensational Sugarbum, star of–among other things–the latest Ross Petty holiday farce.
- Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why we still need to be able to conduct astronomy from the Earth.
- Strange Maps explains the odd division of Europe between east and west, as defined by different subspecies of mice.
- Window on Eurasia notes how Chinese apparently group Uighurs in together with other Central Asians of similar language and religion.
- Arnold Zwicky explores the concept of onomatomania.
Written by Randy McDonald
November 28, 2019 at 3:15 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with astronomy, blogs, central asia, central europe, china, clash of ideologies, crime, Demographics, evolution, futurology, galaxies, glbt issues, health, history, humour, hungary, kansas, language, links, longevity, maps, mars, mice, ngc 2775, politics, popular culture, popular music, psychology, scotland, seattle, social networking, social sciences, sociology, solar system, space science, syria, technology, translation, turkey, uighurs, united kingdom, united states, war, washington state, wichita, xinjiang
[URBAN NOTE] Fifteen Kitchener-Waterloo items (#waterlooregion)
- Work on the second stage of Ion expansion, south into Cambridge, will not even start until 2028, and is expected to cost at least $C 1.36 billion. Global News reports.
- This proposal for regular two-way GO Transit rail connections between Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, frankly, is desperately needed. The Record reports.
- A cyclist faces charges for careless driving leading to a collision with a LRT in Kitchener. CBC reports.
- A GoFundMe campaign for a woman hit by a train in Kitchener has raised more than $C14 thousand. The Record reports.
- A school bus driver has been charged for stopping his vehicle dangerously close to a rail crossing in Cambridge. The Record reports.
- Waterloo Region is a successful testbed for virtual doctor visits. The Record reports.
- The Charles Street bus terminal in downtown Kitchener is not going to be redeveloped for at least a couple of years. The Record reports.
- Waterloo Region hopes to create more than 600 affordable new homes, in five developments, over the next decade. CBC reports.
- The number of single food bank users in Kitchener-Waterloo has doubled over the past five years. CBC reports.
- Waterloo is spending $C 3 million to renovate and modernize a handsome old Carnegie Library. CBC reports.
- A pop-up in Kitchener, Vivid Dreams, is charging customers up to $C 20 to use one of a dozen backgrounds for their Instagram photos. CBC reports.</li
- A Kitchener woman, Heidi Bechtold, has a thriving new dog-related business, Complete K9. The Record reports.
- The new digital lab at the Kitchener Public Library sounds great! The Record reports.
- Andrew Coppolino at CBC Kitchener-Waterloo takes a look at some of the different cuisines and restaurants in Waterloo Region featuring noodles, here.
- Andrew Coppolino at CBC Kitchener-Waterloo looks at the pastel de nata, the Portuguese egg custard, as an emerging commercial snack in Waterloo Region.
Written by Randy McDonald
November 21, 2019 at 4:00 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Urban Note
Tagged with architecture, biking, cambridge, cities, cycling, economics, food, go transit, health, kitchener, kitchener public library, kitchener-waterloo, libraries, mass transit, medicine, ontario, photography, politics, portuguese canadians, rail, real estate, social networking, technology, toronto, Urban Note, waterloo, waterloo region
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
- Bad Astronomer notes the circumstances of the discovery of a low-mass black hole, only 3.3 solar masses.
- Crooked Timber shares a photo of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.
- The Crux looks at Monte Verde, the site in Chile that has the evidence of the oldest human population known to have lived in South America.
- The Dragon’s Tales notes that Russia may provide India with help in the design of its Gaganyaan manned capsule.
- L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing talks of his work, including his upcoming conference and his newsletter, The Convivial Society. (Subscribe at the website.)
- Gizmodo shares the Voyager 2 report from the edges of interstellar space.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the East India Company and its corporate lobbying.
- Language Hat shares an account from Ken Liu of the challenges in translating The Three Body Problem, linguistic and otherwise.
- Language Log looks at the problems faced by the word “liberation” in Hong Kong.
- Dan Nexon at Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the implications of the surprising new relationship between Russia and the Philippines.
- Marginal Revolution seems to like Terminator: Dark Fate, as a revisiting of the series’ origins, with a Mesoamerican twist.
- Sean Marshall announces his attendance at a transit summit in Guelph on Saturday the 9th.
- Garry Wills writes at the NYR Daily about his experience as a man in the mid-20th century American higher education looking at the rise of women.
- Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel looks at the strangely faint distant young galaxy MACS2129-1.
- Window on Eurasia considers the possibility of Latvia developing a national Eastern Orthodox church of its own.
Written by Randy McDonald
November 5, 2019 at 2:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Photo, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences, Toronto, Urban Note
Tagged with archeology, architecture, astronomy, baltic states, black holes, blogs, cantonese, chile, china, chinese language, christianity, eastern orthodoxy, education, first nations, former soviet union, gaganyaan, gender, geopolitics, guelph, history, hong kong, imperialism, india, istanbul, latin america, latvia, links, macs2129-1, mass transit, monte verde, ontario, ottoman empire, philippines, photos, physics, religion, russia, science fiction, social networking, sociology, south america, southeast asia, space science, space travel, technology, the three body problem, united states, voyager 2
[CAT] Five #caturday links: strays, Winnipeg, scent, Instagram, paper
- This letter to the Windsor Star makes the point that city needs to tend to its stray cats. (So do all cities, I bet.)
- A cat café in Winnipeg has reopened. CBC reports.
- Phys.org reports on a paper noting that the scent of male cats is made by microbes inhabiting cat bodies.
- Apparently Instagram accounts of fat cats on diets are a thing. The Guardian reports.
- Why do cats so love cardboard and paper? MNN reports.
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
- Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait considers the question of where, exactly, the dwarf galaxy Segue-1 came from.
- Centauri Dreams considers the import of sodium chloride for the water oceans of Europa, and for what they might hold.
- D-Brief wonders if dark matter punched a hole in the Milky Way Galaxy.
- JSTOR Daily warns that the increasing number of satellites in orbit of Earth might hinder our appreciation of the night sky.
- The LRB Blog looks at the complications of democracy and politics in Mauritania.
- Marginal Revolution wonders about the nature of an apparently very decentralized city of Haifa.
- Corey S. Powell at Out There notes that, while our knowledge of the Big Bang is certainly imperfect, the odds of it being wrong are quite, quite low.
- The Planetary Society Blog looks at the Hayabusa 2 exploration of asteroid Ryugu.
- Vintage Space examines how Apollo astronauts successfully navigated their way to the Moon.
- Window on Eurasia looks at press discussion in Russia around the decriminalization of soft drugs like marijuana.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at a comic depicting a “mememobile.”
Written by Randy McDonald
June 16, 2019 at 2:15 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with africa, asteroids, astronomy, blogs, comics, dark matter, environment, europa, extraterrestrial life, haifa, hayabusa 2, humour, israel, jupiter, links, manned apollo missions, mauritania, milky way galaxy, moon, north africa, oceans, physics, politics, russia, ryugu, Science, segue-1, social networking, space science, space travel, tourism, travel
[NEWS] Twelve LGBTQ links (#lgbtq, #queer)
- Daily Xtra looks at 50 years of fighting for LGBTQ rights in Canada, here.
- Them links to a variety of classic documentaries about LGBTQ life before Stonewall, here.
- Atlas Obscura explains why lesbians and potluck dinners are so closely associated with each other, here.
- Them looks at the controversies surrounding the construction of monuments to LGBTQ heroes of the past, here.
- VICE explains how venerable magazine Out was nearly ended by poor management, here.
- Wired looks at queer history in TV movies, here.
- Connor Garel at NOW Toronto writes, inspired by Paris Is Burning and the drag scene, about the importance of maintaining queer spaces, here.
- Enzo DiMatteo writes at NOW Toronto about the long history of homophobia of Doug Ford, here.
- Claire Provost writes at Open Democracy about the frighteningly well-coordinated global campaign by groups on the right against LGBTQ superheroes, here.
- Michael Waters at Daily Xtra explains the key role of young users of social media in keeping even obscure corners of LGBTQ history alive, here.
Written by Randy McDonald
June 15, 2019 at 10:00 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences
Tagged with canada, comics, doug ford, food, glbt issues, human rights, internet, journalism, lesbians, links, mass media, news, nightclubbing, ontario, popular culture, potlucks, public art, social networking, television
[BLOG] Some Monday links
- Centauri Dreams considers the recent study of near-Earth asteroid 1999 KW4, looking at it from the perspective of defending the Earth and building a civilization in space.
