On Thursday, April 26th the students of Mrs. Yott’s Food and Nutrient class volunteered at Wellington Square United Church to help prepare the weekly Friday Night Community Dinner hosted by the church.
There were a total of eleven excitable students who walked from Burlington Central High School to the Church to showcase their talents in the kitchen, crafts and care packages. The eleven students that were involved in this endeavour were Alexis Ray, Kerala Mathew, Se Heon Bae, Cameron Sagar, Elissa Radanovic, Shannon Russell, Sarah Mulay, Lily Blythe, Reagan Day, Nicole Ubando and Anisa Hussein.
Burlington Central High School students prepare community dinner at Wellington Square United Church.
The eleven students helped make a variety of culinary delights including different types of cookies and muffins. “We were basically feeding an army.” Said Elissa. It was told by one of the church representatives that there would be over 300 people coming to this helpful and weekly event.
While some students were cooking away in the kitchen others were more than happy to help with the crafts. “During the tour, when my friends and I found out that the church created dolls and teddy bears for children in the hospital, we couldn’t stay away; especially since the elders making them were so kind.” Explained Shannon. The students sat there working with the ladies for a good hour and didn’t want to leave.
The students also helped organize care packages which carried five juice boxes and ten snacks for children in need. “It takes a weight off the parents shoulders financially knowing that their child has food for school.” Said Hazel another regular volunteer at the church.
There was a lot of work packed into the six hours the students spent at the church but it was pleasurable at the same time. Everyone was so engaged with helping that the time seemed to slip by quickly.
Afterwards, the students were able to reflect on their excursion and the consensus was they would love to return to the warm and caring environment to replicate their experience.
The Burlington Central High School, Food and Nutrient class would like to express their gratitude to the representatives of Wellington Square Church for making the time spent there memorable.
Shannon Russell is a very keen grade 10 student who also swims competitively at a national level. Her main interests include: swimming and hanging out with friends.
Maybe the people in the eastern part of the city are just once.
Affordable housing? The geese have made a home and are waiting for the goslings to arrive. It will be quite a show when they are born.
Whichever – there is now a pair of geese tending to the birth of some goslings outside the Fortinos off New Street.
An avid Gazette reader was in that part of town and sent us a note and a photograph of Mommy goose sitting on the nest while Daddy goose fends off any interlopers.
“They are almost at the front door of the Home Sense store
“A mama goose sitting on its nest and papa goose watching over and protecting her. Interesting watching him with keeping the seagulls away from the food that people left out for mama goose.
“I saw them a couple or so weeks ago on the top of the Fortinos, you could almost tell they were looking for a place to build a home.”
The trees are gone – and so are the geese.
The geese at St. Christopher’s United Church on Guelph Line were not as fortunate. They had the good fortune of living beside a small row of apples trees that provided them with plenty to eat.
When we eat – the waste has to get discharged somewhere and the good people at who owned the apartment next door agreed with the church that the poop could no longer get dropped on the church driveway – so the really nice apple trees were cut down and the geese found somewhere else to find their food.
100IN1DAY – looks like a type – actually is it an event being mobilized by the Mayors Millenniums Advisory Committee.
On Saturday, June 2nd, 2018, 100In1Day is coming to Burlington! The idea is to have 100 interventions take place in the city on June 2nd.
What is an intervention – it can be whatever you want it to be – the idea is to do something that will make the city a better place.
The Millennials are holding a number of meetings where people can toss around some ideas and xxx with other people.
A number of meetings have already taken place – we just got wind of this.
Those meeting dates and locations are:
Tue, May 8 6:00 PM
100in1Day Burlington Workshop #8
Centennial Pool, Burlington
Sun, May 13 10:00 AM
100in1Day Burlington Workshop #9
Brant Hills Community Centre, Burlington
You can participate in a series of community workshops designed to inspire new urban intervention leaders through active, inclusive, and engaging dialogue and activity. People of all ages, backgrounds and locations across the city are invited to attend workshops to develop their 100In1Day interventions – from idea to execution.
