11 Ways You Can Beat The HOV Lane This Summer In Toronto

High Occupancy Vehicle lanes have emerged in Toronto in preparation for the much anticipated Pan American Games. The lanes have been created to facilitate the traveling to-and-fro of athletes to their respective venues; but they have left Toronto commuters up in arms in a divisive way between those who see no problem with it because they live in the city and can bike to work, and those who are forced to commute via vehicle to work.

In the spirit of this contentious issue, and the vitriol it has drawn, here are some ideas for things you can do to beat the HOV lane:

1. Run a 3-way Skype/Face-time call from your car to muster up the 3-occupant minimum, then jerk the car on to the HOV and step on it.

2. Start your own morning show--live from the middle lane, churning out your own conglomerated news on traffic, moment-to-moment weather, and political commentary, particularly regarding the Pan American Games and Toronto's facilitation thereof.

3. Ditch your car on the shoulder, after flagging down a couple on their way to work, and car pool via HOV the rest of the way.

4. Turn the shoulder into a kiss 'n ride parking lot and begin a self-organized campaign to reclaim the HOV through spontaneous car-pooling (similar to 3, but slightly different).

5. Leave an hour or two earlier to beat the rush of traffic to work--not as exciting as numbers 1-4, but somewhere in here must sound the call of reason.

6. Car pool with people from your workplace or friends, etc, to, again, reclaim the HOV.

7. Order up some official Team Canada uniforms (or, really, your team of choice), and infiltrate the team bus--depending of course and your proximity to the venues, the logistics of getting from point A to B could present a number of hiccups, monetary and otherwise.

8. Place an ad on Kijiji or some other social network to see who's travelling from where to hitch a ride with, forming, again, a car pool.

9. Find an alternative route into or out of the city on Google map.

10. Start a highway vending service for the massive line ups on the Gardiner--this is a booming business in the making, and any entrepreneur worth his or her guild should have a business model right now ready to implement.

11. Those allowed on the HOV lanes are: emergency vehicles, taxis, electric cars with 'green' license plate, and motorcycles. So... a) Know anyone with an emergency vehicle willing to give you a lift to work? If yes, problem solved; if 'no', then b) rent an electric car till August, if unfeasible, then, c) borrow your cousin's Harley and learn to ride by doing... If too dangerous, then d) refer to numbers 10 and above.

Beat The Disney Selfie-Stick Ban With These 4 Awesome Alternatives

Disney has joined a trend of prohibiting selfie sticks at its theme parks, citing safety and obstruction concerns. Other venues part of this growing prohibitory trend include the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, all 19 Smithsonian museums and galleries, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, Rome's Colosseum, Brazilian soccer stadiums, the Kentucky Derby, the Wimbledon tennis championships, and the Lollapalooza and Coachella music festivals, according to USA Today.

The Dangers of the Selfie Stick PSA

So if you're going to these venues, what are some alternatives to the selfie stick? Here are a few:

1. Podo Bluetooth Camera:

It's a small camera with a sticky backside that can be affixed to any object, and connected through bluetooth to your phone. Make a Photo Booth anywhere.

2. Moondog Labs Anamorphic Adapter Lens

This is a lens that connects to your camera to make your stick-less selfie include more people. It's small, portable, and easy to use. Included in this is the ability to make horizontal flares like those in Apocalypse Now. A much better alternative to the selfie stick: compact, less cumbersome, and won't get you kicked out of the theme park.

3. Friend: 

This is a great alternative to the selfie stick, though it's totally retro as to be almost antiquated: You can have a friend or someone else take a picture for you. 

4. No selfies Pls: You know you can just enjoy the environment around you. Have you ever noticed that when you're taking selfies or even pictures in general, your experience is always mediated by a lens, and therefore obscuring your view of reality. Along with that is the overall pressure to get a good shot, better angle, proper lighting; and sometimes getting the right photo can compel you to act idiotic in public, like lying on your back under your child while he's eating an ice cream by a dino exhibit or other strange contortions. Relax, leave your phone in your pocket, and just enjoy.

8 Reasons Why Google's Undo Send 30 Second Time Limit Is Absolutely Not Enough

1. It takes at least 5 minutes just to calm down after being insulted, or having your toes stepped on, by your colleague--or worse yet, your employer.

