In The News

Luminato festival celebrates whistleblowers

Salon Wednesday, June 19, 2013

As part of the weekend's kick off to the Luminato Festival, the nine-day cultural festival celebrating creativity, New York performance artist Laurie Anderson looked into the crowd at David Pecaut Square and yelled "Let's hear it for the whistleblowers!"

It is this vivid imagery that launches an article that appeared in Salon, documenting the Toronto performance called Greetings From the Motherland and its enthusiastic crowd. Anderson's piece featured an experimental affair that put the current Edward Snowden whistleblowing case into a "dark, timely context" with an interview conversation with Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei projected via Skype across the square.

Salon reporter Mike Doherty describes a "gleaming-eyed" and "exhausted" Anderson after her show as he chats with the artist about her admiration of the significant--though illegal--importance of opening up dialogue. But it is her reasons for choosing to exhibit her performance in Toronto that is especially unique.

"Not that Anderson is trying to tell anyone what to think: she chose to present the work in Toronto, whose Luminato Festival commissioned it, in order to find a "neutral area" – easier said than done, given the long reach of the NSA," Doherty writes.

The interactive exhibit simultaneously projected translations in Chinese and English, and featured software "that creates a new relationship between words and imagery," according to Luminato's website. It is one of many unique exhibits taking place across Toronto this week.

Read the full story here.

Original source: Salon

Embracing different ethnicities in Toronto leaves British writer confused

The Telegraph Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Toronto's multiculturalism left one British writer slightly confused about the city's curiosity for heritage. While visiting Toronto, Daniel Rouse met people from all over--Croatia, Ireland--and eventually began to wonder if Toronto lacked pride in its own Canadian identity.

However, he reports that he soon realized much of this stems from an honest place and after speaking with local residents and shop owners, a great story of our city unfolded. He describes his experience in article that appeared in the Telegraph.

He speaks with Jim Dai, originally from Shanghai, who has owned a small Portuguese wholesaling shop in Little Portugal for the last 10 years. Dai talks about learning English while working in a restaurant, and later picked up Portuguese simply by interacting with his suppliers and customers.

"Because I'm talking to the Portuguese people every day, maybe I just pick up one word; and the next day, the same word again – repeat, repeat, repeat, and then you remember," Dai tells Rouse.

"Dai was keen to stress that he’s not alone in this. There are shop owners in the other areas of Toronto -- like Little Italy, Little India or Greek Town -- who are speaking the language of the local immigrants," Rouse writes.

Rouse writes of how people adopt many different cultures in Toronto, a contrast to his life as "a mere unilingual."

Read the full story here.

Original source: The Telegraph

Toronto one of the world's top 10 most competitive cities

Citi Group Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A new report solidifies Toronto's ranking as one of the world's top 10 most competitive cities, at least until 2025.

The report, entitled Hot Spot 2025: Benchmarking the Future of Competitive Cities, was commissioned by Citi Group and released by The Economist Intelligence Unit. It examines 32 indicators for each city, which are divided into eight categories and then assigned weights.

Notable categories include economic strength (GDP, income levels, pace of growth) constituting 30 per cent of the weight, physical capital (infrastructure, transit, telecommunications) at 10 per cent, human capital (skilled labour, sizable working age population, opportunities for women) at 15 per cent, global appeal (attracting international business) at 10 per cent, and social and cultural character (such as freedom of rights) at five per cent.

Cities were also ranked on a number of sub-indicators, including quality of physical infrastructure, taxation, government effectiveness, presence of crime in the society, risk of natural disaster, and environmental governance.

Toronto was the only Canadian city to break the top 10, holding steady from its same position last year. Vancouver fell five spots down to 28th and Montreal fell eight spots down to 36th.

"North American cities dominate the list of the most competitive cities in the 2025 Index. Six of the top 20 are US cities: New York (1st), Chicago (9th), Washington DC (14th), Los Angeles (17th), San Francisco (18th) and Boston (19th). One Canadian city, Toronto, falls into the top 20, ranked at 10th," the report says.

An additional aspect of the report looked at cities in the Index based on regional diversity, economic important and size of population. Toronto was one of 15 North American cities to rank, this time joined by Montreal and Vancouver.

New York continues to reign supreme as the world's most competitive city. The report indicates the city has made significant gains in all areas except environmental governance, but there are action plans in place to remedy this by 2030.

Read the full report here.