Imagine the possibilities for our city if hundreds of people united to participate in small initiatives to spark change. 100in1Day Burlington is part of a growing global movement that is changing how people interact with their cities.
Interventions are simple, often low-cost community projects or actions that are free, open to anyone, and designed to create positive change, like pop-up parking space parties, plant swaps and seed giveaways, alleyway concerts, community art creation and neighbourhood potlucks. Interventions like these take place all on one day, in a series of city-wide 100in1Day celebrations that demonstrate the collective power of small actions.
In the fall of 1992, six hockey wives formed BOWSER (Burlington Oldtimers’ Women Supplying Emergency Relief). Their mandate was to help the less fortunate residents of Burlington with a monthly collection of food and cash, all of which would be donated to the Burlington Food Bank. Each month during the hockey season the “BOWSER BABES” are at arenas collecting non-perishable food items and household necessities.
From the left: Louise Addison, Robin Bailey, Barb Charron, Michele Wood and Carolyn Park
Shown here are Louise Addison, Robin Bailey, Barb Charron, Michele Wood and Carolyn Park presenting the Burlington Food Bank with a cheque for $13,500 which includes the BOWSER cash contribution for the 2017-18 season. Including the Christmas dance donation, it brings the BOWSER season total to $17,075. Missing from the photo are Pat Broadbent and Michelle Koskinen
Through BOWSER, the BOHC (Burlington Oldtimers Hockey Club), members have contributed, 86,215 food and household items as well as $233,970 all donated to Burlington Food Bank for those in need. BOHC is recognized as the major contributor to the Burlington Food Bank.
Thanks go out to the BOHC members from the “BOWSER BABES” – Michele Wood, Barb Charron, Louise Addison, Carolyn Park, Pat Broadbent and Michelle Koskinen.
On Friday afternoon, there was an Open House at the Freeman Station in Burlington. Local MPP Eleanor McMahon congratulated the members of the Friends of Freeman Station on receiving a $36,100 Capital grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to install a permanent ramp to the door of the building.
“The Friends of Freeman Station is an incredible group of hard-working volunteers who are dedicated to restoring Freeman Station, a building that greatly contributes to Burlington’s heritage and culture,” said Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon. “Our government is pleased to invest $36,100, over five months, to improve the station’s infrastructure, ensuring that the space is accessible for everyone in our community.”
From the right: Brian Aasgaard, MPP Eleanor McMahon,Ron Danielsen and Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster
Aasgaard
In addition to the ramp, accessibility upgrades will be made at the primary entrance and modifications to existing washroom facilities. The Station when it is ready, will be used by a variety of community organizations for meetings; and education for students to learn about the history of early transportation and communication in Canada. And thanks to the grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, people of all abilities will be able to access the main level of the building.
“Friends of Freeman Station are thankful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and to MPP Eleanor McMahon for this grant, which will make the main level of the station wheelchair accessible, so that everyone can participate in the learning experience the station will provide. Its impact cannot be underestimated.” said Ron Danielsen, President of the Friends of Freeman.
The Friends of Freeman Station are an all volunteer non-profit charity comprised of members of the community committed to saving, restoring and repurposing the original 1906 Burlington Junction – Grand Trunk Railway Station – known locally as Freeman Station, to be an interpretive centre for the community centre.
An agency of the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is one of Canada’s largest granting foundations. With a budget of over $136 million, OTF awards grants to some 1,000 projects every year to build healthy and vibrant Ontario communities.
In a note on a web site she maintains ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward said:
“Burlington’s new official plan was adopted by council today by a 6-1 vote. Though council supported over two dozen motions I brought or co-sponsored to make the plan better, the plan as it stands represents over intensification: in the downtown, the GO stations and established neighbourhoods.
Brant street looking north from city hall.
“It will deliver a future city that erodes what makes Burlington unique and special, what we love about our city, and why we live, work, play here and welcome new residents who come every year, drawn by our great city to join us.
Scheduled for across the street from city hall.
“In the focus on quantity of people (which goes well beyond our growth requirements from the province), our quality of life is at stake.
