rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with google

Samantha Edwards writes</> at NOW Toronto about the controversy surrounding the visit of transphobe author Meghan Murphy to give a speech at the Palmerston library, with authors even threatening a boycott of the network.

Natasha Tusikov writes at The Conversation about how Sidewalk Labs' proposals for the Port Lands would give it great and unaccountable political power.

blogTO looks at the 1945 proposal for a subway in Toronto, one with a west-east axis not on Bloor but further south on Queen.

blogTO looks at Sparkles, the nightclub at the top of the CN Tower that reigned over the Toronto scene in the 1980s.

Will the Scarborough neighbourhood of Brichcliffe-Cliffside by changed for the worse by new dense construction? The Toronto Star reports.

People who, in illegally climbing the Scarborough Bluffs, get trapped on said feature might soon be charged with the costs of their own rescue. blogTO reports.

The growth of popularity of specifically Toronto slang is fascinating. Global News reports.

Jamie Bradburn shares an old article on St. John's Norway cemetery, here.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes new research on where the sun is located within the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly considers the value of slow fashion.

Centauri Dreams notes the different gas giants that our early methods have yet to pick up.

Crooked Timber shares a lovely photo looking back at Venice from across its lagoon.

D-Brief notes that upcoming space telescopes might find hundreds of rogue planets thanks to microlensing.

io9 notes that Marvel will soon be producing Warhammer40K comics.

The Island Review shares some poetry and photography by Ken Cockburn inspired by the Isle of Jura.

JSTOR Daily notes that different humpback whale groups have different songs, different cultures.

Language Hat tries to find the meaning of the odd Soviet Yiddish word "kolvirt".

Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the history of Elizabeth Warren as a law teacher.

Map Room Blog shares information from Google Maps about its use of data.

Marginal Revolution notes that in 2016, not a single child born in the United Kingdom was given the name Nigel.

Peter Watts talks about AI and what else he is doing.

The NYR Daily marked the centennial of a horrible massacre of African-Americans centered on the Arkansas community of Elaine.

Emily Margolis at the Planetary Society Blog looks at how the Apollo moon missions helped galvanize tourism in Florida.

Noel Maurer at The Power and the Money looks at the constitutional crisis in Peru.

Drew Rowsome takes a look at A Streetcar Named Desire.

Peter Rukavina looks at a spreadsheet revealing the distribution of PEI public servants.

Spacing reviews a book imagining how small communities can rebuild themselves in neoliberalism.

Towleroad shares the criticism of Christine and the Queens of the allegedly opportunistic use of queer culture by Taylor Swift.

Understanding Society considers, sociologically, the way artifacts work.

The Volokh Conspiracy argues that the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic of China should be a day of mourning, on account of the high human toll of the PRC.

Window on Eurasia suggests the Russian generation of the 1970s was too small to create lasting change.

Arnold Zwicky looks at how underwear ads can be quite sexualized.

My Google Photos app yesterday offered up an interesting edit of the first photo in my Yorkville series, intensifying the blue sky into surreality and bringing out the sunlight that much more.

Towers of Yorkville (1), Google Photos' take #toronto #yorkville #oneyorkville #condos #construction #skyscraper #googlephotos

Will a pedestrian death at Yonge and Eglinton lead to an easing of the nightmare for people faced with Eglinton Crosstown construction? blogTO ,a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2019/09/yonge-eglinton-construction-pedestrian-nightmare/">reports.

An automated shuttle is set to pilot in 2020 in east-end Toronto. Global News reports.

Jamie Bradburn writes about the Labour Day celebrations in Toronto in 1929, here.

blogTO notes the construction of a much-needed pedestrian bridge in Liberty Village, here.

Guardian Cities notes official skepticism in Toronto over the Sidewalk Labs proposal in the Port Lands, here.

Andrew Wheeler, writing in the Toronto Star, notes that the appearance of institutionally homophobic Chick-fil-A just a few minutes walk from Church and Wellesley, poses a threat that needs to be fought.

Tracey Lindeman writes at CityLab about how Montréal is trying to keep the redevelopment of the Molson-Coors Brewery site from killing the Centre-Sud.

