Earthquake Rocks Ottawa and Toronto - May 17th, 2013

An earthquake rocked Ottawa and Toronto today at approx. 9:43 AM.

The shaking lasted approx. 20 to 30 seconds, starting with smaller shakes and then leading into larger quakes for a big finish.

The last earthquake of similar magnitude was in June 2010 and was a 5.0. (See Earthquake strikes Ontario, Quebec & New York )

Earthquake Canada has confirmed that a 4.8 magnitude earthquake originated in Braeside, Ont., in the Ottawa Valley at 9:43 AM Friday.

“It was obviously widely felt if it reached Toronto,” said seismologist John Adams. He will be able to provide more information shortly.

People are reporting feeling the earthquake as far away as Owen Sound, Kitchener-Waterloo, New York State, and Ohio.

The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a 5.0 magnitude earthquake that originated 25 kilometres north-northeast of Shawville, Que. It was five kilometres deep, according to the USGS website ( http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/ )

Less than 10 minutes later, a 4.2-magnitude aftershock was also recorded. Not many people reported feeling the aftershock as it was more localized near Ottawa.

The minor earthquake “started in a pretty unpopulated area . . . we don’t expect there to be much damage,” said seismologist John Adams of Earthquake Canada.

Adams expects tens to hundreds of tremors to follow the earthquake, mostly felt close to the epicentre in the Quebec side of the Ottawa Valley. There is a 2 per cent chance that a larger earthquake will follow, he said.

According to some reports it was felt more strongly on the west side of Toronto than on the east side of Toronto.

"I am on the west side and I think it was stronger here than on the east!" says Edward de Gale, local Toronto charity worker who spoke to his brother minutes after the earthquake, who was in the east end of Toronto and barely felt it. "I hope everyone is okay," says Edward.

Live updates of this blog post ended at 11 AM EST.

The Future of Luxury Cars = Hybrid Hydogen

I just learned today that Aston Martin is building a hybrid hydrogen-gasoline luxury car.

They've even been testing it on the Nürburgring test track in Germany, as shown in the photo on the right.
When it will actually be available is anyone's guess, but I can pretty much guarantee the first hybrid-hydrogen cars will be luxury models aimed at the population's upper crust.

In America owning a hybrid car is a status symbol.

It is something Americans buy so that they can have the bragging rights. They don't really care about whether they are saving the environment, they just want the bragging rights.

And that pretty much goes the same with any car that costs over $50,000 - the goal isn't to have a nice car, the goal is to have a nice car that you can brag about to friends, neighbours, co-workers, everyone who will even listen to you.

"So what kind of car do you drive?"

"Oh, I drive an old Honda. What do you drive?"

"I just got myself a new Infiniti G35H. The H stands for Hybrid!" and then they start bragging about how they are saving the environment and how fast it goes at the same time.

However what you might not know is that luxury cars are also often the testing ground for new technology - because the people who buy luxury cars are always looking for new gadgets to have on their cars. And lets face it, who doesn't love extra gadgets on their car?

We are used to things like

Navigation System
Speaker System
Climate Control
Tracking System

And with convertibles we now have things like Button activated top up, top down.

Seriously, who invented convertible cars?

Well the answer varies, but the first hard-top convertible car was sold by Chrysler in 1946 and yes, it was a luxury car (the 1946 Chrysler Windsor).

These days when it comes to gadgets many parents just want a car with TVs on the backs of seats so their kids will be quiet and watch TV without becoming a nuisance. If they're young and hip they might be more worried about how to attach their smartphone to the speaker system.

In other words they're more worried about entertainment gadgets than anything that improves the car itself.

But me, well I just love hydrogen cars. Can't wait for them to become the norm.

And it will be hybrid hydrogen gasoline performance cars that become the turning point, so people can still use gasoline for now, but as hydrogen becomes more available and widely used they will be able to use that instead.