2. You could be distracted by a pot catching on fire or your child running onto the street or another call coming in, the duration of which can easily extend beyond 30 seconds leaving you stuck.

3. You don't have time to realize, after gloating to your spouse or colleague about the snarky reply you just sent, how completely moronic and overreacting you were. 

4. You were, sadly, too intoxicated while writing the email, the sensory-motor delay from which exceeds the 30 second maximum limit. 

5. 5 seconds? How can you make a decision in 5 seconds to 'undo send' an email? And 10 seconds is a joke--if you are so unsure about what you're writing, maybe you should spend more time on the front end of the email and not so much worrying time on the back end.

6. You're really really angry--I mean super angry--and it takes you 30 minutes, not 30 seconds just to cool down. There should be an added feature for those with anger-management issues, like a 60 minute mercy-delay.

7. You actually should have sent the email, but the 30 second limit made you panic, you chickened out, and retracted it. If you had had more time, you probably would've stuck to your guns and let it ride.

8. We're giving Google false accolades if we accept 30 seconds: "Thanks, Google, for these most merciful 30 seconds to retract our own words! How sagacious, munificent, benevolent! What would we do without you?" A bit silly, don't you think? There should be choice--greater choice: set it for 5, 10, 15 minutes!

To be a bit more serious here, we all need a little grace sometimes; and there are many actions in life for which we'd like a second chance. The fact is, we're all running too hard, too fast, and not taking our words enough into account. We let our emotions run wild, and we haul off and send someone a whole lot of vitriol for no reason; or, we have reason, but know that the situation could be handled differently if we went about the conflict a different way. The key here should be caution up-front when composing an email. If you're upset, give yourself time to cool off before you send something reactionary. 30 seconds is not enough time after the fact, but you can give yourself much more than that before you place your fingers on the keys. 

4 Things We Can All Learn From Jake Lloyds's Reckless Driving Arrest

Jake Lloyd was arrested last week after being charged with reckless driving over a police chase in South Carolina last week. Under the alias 'Jake Broadbent,' the 26 year-old former child actor was being pulled over when he sped up, started passing cars along a double-line, and charged from pursuing police at speeds over 100 mph, according to CNN. The car eventually went off the road, through a fence, and crashed into a clump of small trees. After the photo was released, it was confirmed through Lloyd's talent agent, that indeed it was the child-actor in who played young Anikan Skywalker in Star Wars Episode 1. 

Here's what we can all learn from this situation:

1. Running from police typically ends badly: Think about it, do you really want to be pursued by police? What's your plan--drive like crazy and pray you don't hit someone, or get killed driving 100 mph into an oak tree? The police, by virtue of numbers and technology (such as helicopters) have the advantage anyway: outrun one, there'll be more; and they'll be coming at you from all directions--conversely, there's only one of you, and you can only move one direction at a time. As well, when you're caught--hopefully that rather than being killed--you'll just have more charges against you. Best to just take the heat, pull over, and be done with it.

2. Running from police is a criminal offence: According to Canadian Law: Every one commits an offence who, operating a motor vehicle while being pursued by a peace officer operating a motor vehicle, fails, without reasonable excuse and in order to evade the peace officer, to stop the vehicle as soon as is reasonable in the circumstances. And this offence is an indictable one liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5-years. 

3. If being pulled over, simply do the following: 1) pull over as far to the right as possible, and as quickly as possible--you'll be showing courtesy, while being closer to the place where the infraction supposedly took place, 2) roll your window down all the way, and place your hands on the steering wheel--don't fumble around your pockets or glove compartment, for that might make the officer anxious. 3) Let the officer speak, and answer curtly--don't make long statements that could give the officer leverage for further penalty. If you're charged, accept it, and go to court if you believe you're innocent. 4) keep it all as short and smooth as possible. Don't argue, don't try to make sweet talk--just accept what's happening and plan your next moves when the heat goes away. 