Original Source: Citi Group

Living life "on the edge" in Toronto

Dunstable Today Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The latest tour guide to Toronto comes via a UK publication that seems to have gotten the inside scoop, highlighting Toronto's trendiest places to eat, stay and play.

"Toronto is a city of distinct neighbourhoods, each with its own atmosphere and sense of community. I spend a leisurely afternoon wandering around the boutiques, cafes and galleries of West Queen West, where walls adorned with graffiti coexist happily with upscale clothes shops and boutique hotels," says an article that appeared in Dunstable Today.

From Dufflet Bakery to the St. Lawrence Market, the article paints a romantic picture of a city that comes alive in the summer. The best view is from the CN Tower's Edge Walk. "From my vantage point high above the city, I can see many of the city’s most famous sights. To the south, ferries chug gently across Lake Ontario to Centre Island, a haven of rural tranquillity just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto."

"And while it’s easy to find all kinds of cuisine, as befits the world’s most ethnically diverse city, the food scene seems to come into its own when dealing with local Canadian produce. With a slight shift in recent years away from fine dining and towards informal, seasonal eating, the city is packed with top-notch restaurants where the food is the star."

Union on Ossington comes highly recommend. " Try the elk sliders, the sticky ribs or head over on a Sunday evening for the 40 Canadian dollars (£25) prix fixe menu." The Lavender Lemonade available at the Drake's Sky Yard, "the rooftop patio bar of Toronto’s hippest hotel." Cocktail Bar on Dundas West also gets a mention, as well as accolades to its sister bar Black Hoof.

"It turns out that Toronto doesn’t just provide a little something for culture-lovers, epicures and thrill-seekers; it has the power to turn any of us - even me - into all of them."

Read the full article here.

Original Source: Dunstable Today

CNN interviews George Stroumboulopoulos about new American show

CNN Wednesday, June 12, 2013

George Stroumboulopoulos's new weekly late night show Stroumboulopoulos debuted on CNN this past weekend. Filmed before a live show in Los Angeles, the show varies slightly from his current spot on CBC's the George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, shifting the focus instead to Hollywood stars and pop culture icons.

CNN interviewed the Canadian broadcaster about his new show and how it differs from what he's done here in Canada, most notably in Toronto via his previous stints as a MuchMusic VJ and radio broadcaster. They also asked him about how he got to where he is today.

Growing up in Toronto, Stroumboulopoulos's uncle often read newspapers with him and took him to see films.

"My family was really into that so we just talked about what was going on in the world and somehow I ended up in this job," Stroumboulopoulos says of his roots in Toronto.

"It's a super immigrant family that I'm a part of, so there's a lot of differences of opinions and a lot of connection, assimilation, trying to hold onto your own culture, your own identity. All of those things were sort of happening in my family and in my neighborhood as I was growing up. It was a very ethnically diverse neighborhood and I think growing up in that environment helped me be a curious person. Helped me want to learn different cultures and different ways of looking at the world."

CNN asks a few stereotypical questions about Canada before launching into the more interesting question of Strombo's plans to include Canadian guests.

"You can't do an interview show with celebrities or others without having a whole bunch of Canadiana because there's SO MANY OF US down here," he says. "There's so many of us! Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Ellen Page, Martin Short, Howie Mandel. You start going down that list - CNN's Ashleigh Banfield. Invariably you will come across them. So, yes, there will be some of that. The Canadiana just will come out in its own way - in its natural way."

His first show featured many of these Canadians including Martin Short and Keanu Reeves.

Stroumboulopoulos airs on CNN Fridays at 11 p.m. EST.

Read the full interview here.

Original Source: CNN

UoT prof and startup CEO to discuss future beyond keyboards at San Fran conference

VentureBeat Wednesday, June 12, 2013

University of Toronto professor and CEO of digital makeover platform ModiFace, Parham Aarabi, will head down to San Francisco next month to speak at the MobileBeat conference on the mobile user experience and the future of mobile keyboards.

In an article he wrote for VentureBeat explaining the basis of his talk, Aarabi looks at intelligent touch screen devices and dynamic keyboards, which change based on probable letters. But what he's most fascinated by is the world "beyond keyboards," which makes up the backbone of his current research at the University of Toronto.

Extended Touch is a technology that turns any surface into a keyboard just by placing a mobile device on it.

