Who’s on first?
I’ve dealt with so many First World problems this week. But all of those issues make me feel grateful for what I have. My lawn is overgrown— but I have a lawn, weeds and all. My new pool deck isn’t finished and it’s almost pool season. I have a pool, a deck and a pool […]
Entering a World of Deepfaking
The New York Times reported a few weeks ago on a couple of potentially dangerous developments in the world of deepfaking—using artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce images that can’t be distinguished from originals, and manipulating old images to give them a digital afferlife. The first development involved a Tom Cruise impersonator, who worked […]
We’re on the Road to Nowhere
I am a fan of travelling and I am a fan of maps. I own a few maps, but I’m what you’d call a collector. I’m not a fanatic about it, but if I see an old road map (the kind companies like Texaco sponsored) in a shop, chances are it’s coming home with me. […]
The Smell of the Wonder Dogs
Can you get dogs to sniff out COVID-19? Absolutely yes, say British researchers. And they can do it better and quicker than most other ‘scientific’ tests. Claiming an accuracy rate of between 82 per cent and 94 per cent, researchers in England were able to expose dogs to T-shirt samples, some of which were ever […]
Hiking along for Hospice
Did you know Prince Edward County has a Hospice? Sure you did. You did know, right? And, did you know the Hike for Hospice is happening this year? Betcha didn’t give it a second thought because, “How can you have a Hike for Hospice if we’re locked down, told to stay home and not supposed […]
Quantifying your bonus
So it’s official. House prices in the County have been escalating at a rate even faster than in Metro Toronto, Ottawa, Peterborough, Niagara-on- the-Lake and the Muskokas, According to PEC Affordable Housing Corporation president Chuck Dowdall, the average sale price in March was $821,000—an increase year over year of nearly $250,000— not a bad return […]
Read, Write, Re-Read
I have heard libraries and booksellers are busier than they’ve ever been since the Pandemic hit. That’s got to be a good thing, right? I think it must be. When all of the isolating and locking down began, I was at a loss about what I could do to fill the days. Reading has helped. […]
The Stress of Commemoration
When our good friend Bill Wightman died in 2017, we wanted to remember him with the planting of a tree. And eventually, a tree was chosen and planted on the grounds of CML Snider public school, near Main Street. But it took place—albeit with the concurrence of the Hillier and Wellington councillors— in the absence […]
Mom, Mom, Mom, MOMMMY
It’s Mother’s Day, as I write this column. I don’t know about all you mothers out there, but it sort of feels like an ordinary Sunday, if you get my drift. I got up. I had a coffee, or two. I watched CBS Sunday Morning. I ate toast. I started to write this column. Those […]
Buying a screwdriver
“You can’t buy a screwdriver in Niagara-on-the-Lake,” heritage consultant Carl Bray told Council’s committee of the whole last Thursday. That town has “got a beautiful shell, but it’s a hollow one except for the very wealthy. Everybody who works there lives in St. Catharines or Pelham.” The lesson, which we in the County are eager […]