4. Be merciful: This is a bit out of left field, but it's easy for us all to be judgemental when we see the roughed-up face plastered all over the news of a former child-actor arrested for doing something foolish--but we all have bad days, and do foolish things; the difference between someone like Jake Lloyd and us is we're unknown to the larger public, and thus our infractions are much less profile, and not divvied up among voracious paparazzi and scavenging news services for cheap thrilling stories. Lloyd retired from acting at the age of 21 after years of being bullied at school and unable to "fit in"--not to mention the 60 interviews a day as a child. We don't understand the stress of being a childhood movie star, especially for something as stellar as a George Lucas film--too big, too fast--but it's something we should weigh against Lloyd's reckless driving offence and have some empathy for. According to Wikipedia, Lloyd studied psychology and film at Columbia College in Chicago, and at one point was working on a documentary of Tibetan refugees in India seeking refuge from malevolent Chinese. Hopefully he can get all this past him, learn from it, and move on into some good work. 

5 Things The Golden State Warriors Can Teach Us All About The Power Of A Million-Person Parade

Today, a crowd of reportedly 1 million people showed up to celebrate the 2015 NBA Champions, the Golden State Warriors. But why would so many people show up at a parade? 

Here are some reasons why everyone needs a celebration parade:

1. Life's tough: There is so much suffering in the world, that life can get us down. We need celebrations in our lives; we need times to spend celebrating life together and having joy.

2. We seek community: We live in a selfie-world. I was in a meeting once with the heads of one of the world's largest technology companies in the world. Their long-term vision was to ensure that everyone on the planet would not leave their computer screens, but could access anything they needed, from food to clothes to bathroom supplies--and this company would be responsible for providing the technology to do it. But while we sit at our computers and take pictures of ourselves, posting on endless yet empty Facebook feeds, we really yearn for community; we really yearn to have shared experiences with others around shared values--even something as flimsy as allegiance to a sports team. Such experiences fill a void in our lives. 

3. Our world is growing more structured: We spend most of our time inside artificial environments, with little time to actualize who we are and do the things we love to do. Some will claim they love their jobs, but that is not the norm; many of us are in situations in which we feel repressed, imprisoned, and subjugated by. We want to get outside and run, but only have 15 minutes to do so. We yearn for experiences that give us opportunity to scream and shout and cheer and touch our inner children. 

4. Sports parades are vicarious experiences: We watch sports partly because we yearn to be super-human; we not only want to watch our sports heroes, but inside we still want to BE them. They inspire us as people in the ways they push beyond physical and mental limitations; their victories over opponents give us hope that we can defeat ours; their failures give us hope to rise above our own. A sports parade is thus a celebration of our ideal selves--those parts of us that yearn to rise above our circumstances, to take hold of the trophy and hold it high, and, ultimately, to be bathed in the validation and applause of those around us.

5. Solidarity: Our sports team's victory is our victory, and we want to celebrate with them. In those moments, we are no longer ordinary people, but raised to the level of champion. We are in solidarity with the athletes who struggled, failed, failed again, and ultimately succeeded. We are in solidarity with our fellow humans who are that team's fans, and thus our circle of friends grows from a handful to a crowd-ful. It was like the night the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series for the first time; my friends and I were watching the game at the (then) SkyDome on the Jumbotron. When the game was over, we all walked up Yonge Street--an ecstatic throng of fans giving highfives all the way up the street; prior to that, I had never felt so connected to people, and had never shaken hands with more people in my life. That night, amidst the blare of horns and uproarious shouts, we were all champions!

7 Things To Do With Your Time Now That The NBA And NHL Championships Are Sadly Over

It is the end. . . of NBA and NHL championships; and the anti-climax of it all has slouched over into a kind of shocked numbness: what am I to do now? You feel an emptiness inside you can't quite touch--but it's there. The elation, the jolts of emotion, the upswings and hard collapses, the frustration and the transient justice--all the drama of it all, gone! 

So, really...what now? What are you going to do now that you've crawled up from the dregs of your man-cave, brought your jowls out from under the play-off beard to soak in the light of a new day, and emerged to the rest of the world that's been running while you've been away? 

