Category: Travel

  • A Study in Scarlet

    MOMENT IN TIME: NOVEMBER 20, 1886

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    On November 20, 1886, author Arthur Conan Doyle sold the copyright to “A Study in Scarlet” for a piddling £25 to Ward Lock & Co., which published it in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. It was this story which introduced Conan Doyle’s famous detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, to the world. GEORGES DE KEERLE/HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES
    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sells copyright for the first Sherlock Holmes story
    The opening of A Study in Scarlet, “In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army,” is more akin to “It was a dark and stormy night” than “Call me Ishmael.” It’s the ponderous first line in a mystery novel that features houndstooth-clad sleuth Sherlock Holmes, the literary world’s first forensic detective (he knew chemistry, literature, astronomy and used a magnifying glass). But on this date in 1886, author Arthur Conan Doyle sold the copyright to the story for a piddling £25 (about $5,600 in today’s money) to Ward Lock & Co., which published it in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. Perhaps Doyle, having written Scarlet in three weeks when he was 27, lacked confidence in his work. Perhaps he needed the money. The story is about a murder investigation – “There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life” – and introduces Holmes, who says in Scarlet, “to a great mind, nothing is little” and his friend, Dr. Watson. Doyle eventually realized his mistake and never dealt with that publisher again. –Philip King

  • Norman Webster: a half century in the newsrooms of the world – Sherbrooke Record

    This coming Thursday Massey College in Toronto is hosting a virtual book launch event for a new publication by veteran journalist Norman Webster entitled Newspapering: 50 Years of Reporting from…

    Source: Norman Webster: a half century in the newsrooms of the world – Sherbrooke Record

  • For university students, COVID-19 stress creates perfect conditions for mental health crises

    The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of most, if not all, individuals living in Canada. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the mental health of younger populations (ages 18-25) has been particularly affected.A notable proportion of younger individuals living in Canada attend some form of post-secondary education, including university, which is considered challenging even in the best of times. Now, with an ongoing pandemic and associated physical distancing measures, many students have been faced with a set of additional challenges that includes campus closures and a quick pivot to remote learning, leading to a sense of uncertainty about their academic futures.Perhaps most importantly, students are also facing social isolation and a loss of social support because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mandatory physical distancing measures and reductions on social gatherings have left many students feeling disconnected from their home campuses where support and services are typically available.Cumulative stressorsThe cumulative toll of these stressors is likely to have a significant impact on the health and well-being of students. With the winter months looming ahead, and no real end in sight for a return to campus, it’s important to consider how the stressors associated with COVID-19 and social isolation will impact this vulnerable population. What can we predict, and what can we do about it?

    Source: For university students, COVID-19 stress creates perfect conditions for mental health crises

  • Safety Issues, Cost Overruns Mean It’s Time to Cancel Site C Megadam, Dogwood Says – The Energy Mix

    With its price nearly doubling, construction deadlines slipping, and serious geological challenges on the ground, BC Hydro’s plan to complete the Site C megadam on the Peace River may be slipping away, Dogwood B.C. warns in a recent blog post.“The Site C dam was supposed to be a gift from B.C. taxpayers to international fracking companies,” writes Communications Director Kai Nagata. “We would supply them with cheap electricity, they would blast methane gas out of underground shale rock in the province’s northeast. We would get jobs and revenue, they would export ships full of fracked gas to burn in power plants overseas.”

    Source: Safety Issues, Cost Overruns Mean It’s Time to Cancel Site C Megadam, Dogwood Says – The Energy Mix

  • Kenya trial examines effect of universal basic income during pandemic

    With the social and economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic striking hundreds of millions around the world, the idea of a universal basic income (UBI) has been raised as a potential solution. Unique new research is looking at the effects of UBI during a pandemic by analyzing data from a massive ongoing 12-year income study in Kenya, and its conclusion suggests the policy may help individual well-being but it is not a silver-bullet solution in times of extreme disruption.The idea of universal basic income proposes that all citizens of a country receive a regular unconditional sum of money, either monthly or annually, calculated to cover basic living expenses. UBI is increasingly touted as an efficient way to replace the unwieldy bureaucratic mechanisms of many governmental social welfare systems.