Hydrogen has many benefits over battery powered hybrids. It gives way more power, weighs less, and where batteries have good short range viability, they aren't so good at long range usage which is why gasoline is needed. But hydrogen is good for both long and short range usage. And unlike batteries which need to be charged for hours at a time, hydrogen is filled up in a manner very similar to gasoline.

Oh and I also like lockable wheel nuts. I've also seen this being sold for bicycles (to prevent bicycle thieves from stealing wheels), but they're very useful.

And lets not forget the biggest selling point of a luxury car - it is also a performance car with a more powerful engine, better handling, better wheels, better design.

Faster, smoother, more reliable, more desirable.

So yes, luxury cars do give you more technological advances - but they also give you time, tested and true guts and performance in the belly of the car. The proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing.

Thus regardless of what brand a person buys, if they buy a luxury car they are more likely to be happier with the results and have fewer regrets.

Archery Lessons for Businessmen in Toronto

It is not just little kids who are getting into archery as a sport (thanks to the Hunger Games, Brave, The Avengers, Arrow and similar films/TV shows).

It is also adults and even people you wouldn't normally see doing archery - including businessmen.

That is right.

CEOs, bankers, investment managers, stock market analysts... your boss!

In other words people you would normally expect to be playing golf or tennis are taking up archery instead.

So does this mean that in the future many golf and tennis clubs will start offering archery ranges as an additional service?

Maybe. It is entirely possible.

In the meantime if you are looking for private archery lessons in Toronto check out the website CardioTrek.ca. Private archery lessons start at $60 for a single lesson, $270 for 5 lessons or $500 for 10 lessons. All equipment is provided by the trainer.

You can also go out and buy your own equipment and try to learn by yourself, but archery equipment (the good stuff) is expensive and the arrows alone are pretty pricey - and the learning process will be slow without an instructor.

10 Tips for Starting Your Own Business

If you hate your job and want to switch careers one excellent but daunting option is to start your own business. You might be crafting and selling a product. You might be offering a valuable service. You might simply be making food / catering.

Regardless of what you do you want to be professional about it and if you quit your old job because you hated it then there are definitely some tips when it comes to building your own business...

1) Do what you love!

You aren't going to enjoy this new role of being self-employed unless you really love what you are doing. After all, you hated your old job - why would you switch to something new that you will hate anyway? You're going to devote a lot of time and energy to starting a business and building it into a successful enterprise, so it's really important that you truly deeply enjoy what you do.

2) Start your business while you're still employed

How long can most people live without money? Not long - unless the business you are making involves growing/hunting/fishing for food. And it may be a long time before your new business actually makes any profits. Being employed while you're starting a business means money in your pocket while you're going through the early stages.

3) Don't do it alone - Get a business partner if possible!

If you can't find a business partner at very least you need a support system while you're starting a business. A family member or friend that you can bounce ideas off and who will listen sympathetically to the latest business start up crisis is invaluable. Even better, find a mentor or, if you qualify, apply for a business start up program. When you're starting a business experienced guidance is the best support system of all.

4) Get clients or customers first

Don't wait until you've officially started your business to line these up, because your business can't survive without them. Do the networking. Make the contacts. Sell or even give away your products or services to gain reviews. Start marketing immediately and always be ready to impress a potential client.

5) Write a business plan

The main reason for doing a business plan first when you're thinking of starting a business is that it can help you avoid sinking your time and money into starting a business that will not succeed. Have other people look over your business plan and look for gaps / ways to make it more profitable.

6) Do the research

You'll do a lot of research writing a business plan, but that's just a start. When you're starting a business, you need to become an expert on your industry, products and services, if you're not already an expert. Learn what your competition is doing. Joining related industry or professional associations before you start your business is a great idea to learn whatever everyone else in the industry is doing right - and what they are doing wrong.