Here are some tips:

1. Reacquaint with your loved ones: Life is so busy during playoff season: you work all day, race home, devour your food, and either rush to the nearest watering hole or down to your man cave, or cozy up on the couch; and the only words out of your mouth are grunts, groans, and roars. Now's the time to look your loved ones in the face, say "How ya doin'?" and ask what's been going on in their lives for the past two months: 
"Is that a new hair style? Love it!" 
"I've had it for the past two months!" 
"Where's Timmy?"
"He's sitting right next to you..."
"Oh--I didn't recognize him! I thought it was the neighbour's kid and wondered what he had done with our son...." 

2. Get outside: We live indoors, in artificially lit worlds of air conditioning, carpet off-gassing, pallid walls, and foamy cubicle surfaces (does anyone else see the irony of that?) After work, you go from there to a bar or home and subject yourself to more screen time. Your body isn't meant for that. Get outside: take your kids out on their bikes, take the dog out for a walk, dust off the fishing rod and do a little fishing--anything. Planning a camping trip can be wonderful to get some callous back in those hands softened by sweaty lager glasses.

3. Cool down on the alcohol: Alcohol consumption is commonplace among sports fans; but if you've been drinking most nights, whether alone or with your friends, it's wise to take a little time off from it. Part of the let-down from the playoff completion is not getting that fix of alcohol when you're used to it, which may compel you to continue drinking even when there are no games on. If you feel you need alcohol to unwind or to spend time with a loved one, you have an alcohol dependence issue. The first step is to stop for a while. But if that's nearly impossible for you, then you should seek some help before it gets worse.

4. Read books: Ya ya, I know--not the same as the drama of a game six Stanley Cup Final, but it'll make you smarter and able to sleep better. As my last post showed, reading books stimulates brain activity, which heightens your intelligence and ability to create new ideas. As well, given that LED screens can impede sleep patterns, reading a book while trying to fall asleep at night is a sure-fire way of getting relaxed enough to drift off (The key to the perfect book before bed is one that is a) long-winded enough to bore you, but b) just interesting enough to keep you focused, if only merely). Imagine how many books you could read in the time you spent watching NBA and NHL playoffs? 

5. Tally up the hours: This one may be depressing: Tally up the number of hours you spent watching playoffs, and get a gut-read on it. Now write down all the things you could've been doing in that amount of time. If getting a PhD degree or running a small business through start-up into maturity come up, maybe you need to rethink things.

6. Ask yourself if there's something wrong with spending hours watching other people do stuff: That's the one thing about sports-watching that's unsettling: that you're sedentary while those on the ice or court are getting paid millions to do stuff. What could you be doing? Why is it fine for someone else to be having fun while you're not? Sure it can be entertaining; but what if your time spent could be used to benefit yourself, your family, or society at large? 

7. Reevaluate for next year: Yes, this may be the most boring 3 months in all of sports--that gaping lull between the hoisting of the Stanley Cup and the drop of September's first puck--, but it can be a time of reevaluation: how will you orientate yourself to sports next year? Will you spend as much time watching it, or will you do other things instead? Is it worth all the mindless hours when there are myriad other things to do with your time? Perhaps it's all fine, and you watch moderately; but if there is a part of you stirring around and feeling like you've wasted half your life in the bar or in front of the screen, then maybe you're telling yourself something.

5 Totally Easy Things You Can Do Today That Will Make You Smarter

We are living in a world of information that travels faster every day. And in such a world, intelligence, smarts, wit, knowledge--whatever you may call it--is paramount.

Many people were damaged in school and believe themselves to be average intelligence or below; but there is no real evidence that proves it--even IQ tests are highly contestable! The thing is, we all have amazing brains, and can achieve more than we think is possible. You can increase your smarts, and here are some tips to do that:

1. Think growth: Psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford has written about two different mindsets in people: fixed mindset and growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset enter new challenges and environments with a sense of fear, insecurity, and doubt; they tend to focus on the negatives and believe they are "too dumb" to do something well. But those with growth mindsets, enter new experiences and challenges with a sense of wonder, curiosity, and vulnerability: "Quantum mechanical analyses of renaissance art? Don't know what the heck that means, but it sure sounds cool!" The key is that anyone can have a growth mindset simply by switching gears in one's thinking. Instead of entering a new challenge in dread, tell yourself how cool it'll be to learn. And, the other key to a growth mindset is the phrase 'not yet': "I may not be able to succeed yet, but with hard work, I will." You see, growth mindset folks believe not in smarts, but in hard work in achieving their goals; and they know that doing something hard will stimulate and thus cause more neural pathways in their brains. Want to begin now your journey to being smarter? Just start believing you will!

