Globe and Mail censures me for a review on someone else’s comment on an article I did not read. They used the word ~psychotic~ in jest, and this constitutes harassment or a personal attack. G&M your automated censure system screwed up. Toronto, Canada. Image by Don Tai
I am an online Globe and Mail reader, and occasionally comment on various news articles. The Globe and Mail has recently changed over to a new peer comment review system, where posters rate other people’s comments. As I would never comment anything that I would not say to a person’s face, I have never had a warning from my own postings. Today I was warned by the Globe and Mail, twice, that my review of some other person’s comment, violated community standards, and I have 2 remaining warnings before my account is restricted. This is ridiculous.
City of Toronto internet scraper bot scrapes my site a couple of times per month. Why? Toronto, Canada
I live in the City of Toronto, and write about Toronto-related subjects. What is surprising is that the City of Toronto has an internet bot that randomly scrapes content from my site a couple of times each month. The bot started scraping me near the end of January 2017.
What is interesting was that I, concerned citizen, actually emailed them because I thought they had a Zombie PC taken over by a bot, or some other security issue. I sent the City a log of the relevant entries related to their IP address. Was I naive. Here is their reply (isg@toronto.ca):
Potato Moai, Naturally imperfect potatoes, NoFrills, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
I bought a bag of naturally imperfect potatoes from my local NoFrills in Toronto, Canada, and many interesting shapes emerged. This is a great reason for me to buy more of these potatoes. These potatoes are not a perfect potato shape, so they were cheaper at 15lb for $2.50CAD. I saw a TV show about how farmers cannot sell imperfect potatoes because store chains reject them, and vowed to try them. I am glad I did. Unfortunately they are not readily available like other potatoes. I would buy more.
Xyla Mints from Xylitol Canada, 100 tablets, 50g, in a tin
I saw xylitol in a British TV food show about superfoods. It was interesting that xylitol sugar is indigestible by mouth bacteria and thus promotes fewer cavities. If they feed it to Finish kindergarten kids and shows they get fewer cavities then there’s got to be something behind it. I needed to try it.
Pork Cuts: Where they come from and how to cook them
Different parts of the world use different terms for meat. It can be confusing when you go to the store, or read a Canadian grocery store advertisement or weekly flyer for a cut of meat, research it on the internet and find conflicting terms. Even more conflicting is when you go to the Chinese grocery store and find the Chinese name that may or may not correlate with the English name. You can see these terms in the weekly Chinese grocery ads. Such is life living in Toronto, Canada, in a large Chinese community.
Price Chopper at Brimley/Huntingwood, Toronto, Ontario,Canada, now closed but not forgotten
There is a marked difference between a company policy and their practice. Companies love to post their policies touting their honesty. Fair enough, but more importantly, when a customer wishes to exercise the policy, does the store truly stand behind the propaganda? Today I am happy to say that Price Chopper Canada, part of the Sobey’s chain, did uphold their Scanner Price Accuracy Code, at the cost of $4.99CAD, or the price of a 500 sheet of paper napkins. I thank Price Chopper Canada for their honesty.
Toronto parking ticket: Code No. 406, Park – vehicle without valid Ontario number plate properly displayed, Toronto, Canada
No, this is not my ticket. I was on a run and found it on the ground, stuck to some ice. Thankfully it is a plasticized paper, so when I ripped it off the ice it did not rip. In fact, it was in perfect shape. Here in Ontario for a vehicle you need to buy a vehicle number plate, and then yearly also purchase a validation sticker. Apparently you cannot park your vehicle on the street without the validation sticker. I have removed the street name.
Freezing rain in Toronto, Canada, 2017 Feb 07, 13:02. Photo by Don Tai
We are getting a good bout of freezing rain, as two storm fronts merge over the Greater Toronto Area. The first is warm and moist, from the Gulf of Mexico. The second is cold from the north-west. As they merge the warm one rises, dropping its rain. The rain goes through the cold front, which is lower than the warm front, chilling the rain. As it is below zero C the rain hits the ground and freezes. Freezing rain is very hazardous to walking, riding bicycles and driving cars.
Bell Fibe 50, wired connection to the Home Hub 3000, gave me 52mbps download and 52mbps upload using the the Ookla speed test. Toronto, Canada
Two months ago Bell called me up and set up an install date for my Bell Fibe 50 installation, Bell fiber optic to my house. I have waited to do a review to ensure that the install was stable and reliable. In summary, Bell was correct in that their Bell Fibe 50 is much more reliable than their twisted pair copper wire, and a whole lot faster. We are getting speeds of 51mbps download as well as upload. This compares to our Bell Fibe 15/10, which was twisted pair copper wire to the Bell node (~1km away), and from there it was fiber optic, which gave us 15mbps dwonload and .7mbps, or 700bps upload.