In the Montréal neighbourhood of Park-Extension, evictions--renovictions, even--are on the rise. Global News reports.

Lac-Mégantic now has a train depot that bypasses the heart of this traumatized community. CBC Montreal reports.

Halifax is now celebrating the Mosaic Festival, celebrating its diversity. Global News reports.

Jill Croteau reports for Global News about Club Carousel, an underground club in Calgary that played a vital role in that city's LGBTQ history.

This business plan, aiming to bypass long lineups at the Edmonton outpost of the Jollibee chain, is ingenious. Global News reports.

The Iowa town of Pacific Junction, already staggering, may never recover from a recent bout of devastating flooding. VICE reports.

Avery Gregurich writes for CityLab about the Illinois town of Atlas, a crossroads seemingly on the verge of disappearing from Google Maps.

The proposal for Metropica, a new sort of suburb in Florida, certainly looks interesting. VICE reports.

Guardian Cities shares a cartoon looking affectionately at Lisbon.

blogTO notes that there is, for a short while, a Toronto-themed version of Monopoly available for sale.

The iconic Toronto sign in front of City Hall is set to be replaced with a more cost-effective one. The Toronto Star reports.

I like the controversial statue of a man 25 feet tall placed in front of a new condo development on St. Clair Avenue West. The Toronto Star reports.

The National Post reports in depth of the plans of Google's Sidewalk Labs to transform the Portlands.

Sean Marshall looks at how the concrete barriers put up in front of Union Station disrupt, particularly, non-car traffic there.

Guardian Cities takes a look from afar at the controversy over Google in the Port Lands of Toronto.

CityLab looks at the debate over the future of Ontario Place in the Doug Ford era.

Richard Longley at NOW Toronto looks at how six churches in downtown Toronto have survived the condo boom.

The City of Toronto has blamed the Ontario government for the delayed transition to Presto. The Toronto Star reports.

Matt Gurney writes at TVO about how Toronto, having coasted by on surplus capacity, is now facing a transit crisis.

Osobe Waberi writes at The Discourse about the transit desert that dominates much of Scarborough.

A fourth subway stop has been proposed for the already expensive Scarborough subway extension. The Toronto Star reports.

Measured at Toronto, Lake Ontario has reached its highest point in recorded history. blogTO reports.

Beach season has to be put off in Toronto until mid-June at least, on account of the record high water. blogTO reports.

Legendary queer nightclub fly--or fly 2.0--is shutting down this Pride. blogTO reports.

The provincial government call for development proposals for Ontario Place, happily, makes no mention of casinos. The National Post reports.

This BBC article takes a convenient outsider's look at the controversy over the Google involvement in the Port Lands development project.

Tanya Mok at blogTO introduces readers to the very unusual June Callwood Park, designed around a voiceprint of the late journalist and activist.

Samantha Edwards at NOW Toronto looks at the impromptu party being Daniel Rotsztain to celebrate The Pillars at Queens Quay at York this evening. (I think I'll be there.)

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes how the warp in space-time made by the black hole in V404 Cygni has been detected.

The Crux reports on the discovery of the remains of a chicha brewery in pre-Columbian Peru.

D-Brief notes a new model for the creation of the Moon by impact with primordial Earth that would explain oddities with the Earth still being molten, having a magma ocean.

Bruce Dorminey shares the idea that extraterrestrial civilizations might share messages with posterity through DNA encoded in bacteria set adrift in space.

The Dragon's Tales reports on progress in drones and UAVs made worldwide.

Gizmodo notes some of the privacy issues involved with Alexa.

JSTOR Daily explains how some non-mammals, including birds and fish, nurse their young.

Language Hat reports on the latest studies in the ancient linguistic history of East Asia, with suggestions that Old Japanese has connections to the languages of the early Korean states of Silla and Paekche but not to that of Koguryo.

Language Log considers the issues involved with the digitization of specialized dictionaries.

Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money remembers the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution points towards his recent interview with Margaret Atwood.

The NYR Daily reports on a remarkable new play, Heidi Schreck's What The Constitution Means To Me.

