You know that friend who live-tweets about the Breaking Bad episode you still haven’t seen? The friend you’re considering purging from your life? Well now, thanks to Twivo, you don’t have to. The new software lets you dodge spoilers by temporarily blocking out names of shows and characters your “friends” Tweet about. Brilliant, right? No […] More »
Labour rights were in the spotlight this week after a clothing factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing 400 employees—a timely tragedy for International Workers’ Day, or May Day, as it’s known. May 1 is an official holiday in 80 countries (Canada not included) and it’s celebrated with varying degrees of unrest just about everywhere else. May […] More »
He could be the one, soul mate, husband, loving father to your children. But first, you’ve got to get him to say hello. These are actual words from an actual Crest 3D White Arctic Fresh Toothpaste commercial that started airing last November (and is still on air). Naturally, the commercial suggests the only way to […] More »
Three days after his daughter’s suicide, Rehtaeh Parsons’ father and professional writer, Glen Canning, published a post on his blog. “[Rehtaeh was] disappointed to death,” he wrote. “Disappointed in people she thought she could trust, her school, and the police.” The post begins with 17 years worth of good things—Parsons love of animals, a box he planned […] More »
Canadian women made headlines this week for some (gender) inappropriate behaviour. On Monday, three girls pleaded not guilty to pimping out other teenage girls in an Ontario based court. Together, they’re accused of using a Facebook and Twitter party ruse to first lure and then force young women into a sex trafficking ring. The Crown […] More »
On Tuesday, the UN agreed to set some standards on the 70 billion dollar arms trade. Right now, weapons-trading is an unregulated business, where illicit dealing gets lost in the same grey market as government trading. But with the first ever global arms trade treaty (ATT), that’s about to change. Theoretically, the treaty will stop […] More »
Barbara Amiel would have aced my Grade 10 English class. One of our first assignments was to come up with a modest proposal—a satirical essay suggesting a ridiculous way to deal with a real issue, like gay rights, poverty or disease. In a Maclean’s column this week, Amiel proposed how to create an “anything goes […] More »
On Wednesday the UN asked us all to forget our misery; forget our stressful, routine, depressing lives and just cheer up. People all over the world listened and marked the first International Day of Happiness with events such as “laughter yoga” in Hong Kong, positive message posters at the London Liverpool train station, and free […] More »
With more than $16 million in debt and just $50,000 in assets, Girls Gone Wild is officially bankrupt. Finally, right? Girls Gone Wild and its founder, Joe Francis, got famous in the late 90s for preying on some of society’s most vulnerable—drunk, barely-legal college girls and late-night, hedonist infomercial viewers. Francis made a fortune selling […] More »
My roommate has this hilarious—and, uh, brilliant—idea to rid the world of war and conflict: Put all of the world’s leaders in a room full of puppies, she says, and everybody will suddenly get along. Aptly dubbed Puppies For Peace, the program would, she argues, solve all of the world’s problems because, like, PUPPIES! World […] More »
After a foray into deathcore with their last record that left many long-time fans questioning their allegiance, Montreal-based technical death metal band Cryptopsy have returned to form with the edgy, intense and self-titled Cryptopsy. Long-time guiding force Jon Levasseur has returned to the band on lead guitar, and his power and technical prowess is keenly felt […] More »