2. Read different things: Being smart is usually linked to one's ability to speak about or comment on a variety of things; but it really has nothing to do with being smart, but more to do with just taking time to read. For those of you who need new ideas for your jobs, it's important to read a cross-section of news sources, books on various subject matter, and even watch lectures on stuff you know nothing about. With generating ideas, you're only as good as your last scan of information. Take time out of your day, at least an hour, to research news and read books and watch lectures and TED Talks. 

3. Document: This sounds more serious than it is--it's simply keeping a journal. No, not a diary, but a journal. There was a study done in which university students who wrote notes long-hand in class had much greater retention than those who typed on computer? Journaling has been used by great thinkers, artists, innovators, and business leaders for hundreds of years. The key is to write down your reflections on experiences, things you've read, and, importantly, your new ideas and insights. As you're writing things down, go back over them and read them again and again--you'll keep track of your ideas and be in a position to let them grow and develop further.

4. Research learning techniques and choose two you like: There are all sorts of learning techniques out there that will stimulate your brain and allow you to retain more information, from luminosity to superlearning. Some you'll resonate with and others you won't--the key is to give two a try and see how they work for you. You want to try out more--try more! Learning is a continuous journey: something that didn't work for you in your twenties may suddenly have greater significance and 'stickiness' in your forties.

5. Do creative stuff: The psychologist, Carl Jung, maintained that creativity is to the soul and food is to the body. The problem is, we often don't incorporate much creativity in our daily lives--especially not like we did when we were kids! Here's something crazy enough to be fun: bring a set of watercolour paints to work and when you're working on ideas, draw and watercolour them! If that's anathema, ask yourself why that is--is it just your assumptions about what work is, or is it actually something written down as policy (which I highly doubt: "Thou shalt not use watercolour in any work-related idea generation or documentation..."). Try resetting your office space; or create a studio at home. Always wanted to get into sculpture? Do it. Want to take piano lessons? Do it. Want to connect more with the stuff you loved doing as a kid? Do it. Want to start a garage band at 55? Awesome. You'll find that by exploring and delving into different parts of yourself will cross over into other aspects of your life. 

This hardly scratches the surface of things that can make you smarter; but I hope it gets you on the path--if for whatever reason you've ventured off. This could mark a new day in your life--I truly hope so.

Steve Jobs's Secret of Life And What It Can Mean For YOU

There is so much negativity in the world; and we see it everywhere in our news stories, social networks, on the streets and in our office buildings. But how does one of the most brilliant innovators in history perceive such negativity? 

A Secret of Life From Steve Jobs: 

"When you grow up you, tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.” 

And so is the secret of Steve Job and his infamous claim of putting a dent in the universe. 

We can get so bogged down by the daily news, the commentaries, red herrings and red flags; but what Steve Jobs did better than most was show that beyond all that, one can fulfill one's dreams; that one can rise above circumstances and create something that has never been done before. Steve broke many rules, and changed the course of history. He didn't let things around him get the best of him; instead, he realized that it was all, in his words, "made up by people no smarter" than he was. 

All of us have been put here to fulfill a purpose, a dream. It will not be like Steve Jobs--that was his dream and his life--but it is unique to YOU. Don't let life get you down. Keep striving, keep hustling, stay on the move, and push toward your dreams. You can make them happen. Along the way, make sure you're kind and loving to those around you; and take others with you on your journey through mentorship and inspiration. 

And through all that, we'll find Hope in this world; for as we all know, Hope goes a long way in trying times...

What Star Wars, Jurassic World, And Planet Earth 2025 All Have In Common

The world is awash in news, some worthy and others mildly entertaining, still others, well, trashy. Reading a newspaper used to take about half an hour; now, reading the news is more like trying to walk the GTA in a day, or eat every course of food at the Mandarin buffet--at some point, you've got to skip over a lot.