“What’s next? The plan goes to the Region of Halton for approval. Amendments can still be made to the plan by this council – or the next – to scale it back.”
Meed Ward has said that she will be filing nomination papers as a candidate for Mayor of Burlington.
Does the arrival of spring weather have your thoughts turning to your garden? Perhaps you’re thinking of a way to incorporate native plants and don’t know where to start?
There is a workshop at Royal Botanical Gardens on Saturday, May 12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Designing Your Native Landscape workshop at Royal Botanical Gardens.
Will your garden look like this after the workshop?
You will be taught how to choose and maintain native plant gardens and what type is right for your property.
You will learn about how to work with the soil you have and how to incorporate raised garden beds into your design.
You will also have a chance to speak one-on-one with a garden expert about a plan for your property. The cost of the workshop is $40 (including HST) and includes a tour of a native garden at the Royal Botanical Gardens, a catered lunch, resources and giveaways.
The speakers include: Erin Mallon, Stewardship Technician, Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark Charlie Briggs, Staff Gardener, Royal Botanical Gardens Tara Nolan, Author and Raised Garden Bed Expert Crystal Bradford and Liam Kijewski, Native Garden Designers and owners of Wildlife Gardening Sean James, Master Gardener and owner of Sean James Consulting and Design
To attend the Designing Your Native Landscape workshop, you are asked to pre-register. You can find the link to register at the event listing on the Events Calendar at www.conservationhalton.ca/events.
The Designing Your Native Landscape Workshop is on Saturday, May 12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Classroom 5 in the RBG Centre, 680 Plains Road West in Burlington.
She is coming home, just for a few days, but she will be on the stage at St. George Anglican Church where the Lowville Festival will put on its fourth event.
Sarah Harmer
Sarah Harmer, Burlington’s own singer-songwriter, with five albums to her credit, a couple of which have been nominated for multiple Juno Awards, and a new one in the offing.
Sarah, the home own girl who never gets invited to perform in the city will perform on Friday June 8th.
The Lowville Festival is raising the bar for its fourth annual season in north Burlington’s majestic Escarpment country. This year they are presenting a couple of stellar headline attractions, Sarah Harmer and the world renowned Wagnerian tenor Ben Heppner, as well as the premiere of a new theatrical workshop/presentation by Burlington director/story weaver June Cupido.
The Lowville Festival defines itself as “a festival of all the arts for the artist in all of us”. The ultimate aim is not only to feature all of the performing, visual and literary arts, but also to provide opportunities for attendees to participate in the creative process. To that end, local singers are again being invited to join the Lowville Festival Choir, which will perform in concert with Ben Heppner.
St. George Anglican church
For their fourth season, they are using two presentation locations on Lowville’s central and historic St. George’s Anglican Church just north of Derry Road, and the Lowville United Church just south of Britannia Road. Lowville is almost equidistant from downtown Milton and Downtown Burlington, and with its magnificent and extensive Lowville Park and location on the Niagara Escarpment, is fast becoming an easy-to-get-to oasis for both Burlingtonians and Miltonians.
Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner, Canada’s leading dramatic tenor who has appeared with all of the world’s major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden and the Wiener Staatsoper. He is currently host of the CBC Radio Two’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. For this concert he will be joined by the Lowville festival Choir, which has been a highly lauded component of the Festival since its inception in 2015. This year we introduce the choir’s new director Janice Schuyler Ketchen
Truth and Illusion: Two forces present in every moment is a theatrical monologue presentation that examines how our lives can be guided by two separate forces: what lies in our hearts and souls (the truth) and … what we project to the outside world (the illusion).
This story gathering and weaving process will take you on a thought–provoking journey as we explore the stories we tell each other and how they connect us. The members of the creative team come from our surrounding communities, all with diverse backgrounds, yet each with a story that speaks to society as a whole. This will be presented on Sunday evening June 10th at Lowville United Church.
