Author Archives: dontai

Toronto’s Black Eye is Slow to Heal: G20 Summit 2010

Clowns vs Police, Toronto, Canada G20 Jue 25 2010

It is never easy to admit fault, but only through acknowledgment of an error can said error be corrected. In Toronto’s G20 summit in 2010 Toronto and other police and RCMP beat up and violated the rights of over 1,500 Canadian citizens. The police became the criminal element. It is only the passing of almost 2 years of time that this wrong is beginning to turn. Maybe.

North-East Toronto, Scarborough and Walkability

In my quest for more information about North-East Toronto, Canada, specifically Scarborough, here is information about walkability. The City of Toronto has published a report about how easy it is to walk about the city. The theory is that ease of walking contributes to better health and well-being, and therefore better living overall. How does my area of Toronto, heavily biased towards Mainland Chinese, rate on walkability? Overall, not very well.

The Walkability project is interesting to me in that I would rather walk or ride a bike to shop or go places yet I live in the suburbs, a statistically less walkable area of Toronto. While we do have better air and a far greater supply of Chinese groceries, I hope that my neighbourhood’s walkability will increase.

Installing Arduino and Eclipse on Xubuntu 10.04 LTS

There is a whole lot of information on the internet about using the Arduino with Eclipse on Xubuntu 10.04 LTS, much of it out of date. Here I document my experience in the hope that this process becomes more smooth.

I followed documentation from a couple of very key people, which helped a lot. Still, there are certain issues that threw me off. I have added my experiences where I had issues. The Arduino IDE is the standard method to connect to and program the Arduino. It is simple to use. If you want a more rich programming environment you can also use Eclipse, with the Arduino plugin. Either method can be used to program and run the Arduino. Here are the steps:

Xubuntu 10.04 LTS: Initial Install and Impressions

Old PCs die a terrible death, lonely and forlorn. In the Windows world you need to upgrade your physical PC hardware every 3-4 years as well as buy the newest operating system, wasting money and stressing your budget. As an IT professional I not only do not buy into this propaganda, but rail against it. When the Windows operating systems on old PCs do not receive any upgrades, the PC slows down, often heavily laden with fat, bloated software. Ubuntu, a Linux OS version, and Xubuntu, it’s lighter version, may be the answer to unlocking the innate functionality of your old PC.

Earth Flare

For those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad (Euripides).

Why I do not know, and totally unexpected. Uni driveway at 08:45. Hit the window, blocked others. Red faces, steam in the air. For those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad (Euripides). Am I, too, mad? Mar 30 2012

As usual, this one caught me totally by surprise and was unprovoked. I paid my token and entered Eglinton subway station. I was about to make the left turn to walk down to the subway tracks when CWM purposely extended his elbow out to hit me in the shoulder. He did not turn back. Stranger to stranger negative interaction. For me. April 04 2012.

Darren and Nick in Unicycle Basketball Game, Toronto, Canada

Some things stay the same, and that is just fine with me. When they stay the same and I see them in the news, I am ecstatic. Keep rolling, guys and keep your balance. Hey Nick, how is Zach? Learn to ride with the Toronto Unicyclists.

Nick (left) and Darren Bedford (right) and the Toronto Unicyclists play unicycle basketball at St. Josaphat Catholic School, Toronto, Canada

Nick (left) and Darren Bedford (right) and the Toronto Unicyclists play unicycle basketball at St. Josaphat Catholic School, Toronto, Canada

Darren Bedford (left) and the Toronto Unicyclists play unicycle basketball at St. Josaphat Catholic School, Toronto, Canada. A Bedford Unicycle with a fat knobby rests in front.

Darren Bedford (left) and the Toronto Unicyclists play unicycle basketball at St. Josaphat Catholic School, Toronto, Canada. A Bedford Unicycle with a fat knobby rests in front.

Toronto Chinese Neighbourhoods: Location and Safety

By destiny, luck or fate, I live in a Toronto neighbourhood that has a high percentage of Chinese families. I have often wondered, like many families, if by neighbourhood is safe, relative to other Toronto neighbourhoods. As well, if a friend from China was about to migrate to Toronto and wanted to live in a safe Chinese neighbourhood, where would I recommend? This blog post tries to answer these questions.

Map of Toronto Crime Stats

We always wonder if our neighbourhoods are safe from crime but are really never sure. Until now there has been little data released about crime by neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. Recently the Toronto Police released a map of violent crime stats to the Toronto Star, which included gun shootings and homicides. While a statistician could pick apart the validity and lack of specific detail of these stats, for me they are interesting nonetheless. For home owners, find your neighbourhood and see the relative crime rate. For those thinking about buying a house, take a look at crime in prospective neighbourhoods before you buy.

Cookie Recipe for those with a Milk Allergy

Shule Cookie Press: Mostly aluminum, 20 dies and well constructed. Cookie dough consistency is key to success.

My big Weed has a milk allergy from little, so our family almost never cooks with milk products. We have become very adapt at modifying recipies to exclude milk. As we recently purchased a Shule Biscuit cookie press, we found a lovely recipe, which we had to substitute “no milk proteins” margarine for butter. Little did we know that not all margarines are the same.

Reinfected by Pharma Hack

Tthis will be the second time I have been hit by the Pharma Hack. The Pharma Hack did not damage my site, but it replaces document titles with ads for pharmaceutical products such as Biaxin and others, but only on Google search results. This time my software was updated, I had installed additional plugins and had been monitoring my site rigorously for any illegal intrusion, and there were none that I could see. Still, somehow, my Google search results show these unwanted and hacked result titles.