7) Get professional help

You don't have to be an expert on everything. If you're not an accountant or bookkeeper, hire one (or both). If you need to write up a contract, and you're not a lawyer, hire one. You will waste more time and possibly money in the long run trying to do things yourself that you are not qualified to do.

eg. Get a professionally designed website by a local Toronto website designer. And get local SEO so you can advertise your business online locally. (I can recommend a company if you want.)

8) Get the money lined up

Save up if you have to. Approach potential investors and lenders - including friends and family. Figure our your financial fall-back plan. Don't expect to start a business and then walk into a bank and get money. Traditional lenders don't like new ideas and don't like businesses without proven track records.

9) Be professional office supplies / printing

Everything about you and the way you do business needs to let people know that you are a professional running a serious business. That means getting all the accoutrements such as professional business cards, a business phone and a business email address, and treating people in a professional, courteous manner.

One of the companies I recommend for this is VistaPrint, which sells business cards, brochures and a variety of othing printing products including photo album online. When I asked around VistaPrint was a company many people recommended, and I now recommend it to others too.

10) Legal and tax issues

Is what you are doing actually legal? Does your business need to be registered? Will you have to charge taxes / HST? Will you have to have Workers' Compensation Insurance or deal with payroll taxes? How will the form of business you choose affect your income tax situation? Learn what your legal and tax responsibilities are before you start your business and operate accordingly.

Ontario government admits to dropping the ball on horse racing

The Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ted McMeekin, has finally come clean to the Ontario horse racing industry that the ministry made a mistake by rushing the decision to end the Slots-at-Racetracks Program (SARP).

Why is this important you might ask?

Let me explain.

Years ago the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.) and the horse races were the only legal ways to gamble in Ontario. Then along came the casino in Niagara Falls and similar locations. Gamblers began to flock to such locations and the Ontario government realized that casinos were extremely popular and profitable, so why not have more of them? So they came up with a scheme wherein they offered to put slot machines at Ontario racetracks, so that gamblers could gamble at the slots 7 days per week and not have to travel that far to find legalized gambling. (The horse races do operate every day of the week, but not all racetracks have daily races. Instead many use tele-theatres for betting so gamblers can bet on races happening in the USA and even overseas in Australia, Japan, Britain, etc.)

Now to get the permission of the horse racing industry to have slots at racetracks, they sweetened the deal by agreeing to give them a share of the profits. Otherwise the horse racing industry would have been taking huge losses by allowing their competition to setup shop and not see a single penny of the profits when some gamblers choose slots over horses.

With time however what has happened is that the demographics of gamblers have changed. The people who bet on horses are typically older, often retirees or pensioners, and they are dwindling in numbers. In contrast the younger generations of gamblers want instant thrills and don't want to wait half an hour for a horse race to start. So as time progressed it eventually reached a point wherein the profits between the horse betting industry and the slots industry was split roughly 20 percent to 80 percent.

So much so that the slots was basically propping up the horse betting industry - and the horse breeding industry as a whole. Without the extra income from gamblers, horse breeders would have to either quit and do something else or they would need to move to a country that still has a robust horse betting industry.

So when Ontario government realized they were basically propping up an industry some idiotic paper-pushing bureaucrat apparently got it into their head that it would save the government a lot of money if they pulled out of slots industry and took all the slots away from the horse races, and effectively shut down both horse betting and horse racing - and horse breeding! - all at once, it was the result of penny-pinching bureaucrats not realizing what they would do to an entire industry.

Basically it would demolish it. Horse breeding isn't just about raising race horses. That is the thoroughbreds. But there is also a market for horses meant for hobbyists, show jumpers, and so forth that would be hurt in the process. If you remove a large chunk of the pie from an industry that is so interconnected it causes the other parts to wither.

So the Ministry of Agriculture began rushing through the whole process in their efforts to shut down both the slots and horse races... with their goal of driving the horse betting industry out of business, and then 1 year later, buying up the old land and reintroducing slot machines - except this time they wouldn't have to share profits any more.

