Welcome to Wednesday, July 18 2012’s Clicks of the Day!
Clicks of the Day is a daily round up of news posted Sunday through Thursday with quantity and quality of content differing depending on how busy Linda’s day is.
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Edmonton/Alberta/Canada
- Flood of retweets helps homeless
- City council votes to continue work on downtown arena
- Edmonton unveils controversial balloon float
- Officers cracking down on high-risk drivers
- Local man remembers his ‘brilliant, courageous’ soul mate – killed in PEI crash
- Lukaszuk apologizes for Facebook post about landslides
- Work on Alberta’s Highway of Death ahead of schedule
- Toronto police fear more violence after fatal public shooting
- Envelope addressed to Magnotta containing suspicious powder snarls postal service
- RCMP issue sweeping denial in B.C. harassment lawsuit
- Needles found in five Delta Air Line sandwiches trigger investigation
- U.S. man who contracted plague from cat may lose all his fingers
- Canadian blood reserves fall below target levels
- EU scientists agree: Chocolate can be good for you
- Anti-HIV drug gets thumbs up
- Physical inactivity killing 5 million a year: studies
- Next iPhone to have thinner screen: Report
- Half of adult cellphone owners use mobiles while watching TV
- New camera can see through skin and around corners
- Man claims wearing Google Glass-type eyewear led to bizarre attack
- Retailers starting to feel heat from e-retailers: report
- Bank of Canada issues economic outlook; blames global troubles, problems at home
- How to avoid being wedded to marriage debt
- Credit card users could soon face higher costs
- The CW picks up ‘Dr. Horrible’ web series
- Rotten Tomatoes suspends comments on Dark Knight after death threats
- Scientists discover bees can ‘turn back time,’ reverse brain aging
- Bleak future for polar bears, U of A scientists say
- NASA needs 3 years of meals for Mars-bound astronauts
- Pitbull is heading to Kodiak, Alaska
- 15 ridiculous new terms that might make the dictionary
- Wollie the cat makes six-mile trek back to New Hampshire home
“Hope Mission’s message spread fast online but it’s pretty easy to hit a button and share a message. That doesn’t mean any action or results will come of the shared message. Lucky for Hope Mission, Edmonton’s online community is all about showing support both online and offline. Devin Komarniski with Hope Mission tells me the agency received about 10,000 water bottles as a result of that single, online request. Wow.”
Wowsa! Edmonton’s Twitter / online community continues to amaze.
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“Hours after city council started discussing the latest report on the downtown arena project, council passed the motion to move ahead with developing the design for the new arena. The motion was passed, although three councillors: Linda Sloan, Kerry Diotte and Tony Caterina voted against it.”
So much money…
“The city of Edmonton officially launched its new controversial Capital EX float in Churchill Square Wednesday. A crowd gathered outside city hall around 12 p.m. to catch a glimpse of the new, $80,000 fabric float — touted as a public art piece by the city.”
$80,000 just seems like a bit much.
“In an effort to make Edmonton’s roads safer, a special team of police officers will be cracking down on drivers who they say pose the highest criminal risk to the community. Edmonton police are rolling out new teams, dubbed Specialized Traffic Apprehension Teams (STAT) to target what they call the city’s ‘100 worst drivers’.”
Good luck to them!
“An Edmonton man is in mourning, after his wife and soul mate was struck and killed while the couple explored the Maritimes on their bicycles over the weekend. “We will never forget her and she will always be with us in our hearts,” Edmund Aunger said of his wife, Elizabeth Sovis – who was struck and killed Saturday, while cycling in Prince Edward Island.”
A very sad story. :(
“Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk apologized Tuesday for making a joke about recent landslides in British Columbia. Earlier in the day, Lukaszuk posted a photograph of a washed-out road on his Facebook account, and joked that rooms are discounted at the Fairmont Hot Springs as a result of all the mud. The comments triggered a torrent of criticism on social media sites Facebook and Twitter, prompting Lukaszuk to remove the post and apologize.”
Always have to be careful what you post on social media… especially if you’re a high-profile politician.
“Tenders for three Highway 63 projects will go out ahead of schedule to prepare for future road construction… Two new passing/climbing lanes and extensions to six existing lanes will be added between House River and the junction with Highway 881. The new or extended lanes provide more passing opportunities and will reduce incidents of risky passing and the potential for head-on collisions. Work will commence later this summer and is expected to be completed by summer 2013, weather permitting.”