The Lowville Festival is the vision of its two Founding Co-Artistic Directors: Lorretta Bailey, a Lowville resident, has performed in musical theatre productions across Canada, including the original Toronto production of Les Miserables; and Robert Missen, proprietor of the Bobolink Agency.
LOWVILLE FESTIVAL 2018
A FESTIVAL OF ALL THE ARTS FOR THE ARTIST IN ALL OF US
JUNE 8-10, 2018
Sarah Harmer in Concert
Friday June 8th, 2019
7:30 pm
St. George’s Hall
7051 Guelph Line (north of Derry Road)
Tickets $50 advance/ $60 from June 1st
Ben Heppner in Concert
with the Lowville Festival Choir
Saturday June 9th, 2018
7:30 pm
St. George’s Hall
7051 Guelph Line (north of Derry Road)
Tickets $50 in advance/$60 from June 1st.
Truth and Illusion: Two Forces present in every moment.
Sunday June 10th, 2018
7:00 pm
Lowville United Church
5800 Guelph Line (at Britannia Road)
Tickets $30 in advance/$35 from June 1st.
Tickets will go on sale May 1st on the Festival Website
It is going to be a day when we can actually appreciate the day we were given.
We have been into spring for weeks – how any depends on which unit of measure you use to determine when spring starts and stops.
For those of us in Burlington spring has been toying with us – here for a bit then gone for a bit.
Earth Day has the sun shining and the promise of temperatures that will let one get to just a T-shirt. A day to do a check in on what we have done to this earth.
The Earth Day Network organizers have chosen to focus on plastic – it is threatening our planet’s survival, from poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our streams and landfills.
This year, spring takes place between March 20 and June 21, if you use the astronomical method.
If you follow the meteorological calendar it runs from March 1 to May 31.
A sea of plastic – everything you see in this picture is plastic floating on the water.
While back hoes and cement truck work across the property transforming what was a single structure that we knew as the Joseph Brant Museum a company called Kubik is thinking through what there will be in the way of exhibits and interpretive features that will be installed in the large xxx foot space that will be underground.
A view of the Fort Henry museum that Kubik did some work on.
Kubik has been awarded the contract to provide the interpretive design, fabrication and installation at Joseph Brant Museum. The company has done work on the Fort York Visitor Centre, Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, Wild Weather (Science North), Canadian Museum for Human Rights and Canadian Museum of Nature – Canada Goose Arctic Gallery.
An illustration of some of the dresses in the collection at the Brant Museum.
Kubik has presented a concept design that will feature central, charismatic, and dramatic exhibit hubs, timeline exhibits that will connect to central displays, over-sized interactives and immersive displays. The museum staff thinks they “ may even have a “fashion runway” in the costume gallery.
The City of Burlington’s annual community tree planting event has been tied to the annual Burlington Green Clean Up Green Up event that takes place on Saturday April 21st.
The tree planting will take place at Tuck Park, 3405 Spruce Avenue on Saturday, April 21, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Residents are invited to be a part of adding to the urban forest by planting a total of 500 saplings.
The Green Up part of the 2017 program. Tuck Park this year.
Each event will feature:
• Planting 500 saplings • Question and answer with city arborists • Stewardship and education about our urban forests
Pre-registration is not required but attendees are asked to register in advance by going to Burlington Green’s website, or upon arrival at the event. Here are some details:
• Saplings are in one-gallon pots that can be easily carried to planting spots. • No experience is needed. City arborists and planting experts will show attendees what to do. • Participants are advised to use alternative transportation such as Burlington Transit, ride sharing, cycling or other forms of active participation as parking will be very limited.
What to wear/bring:
• Check the weather and dress for the conditions. We will be outside and will plant rain or shine. • Wear sturdy footwear – no sandals or flip-flops, please. • Bring your own work/gardening gloves. • Bring your own snacks and beverages and plenty of water, especially if it’s hot. • Bring your own shovel, if possible. • Consider going green to the planting; walk, bike, carpool or use public transit. • Bring your volunteer hour form if you’re a high school student looking for volunteer hours.
Burlington is one of Canada’s best and most livable cities, a place where people, nature and business thrive but it does not have a private tree bylaw.