    Source: Kenya trial examines effect of universal basic income during pandemic

  • 737 Max Cleared for Takeoff

    jet contrails

    Francis Scialabba

    Twenty months after it was initially grounded, Boeing’s 737 Max has been cleared to fly by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In a video message, the agency’s administrator Steve Dickson said he’d be “100 percent comfortable with my family flying on it.” 
    The backstory: The Max had been involved in two fatal crashes—one in Ethiopia and one in Indonesia—that killed 346 people in total. In March 2019, aviation regulators around the world said the jet couldn’t fly again until Boeing and the FAA figured out what went wrong…and fixed it. This story was one of the most dramatic we’ve followed in the past several years. And it features many superlatives: 
    The longest grounding of a jet in U.S. history By far the worst crisis in Boeing’s 100+ year history considering the 737 Max was the bestselling plane from the U.S.’ preeminent industrial company, some consider it to be the country’s most important manufacturing product. 
    The cost has been huge Boeing estimates the crisis and its aftermath have cost $20 billion. CEO Dennis Muilenburg was replaced. And despite a steady climb back from pandemic lows, Boeing’s share price sits at less than half of the company’s all-time high on March 1, 2019. And there’s no calculating the human cost. Some families of the victims have argued the 737 Max should never fly again.
    Big picture: Boeing and its regulator, the FAA, won’t be Googling themselves for a long time. A deep-dive report from a congressional subcommittee blamed the crashes on a “horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions” by Boeing engineers as well as “grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA.”
    What next? Despite a series of software fixes and the lifting of the grounding order, the 737 Max won’t fly immediately—the first flight on its schedule is an American Airlines route from Miami to NYC on Dec. 29. Even then, the company faces a jittery public because of both the plane’s history and the ongoing pandemic.
    In an unofficial poll on Morning Brew’s Twitter account, 54% of respondents said they wouldn’t fly on a 737 Max.
    Is it safe?

  • WHO advises against treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients with remdesivir | CBC News

    Gilead’s remdesivir is not recommended for patients hospitalized with COVID-19, regardless of how ill they are, as there is no evidence the drug improves survival or reduces the need for ventilation, a World Health Organization panel said on Friday.The panel found “a lack of evidence that remdesivir improved outcomes that matter to patients,” the guideline said.”Especially given the costs and resource implications associated with remdesivir … the panel felt the responsibility should be on demonstrating evidence of efficacy, which is not established by the currently available data.”The WHO said it has suspended remdesivir from its so-called prequalification list, an official list of medicines used as a benchmark for procurement by developing countries, after issuing the guidance.”Yes we have suspended it from the PQ [prequalification list],” Tarik Jasarevic said in an emailed response to Reuters. “The suspension is a signal to countries that WHO, in compliance with the treatment guidelines, does not recommend countries procure the drug for COVID.”The advice is another setback for the drug, which grabbed worldwide attention as a potentially effective treatment for COVID-19 in the summer after early trials showed some promise.The antiviral, known by the brand name Veklury, is one of only two medicines currently authorized to treat COVID-19 patients across the world. But a large WHO-led trial known as the Solidarity Trial showed last month that it had little or no effect on 28-day mortality or length of hospital stays for COVID-19 patients.

    Source: WHO advises against treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients with remdesivir | CBC News

  • Michigan Governor Yanks Line 5 Pipeline Easement, Citing Enbridge Violations – The Energy Mix

    Citing repeated and routine refusals by Calgary-based Enbridge to address safety concerns surrounding the 6.4-kilometre Straits of Mackinac section of its Line 5 pipeline, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has terminated the easement that allowed the submarine pipeline to operate.In addition to terminating the 1953 easement, which permitted Line 5 to send oil and gas through the straits that connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, the Detroit Free Press says the state is asking the local circuit court “to recognize the validity of this action, citing violation of the public trust doctrine, given the unreasonable risk that continued operation of the dual pipelines poses to the Great Lakes.”

    Source: Michigan Governor Yanks Line 5 Pipeline Easement, Citing Enbridge Violations – The Energy Mix

  • New Zoom feature can alert room owners of possible Zoombombing disruptions | ZDNet

    Video conferencing software maker Zoom has launched a new feature today that can alert conference organizers when their online meetings are at risk of getting disrupted via Zoombombing attacks.Named “At-Risk Meeting Notifier,” this new feature is a service that runs on Zoom’s backend servers and works by continuously scanning public posts on social media and other public sites for Zoom meeting links.When At-Risk Meeting Notifier finds a Zoom meeting URL, it automatically sends an email to the conference organizers with a warning that other people may be able to access their room and possibly disrupt their meeting.These types of disruptions are known as Zoombombing or Zoom raids, and they have been a major issue for the company all year.Zoombombing is when trolls connect to a Zoom room uninvited and disrupt the meeting by hurling insults, playing pornographic content, or making threats to other participants.Zoombombing incidents usually take place after one of the participants shares a link to a Zoom meeting (and sometimes its password) on social media, Discord channels, or Reddit threads, asking others to disrupt the conference.

    Source: New Zoom feature can alert room owners of possible Zoombombing disruptions | ZDNet

  • San Francisco Passes Landmark Natural Gas Ban for New Buildings – The Energy Mix

    The city of San Francisco will begin banning natural gas as a heating or cooking energy source for all new residential and commercial buildings—except restaurants—as of next June, adding to a prohibition already in place banning natural gas in new city-owned buildings.The U.S. Sierra Club called the ban, passed unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week, the “strictest natural gas prohibition passed by a big city so far in California,” writes Bloomberg. Similar measures are popping up all over, it adds, with nearly 40 municipalities throughout the state now enforcing natural gas hookup restrictions.

    Source: San Francisco Passes Landmark Natural Gas Ban for New Buildings – The Energy Mix