Good to see some action~
“The threat of retaliatory violence is high after a gunfight led to two people being killed and 23 others being shot at an east-end Toronto block party overnight, police Chief Bill Blair warned Tuesday. Blair made the comments while updating the public on a horrific and brazen attack, which he described as “the most serious crime of its kind” to ever hit the city.”
Very sad.
“An envelope addressed to murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta caused a complete shutdown Tuesday at one of Canada’s biggest postal sorting centres… Alain Duguay said police found a white powdery substance inside the envelope… Police later determined the substance was not dangerous.”
Intense.
“The Mounties have issued a sweeping denial in a high-profile sexual harassment suit by a British Columbia officer, whose allegations have prompted other women to come forward with their own claims of abuse. Cpl. Catherine Galliford, a police spokeswoman who was the force’s public face during the Air India and Robert Pickton cases, first outlined her allegations in media interviews last year. She filed a lawsuit this past May. Her allegations have prompted the RCMP to promise to tackle harassment within the force. In the months since, several other female Mounties have filed cases of their own, including one who says dozens of other officers are prepared to join her in a class-action lawsuit.”
The plot thickens.
World
“Police at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport are investigating into how needles got into turkey sandwiches served to passengers on Delta Air Lines flights from Amsterdam to the United States, a spokesman said Tuesday. The FBI also is investigating. Delta said what appear to be sewing needles were found in five sandwiches on Sunday. One passenger on a flight to Minneapolis was injured. The other needles were on two flights to Atlanta and one to Seattle.”
This is CRAZY!!
Health
“The welder’s once-strong hands have been withered by the cell-killing infection and darkened to the colour of charcoal. Doctors are waiting to see if they can save a portion of his fingers, but the outlook is grim for the man who needs them for his livelihood… Paul Gaylord, who turns 60 next month, contracted a rare case of the plague trying to take a mouse from the jaws of a choking cat at his home in Prineville, in rural Oregon.”
Oh dear.. (also: I think he got it from the mouse, not the cat).
“Canadian Blood Services is putting out the call to Canadians to encourage them to donate blood before taking summer vacation, so that supplies don’t run any lower. The agency says it needs about 4,300 more people to roll up their sleeves and donate between July 16 and Aug. 6, in order to top up the current supply.”
Eep.
“The world’s largest chocolate producer, Barry Callebaut, is one step closer to making health claims on its products, after the European Food Safety Authority ruled that eating just 10 grams of its dark chocolate can indeed help improve consumers’ health. In a scientific opinion released Tuesday, the EFSA said it agreed with the company’s claim that eating 200 mg of cocoa flavanols (the equivalent of 2.5 grams of the Swiss chocolate maker’s high-flavanol cocoa powder or 10 grams of its high-flavanol dark chocolate) can “help maintain endothelium-dependent vasodilation which contributes to normal blood flow.””
Good news for most people! I don’t care much for chocolate so. :)
“US health regulators have for the first time approved using an HIV drug to prevent infection of people at high risk of contracting the virus that causes Aids. Gilead Sciences’ Truvada was approved for people who are not infected but might have sex with HIV-infected partners.”
Interesting!
“A third of the world’s adults are physically inactive, and this sedentary lifestyle is killing about five million of us every year, experts now say.
In a series of studies that appeared Wednesday in the medical journal The Lancet, researchers from around the world found that a lack of physical activity – meaning not getting at least 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity — causes a large portion of the world’s four big killer diseases.”
We get it studies… lack of physical activity is killing us. :(
Technology/Social Media/Internet
“Apple Inc’s next iPhone will use a new technology that makes the smartphone’s screen thinner, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.”
I want my hands on the new one!
“A new study by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that more than 50 percent of all adult cell phone owners use their mobile devices while watching television.”
True that!
“Superman could do it and now so might you. Israeli scientists have developed a new camera that is able to see through skin without x-rays and even see through walls and around corners using just natural light. What’s even more remarkable according to The Verge is that the researchers used off the shelf parts as opposed to specialized new technology.”
Weird! :O
“Can’t wait for Google Glass to become available in 2014? This may temper your enthusiasm: A Canadian man wearing similar eyewear in a French McDonald’s claims he was physically attacked when someone in the store tried to rip the device off his head.”