"…A user can tap a location on any surface that a mobile device is placed on, and based on the unique vibrations and sounds, we detect the exact location tapped," Aarabi explains. "Although the core tap detection technology works reasonably well, there are several important challenges that will need to be overcome. However, it is possible in the future that such an interface (i.e. typing on any surface) combined with a probabilistic keyboard will make a viable method for text entry."

Aarabi is developing this technology alongside a team at the University of Toronto's Mobile Applications Lab (APL). He believes this technology will influence everything from presentations to the creation of novel musical instruments and game interfaces.

Check out the full article here and learn more about APL here.

Original Source: VentureBeat

The Modern Home Tour comes to Toronto this weekend

Canadian Architect Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Get a peek inside some of Toronto's most creative homes this Saturday as The Modern Home Tour Toronto makes its debut, giving residents the opportunity to explore some of the city's most architecturally interesting modern homes. Six houses are confirmed thus far, but the tour hopes to feature up to ten.

Among the included homes:

"Canada's premier garden guru" Marjorie Harris will show off her "outdoor oasis," as described by the Modern Home Tour's website. Located on Albany Avenue, the home features an indoor dining room designed to "retain the airy, outdoor quality of a deck perched inside a garden." Architecture by: PLANT Architect Inc.

Now for an "urban oasis," a lower penthouse loft located on King Street East promises to delight viewers with its open layout that "highlights the south-facing wrap-around terrace." It features industrial influences and minimalist charm. Architecture by: re:THINK Design Studio.

Additionally, there's an "exclusive peek at a brand new property in Trinity Bellwoods Townhomes, "a development of 45 modern homes in downtown west, designed by Richard Wengle with Cecconi Simone." As well, "a new home in the Pelham Park area, built in 2009 by Weiss Architecture & Urbanism Limited to replace an old Vatican-style home destroyed by a four-alarm fire in 2008."

Tickets are $30 up until 8 p.m. on June 7 and $40 if purchased on the day of. The tour has partnered with the Red Door Family Shelter, a non-profit organization that helps get homeless families back on their feet. "They will help staff the event and use the tour as a fundraising vehicle," a press release says.

Read the full story here with additional information here and here.

Original source: Canadian Architect

ROM recognized as one of the world's most spectacular museums

Emporis Wednesday, June 05, 2013

The Royal Ontario Museum has been named one of the world's most spectacular museums by Emporis, a global Germany-based company that collects data on publically and economically valuable buildings. Museums were reviewed and selected by a jury of "building experts" from Emporis.

The report aims to look at the museum itself as a contributor to "the breathtaking symbiosis of exhibits and architecture," and cites museums among "the most impressive buildings of our time."

The selection featured 15 museums from Austria to Qatar. Here's what was said about the ROM:

Museum design allows architects to play with a very wide range of architectural forms and styles. This can be seen for example in Daniel Libeskind's deconstructivist works such as the Jewish Museum in Berlin or the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. His asymmetrical structures of iridescent steel and glass, with sloping floors and walls without right-angles, attract the attention. That an empty architectural shell can draw crowds all by itself was demonstrated by the 350,000 visitors who came to marvel at the Jewish Museum even before it opened.

Famed architect Frank O. Gehry, originally from Toronto, was also recognized. The report states:

The most prominent example is star architect Frank O. Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao, a building that stands like no other for this new understanding of museum architecture. The shiny silver monumental sculpture was the principal reason for Bilbao's transformation from a small industrial city into a major international center of art, a transformation that has come to be known as the "Bilbao Effect." The building continues to this day to influence the architecture of many a 21st-century museum.

Read the full report here.

Original source: Emporis

Toronto one of eight potential rivals to Silicon Valley

The Herald Sun Wednesday, June 05, 2013

California's Silicon Valley has long been known as the world's innovation hub. It is home to the headquarters of some of the world's top tech companies, not to mention a plethora of startups. But other cities are beginning to catch up and challenge Silicon Valley as a sole destination.

Australia's the Herald Sun has published a list of eight destination sit says could potentially rival Silicon Valley. Among it: Toronto.

"Nicknamed Silicon Valley North, Toronto has reigned as the undisputed capital of Canadian Innovation for the past decade. With just over 600 new start-ups, the country’s largest cluster of research producing universities and some gloriously deep venture capitalist pockets, you can guess why," the article says.

