It’s the interview, 21st century style. Over the last week, Lori and I have participated in a few discussions with fellow blogUT-er and now also UpbeaT blogger Cynthia… over MSN. You can read the resulting conversations over at UpbeaT, where the first installment has already been posted.

In North America, Science Fiction has gotten a pretty dreadful reputation. Not that that’s surprising, considering how much of it deals with scantily-clad princesses hatching evil plans to dominate planets whose names invariably start with the letter “x”. Still, although it’s hard to believe, there is some good Sci Fi out there. This keeps the genre’s staples – aliens, new abilities, time travel – but uses them as nothing more than a backdrop to explore something a lot closer to home. By placing its characters in situations where normal moral guidelines, like legal codes or religious commandments, cease to be applicable, these books, movies, and TV shows take a look at how we treat each other and those who are weaker, more frightening, or simply different. They examine what makes us tick, and test how our decisions and relationships fare under pressure. And, since they’re Sci Fi, the tend to be pretty cool and entertaining too.

The problem is, if you don’t want to get stuck watching the exploits of evil Queen Zelda on planet Xanthon, you need to know where to look. To help you out, here is a beginner’s guide to Sci Fi books and TV shows that will entertain you, make you think and, best of all, won’t embarrass you. Even a little. (more…)

It’s a really cool concept. An anti-website. Its creator writes:

Web pages are funny things. They try their hardest to get whatever the creator wants to say out to as many people as possible trying every tactic to attract and hold on to visitors…Typically. But of course I just want to be different. I’m not going to give you any information. I’m not going to try to sell you anything. I’m not going to preach anything. Because I’m different. I’m also going to ask you to be different, too. You see, a website that does not deliver information is useless. But like I said, I’ve washed my hands of that job and I’m leaving it to you. I want YOU to talk to me.

So go ahead. Tell me something interesting. Tell me about how your day went. Tell me about ancient Roman trade routes. Tell me a funny joke. Anything at all. This is your website now and I am your audience.

The offer to rant about Roman trade routes to a total stranger was just too good to pass up, so I typed in a message (to my surprise, one fairly free of all things Roman). It’s an interesting feeling, writing at an unresponsive conversant behind a – literally – black screen. Something almost Big Brotherish, but even more strangely, voluntarily so. It’s also very therapeutic. You can rant all you like and know that someone will read your message, without having to worry about ever knowing their response or being judged.

Once I submitted the message, the website gave me a link to what it calls its “multiplayer version,” Two Cans and String (I’m not going to link to it: that would ruin the fun!). From the looks of it it seemed to be Asdfjkl;-meets-PostSecret, but it was unfortunately much less exciting than either one. The questions that people have submitted are petty and not interesting enough to answer, and at the time of this writing, the response to my question has yet to arrive – which is much too slow to keep my attention.

Yup, it’s that time again. Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day. It’s the day when we take stock of the dusty environmentalist resolutions we made last year and, shaking them off, dutifully recycle them for the coming one and make new promises: how we WILL use reusable bags and cups, we WILL use public transit, we WILL turn off the lights, we WILL use cold water to do our laundry. Or, going with the Earth Day Network version, how we will help create a billion acts of green, how we will make the no coal call, how we will help bring healthy food to our schools, and how we will promote environmentally aware attitudes on campus. Hopefully, it’s also the day when we get to pat ourselves on the back for the goals we did accomplish.

Either way, whether they’re rewards or reminders, there are a few events around Toronto celebrating Earth Day 2009. Tomorrow seems to be a day for corporate promotions: Starbucks lovers can bring their travel mugs to any participating Starbucks to be filled with free coffee, and Brita is giving away free water filters at Young Dundas Square (and you thought Christmas was commercialized!). Meanwhile, the city’s celebrations are happening this weekend. There’s the 20-Minute Toronto Makeover, where you are asked to contribute 20 minutes of your time to clean up your neighbourhood. More exciting is the Green Living Show at the Direct Energy Centre at the Ex, featuring green products (including new prototypes and designs), advice for an earth-friendly lifestyle, film screenings, speakers, entertainers, and more. It also features the 5 km Earth Run-Walk, benefiting ACER, The David Suzuki Foundation, and Evergreen. If you want to contribute but don’t feel up to doing the run, you can also always support these foundations’ teams.

What: Green Living Show
When: Fri., April 24, 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Sat., April 25, 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Sun., April 26, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Where: Direct Energy Center, Exhibition Place
Cost: $10.50 (online and mobile), $12 (at the door). Special prices for passes for multiple days. See their website for details.

What: 5km Earth Run-Walk
When:  Sun., April 26, 8:00 AM (Registration), 9:00 AM (Run)
Where:  Direct Energy Center, Exhibition Place
Additional info: please register if you would like to run.

What: 20-Minute Toronto Makeover
When: Fri., April 24, 2:00PM-2:20PM
Where: Anywhere you want!

Image from here.

The past few days have been absolutely beautiful – the perfect weather, in fact, to explore the city. That is, if you know where to go. We all know about the ROM and Ontario Place, but Toronto’s real beauty lies in its colourful neighbourhoods. There’s nothing quite like picking a street, and wandering around to see what you’ll find. To help you decide where to go, I’ll be posting a series of articles on the best places to wander and explore in Toronto, starting with The Distillery District.

This is absolutely my favourite place to be in Toronto. A set of renovated and refurbished distillery buildings, this pedestrian area is beautiful and charming, and worth seeing if only for its wonderful architecture (think Cannery Row North). The majority of the space is taken up with art galleries, artsy shops, restaurants, and cafes. Its incredible atmosphere, mixing the old, the cultured and the new, makes it a place that can’t be missed, whether you’re new to Toronto or have been here for your entire life. (more…)

We hope that our campus is safe, and living in Toronto that’s not a hard assumption to make. However the truth is that emergency situations can happen anywhere and at any time, and we have to make sure we’re prepared for when they do. To that end, U of T has set up an emergency alert system that would send notifications to your cell phone in case of an emergency or crisis on your campus. Their website informs me that the system is run by the university Crisis Management Team with guidance from the campus and Toronto police, and confirms that your phone number will only be used for emergency or test messages, so you don’t have to worry about spam.

The program is opt-in, so make sure to register your cell phone number.  If you have a campus direct-dial landline then your number is already in their database, but you might want to register your mobile as well. The program is free, but keep in mind that your carrier may charge you for the incoming message.

It’s been a while since 2004′s How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, but U2′s latest offering, No Line on the Horizon, is well worth the wait. It is a wonderful album, but very different depending on how you listen to it: as an album, or as a collection of songs. As an album it is truly “Magnificent,” blending the sounds that we expect from U2 with the experimentalism added by producers Brian Eno and Danny Lanois to create a series of delicate, beautiful, and meditative soundscapes. As a collection of songs, it is weaker. Some are brilliant, but others miss the mark. (more…)