- Ingrid Robeyns at Crooked Timber continues a debate on universal basic income.
- The Dragon’s Tales considers if India does need its own military space force.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how foster care in the United States (Canada, too, I’d add) was also synonymous with sending children off as unpaid farm labourers.
- Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shares a proposal, linking immigration to high-income countries to the idea of immigration as reparation for colonialism.
- The LRB Blog considers the ever-growing presence of the dead on networks like Facebook.
- Muhammad Idrees Ahmad at the NYR Daily looks at how Bellingcat and other online agencies have transformed investigative journalism.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a speech by the head of the Bank of Japan talking about the interactions of demographic change and economic growth.
- Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes the mystery behind the great mass of early black hole J1342+0928.
- Strange Company looks at the unsolved Christmas 1928 disappearance of young Melvin Horst from Orrville, Ohio. What happened?
- Window on Eurasia notes that Uzbekistan is moving the Latin script for Uzbek into closer conformity with its Turkish model.
Written by Randy McDonald
June 10, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with 1999 kw4, agriculture, asteroids, astronomy, blogs, central asia, Demographics, economics, facebook, family, former soviet union, globalization, guaranteed minimum income, history, imperialism, in memoriam, india, japan, journalism, language, links, mass media, migration, military, oddities, physics, politics, social networking, south asia, space science, space travel, turkey, uzbekistan
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: D-Day, pot shops, YouTube, Toronto Dance Theatre, Crossways
- Jamie Bradburn looks at how, 75 years ago, the media of Toronto responded to D-Day.
- Illegal marijuana shops in Toronto are being literally closed to the public, by the city putting large concrete blocks in their front doorways. blogTO reports.
- YouTube shutting down its space for creators in Toronto is not good news for aspiring local video stars. blogTO reports.
- Christopher House, long-time director of the Toronto Dance Theatre, is leaving his position. NOW Toronto reports.
- Amy Carlberg writes at blogTO about how the Crossways, the giant brutalist apartment towers at Dundas and Bloor, are becoming trendy, with a line of merchandise and the hashtag #crosswayswednesdays on Instagram.
Written by Randy McDonald
June 9, 2019 at 5:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Economics, History, Popular Culture, Toronto, Urban Note
Tagged with architecture, bloor street west, d-day, dundas street west, fashion, history, journalism, mairjuana, mass media, second world history, shopping, social networking, the crossways, theatre, toronto, toronto dance theatre, Urban Note, youtube
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
- Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait notes the first time that an exoplanet, HR 8799e, has been directly observed using optical interferometry.
- Centauri Dreams notes the possibility, demonstrated by the glimpsing of a circumplanetary disc around exoplanet PDS 70b, that we might be seeing a moon system in formation.
- The Citizen Science Salon looks what observers in Antarctica are contributing to our wealth of scientific knowledge.
- The Dragon’s Tales shares links to articles looking at the latest findings on the Precambrian Earth.
- The Frailest Thing’s L.M. Sacasas writes about his ambivalent response to a Twitter that, by its popularity, undermines the open web.
- Gizmodo notes that NASA is going to open up the International Space Station to tourists.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how croquet, upon its introduction in the 19th century United States, was seen as scandalous for the way it allowed men and women to mix freely.
- Shakezula at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the unaccountable fondness of at least two Maine Republican legislators for the Confederacy.
- Marginal Revolution suggests that the economic success of Israel in recent decades is a triumph of neoliberalism.
- Stephen Ellis at the NYR Daily writes about the gymnastics of Willem de Kooning.
- Drew Rowsome profiles out comic Brendan D’Souza.
- Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel looks at the still strange galaxy NGC 1052-DF2, apparently devoid of dark matter.
- John Scalzi at Whatever shares his theory about a fixed quantity of flavor in strawberries of different sizes.
- Window on Eurasia looks at a contentious plan for a territorial swap between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Written by Randy McDonald
June 9, 2019 at 3:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with agriculture, antarctica, armenia, astronomy, azerbaijan, blogs, borders, clash of ideologies, dark matter, earth, economics, environment, exomoons, exoplanets, former soviet union, galaxies, games, history, hr 8799, hr 8799 e, humour, international space station, israel, links, maine, new england, ngc 1052-df2, pds 70, pds 70b, public art, Science, social networking, south caucasus, space science, space travel, strawberries, tourism, travel, twitter, united states, war, willem de kooning