"In September 2012, the federal government set aside US$400 million for private sector VC funds and promised the business development Bank of Canada another US$100 million for investment opportunities."

Though New York, Boston and Waterloo don't make the list, The Herald claims they're fierce competitors to Toronto's role in "startup ecosystems of the north." It says more work needs to be done if we want to play on the global stage, though it places us in higher regard than other growing hubs including Berlin, Bangalore and Moscow.

Read the full story here.

Original source: The Herald Sun

Toronto to host creation of world's first "human heat map logo"

Venture Beat Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Arts and culture festival Luminato kicks off in two weeks and with it comes the opportunity to participate in the world's first "human heat map logo," an augmented reality exhibition that will turn a virtual gallery into a heat map recreation of cosmetics company Lancôme's rose logo.

The virtual gallery is made visible through an app created by San Francisco company CrowdOptic. The app works when attendees point "their phones at different places around David Pecaut Square to see a 'virtual gallery' not visible to the human eye. Augmented reality works by displaying layers of computer-generated information on top of a view of the physical world," an article in Venture Beat reports.

"As people explore the virtual art pieces, a heat-map will be created displaying where they are and what they are looking at it. When the event is over and people are done using the app, what they will leave behind is an entirely new type of digital art: a giant, crowdsourced version of the iconic Lancôme rose spanning the length of an entire city square. It will be an enormous, virtual mural of sorts that each person has individually contributed to, just by participating."

The apps unique analytics-based approach allows it to "track and object as it moves," which turns people into "personal jumbotrons," according to CrowdOptic's Jon Fisher.

The experiment is part of "20 Bloggers for a Rose: The Lancôme Virtual Gallery," an extension of the Lancôme-sponsored photography exhibit "Roses By." It will run from June 14-20 at David Pecaut Square located in front of Metro Hall.

The article does not mention why Luminato has been chosen as the place to debut the human heat mapping technology. Does anyone know? Please comment below.

Read the full story here.

Original source: Venture Beat

UK looks to Ontario for university fundraising ideas

The Guardian Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Canada's university fundraising culture is 20 years ahead of the similarly minded UK system, making our top universities an ideal fundraising case study, according to an article in the Guardian.

Writer Andrew Derrington is the executive pro vice-chancellor of humanities and social sciences at the University of Liverpool. He recently toured numerous Canadian universities as part of the annual CASE fundraising study tour, which takes academic leaders from the UK to Canada to study fundraising practices at notable institutions. McMaster University, the University of Waterloo, the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier University participated.

The tour capped off with a visit to UoT's Mississauga campus where Derrington says he learned about the university's $2 billion Boundless campaign from Gillian Morrison at the central campaigns office. "The biggest in Canadian university history, this campaign is directly linked with academic mission, and shows that smaller universities can have no excuse for lack of coherence in their campaigns," Derrington wrote.

At McMaster in Hamilton, Derrington learned about the "three main actors: development professionals, donors and academic leaders." Touring the schools and chatting with key academic figures prompted Derrington to conclude that the UK could learn a lot from Canadian universities--both from our successes and our mistakes.

He predicts that if the UK were to adopt some of our practices, "An average sized, middle-ranking British university should be able to get to a point where they are raising £5-10 million per year from philanthropy within five to 10 years."

Read the full story about Derrington's tour here.

Original source: The Guardian

New tall building guidelines designed to protect skyline view

Metro News Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The city of Toronto released updated city wide Tall Building Design Guidelines on May 8 calling for tall buildings "to coexist with the rest of the city, by preserving certain views, honouring neighbourhood context and pedestrian experience," as summarized in an article that appeared in Metro News on Monday.

The updated and new guidelines build on design criteria first established in 2006, which initially prompted "push back" among the design and development communities, Ward 5 Etobicoke-Lakeshore Councillor Peter Milczyn, chair of the planning and growth management community, told Metro.

Metro writes, "The latest effort come [sic] after six years of watching what worked and didn’t work in the past. The general content is similar to existing planning documents, with more specific language and changes based on feedback from developers, ratepayer’s groups and citizens. One of the changes is a call for shorter base buildings, Milczyn says."

The new guidelines place an emphasis on neighbourhood consistency. If there's "a consistent height to neighbourhood buildings, the base of a tall building should be aligned with those. If there isn’t consistency, a building’s base should be 80 per cent as tall as the adjacent street — so that the opposite side of the street will have at least five hours of sunlight during the spring and fall equinoxes. If the building is located on a particularly wide street, the base height would be capped at 24 metres, or seven-storeys for a mixed-use building. The cap is new."