Today, there are many many stories of interest, but for our purposes here, I chose a few that were interesting, intriguing, and even somewhat weird. Here they are:

1. Jurassic 2025? 

The new Jurassic Park movie is about to hit theatres; but the veritable Jurassic Park is about to come to life in 2025? According to an article at Kurzweilai.net, we are closer to "de-extinction" than many of us realize. One method is called CRISPR, which is simply altering the genetic sequence of living organisms' genomes to take on the genomes matching their extinct relatives. And with the breakthroughs in biotechnology and genetics, many claim that we are a decade away from extinct organisms being brought back to life. Of course this raises some series ethical concerns, such as the impact of such beasts on various ecosystems, which nations would house such creatures, and who would pay for the damage caused by them. One question that was not mentioned in the article, was what if such beasts were given over to corrupt governments? Suddenly a Star Wars scenario of armies going into battle on Mammoths and T-Rexs is no longer science fiction. 


2. New GPS Technology: 

There is new GPS software that can locate areas within centimetres, and could also power virtual reality, and create highly accurate drone delivery systems in which packages can be positioned on a specific spot on someone's back porch. The centimetre-accurate GPS-based positioning system will also allow for highly accurate collision-avoidance on vehicles. What comes to mind for me is these technologies are becoming so accurate and so powerful, yet placed on devices that are growing smaller, where will this technology be in 10 years? But what about the ability of humans to simply navigate terrain without such technologies? Do we know how to find our ways around without GPS? Do we know how to intuitively find short-cuts or quickly grasp our surroundings without checking our phones? And what if during an emergency the kill switch is pulled on all devices? How will we navigate our surroundings then? The technology is promising, but there is an underlying threat as well.


3. Pope Drives A Hyundai? 

Remember when Hyundais were the butt of all car jokes? Remember the Pony (I still wonder who was in the room of execs when that name was decided upon...)? Well, Hyundai has become, as we all know, one of the great come-back stories in automobile history; and now we find that Pope Francis himself has turned in the bullet-proof Mercedes for a non-bullet proof Hyundai Santa Fe. Apparently, according to the story, Francis is seeking a vehicle that will speak to his humility and socialist leanings. But I see something else here--a deeper meaning perhaps to the choice, for there are many different brands of vehicle he could have chosen to represent him. A quick look at Wikipedia reveals this interesting choice: Santa Fe is the capital city of New Mexico, and means "Holy Faith" in Spanish. But it gets more interesting here: "The city's full name when founded was La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís ("The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi"). So here is Pope Francis driving a vehicle named after, well, the Great Saint Francis (of Assisi) himself. 

We are living in very strange times, from highly precise GPS systems that will now be able to tell us the exact location of a de-extinct T-Rex, to the Pope driving a Hyundai. It's all very weird indeed, but one thing we can be certain of--the unpredictable... 

What Do Apple Music, Robot-Fueled Unemployment, and Bioartificial Replacement Limbs Have In Common?

We live in a complex world--a world of risk, unpredictability, disruptive technological change, and socio-political brittleness. And while we cannot possibly drink the firehose of information that gushes every minute on our Twitter feeds, it's important to stay informed of current events and their ramifications for the future; it's a way we can be better able to mitigate risk in our lives, hope for the best, and plan for the worst.

Below are a series of news stories that hit the internet feeds today all of which are important to follow and consider the ramifications of. 

1. Building and Transplanting a Bioengineered Forelimb: As noted on Kurzweilai.net,

Cells injected into a decellurized rat limb, giving it shape and structure.

Image from KurzweilAI.net

 A team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has made the first steps towards developing bioartificial replacement limbs suitable for transplantation. In a Biomaterials journal report, the researchers describe using an experimental approach previously used to build bioartificial organs to engineer rat forelimbs with functioning vascular and muscle tissue. They also provided evidence that the same approach could be applied to the limbs of primates. 

The article noted that the complexity of human limbs makes it challenging to use bioengineering for human body parts; however, the results of these experiments are steps in the right direction. Imagine what creating bioartificial replacements will do; and of course those replacements could be bioengineered to be stronger, more adroit--not unlike the Million-Dollar Man of the tv series. 

