A new app called Parkarr is intended to match up people seeking a street parking space with those who are leaving. It will work if departing drivers take the trouble to alert the system that they are leaving. Parkarr was created by a New York woman, Robyn Gerber, who got the idea from her father. He puts a piece of paper on the dash showing a smiley face if he is leaving that day, a frown if he isn’t. Parkarr shows parking spaces within a 20-block radius with the forthcoming vacant space — as indicated by departing driver — in turquoise. No car information is exchanged until both drivers accept, and the app works on an honor system. As you pull into a spot, the person pulling in has to say if it was successful or not. So far, 1,000 people have signed up for the app in New york. But what if several drivers arrive looking for the same spot?

See later post

Volvo says its 2017 models will come without keys. Instead, owners wlll get a digital key app for their phones which permits them to do everything with their phone that they can with a key. Volvo is boasting it is the  world’s first car manufacturer to do this. It claims digital keys do everything a conventional key can do — unlock/lock the doors, open the trunk and start the engine. But, hey, customers who don’t want to deal with a digital version of their key can opt for a traditional key.

STOLEN PHONE?

Digital key users will be able to receive more than one key on their app, Volvo says, allowing them to access different Volvo cars in different locations. For example, the company says people could potentially book and pay for a rental car anywhere and have the digital key delivered to their phone immediately. Consumerist online asks the question about possible theft of the phone. Phones are much more likely to stolen or forgotten than deep in the pocket car keys. The service will pilot digital keys this spring in Sweden.

A Canadian man and woman, 50 and 45 years, are in hospital in stable condition and a 15-year-old boy thought to be their son, is in critical condition in Hawaii following the crash of a tourist helicopter at Pearl Harbor. The names have not been released. See video.

In Thorncliffe Park, police are looking into the stabbing of a man., 47, in an apartment at 71 Thorncliffe Park Drive. It happened about 12.45 a.m. Saturday and the victim is said to be in critical condition.

And CUPE local 79 and the City have agreed to extend negotiations an additional 24 hours as they work to a avoid a strike.

Time flies, especially when you’re spending money. Try to believe it was on this day 20 year ago the first Canadian two-dollar coin was launched into circulation Since then the durable two-tone deuce doubloon has become a valued friend to Canadians in need of metre-money or a main-lined solo-long espresso. Almost 883 million of the coins have entered circulation The toonie features the image of a polar bear on one side, and like all other current Canadian circulation coins, has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the other.

TOONIES LAST 20 YEARS

The discontinued two-dollar bill was less expensive to manufacture, but each bill lasted on average only one year. Toonies, on the other hand, are durable as the deuce (sorry). They last 20 years. The introduction of the toonie followed the successful introduction of the $1 loonie coin in 1987. That coin must be counted as an enduring success.

COMMON LOON

The loonie’s rather embarrassing beginning is disappearing into history. It was first intended to carry the image of a Canadian voyageur but the original plates were lost in transit. Not to encourage counterfeiters, the Canadian Mint just moved on to a picture of the common loon. It seems to have worked.  The Mint abandoned plans for a possible $5 coin to replace the $5 bill a decade ago, after a government-commissioned poll found almost no support for such a move, despite the savings to be had.

Watch as this helicopter accident happens in a split second. It hardly seems possible that the chopper could fall so quickly. Tourist Shawn Winrich was taking photos of Pearl Harbor when he saw a helicopter “essentially coming straight at us” at the popular Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,  tourist destination. He switched to video, recording the helicopter’s dramatic drop into the water below.

VISITING CANADIANS

The family of four visiting from Canada and the pilot on board made it out, but one passenger — a 15-year-old boy who was trapped underwater and had to be cut free from his seat — remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday. No identities have been released

 

The Toronto Zoo’s 11-year-old female rhinoceros Ashakiran, gave birth to a male calf on Wednesday, February 17th at 9:42 pm. He is just about as cute as an English bulldog. The Bulldog likes its funny looks and wishes a similar satisfaction for this little guy.

A company called Bullwheel International Cable Car Corp.is proposing to build a cable car system across the Don Valley from the Evergreen Brick Works to a newly-built platform on the edge of Playter Gardens Park, which overlooks the valley. It is seen as an all-season service which might carry as many as 1,500 passengers on a summer weekend. After lift-off from the Brick Works, the routing appears to take the line over the unpopulated Don River shores to the “Danforth Station” platform at the park. Playter Gardens is on Cambridge Ave.

SHORT WALK TO DANFORTH

From there it would be a short walk to the Danforth and the Broadview subway station. Happily, the line doesn’t propose to run under the Bloor Viaduct. This is a Toronto Star special which has been in the works for a number of days it seems with prepared responses from the Mayor, Councillor Fragedakis and others. They see it as a nice addition to the city’s “transit”. It is suggested the cable car could be running in as little as four years and that the cost would be $25 million. It is not exactly stated but the reasonable assumption will be that this is Bullwheel’s tab and not the city’s. although as in all such appealing ideas it is good to be on guard. Some will note that the service would run across busy roads — the DVP for one  — and the meaning of that to safe driving might be discussed.  Some artwork