What is more is that they have even admitted to doing this.

While conducting an interview, Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin admitted his government "dropped the ball" on horse racing and stated that he hoped that the government would be "A little bit more collaborative then we’ve been. And that we’ll listen better than we have. And we will quit trying to wedge issues."

Now to be fair, the horse racing industry is now basically suing the Ontario government for deliberately trying to squash their industry - an industry which in Ontario effects about 55,000 jobs. That is like trying to shut down 3 or 4 automotive plants and not expecting them to protest.

One MPP issued a release on Monday stating that the Ministry of Agriculture "picked an unnecessary battle with the harness racing community and for what? To come back almost a year later and say ‘sorry I was wrong’? If the Minister had sat down, weighed the pros and cons and actually talked to those in the industry then we wouldn’t have had this crisis and he wouldn’t have to issue this mea culpa. [yada yada yada] ... start doing the research and listening to the people."

The bureaucratic decision to try and shut down horse betting/racing needlessly risked over 55,000 jobs in Ontario’s once thriving horse racing industry and alienated many rural communities.

Now we should also note that you can also do hores racing betting online, so you technically don't need to go to a horsetrack any more to bet on such things (but its still fun to go if you just want to see the horses and make a few small bets). Such websites are typically for the USA horse betting industry, and also allow greyhound betting, betting on football, sports such as golf, tennis, cricket, rugby, motor sports, soccer, snooker, basketball, baseball, cycling, hockey, cycling, darts and even UFC.

And I suppose that just goes to show you that the USA just loves to gamble a lot.

Rob Ford is making Mel Lastman look like a genius

According to Mel Lastman, Mayor Rob Ford is making former Mayor Lastman “look like a genius.”

Mel Lastman, who was Toronto’s outspoken mayor from 1998 to 2003, said Wednesday at a Brampton Bad Boy store opening that Rob Ford’s stubbornness is putting the city in jeopardy.

“All I know is since I’ve left (politics), I look like a genius,” said Lastman, age 79.

“I’m not a genius, obviously, but he makes me look like one. I know him, he’s stubborn and stubborn sometimes is good, but not constantly. You can’t be that stubborn and run a city.”

Since taking the mayoral office in 2010, Ford has had his fair share of public turmoil — controversies, lawsuits, conflict-of-interest, allegations of nepotism and Rob Ford's patented "foot in mouth syndrome".

Lastman, who also was no stranger to controversy during his years in the political realm, said Ford’s reign is dividing the city. Lastman was he first mayor of an amalgamated Toronto — one that incorporated six municipalities and Metro council.

“He’s given credit for things and that’s fine, but the city is all confused. It’s in different camps and it’s crazy to divide it. When I became mayor it was the biggest merger in history,” says Lastman. “I didn’t divide the city, and that’s what is happening now. A mayor should not be any party, as a mayor. He’s got to be an independent and he’s got to be what’s right for the city and it’s not working that way. That makes me sad.”

Truly it is a testament to how dumb and stubborn Rob Ford is. Even when he realizes he has made a dumb mistake, he sticks to his mistake stubbornly because he doesn't want to flip-flop on an issue. So instead he just looks even more stupid for not admitting his mistakes.

Rob Ford may go down in history as the dumbest mayor Toronto has ever seen.

Stuckism show in London turns eyes

Stuckism was founded by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish in 1999 with 12 artists to promote contemporary figurative painting and oppose conceptual art. It has since grown to an international art movement of 233 groups in 52 countries. The name was coined after Childish’s ex-girlfriend, Tracey Emin, said he was “Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!” The concept struck, the Stuckism movement brought forth several Stuckist manifestos in an effort to draw other artists to their cause, including one where the term "Remodernism" was coined.

This month the Bermondsey Project Gallery at 46 Willow Walk, London UK will host a special event titled: "Stuckists: Elizabethan Avant-Garde" and will run from Friday the 5th to Sunday the 21st of October, open 7 days a week, 1 – 6 pm. A press launch will be held on Thursday the 4th at 6:30.


