Street “vault lids” stolen presumably for scrap

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Toronto Police say several “vault lids” have been stolen from the City’s roadways in an apparent attempt to sell them for scrap. Police say the value of such lids is “minimal.” This item used to be known as a manhole cover. Below are the locations of the thefts. Police are concerned that such mischief is going to cause an accident involving a vehicle or a pedestrian.  They thefts occurred between Saturday, September 13, 2014, and Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Midland Avenue and McNicoll Avenue,  Finch Avenue East and Bayview Avenue,  McNicoll Avenue and Morningside Avenue,  Fisherville Road and Carpenter Road.  Bishop Avenue and Willowdale Avenue, McLevin Avenue and Markham Road

Jail for girl, 18, who pimped pals as young as 13

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The astonishing story of an 18-year-old girl who ran an underage sex ring has unfolded in an Ottawa court. The teen, who was 15 when she committed these crimes, was sentenced to 6 and a half years. The girl sold three others for sex in the spring of 2012, the youngest of whom was 13. Court heard she thought she was going to a sleepover. Instead she was brought to five johns. Another girl was raped. “Her crimes were heinous, premeditated and well-organized,” Judge Diane Lahaie said. “Money over everything. That was the ultimate driver. She let nothing stand in her way. “She answered to no one.” The judge said that calculated exploitation and a “bleak” prospect for rehabilitation justified an adult sentence. “The conduct is despicable,” Lahaie said. With credit for time served in pre-sentence custody, the girl has a little less than three years to serve.

BNS to trim jobs, close some offshore branches

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Reuters is reporting Tuesday morning that the Bank of Nova Scotia will eliminate as many as 1,500 jobs and book a pre-tax charge of $451 million  mainly because its business plans in Caribbean and South America have not quite worked out. BNS says about 1,000 jobs will be lost in Canada, The bank will also close or slim down as many as 120 branches primarily in Mexico and the Caribbean. The moves are set to hurt the bank’s earnings by some 28 Canadian cents a share in the fourth-quarter ended October 31, 2014. Reuters 

Ghomeshi latest: We struggle to be sensitive

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The media is largely on a romp, frankly, in dealing with the Jian Ghomeshi story. There is an awareness that the story has gripped the imagination of much of the public. New leads flourish every day. Tonight the CBC is said to be seeking “better clarity” on the Ghomeshi story. It will be doing that without the help of the producer of the program. He is on a bit of a vacation it seems. The intense focus on “young interns” has caused 24-hour news to repeat loop-like that Carleton University, for example, has examined all it records and sent mail to anyone who might know and has found no one who was exploited. Also tonight, the  Globe and Mail’s public editor writes about an insensitive and misleading headline on a story which dealt with the CBCs challenge in somehow recovering from its long association with a man about whom there was such a lot of unsavory talk. People want to know why no one there did anything. And there’s the Premier. She pronounced that just because it’s 2014 we should not think this type of thing has gone away. (No doubt. As well as many other things we wish would go away). We require constant vigilance, Ms. Wynne said. Eyes in the back of the head would help too. 

Using your heartbeat to buy a cup of coffee

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Reuters says that a start up firm named Bionym has won an experimental trial with MasterCard and the Royal Bank to see if the heartbeat is distinctive enough to be used to verify a business transaction. Bionym’s product is a bracelet called Nymi which would somehow verify the identity of the purchaser by using his or her cardiac rhythm. The process is designed to eliminate the need for passwords, pin codes and even keys. The trial will allow Royal Bank (RBC), Canada’s largest bank, MasterCard and customers using the technology to test electrocardiogram-authenticated payments before the end of the year, Bionym said in a statement on Monday. 

Re-set clock? Easier to change time in your head

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At the Source Electronics Store in the Sunnybrook Plaza they say it is not uncommon for people, sometimes quite a few, to bring in their clock radios in the Spring and Fall to get an explantion of how to set the time. This insight into the semi-annual clock change may be mildly surprising, but it will be easily understood. Some of the common themes emerging this year during the job of changing the clock to Standard Time were: Symbols: Government forces industry to use symbols instead of English. This is so those who don’t speak English can change the clock too. The reality however is that non-English speakers dont understand the symbols either. The net understanding is zero. What is understood: Engineers imagine that you know what they know. If a clock has a button for “DST” you might know that it means daylight saving time but would you guess that the number which appears on the screen is your international time zone? But of course. The Greenwich minus five thing comes flooding back. Let’s correct the minutes and hours.  But wait, there are no hours. Of course not dummy. You roll through the minutes from 0 to 60 to get an hour. There are many other things to know. How? At the electronics store of course. The button that should set the newly chosen time keeps blowing the numbers away. Not if you wait long enough before pushing it silly. It is easy to see why some people leave the clock on EST all year and make the change mentally. And why in China, they just gave up on Daylight Time. It was all too much 

Leaside Sports Hall of Fame Friday, Nov. 21

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Leaside Sports Hall of Fame will honour its 2014 inductees on Friday, November 21, 2014 at the Leaside Arena and the public is invited to join the events. The speaker  will be Toronto Argos CEO Chris Rudge. The event will also honour speed skater and Athlete of the Year Ayanna Badali. Ayanna is seen above at high velocity and the inset portrait shot. Among the inductees are Joe “King” Krol (left above). As Wikipedia reminds us, Krol was an Argo quarterback, running back, defensive back, and kicker of the 40s and 50s. He was possibly the most versatile player in Canadian football history as a triple-threat to pass, run and kick. Krol also famously known as a “Gold Dust Twin” for his teamwork with Royal Copeland. Also among the inductees, the late Jack Caffery (1934-1992) of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, Christine Pellerin,  hockey official, coach, athlete and member of the Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association and Dr. Sidney Soanes who at the age of 92 can look back on his accomplishments as founder of the Leaside Skating Club. The tickets are $25 and there is more information at their website 

Second Cup loss $26.2 million in third quarter

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Second Cup Ltd. has had a $26.2 million loss in the third quarter. The loss amounts to $2.65 per share, mostly due to a $25.7-million item that reflects the reduced value of Second Cup’s trademarks. The decline in Second Cup fortunes is related to the aggresive competition of Starbucks, Tim Horton’s and McDonalds.  News release  Changes likely for Second Cup on Bayview