For details on the CleanUp part of the day go to: www.burlingtongreen.org/
BurlingtonGreen has announced that there will not be an EcoFair this year nor will there be a BBQ
April 26th, 270 Grade 6-8 students from the Halton District School Board will gather to perform and celebrate International Dance Day.
It is the 13th annual celebration and will be held at the New Street Education Centre (3250 New Street, Burlington), from 9 a.m.-2:15 p.m.
Different silhouettes of various dance poses
Students will use excerpts of spoken word poetry as source material and will reimagine the messages as movement to a shared piece of music.
The day will be divided into two sections. In the morning, students will participate in workshops led by professional dancers from across southern Ontario. Workshops include bhangra/bollywood, Caribbean jazz, contemporary, flamenco, hip-hop, musical theatre, tap and urban.
Hip hop dance
In the afternoon, Halton District School Board teachers will lead students in creative movement workshops based on the curriculum expectations and the creative process.
This year’s creative workshop theme is ‘resilience’. The students will meet at the end of the day to showcase their creations in an ensemble presentation.
Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon, President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for Digital Government, joined Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring yesterday to recognize an investment in the City of Burlington’s cycling infrastructure from the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program.
The provincial program has approved $640,298 in annual funding to support up to 80 per cent of costs associated with the implementation of eligible commuter cycling projects in the city. The money will be used to assist with capital costs to build new commuter cycling infrastructure and enhance existing cycling infrastructure.
From left to right – Danijel Ozimkovic, City of Burlington; Mayor Rick Goldring; Don Thorpe, Burlington Cycling Committee; The Honourable Eleanor McMahon; and Kendra Willard, Burlington Cycling Committee, at the announcement for the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program
A project to upgrade and extend Francis Road Bikeway from Warwick Drive to Plains Road East has been identified under the new funding. The extension is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
Mayor Rick Goldring pointed out that “ Burlington’s population continues to grow over the next 25 years, providing residents with more choices for getting around our city will be critical to ensure the success of our city’s transportation network. This funding will enhance existing cycling infrastructure like the Francis Road Bikeway and will provide cyclists in Burlington with safe and convenient options for commuting to their destination.”
MPP Eleanor McMahon, President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for Digital Government said: “Cities across Canada and around the world are investing in cycling so that their citizens have access to safe routes to work, to school, for recreation…” The key word there is “safe”.
In 2016, the City of Burlington became a Bicycle-Friendly Community in 2016, receiving a silver rating by the Share the Road Cycling Coalition.
The survey ends at midnight. Takes two minutes to complete.
• Currently, the city offers the following cycling infrastructure: • 48 km of bike lanes • 47.3 km of bike route streets • 6.4 km of bike lane/sharrow streets • 11.7 km of paved shoulders • 52.5 km of multi-use paths adjacent to the road • 31.6 km of paved off-road, multi-use paths
The readership survey will close Friday – at midnight. Takes two minutes to complete.
By Pepper Parr
April 6th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
What happens when a couple of “toffs” who both have British accents talk to each other?
You have to watch these two and wonder what music can do to grown men.
Once they get past the music – Paul Copcutt, a personal brand consultant, has a really interesting conversation with James Burchill during one of those Coffee Confidential interviews that Burchill does while tootling about the city in his Smart Car.
Interesting to hear them talk about how they use their accent to leverage their presentations.
Copcutt talks about what a brand is and what it isn’t and Burchill is merciless when he describes how he evaluates the marketing efforts of some corporations. Withering – but very true.
Copcutt throws in a nice little discount for his service near the end of the interview.
Burchill has been doing these interviews for a number of months; worth tuning into.
It is a series of work references the graphic elements of traditional board games. She uses the design of the games to explore the relationship of shapes and patterns while keeping her palette to one of primary colours.
Images of old photographs are collaged into the works transporting the viewer to more nostalgic times when games were the entertainment for kids and families with cousins and grandparents.