Towleroad reports on what Hunter Kelly, one of the men who operatives tried to recruit to spread slander against Pete Buttigieg, has to say about the affair.

Window on Eurasia suggests that a Russian annexation of Belarus would not be an easy affair.

Arnold Zwicky reports on the latest signs of language change, this time in the New Yorker.

New estimates suggest the costs of global warming will be in the tens of trillions of dollars, with warmer countries taking a particularly big hit. Motherboard reports.

Indigenous bumblebee populations in Canada are fast approaching extinction, with a certainty of major negative environmental effects. CBC reports.

MacLean's reports on the return to prominence of Jim Balsillie, this time not so much as a tech mogul as a sort off tech skeptic.

This Motherboard article makes a somewhat far-fetched argument that Game of Thrones demonstrates the need for human civilization to have backups.

The Conversation reports on the recent discovery, in Serbia by a joint Serbian-Canadian team, of a Neanderthal tooth, and what this discovery means for our understanding of the deep past of humanity.

Wired notes that Apple is transforming itself into a luxury brand. Is this an unsustainable niche?

Wired examines how Google's human AI experts are trying to train artificial intelligences to do their work.

Universe Today notes that SpaceIL is planning to return to the Moon with a Beresheet 2 probe.

The New Yorker looks at the progress made towards the roboticization of agriculture, looking at strawberry harvesting in particular. Can it be done?

Stephen Buranyi writes at the NYR Daily about the impact of gene editing technologies on humanity. How will we manage them? Can we?

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait argues that the new American plan to put people on the Moon in 2024 is unlikely to succeed in that timeframe.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly considers whether or not women should travel alone, for safety reasons. (That choice is one I've not had to make myself, thanks to my male privilege; I'm very sorry others have to consider this.)

Centauri Dreams shares the thinking of Gregory Benford on Lurkers, self-replicating probes produced by another civilization not signaling their existence to Earth.

Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber argues that policy-making these days is often fundamentally ill-conceived, closing off possibilities for the future.

The Crux notes the remarkable powers of beet juice, as a tonic for athletes for instance.

D-Brief looks at the slot canyons of Titan, bearing similarities in structure and perhaps origin to like structures in Utah.

Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina, celebrating five years of blogging, links to his ten most popular posts.

Gizmodo notes the creation for a list of nearly two thousand nearby stars that the TESS planet-hunter might target for a search for Earth-like worlds.

Joe. My. God. notes that the Austrian president has confirmed the New Zealand shooter has made a financial donation to a far-right group in Austria.

JSTOR Daily looks at Inge Lehmann, the scientist who determined the nature of the inner core of the Earth.

Language Hat reports on a new scholarly publication, hundreds of pages long, gathering together the curses and profanities of the Middle East and North Africa.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money does not seem impressed by the argument of Mike Lee that pronatalism is a good response to global warming.

The Map Room Blog notes the impressive maps of Priscilla Spencer, created for fantasy books.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper that examines the positions of Jews in the economies of eastern Europe, as a "rural service minority".

The Russian Demographics Blog links to a paper noting the ways in which increased human development has, and has not, led to convergence in family structures around the world.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how, despite the expanding universe, we can still see very distant points.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps reports on the recent mistakes made by Google Maps in Japan.

Yorkshire Ranter Alexander Harrowell explains why the United Kingdom, after Brexit, does not automatically become a member of the European Economic Area.

Arnold Zwicky takes a look at the different factors, often unrecognized, going onto the formation of nonsense names, like those of the characters from Lilo and Stitch.

Wired reports on the daunting scale of the Venezuela power failure, and the sheer difficulty of restoring the network.

The Inter Press Service looks at the possibility for Argentina to enjoy improved agricultural circumstances come climate change.

CBC reports on how artificial intelligences can be used to create frightfully plausible fake news.

Axios notes the sheer density of information that Google has on its users.

CityLab reports on the policies hopeful presidential candidate Pete Buttegieg would bring in relating to the automation of work.

Wired takes a look at the second reported HIV cure and what it means.

The Daily Hive Toronto notes that Toronto is definitely seeing more snow than normal this winter.

Urban Toronto notes that different levels of government are seeking public input into what to do with Ontario Place.

