Clicks of the Day: May 4, 5, 6 2012 Weekend Edition!

Welcome to the three-day roundup …

Weekend Edition (May 4, 5, 6) of Clicks of the Day!

Clicks of the Day is a daily round up of news posted Sunday through Thursday.

    Edmonton/Alberta/Canada

  • Police investigate overnight homicide
  • “A man in his early 30s was killed Sunday after an early-morning fight outside a nightclub… This is Edmonton’s sixth homicide of the year.”

    Sad.

  • Bars warn female staff not to walk home alone
  • “As police continue to search for the “creep” responsible for several late-night assaults on women in the area of Whyte Avenue, pub and bar owners are reminding female staff not to walk home alone.”

    Good reminder.

  • City to add 15-km of bike lanes this year
  • “The city is moving ahead with plans that will eventually give Edmonton a 489-kilometre bicycle network, but not everyone is doing wheelies over the idea. Another 15 kilometres of on-street bike routes will be painted on roads this year, adding to the 20 kilometres of shared-use and reserved cycling lanes created in 2011.”

    Great for riders… which doesn’t include me. I would like to bike as a mode of transportation but I’ve never lived in bike-friendly neighbourhoods. I would have to bike a very long time to get anywhere where I live.

  • Edmonton one of host cities for 2015 Women’s World Cup
  • “Millions of soccer fans from around the world will look to Edmonton in 2015, as the city hosts a piece of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”

    Cool!

  • Distracted drivers in Ontario busted by ‘hobo cops’
  • “Employing a technique used by other police forces, officers in Halton Region, just west of Toronto, dressed up as street people and approached vehicles to determine if drivers were talking on handheld phones or texting. Yesterday, Halton Regional Police ended a four day blitz to go after drivers who illegally use handheld electronic devices while operating their motor vehicles.”

    Interesting how this practice went from B.C. to Ontario. Which police force will do it next?

  • Charest says government did all it could to resolve student
  • “Quebec Premier Jean Charest is blaming the province’s striking students for a months-long stalemate that only now appears to be on the verge of a resolution. A potential deal, struck Saturday after a marathon bargaining session, is being hailed by student leaders as “the beginning of the end” of a conflict that has grown increasingly contentious. Close to one-third of Quebec’s university students have been on strike for 81-days, protesting what was initially a 75-per cent hike in their tuition fees.”

    Hope this ends soon. I can’t believe it’s gone on as long as it has and I can’t believe how violent some of the protests got too. Yikes.

  • Conservatives back private members’ bill targeting masked protesters
  • “The Harper government is throwing its weight behind a private members’ bill that would give police the power to arrest anyone hiding their identity during a riot or unlawful assembly. Conservative backbencher Blake Richards is proposing penalties of up to five years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000 for protesters who wear a mask or disguise.”

    Interesting.

  • Canada’s first-ever mental health strategy will pressure Harper to act
  • “Canada is about to get its first-ever national mental health strategy – a massive report that may persuade Prime Minister Stephen Harper that his government must return Ottawa to a lead role on health care… the strategy will demand that they (the government), and Canadians in general, set aside their preconceived notions of mental illness and face the fact that almost every family will be touched by mental health problems at some point. Specifically, the blueprint wants federal and provincial governments to earmark nine per cent of their health spending for mental health – up from about seven per cent now.”

    I never realized how huge an issue mental health was until recently.

  • Ottawa spending $100,000 for paper flags, lapel pins to mark Diamond Jubilee
  • “The Conservative government has set aside more than $100,000 for paper flags and lapel pins for celebrations to mark the sixth decade of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. $74,180 for 682,000 paper flags to be sent to the public, provinces and territories; $52,650 for 300,000 lapel pins; and $28,883.20 on posters.”

    Woooow.

  • TransCanada reapplies for Keystone XL permit
  • “TransCanada Corp. is plowing ahead with its Keystone XL pipeline project to ship Alberta crude south to the U.S. Gulf Coast – while at the same time eagerly pursuing a proposal to ship oil from the west to eastern Canada. TransCanada reapplied on Friday for a U.S. permit to build the 2,700-kilometre Keystone line. The company has already started construction on the Canadian side of the border for the controversial pipeline, and expects to break ground on the most southerly leg in the U.S. this summer.”

    Hmm.

    World

  • Long legal battle ahead for Sept. 11 case
  • “The U.S. has finally started the prosecution of five Guantanamo Bay prisoners charged in the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, but the trial won’t be starting anytime soon, and both sides said Sunday that the case could continue for years. Defence lawyer James Connell said a tentative trial date of May 2013 is a “placeholder” until a true date can be set for the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the attacks, and his co-defendants.”

    Wow. It’s been a long time and it’s still going to be awhile yet. (You probably don’t want to hear about my 9/11 conspiracy theories).

  • Sarkozy is latest leader booted from office amid European financial crisis
  • “Nicolas Sarkozy, defeated Sunday in France’s presidential runoff by Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, joins a series of European leaders booted from office because of public anger over austerity measures and economic crisis. Almost every crisis-hit European country that has held an election since disaster struck in 2009 has thrown out its leader.”