Survey closes April 6th – takes two minutes to complete
Reception April 8, 2018 2-4pm Exhibition continues until May 27th
Teresa Seaton Studio & Gallery 652 Spring Gardens Road, Burlington ON L7T 1J2 Gallery Open Thurs – Sun 11am – 5pm
This year, the Burlington’s Best Committee received 30 nominations in eight categories, besting the total number of nominees from last year.
Nominations were accepted Jan. 2, 2018 through Mar. 7, 2018.
Burlington’s Best Awards is an awards program that honours Burlington’s most outstanding citizens. The winners in all categories will be revealed at a gala celebration on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
Tickets to this event are $35 per person. A dessert reception will follow the awards ceremony. Tickets can be purchased at the Service Burlington counter at City Hall, 426 Brant St., or by contacting Wanda Tolone at 905-335-7600, ext. 7458 or wanda.tolone@burlington.ca.
One winner will be selected in each of the eight award categories. This year’s nominees are:
Citizen of the Year
• Osob Adus
• Jason Stajan
Junior Person of the Year
• Kathleen Burgess
• Carter Creechan
• Chloe DeMers
• Aleksandra Srbovska
• Addison Wood
Senior Person of the Year
• Jennifer Earle
• Frank Miele
• Mae Redford
• Paul Tomlinson
Environmental Award
• Gloria Reid
Arts Person of the Year Award
• Teresa Seaton
• Jonathan Smith
Community Service Award
• Carol Baldwin
• Elizabeth Barrowcliffe
• Laura Clark
• Julie Cordasco
• Yanet DeLeon
• Louise Donnelly
• Knights of Columbus
• Kim Moss
• Rory Nisan
• Tracey Oborne King
• Belinda Roberts
• Jill Stickney
Heritage Award
• Louise Cooke
• Friends of Freeman Station
Accessibility Award
• John Krasevec
• Bill Murray
For more information, visit www.burlington.ca/best.
They are Burlington musicians doing a gig in Hamilton April 14th.
Live Chamber Music Series will be holding their second concert of the season featuring Andrea Battista on Violin, Phillip Corke on Guitar and Irish Bouzouki, Karen Gross on Mezzo Soprano
Trio Sorbetto: Cristina Sewerin on Oboe, Elizabeth Day on Clarinet and Larkin Hinder on Bassoon will be part of the performance.
The concert is presenting three 17th century composers, one from each of Scotland, England and Ireland.
Philip Corke arranged the music; Karen Gross is doing a great job of interpreting them.The words of some of the songs are very timely and the music is charming.
Hamilton Mennonite Church, Saturday April 14th, 2018
The headline read: Want to know everything Google knows about you?
It was part of a Saturday morning CBC radio program Day 6. Incredible, frightful and not really a damn thing you can do about it.
They know it all – and they will sell it to anyone who will pay the price. That includes political organizations; national brand advertisers and literally every police or security authority out there.
We have set out a transcription of the conversation that is to be broadcast.
It is between Ireland-based data consultant and web developer Dylan Curran and Day 6 host Brent Bambury, who is interviewing Curran, who explains, step by step, how anyone can check what information Google has on them — from where they’ve travelled to their political views and even which stickers they’ve used online.
The broadcast of course doesn’t have any visuals. Those can be seen at this link:
You can follow Curran on Twitter at: @iamdylancurran
It’s no secret that Facebook and Google collect data from people who use their services. But Curran was shocked by just how much he found about himself on Google.
He talks with Day 6 host Brent Bambury about why companies like Google store so much personal data, and what it could mean for the future.
Brent Bambury: What prompted you to look into how much data Google has collected about you?
Dylan Curran:I was on Twitter one Saturday, a little bit hungover — I have a life — and this person had essentially posted a thread, which was very similar to mine, but all they were going through was the Facebook data rather than the Google data as well. They showed that Facebook was storing your phone text messages or phone call records, and these collections are external to Facebook so they were storing things that they didn’t need to store. And then after seeing that, and seeing the shock that so many people were experiencing, I decided to go in and do a little bit of investigation myself and compile it into something that people could easily read.