Richard Longley writes at NOW Toronto about the history and heritage of the now-demolish Davisville Public School.

This Canadian Architect article is an interview with architect Karim Khalifa, involved with Sidewalk Labs.

CBC reports on the many factors leading to unchecked fare evasion on the TTC.

Ryan Porter writes for the Canadian Press about how the booming Toronto film and television industry is facing a lack of studio space.

Edward Keenan writes at the Toronto Star about how increased property taxes are a perfectly workable solution to the revenue problems of Toronto.

This thread at Reddit's unresolvedmysteries forum takes a look at a mysterious string of deaths at 200 Wellesley Street East. Like much of the best true crime writing out there, the discussion drills down into an examination of the forces leading to these tragedies. Recommended reading, this.

CBC reports on the exceptional difficulties facing prospective renters in the city of Toronto in finding housing.

blogTO notes that the housing crunch in Toronto is such that many Torontonians are doing their best to stay in place.

Diane Peters, writing at TVO, suggests Toronto may be poised for a boom in housing co-operatives.

Mariana Valverde writes at the CFE blog about how Toronto seems apparently unprepared at the official level for the Sidewalk Labs revenue grab.

Toronto Life includes photos of some of the most notable locations in the new Toronto-filmed TV series, The Umbrella Academy.

This report revealing the scale of fare evasion and losses due to Metrolinx malfunction on the TTC, in the area of $C 64 million, is unsurprising. Global News reports.

Sean Marshall reports on the new Canongate Trial in Scarborough, erected to help allow for safe pedestrian access to a street where a child was recently killed in a collision.

Urban Toronto looks at the state of the renovation of the Park Hyatt at Bloor and Avenue Road.

CBC reports that Bruce McArthur was linked, in 2013, to three of the men he was convicted six years later of murdering.

Bianca Wylie at Spacing considers the lessons Toronto should take from the unfolding Sidewalk Labs drama in the Port Lands.

This Metro Morning interview with Dan Doctoroff on the Sidewalk Labs' plan for the Port Lands is revealing.

There will be a new shelter for homeless youth in Scarborough soon, capable of housing several dozen people. CBC reports.

Christopher Hume at the Toronto Star suggests that much of the controversy, at least, over Google's plans in the Port Lands is misjudged.

Tess Kalinowski at the Toronto Star shares some locally new ideas for increasing housing supply.

Winter Stations is back this winter at Ashbridge's Bay! Global News reports.

Sarah Ratzlaff at Spacing interviews sculptor Shary Boyle about her new work, Cracked Wheat, on display in front of the Gardiner Museum.

Steve Munro examines the complexity of the issues raised by Google's leaked plans for the Port Lands, and the possibility that it overplayed its hand.

The Toronto Star, incidentally, notes that the Ontario government has reacted strongly and negatively to the Google proposal re: the Port Lands.

Urban Toronto considers the language of "terms of reference" used in the discussion of uploading the TTC from Toronto to Ontario. What does it all mean?

Urban Toronto reports on plans to redevelop the Westside Mall driven by the nearby Caledonia Station on the Eglinton Crosstown line.

Toronto Life tells the story of Sahil Jagil, a man who came to Ontario as a student at Wilfrid Laurier University at 18 and in the next decade and a half managed to create a small property empire in Toronto.

Marco Chown Oved reports at the Toronto Star on how Sidewalk Labs wants to expand its vision for Quayside, taking over not only the entire Port Lands but taxation power, too.

St. James Town has been having a terrible string of failures recently. CTV News reports on one of these.

The recent "chair girl" episode, CBC Toronto notes, has highlighted again issues with Airbnb and with condo living.

Chris Bateman at CityLab explores the history of the Coal Bin, an early 1970s "fern bar" in the Financial District that was the first singles bar open to women in Toronto.

Peter Biesterfield writes at NOW Toronto about the scope of the Toronto homelessness crisis, and the lack of meaningful public action to deal with it.

Centauri Dreams extends further consideration the roles that artificial intelligences might play in interstellar exploration.

D-Brief notes that the genes associated with being a night owl also seem to be associated with poor mental health outcomes.