    Well that’s what happens when leaders leave your country in the state that the Eurozone countries are in…

  • Angry Greeks reject bailout, risk euro exit
  • “Greek voters enraged by economic hardship caused by the terms of an international bailout turned on ruling parties in an election on Sunday, putting the country’s future in the euro zone at risk and threatening to revive Europe’s debt crisis.”

    Not a good time over there.

    Health

  • Study: Sports drinks can rot kids’ teeth in as little as 5 days
  • “Sports and energy drinks are fueling a silent epidemic of irreversible tooth erosion among American adolescents, according to a new study. ‘This study completely disproves that, because they erode or thin out the enamel of the teeth, leaving them more susceptible to decay and sensitivity.’

    I always stick with water :)

  • Tiny dental filling kills bacteria, strengthens teeth
  • “Your next filling may do a little more to keep your teeth healthy. Researchers at the University of Maryland have created the first cavity-fillers also kill bacteria and re-grow layers of tooth.”

    Intense.

  • After IVF, some couples get pregnant without help
  • “Despite the label of being “infertile,” some couples who have tried fertility treatments are later able to have a baby naturally, according to a new study from France. In some instances from the research, the parents had had another child previously using in vitro fertilization (IVF) — while in other cases the couple had a baby even after an unsuccessful experience with IVF.”

    That’s pretty cool.

    Technology/Social Media/Internet

  • Star Trek-like device beams life-sized holograms
  • “Online video conferencing tools such as Skype have revolutionized the way job interviews are conducted from afar. But what if technology enabled you to appear in an office, in front of a prospective employer, even when you’re half a world away? A Queen’s University researcher has created a device that transmits life-sized 3-D holograms, allowing people in different locations to video conference while virtually standing in front of each other.”

    Very cool!

  • Report: 13 million U.S. Facebook users don’t use privacy settings
  • “Facebook and privacy always seem to be joined at the hip, yet often the two do not truly connect. Over time the social network giant has had substantial privacy issues that were beyond the user’s control… According to (a) report, almost 13 million Facebook users in the U.S. do not use, or are unaware of, the privacy settings provided by Facebook. Of that number, 28 percent are sharing all, or most, of their information beyond their immediate circle of friends.
    Although, it may not be clear how many of this group of users just don’t bother with the controls, or find the privacy settings too confusing. The network’s approach to privacy controls have historically been convoluted.”

    Yeesh…

  • FBI wants wiretap-ready social networks soon
  • “The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants to make Facebook and other social networks easier to use for spying on suspected criminals — and it wants access ASAP. High-ranking FBI officials and other government representatives have been meeting with Internet industry leaders to ask them not to oppose a proposed law that would give federal agencies backdoor access to social networking sites, CNET reports. The FBI’s argument? As communication has shifted more and more online, previous laws allowing wiretaps on phone lines are becoming less and less useful.”

    Hm. Probably good if it was actually to be used to JUST spy on suspected criminals. #thereisnoprivacyanymore.

  • Judge says Facebook ‘likes’ not protected by First Amendment
  • “The “like” button on Facebook seems like a relatively clear way to express your support for something, but a federal judge says that doesn’t mean clicking it is constitutionally protected speech… While public employees are allowed to speak as citizens on matters of public concern, U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that clicking the “like” button does not amount to expressive speech. In other words, it’s not the same as actually writing out a message and posting it on the site. The case enters a murky legal area.”

    Social media making a lot of legal matters messier.

  • Finally Proven: Twitter Does Affect Google Rankings
  • “URLs receive a significant rankings boost from Google when they are tweeted and retweeted on Twitter. This boost levels out at around 50 tweets, and little further benefit is gained until social noise reaches around 5,000 tweets… The study gives real weight to marketers looking to further their social media activity, given that there is a tangible, provable SEO benefit to be gained from having links to commercial web pages shared on social media.”

    Cool. Ah the value of investing in social media.

    Business/Work/Economy/Media

  • Yesterday’s gone
  • “For what seemed like forever, copy editors embraced the routine task of changing the days of the week in stories to “yesterday,” “today,” and “tomorrow.” But as of last month, the mission has been reversed. Now the copy editor must make sure that the days of the week get into the story and stay there. For the first time in more than four decades, Globe articles do not employ “yesterday, “today,” and “tomorrow.” The reason for the change is that articles are no longer written only for the newspaper. Breaking news is posted immediately on the Globe’s websites; stories are then fleshed out, posted again, then put into the process for the next day’s paper and the next day’s web entries. With all that traffic, a reliance on “yesterday, “today,” and “tomorrow” is an invitation for error.”

    Hm. I always thought we weren’t supposed to use “today” “tomorrow” or “yesterday.” But that could just be Canadian Press rules. (Another thing I find frustrating is the inconsistency of capitalization on headlines for stories. It Can Be Like This or It will go like this).