Brent Bambury So what other types of information were you able to find out had been collected about you online?
Dylan Curran: Oh God, so much. Number one was that they were storing Google incognito history. So if you were using private browsing, where they don’t track your data, they did actually store it. So, say your wife wouldn’t be able to see what you are doing in Google incognito, but Google will. And number two, they were mapping out your location every time you turned on your phone. So if your location setting is turned on, Google will log your location every time you turn on your phone. They store that and then they’ll basically put it into a big database and you can go onto maps.google.com/timeline and see where you’ve been for the last four or five years.
Brent Bambury At the end of six hours how many gigs of information did you have that Google had on you?
Dylan Curran: We don’t have the lady’s name.
Dylan Curran: Facebook has 600 megabytes and Google had 5.5 gigabytes — which, for context, is about three million more documents.
Brent Bambury Now, if Google is storing that amount of data for every person who uses a Google product or a Google app, that’s a lot of raw data. How is it all stored?
Dylan Curran: I did an estimation where around 2.2 billion people — 70 per cent of the internet— use Google, and this is conjecture, but I would say [they are storing] on average maybe one gigabyte per person. So if they have 2.2 billion gigabytes, that’s 2.2 exabytes. That’s three per cent of the world’s online storage.
Just try and keep in mind that everything you do online does leave a footprint and it will be kept forever.
Brent Bambury How much does it cost to store three per cent of the world’s online information?
Dylan Curran: Because of economies of scale, it’s quite easy for them to store. Google makes on average $12 per person for their information, and the cost of storing it, I would say, is less than a fraction of a cent.
Brent Bambury You said that Google’s making $12 per person through our data. How did they monetize it into a profit?
Dylan Curran: What they essentially do is they take your information and then they build an advertising profile based on you. Advertisers pay to use that advertising profile to target you with the products and services that they want to sell you.
Brent Bambury People were shocked by the amount of information that you uncovered that Google had on you. What are the implications of all of this, of these private companies having so much data about so many people?
Dylan Curran: My problem really is that we don’t know the implications. So I have no doubt that Google, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, etc., aren’t doing anything too nefarious with the data. I don’t think that’s what’s happening. It’s just that they are cataloguing all of this information. So if Google has information on a third of the population on the planet, down to everything they’ve done for the last 10 years, that does have a lot of negative connotations for the future. Especially in an ever-changing world. I do strongly believe that it’s safer just to not have that kind of potential bomb available. I think it can be a little less extensive.
Brent Bambury: But there doesn’t seem to be a clear way of opting out. I mean, even if people change their privacy settings, is there any way of escaping having your data collected by Facebook or Google?
Dylan Curran: No, that’s the thing. These are free services, and I don’t have any problem morally or ethically with them collecting information in return for using the service. They’re companies and they’re trying to make money. What the issue is, really, is that they’re just collecting too much. They’re going too far.
What people can do is just be a little bit careful online. I’m not suggesting to delete Facebook or delete Google or anything like that. Just try and keep in mind that everything you do online does leave a footprint and it will be kept forever.
The transcript has a note saying: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The full Day 6 broadcast can be heard on CBC Saturday morning at 10 am and then found on the CBC archives.
The Gazette is now in its seventh year of publication.
We first hit the streets, via the Internet, in October of 2010 – that was an election year.
For a short period of time we were known as Our Burlington – I didn’t choose the name.
The paper came out of a friendship with the late John Boich who was working with a number of people on creating a better way to deliver local news. In the early stages the people behind that initiative were thinking in terms of getting low frequency radio license – that wasn’t something I was interested in.
The Shape Burlington report had just been published – Boich and former Mayor Walter Mulkewich were the authors of hat report which, in part said:
Engagement: Transform the City Hall culture to promote active citizenship and civic engagement
Promoting active citizen engagement and meaningful public dialogue requires a culture shift at City Hall. A crucial first step is the development an Engagement Charter – a plain language policy document developed with public involvement that incorporates benchmarks and accountabilities, and describes the value, purpose and opportunities for citizens to influence city policies.