Far Outliers looks at the lifeboat system created on the upper Yangtze in the late 19th century.

Kashmir Hill, writing at Gizmodo, notes how blocking Google from her phone left her online experience crippled.

Imageo notes that, even if halted, global warming still means that many glaciers well melt as they respond to temperature changes.

JSTOR Daily looks at the racism that permeated ads in 19th century North America.

Language Hat looks at how some Turkish-speaking Christians transcribed the Turkish language in the Greek alphabet.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how utterly ineffective the Trump Administration's new refugee waiver system actually is.

The LRB Blog looks at the film and theatre career of Lorenza Mazetti.

Marginal Revolution notes, in passing, the import of being a YouTube celebrity.

Molly Crabapple at the NYR Daily writes about the work of the New Sanctuary coalition, which among other things waits with refugees in court as they face their hearings.

The Speed River Journal's Van Waffle looks for traces of the elusive muskrat.

Towleroad shares footage of New Order performing the early song "Ceremony" in 1981.

Transit Toronto notes that Metrolinx now has an app for Presto up!

At Vintage Space, Amy Shira Teitel looks at the Soviet Moon exploration program in 1969.

Window on Eurasia notes the new pressures being placed by rising Islamism and instability in Afghanistan upon Turkmenistan.

Arnold Zwicky considers, briefly, the little is known about the lives of 1980s gay porn stars Greg Patton and Bobby Pyron. How did they lead their lives?

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Page Summary

[URBAN NOTE] Eight Toronto links
[BLOG] Some Friday links
[PHOTO] Towers of Yorkville (1), Google Photos' take
[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links: Y&E, shuttle, 1929 Labour Day, Liberty V, Port Lands, Chick-fil-A
[URBAN NOTE] Ten city links: Montréal, Lac-Mégantic, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton ...
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Toronto Monopoly, signs, public art, Portlands, Union Station
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: Port Lands, Ontario Place, churches, mass transit, Scarborough
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: Lake Ontario, fly, Ontario Place, Port Lands, parks
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
[NEWS] Five science links: global warming, bees, Balsillie, backups, Neanderthals
[NEWS] Five tech links: Apple, AI, Beresheet 2, agricultural robots, gene editing
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
[NEWS] Sox tech links: Venezuela power, Argentina agriculture, AI writing, Google, Buttegieg, HIV
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: winter, Ontario Place, architecture, TTC, film, tax
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: 200 Wellesley Street East, real estate, coops, Sidewalk Labs
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: Umbrella Academy, TTC, trails, crime, Port Lands
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: homelessness, Port Lands, housing, Winter Stations, Cracked Wheat
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Google and the Portlands, TTC, Westside Mall, Sahil Jagil
[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Quayside, St. James Town, condo safety, Coal Bin, homelessness
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

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Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Entries tagged with google

[URBAN NOTE] Eight Toronto links

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[PHOTO] Towers of Yorkville (1), Google Photos' take

[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links: Y&E, shuttle, 1929 Labour Day, Liberty V, Port Lands, Chick-fil-A

[URBAN NOTE] Ten city links: Montréal, Lac-Mégantic, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton ...

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Toronto Monopoly, signs, public art, Portlands, Union Station

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: Port Lands, Ontario Place, churches, mass transit, Scarborough

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: Lake Ontario, fly, Ontario Place, Port Lands, parks

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[NEWS] Five science links: global warming, bees, Balsillie, backups, Neanderthals

[NEWS] Five tech links: Apple, AI, Beresheet 2, agricultural robots, gene editing

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

[NEWS] Sox tech links: Venezuela power, Argentina agriculture, AI writing, Google, Buttegieg, HIV

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: winter, Ontario Place, architecture, TTC, film, tax

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: 200 Wellesley Street East, real estate, coops, Sidewalk Labs

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: Umbrella Academy, TTC, trails, crime, Port Lands

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: homelessness, Port Lands, housing, Winter Stations, Cracked Wheat

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Google and the Portlands, TTC, Westside Mall, Sahil Jagil

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Quayside, St. James Town, condo safety, Coal Bin, homelessness