Additional information on the new guidelines, including a greater emphasis on heritage buildings, can be read in Metro's story here.

To read the guidelines as issued by the city, check out the report here.

Original source: Metro News

How to act like a local in Toronto, Aussie style

News Australia Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Australia's news.com.au often releases travel guides on "where to eat, drink and dance like a local" and this week centered on Rome, Wellington and Toronto.

When it comes to dining in Toronto, "eating like a local is like travelling the world, one country at a time." The article recommends Kensington Market for Spanish Tapas, Queen Street for Korean and the east end for "authentic Indian or Pakistani cuisine."

It gets a little more specific in the drinking department, claiming, "Drinking in Canada is all about the sports bar." It hypes Real Sports Bar & Grill and The Queen and Beaver as the best establishments in the city, and mentions Queen St and the club district as the go-to dancing spots, though it doesn't name anywhere in particular.

When it comes to shopping the article states, "Toronto has emerged as a major style destination, offering designer wares and some of the best vintage shopping around."

It recommends Kensington for vintage finds, Queen as the main drag and Bloor-Yorkville for its "mink mile."

Read the full story here.

Original source: News.com.au

First annual Amazing Tech Race a success

Techvibes Wednesday, May 29, 2013

More than 100 contestants raced around the city this past weekend competing in the first annual Amazing Tech Race, a competition consisting of 15 challenges spread across the city and modeled after the popular television show.

The challenges "were designed to use many digital platforms including smartphones, social media and gaming," the article says. The race kicked off at the MaRS building at College and brought teams of competitors through various hubs, including digital services studio Brushfire North in Liberty Village. Techvibes like this challenge.

"The Microsoft Kinect based checkpoint required participants to use voice and gesture commands to re-enact a Canadian themed photo (CN Tower, Toronto Skyline, the Prairies) and upload it to the company’s Facebook page as proof of completion."

The four-person team "Hello World" took the title home, beating the other competitors' times by more than an hour. The team consisted of tech specialists from Black, Cassels & Graydon LLP, and app designers from CIBC Wealth Management. They told Techvibes their success was "a combination of strategy, luck and, of course, use of their smartphones."

North of 41, a Toronto-based organization that connects entrepreneurs within the city's tech community, hosted the event. It was so successful, the company told TechVibes it will be back next year. Proceeds went to the Global Artisan Technology group.

Read the full story here.

Original source: Techvibes

Two young Torontonians win World Literacy Canada writing awards

World Literacy Canada Wednesday, May 15, 2013

World Literacy Canada has announced the winners of its Write for a Better World contest and two young Torontonians are among the recipients.

Lauren Beauparlant, 12, wrote about a dream she had in which she was enjoying a beautiful, diverse space only to wake up and realize there was trash everywhere, people were fighting and the animals were gone. She got a garbage bag and began cleaning up, encouraging other kids to join her.

"Maybe if we all do this, that beautiful place I saw can become a reality. We can have a beautiful, peaceful, and happy world," she writes. "It starts with each of us and doesn’t have to be a dream."

Abby Loewen, 13, writes about a trip to Peru. "As I look around I am consumed by anything and everything that surrounds me. Astonishing mountains with ancient Incan stairs are testing the limits of the horizon while the hot dry sun of Lima shines down on me. Everything about here seems impossible for Canada, but Peru seems to test the limits," she writes.

?She talks about the people she meets. "They don’t get to choose their life, but they are not angered or even bitter to those with a better life, just simply smile to make them feel special." And of the impact they leave on her, " I wish to never forget these miraculous people, the way that they treat others or the way that they have a past that the world stops and is perplexed by. I wish that they could get their voice out, to be heard."

?The annual contest is a nation-wide bilingual writing contest open to students in grades 5-8. Its goal is to inspire Canadian youth to think about and become active global citizens. This year's them encourage youth to put themselves in someone else's shoes. More than 1,300 short stories were received.

Entries were reviewed and award-winning teenage-lit author Eric Walters, whose published works include The Taming, Hunter, and We All Fall Down, handpicked winners.

Both Toronto authors are published alongside the remaining eight winners from across the country in a collectable World Literacy Canada magazine.

Read their full stories here.

Original source: World Literacy Canada