The charter would explain how to navigate City Hall and its services. It should stipulate best practices for various kinds of public consultation and affirm the city’s commitment to inform citizens and respond to their ideas and contributions. t would address the question of reaching out to a diverse population.
The charter would incorporate an early notification system to provide citizens and groups information about meetings, events and issues, and to allow reasonable amounts of time to understand, discuss and develop positions before decisions are made.
I managed to convince Boich that a newspaper on line was the route to go – the Executive Director of the non-profit he had set up wasn’t a newspaper person. Boich asked me if I would put together a business plan –
I did – and he said – great – make it happen.
And that was how Our Burlington came to be.
I soon realized that “Our Burlington” was not a fit name for a newspaper and chose the name Gazette for two reasons: Burlington once had a print newspaper called the Gazette and the first photograph I had published as a boy 12 was on the front page of the Montreal Gazette – I also delivered that newspaper as a boy.
When I started the Burlington Gazette I was pretty sure the editorial model I had in mind would work – but it needed to be tried to be certain. The model works.
We have had our ups and downs but the readership growth has been consistent; not massive but consistently incremental.
So who reads the Gazette?
As many readers know we are in the midst of running a readership survey. The practice going forward will be to do a new survey every month – shorter next time; three maybe four questions.
Here is what we can tell you about when the Gazette is read:
Just over 40% of our readers are daily readers. We notice that during the winter a decent number of “snowbirders” read us from the United States – we don’t know which state they are reading from – just US of A.
There is more in the way of readership from Hamilton and Toronto than we expected.
The data show in the graph above is “raw” in that we don’t tell you which ward those readers live in. we will include that data in the full report which we will publish when the survey is closed. We wanted the survey open for at least 15 days. The Sunday readership is always quite high and we want to keep it open beyond the Easter holiday.
Koogle Theatre has been putting on superb theatrical productions in Burlington for at least five years.
Each summer they do a production that invites young people to a workshop where they can get a sense of what they have in the way of talent and how they might fit into a planned production of Bye Bye Birdie
The workshop/auditions take place from 9:00 am-12:00 pm for Ages 8-12 and from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm for Ages 13-18 – both on Saturday May 26, 2018
There is a workshop/audition fee of $25 before May 1, $30 as of May 1
Audition Workshops are for the Koogle two week Youth Musical Theatre Summer Intensive that will run during July of this year.
By Shannon Russell
Shannon Russell is a very keen grade 10 student who also swims competitively at a national level. Her main interests include: swimming and hanging out with friends.
On Saturday, June 2nd, 2018, 100In1Day is coming to Burlington! The idea is to have 100 interventions take place in the city on June 2nd.
Interventions are simple, often low-cost community projects or actions that are free, open to anyone, and designed to create positive change, like pop-up parking space parties, plant swaps and seed giveaways, alleyway concerts, community art creation and neighbourhood potlucks. Interventions like these take place all on one day, in a series of city-wide 100in1Day celebrations that demonstrate the collective power of small actions.
The Earth Day Network organizers have chosen to focus on plastic – it is threatening our planet’s survival, from poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our streams and landfills.
It is a series of work references the graphic elements of traditional board games. She uses the design of the games to explore the relationship of shapes and patterns while keeping her palette to one of primary colours.
Nominations were accepted Jan. 2, 2018 through Mar. 7, 2018.
Heritage Award
Live Chamber Music Series will be holding their second concert of the season featuring Andrea Battista on Violin, Phillip Corke on Guitar and Irish Bouzouki, Karen Gross on Mezzo Soprano
It is between Ireland-based data consultant and web developer Dylan Curran and Day 6 host Brent Bambury, who is interviewing Curran, who explains, step by step, how anyone can check what information Google has on them — from where they’ve travelled to their political views and even which stickers they’ve used online.
Brent Bambury: What prompted you to look into how much data Google has collected about you?
The transcript has a note saying: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The workshop/auditions take place from 9:00 am-12:00 pm for Ages 8-12 and from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm for Ages 13-18 – both on Saturday May 26, 2018