Talk about bizarre.
Business/Work/Economy/Media
“The future of retail is in the palm of your hand.
“Big box retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart are starting to feel the heat as sales decline in the face of stiffer competition from e-retailers like Amazon,” declares the third annual Future of Retail report from trend-watchers PSFK. “Showrooming is the new reality.” Meaning, explains PSFK founder and president Piers Fawkes, that customers are already using their mobile phones to shop and retailers have to stop fighting and join in.”
It’s true … I’ll turn online often as it’s more convenient. One day I’ll be able to order groceries and have them delivered same day… Lol.
“The Bank of Canada announced a somewhat grim outlook for the economy Wednesday, pointing to economic chaos around the world and problems at home such as housing debt as key impediments to faster growth.”
It’s always grim isn’t it?
“Many young couples dream of throwing a huge traditional wedding, surrounded by throngs of family members and friends, followed by a reception that guests will always remember. But it’s essential for young people to get married on the right foot financially, particularly those who are weighed down by large student debts and starting off a new career.”
Mike and I are without any student debts – so that’s good! But we do hope we don’t get bogged down in debt for our wedding…
“Canadian shoppers who use credit cards may soon find themselves slapped with extra fees, if retailers win a fight against being stuck with transaction charges from Visa and MasterCard. Retail organizations renewed their calls Tuesday for Ottawa to loosen credit card regulations following a landmark ruling south of the border that could have implications for a case that will be decided by a federal tribunal later this year.”
Boo urns.
Entertainment
“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a web series conceived during 2008′s Writers Guild of America strike, is headed to television. According to writer, creator and Avengers director Joss Whedon, the CW has picked up the three-part, musical traicomedy starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. Whedon made the announcement towards the tail end of a panel for Dark Horse Comics (with which the Dr. Horrible creator has collaborated on a number of Dr. Horrible titles). The program will air on the network sometime in 2013. There’s no news yet on the exact day, timeslot or if Whedon and company will film new material for Dr. Horrible‘s television premiere.”
This is AWESOME!!!!
“The movie review aggregator web site RottenTomatoes.com has suspended user comments on reviews of “The Dark Knight Rises” after commenters reacted harshly to negative reviews of the film and directed threatening remarks at critics and one another. It’s the first time the website has ever had to take this step.”
Intense…
Environment/Space/Animals/Science
“Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that older honey bees effectively reverse brain aging when they take on nest responsibilities typically handled by much younger bees. While current research on human age-related dementia focuses on potential new drug treatments, researchers say these findings suggest that social interventions may be used to slow or treat age-related dementia.”
Promising!
“Most of the world’s polar bears are likely to disappear in the next 30 to 50 years if the Arctic continues to heat up as climatologists predict, two University of Alberta scientists say. They conducted an exhaustive review of the scientific research that has been done on the bears.”
This is soooo sad!!! :(
“Through a labyrinth of hallways deep inside a 1960s-era building that has housed research that dates back to the early years of U.S. space travel, a group of scientists in white coats is stirring, mixing, measuring, brushing and, most important, tasting the end result of their cooking. Their mission: Build a menu for a planned journey to Mars in the 2030s.”
Daunting task! ;)
Entertainment
“Mr. Worldwide, indeed: Pitbull will fly to Kodiak, Alaska, to visit the small island’s Walmart store as part of a competition sponsored by the chain and Listerine. The contest promised that the rapper would appear at whichever Walmart branch got the most likes on Facebook and, early on, it was hijacked by David Thorpe and Jon Hendren of the website Something Awful, who started a campaign to send Pitbull all the way to the Kodiak Walmart. As a result, the store’s page netted over 71,000 likes, even though Kodiak’s population is just over 6,000 according to the 2010 U.S. census.”
LOL SO FUNNY!
Weird News, Other News & Fluff
“Collins Dictionary, an imprint of HarperCollins UK, this morning unveiled a crowdsourcing initiative in which the public is invited to submit words for potential inclusion on CollinsDictionary.com.”
Words include cray, yolo and tweeps! Lol. Funny.
“Animal rescue league officials say they don’t know how a black cat walked about 6 miles in three days to find his way back home in New Hampshire. Wollie the cat has been reunited with Barbara Oliphant.”
Go Wollie!! <3
Thor (and/or Loki) Photo of the Day:
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Linda