For more info about the event visit www.bermondseyproject.co.uk or phone 020 7036 2416.

The special event will include paintings from over 30 Stuckist artists from the UK and abroad.

For more information on Stuckism we recommend reading "A Stuckist on Stuckism".

If you are looking for more information on other art movements check out the following art history links:


Abstract Expressionism  
American Scene 
Constructivism 
Cubism 
Dada  
Earth Art 
Fantasy Art 
Impressionism  
Neo-Gothic Art  
Neo-Pop Art  
Neue Sachlichkeit 
 Pin Up Art  
Pop Art  
Precisionism  
Prehistoric Art  
Romanticism 
Salon de la Rose Croix 
Social Realism 
Stuckism 
Surrealism 
Video Art 
Visionary Art 
World of Art

Rare fishing cat born in Isle of Man zoo

Fishing cats are twice the size of your standard house cat, their paws are actually webbed, and, as the name suggests, they really love water.

They are a very rare and endangered feline species and now there's one more of these rare and little-known creatures, after a new kitten was born at Curraghs Wildlife Park on the Isle of Man in the United Kingdom.

Curraghs Park staff announced the birth last week, but the kitten is already eight weeks old and is often seen out and about with its mother at the park's Asian Swamp enclosure. It will be weaned in about six months, and mature within the year.

Due to encroachment on the species' native wetlands in southeast Asia, the fishing cat is listed as endangered.

Around 200 are kept in captivity worldwide, and only 10 are born per year. Adult fishing cats can weigh as much as 16 kg (35 lbs) and live up to ten years in captivity.

Curraghs Park staff say the kitten is the second born to a pair at the wildlife park, although its sibling was later taken to another zoo for a breeding program.

The sex of the new arrival has not been revealed, and there's no word on a name.

Farmers still getting the short end of the stick

Between droughts and governmental lack of concern over agriculture, farmers are still getting the short end of the stick.

Consider this: As of 2011 over 81% of the American population is urban (meaning they live in cities or towns). Less than 19% of Americans still live on farms or in rural regions. In Canada it is also 81%.

So from a political standpoint who are you going to show favouritism to more? City-Slickers or Farmers? The answer is obviously cities.

Farming is one of the most difficult, and yet most important, careers available, but it is horribly underpaid and there is very little government support for it. Many farmers now work second jobs just to make ends meet because farming by itself doesn't bring in the necessary money to raise a family.

Often just to try and get ahead in life farmers borrow large sums for machinery and equipment, which means they are either borrowing from the government or banks, and if there is a drought or bad weather for several years in a row its pretty much guaranteed the farmers will lose their farms and their homes because of inability to pay back loans.

Let us take for example one piece of machinery commonly used by cattle farmers: Livestock scales are used to weight cattle before or during auction. It is an approx. $1,000 investment to get scales, but the idea is so you can fatten up your cattle to the right size, then send to auction to fetch a good price. Its basically a necessity if you're a cattle or pig farmer.

Now you might think, oh, but how could a drought effect cattle or pig farmers? Well, two ways:

1. Cattle can die from something called "Heat Stress". It is basically heat exhaustion. For pigs they also get Heat Stroke (and sunburns). Preventing Heat Stress means providing shade, improved ventilation and a sufficient quantity of water... which adds up to extra costs and equipment.

2. More droughts = Less food to feed the cattle. If the farm in question grows their own food for the cattle and they aren't growing enough due to a drought, they have to buy extra food for the cattle from other farmers. If there is a huge shortage due to the drought the food has to be shipped even further and will cost a lot more. The prices can end up bankrupting the farmers.

Next lets look at the case of Utah... which as of September 2012 has had all 29 counties declared "drought disaster areas". River beds and groundwater ditches have all dried up.

It is all one big dusty mess.