2. Social Unrest to Escalate as Robots Fuel Unemployment: 

Johann Rupert. Image from Forbes

Billionaire and founder and chair of Richemont, Johann Rupert (whose made his money selling Cartier, Montblanc, and Chloe) claims that we are in for mass unemployment in the coming years as robots take over the majority of manufacturing jobs, according to Bloomberg. Such technological changes will destroy the middle class and lead to class envy and systemic conflict. We've covered this before in the autonomous tractor-trailors that Daimler has recently unveiled. Some people today criticize this notion of mass unemployment as being alarmist, but look at what cheap labour has done to places like Michigan. Is a robot any different? Such claims were also made by the National Post today in which Suncor has announced its new fleet of autonomous heavy haulers in areas north of Fort McMurray--the rationale being to cut costs and boost productivity in light of the year-long plunge of oil prices. 

3. The Future of Music is $10 a Month: 

Apple released today features of its new i0S9, one of which is Apple Music coming June 30th: a service in which you will be able to access Apple's massive music library, along with a couple of other features, such as a social networking app--like MySpace only for music--in which artists can share their stories, photos, videos, etc. They are also offering a family plan (up to 6 members) for only $15. It's coming to iTunes, Apple TV, and even Android and PC. Wired Magazine is calling it one of Apple's biggest moves yet. The big move here of course is that now you really don't own your music. By signing up, you're paying for a streaming service. Sure you get tons of music, but for the money, you don't own any of it. The control lies in Apple's hands. A fine trade-off for all that music? We'll see...

These may seem like unrelated stories, but the insights are in the conclusions you can draw by sewing them together and asking questions like, What would a world look like in which you didn't own anything, your job was replaced by robots, and there were bioartificial limbs for the ultra-wealthy? What kind of world would that be? And what kind of choices should I be making right now? Look into upgrading my skill set? Start a business? Buy a record player and some vinyl? That's how you start to get a bit of a picture of the world we're living in and what's unfolding...

5 Reasons You've Got To Take A Road Trip This Summer

It's 4:30--am. You've wakened the kids, the van's packed, and you're ready to hit the road. Maybe it's west, maybe it's east--either way, you're ready. 

The kids take a few minutes to wake up--minor groans--but then they're wired up as if having downed a 500ml Coke-float. They're excited, dawn is a couple of hours away, and you're ready to hit the road--or at least the first Tim Hortons...

Sound like fun?

Here are reasons why you need to take a road trip with the kids this summer:

1. Bond with your spouse and kids: With many households being dual income, and kids in school, there is very little time during the week to be together: a couple hours at night, then the weekend spent grocery shopping, carting kids to sports, etc. Taking a long road trip keeps you all in a rather small space for an extended period of time, allowing you all to bond in a different way than normal. 

2. Take a risk together: The risks of a road trip may be minimal, but the sense of adventure can make it seem riskier than it is, and this can also create bonds. We get closer to people when we take a risk with them and have a shared experience. There are all kinds of things that can happen on a multi-day drive: pit stops in shady off the highway diners, driving through new cities at night trying to find the hotel, enduring a noisy nights sleep, etc.

3. See new things: We take the same routes to work, shop at the same stores, watch the same TV shows--or repeats of shows--, and eat the same meals--all of which can be pretty drab after a while. Getting out on a road trip can throw you off your routine, which may be disquieting at times, but is good for balancing yourself out. Can't find Whole Foods off the Trans Canada in Manitoba? Might just have to eat that veggie burger at the A&W and be thankful. It's not the Asian salad with goji berries and chia seeds, but it'll have to do.

4. Endure the discomforts: Often our busy schedules keep the discomforts of parenting at bay: Teachers handle our children's poor behaviours, the TV takes over when they're home, and the soccer coach gets their beans out on Saturday morning that usually lasts for a good chunk of the day. To be in the car or van with your kids and really be present for their needs, regardless of how demanding and even annoying, is good for you. Kids need the presence of their parents, and parents need to be needed by their kids. When there's no one left but you, and you've got to man and woman up, you're strengthening your role as a dad or mom.

5. Create memories: Being in a crammed van on a hot summer afternoon barrelling through the wheat fields of Saskatchewan with Carrie Underwood blasting, ice cream running down the arm of your 3 year old and into the awaiting wagging tongue of your dog while your other two kids are fighting over a video game can create strong memory. But these are memories that last a long time. We've bonded, taken risks, travelled cross-country, seen new things, and endured a lot of discomforts, all making our return home that much sweeter, and the stories of our lives that much richer.