  • Politico endorses post-first, check-later journalism
  • “Everyone — politicians, competing reporters, citizens — knows that Politico’s imperative is speed. The Cartagena checkbook-journalism episode illustrates just how much the site may be willing to sacrifice in its pursuit.”

    Hm.

  • Pottermore sells nearly $5 million worth of e-books in first month
  • “Harry Potter website Pottermore sold $4.8 million (£3 million) worth of e-books in its first month — that works out to around 525,000 copies — and has nearly 7 million unique users, CEO Charlie Redmayne tells The Bookseller. Sales of the Harry Potter print books have increased, too.”

    Big success for them! I haven’t been to Pottermore since my first login, lol.

    Environment/Space/Animals/Science

  • Finding air pollution’s fingerprints to track down dirty factories
  • “Scientists have found a way to figure out the exact source of dangerous particles in our air, which could allow regulators to shut down factories that are pumping poison into the atmosphere.”

    That’s great news.

  • Bigger and brighter ‘supermoon’ graces the night sky
  • “A “supermoon” has graced the skies, appearing bigger and brighter than usual, as it comes closer to the Earth – and is likely to bring higher tides. The phenomenon, known as a perigee full moon, means the Moon appears up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet.”

    The moon Mike and I saw really wasn’t that big, bright, or impressive. :(

  • Death of the dinosaurs: the asteroid didn’t act alone
  • “It was 65.5 million years ago that an asteroid measuring 6 mi. (10 km) across, slammed into the Earth just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, blasting out a 110 mi. (180 km) crater and sending out a cloud of globe-girdling debris that cooled and darkened the world. That spelled doom for species that had come to like things bright and warm. Before long (in geological terms, at least) the dinos were gone and the mammals arose. That’s how the story has long been told and it’s still the most-widely accepted theory. Now, however, a study led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and published in Nature Communications suggests that the asteroid may not have affected all dinosaur species equally.”

    Reading about dinosaurs – always fascinating.

  • Dinosaurs a gas, gas, gas, scientists say
  • “Dinosauras may have been partly to blame for climate change in their time because their diets meant they emitted vast clouds of methane, a powerful global warming gas, scientists say. The key culprits were the giant plant-eating sauropods, which spent 150 million years plodding around the planet eating ferns and burping and farting methane.”

    Lol.

  • Stereotypes keep women away from science
  • “A gender gap in science and engineering fields persists, in part, due to stereotypes that prevent more women from choosing these areas in their careers. Despite some progress in recent years, the gap hasn’t shifted much… the grass-roots level, parents and high school educators need to continue to work harder to educate young women about the potential for careers in this area.”

    I think the University of Alberta’s Women in Science/Tech program is doing a good job of trying to fight against that gender gap!

    Entertainment

  • ‘Avengers’ smashes record: $200.3 million debut
  • “Hulk, smash. That’s what Captain America tells the Incredible Hulk to do in “The Avengers,” and that’s what the Marvel Comics superhero mash-up did at the box office, smashing the domestic revenue record with a $200.3 million debut. It’s by far the biggest opening ever, shooting past the previous record of $169.2 million for the debut of last year’s “Harry Potter” finale. “The Avengers” added $151.5 million overseas over the weekend to bring its total to $441.5 million since it began opening internationally a week earlier. That raised the film’s worldwide haul to $641.8 million in barely a week and a half.”

    Go Avengers!! Fantastic movie, well-deserved box office hit.

    Weird News, Other News & Fluff

  • Turtle with carved initials turns up 47 years later
  • “It was 1965. U.S. president Lyndon Johnson spoke about the Great Society in his State of the Union address, the first American combat troops arrived in Vietnam, My Fair Lady won eight Academy Awards, and 13-year-old Jeff Cokeley went for a walk in the woods, adjacent to his Washington County, Pennsylvania home. While in the woods, the teen spotted a box turtle, a common species in the area. He picked it up and on impulse, turned it over and carved his initials and the year on the turtle’s shell. He then let the turtle go… Last week, his 85-year-old father, Holland, who still lives on the property, noticed his neighbour’s dog barking at something. He went to investigate and found the dog was barking at a turtle. Holland picked it up, turned it over, and saw the carving his son made 47 years before.”

    Really cool! Although I can’t say I’m too thrilled that the boy carved into a turtle in the first place.

  • [Infographic]: Top 10 most read books
  • I feel like the book in second place doesn’t belong lol (in that I have heard of the other nine and not that one).

  • British Asparagus Festival cancelled due to a lack of asparagus
  • “The annual British Asparagus Festival has been cancelled due to a lack of the principal vegetable. Poor weather in the UK has led to an insufficient quantity of the vegetable being available. Since 2006 the British Asparagus Festival has taken place in the Vale of Evesham, in England.”

    Lol at the fact that there was such a festival and aw that it must be cancelled. I love asparagus!

  • [Video]: Personal trainer cat
  • “Cat motivates his owner to do a few more pushups.”

    Lol!! Awesome.


Thor (and/or Loki) Photo of the Day:

My cats sure love sink water!


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Linda

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