Since October 2011, only 17.2 inches of rain has fallen on northern Sanpete County in Utah, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is just over half of the previous year's rainfall of 32.5 inches (which was also a poor year for rainfall in Utah).

While many farmers throughout Utah have fallen back on water storage and reservoirs, the farmers in the Sanpete Valley have little to no water storage available. They simply don't have facilities available to store water and then use it for their crops and livestock. The natural springs and runoff from the mountains in Utah that usually supply the region's rivers fell short this year after last winter's meagre snows and early spring snow melt.

Some farmers have multiple basins which they used to use to store water, basically ponds where their livestock could drink. But the ground of those ponds are now cracked and chalky, completely dried up.

It hurts all the farmers too. Utah's wheat production has dropped to 30% of what a normal season would yield. Hay is also down 50%. Many families will be short 50% to 70% of their yearly income because of the drought.

Cattle in the region sell for considerably less since they weigh between 100 and 150 pounds less on the livestock scales than they would have if the family could wait a month to sell them. But they can't wait. They need money for food, to pay the bills, to keep the banks off their backs. They could be making more off the sale if they just had the extra time, but times are tough and when the bank freezes your credit cards you have to sell what you can at dirt cheap prices just to get the banks to unfreeze your credit cards.

The end result is that farmers need machinery like tractors, combines and even livestock scales in order to make a living. And they can't get those things without getting a loan. Every penny counts.

And with global warming and more drought on the horizon farmers aren't getting any help from government buck-passers who blame other levels of government and refuse to help farmers when they're in bed with the banks.

The Peugeot Onyx Concept Car

Peugeot stunning new Onyx supercar concept you see on the right here comes the engine from a former Le Mans 24hrs racer: An engine made for both speed and endurance, giving it better fuel efficiency. The concept car is notable for its revolutionary engineering.

You might not realize what you are looking at either. Yes, its a kewl looking concept car... but it is also an engineering marvel. It's a one-off supercar concept designed by a group of car designers exploring the use of unprocessed materials in new ways.

#1. The body of the car isn't aluminum, plastic or carbon fibre. It is hand-finished using pure copper sheet metal, and because it's untreated, the finish will change over the course of time, giving it a new look (like the green copper roofs on government buildings).

#2. The remainder of the bodywork panels are made from carbon fibre, finished in a matt black. Not really that high tech since carbon fibre is pretty par-for-the-course with supercars, but the Onyx sports a double-bubble roof which is fun by itself.

#3. The windows and the roof are made from PolyMethylMethAcrylate (PMMA) - basically, shatter-resistant plastic - an unusual new material.

#4. The Onyx chassis was developed with the help of Peugeot Sport and is constructed from monolithic carbon, and comprises just 12 parts.

#5. It's built with a flat carbon fibre floor like they use in racecars, even if the Onyx has been made "suitable for the road". In total the whole car weighs just 1,100 kg with torsional stiffness said to be ‘optimised'.

#6. The engine under the hood: A 3.7-litre V8 hybrid HDi FAP engine used for Peugeot's Le Mans programme, developing 600bhp transmitted to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox.

#7. An 80bhp boost button, utilising battery power recuperated from brake energy. So its sorta like a hybrid... but made so you can EXTRA fast using the battery energy. And those brakes? 380mm discs at the front and 355mm at the back. Huge if you know anything about automotive brakes.

#8. The interior is compressed and stretched felt (made from boiled wool), formed as a one-piece moulding with no stitching required. Its one large piece including soundproofing, seats, roof and upper console. It is almost alien how easily everything flows without any nuts and bolts.

#9. The dash is made from wood produced from recycled newspapers - complete with digital screens and an aluminum switchgear operating the engine and air-conditioning controls.

So... its part copper, part paper-mache... The interior... the boost function... the shatter resistant plastic...

Its a shame we can't buy it. But maybe some of the ideas will be put into use in future car designs that are actually for sale.