6 Ways To Increase Your Privacy Online That You Now Really Have To Read And Put Into Practice--If you Haven't Already

We are living in an age of transparency; and if you don't know that yet, a quick glance at the daily newspapers will give you enough material to chew on for the next year. 

The sad thing is, those born in the 70s and even the early 80s have a sense of what it means to live a life of privacy--prior of course to the internet explosion of the 90s and the surge of mobile technology in the first decade of the 21st Century. But now, we're in a new era, and privacy is rapidly fading into oblivion. 

Some of the tips below are more effective than others; and they certainly do not cover off all the various ways to reclaim a sense of privacy (and for every precaution there are dozens more snares). 

So what can you do to maintain a semblance of privacy? 

1. Get off social media: This is an extreme act, but if you're looking to retain an element of privacy, this is a sure-fire way to do it. You've still left a trace behind, for everything you do on social networking sites are recorded and stored, but you can stop the merry-go round and get off.

2. Disposable email addresses (DEAs): These are great to use, they are anonymous and you can dispose of the when you're done using them. One of the biggest ways to maintain privacy is to keep your email address free from spammers. Unfortunately, there are many sites that request an email address to proceed, hence the benefit of a good DEA.

3. Virtual private network (VPN): A VPN hides your IP address--that code that locates where you are while online, and runs all your online data through a secure and encrypted virtual tunnel, which is important for keeping your information private, and prevent websites from tracking you online. Some require a small subscription fee, so it's best to shop around.

4. Remove cookies: This is a simple procedure, and it certainly doesn't prevent your private information from being hacked, but it will prevent websites from following you around tracking how much time you've spent on a website, what you've clicked on, etc. You can remove cookies from your browser's preferences, but you can find other apps to ensure a thorough clean up.

5. Alternative search engines: The big popular browsers are not going to offer a lot of security (such as Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer) you can find alternative browsers that place a premium on privacy.

6. Avoid clouds: Many people put documents, emails, and other important information on the cloud (this will be the default form of memory storage that will in the next few years lead to the phasing out of hard-ware computers as we know it), but it's not safe. Who's reading your information? Where is it being stored? By whom or what? These are questions you need to ask yourself before you engage in any cloud storage systems.

There are many more ways to look into if you're concerned about privacy. The best way is to ditch technology altogether, but we are living in a world in which the ramifications of that outweigh the benefits. 

What We Can All Take Away From Tracy Morgan's Recent TODAY Interview

Tracy Morgan's first interview after the fatal limo-bus crash that took the life of his friend and mentor comic, James McNair, and left Morgan in a coma for two weeks before waking up to realize the malady.

The accident occurred when Morgan, McNair, and some other friends were returning along the New Jersey Turnpike and their limo-bus was rear-ended by a Walmart truck, the driver of which had not slept for over 24 hours and was travelling 20 mph above the speed limit.

Here's what gives us pause: the importance of getting enough sleep, especially when operating any kind of vehicle. 

Driving under sleep deprivation is tantamount to driving drunk. If you are operating a vehicle, no infinite number of Skittles and cans of Red Bull will do the trick. It's best to pull over and rest (a 15 minute nap is a major brain booster and can restore the nerves fried out from lack of sleep) rather than push the pedal to the metal and hammer down another energy drink.

And just because it sounds like a freak accident with Morgan, it can happen to any of us when we get behind the wheel. 

When you're leaving your cottage up north and it's already 9:00pm and you're staring down the barrel of a 3-hour drive home, it's probably best to call it a night and leave at dawn than risk falling asleep at the wheel. 

Moreover, many highways are boring straight runs, which are not stimulating enough for the brain, a result of which you go into auto-pilot and then start dozing off.  Again, it's better to pull off the road and take a rest rather than risk your and someone else's life.

Morgan's life will never be the same: "Bones heal, but the loss of my friend will never heal."

We all make choices in life; and we can choose the right ones. If you're feeling sleepy and at all concerned for the safety of yourself and those in your vehicle, let someone else drive, or take a quick nap to refresh yourself.