A hands free cell phone unit might cost you eighty bucks.
Getting caught talking on the phone without one while you’re driving could cost you a $500 fine.
As of now, Ontario is officially a “hands free” phone zone for drivers.
Over the next three months, police will try to educate drivers to the new regulation. From February 1 fines up of up to $500 will be imposed on offending drivers.
Ontario becomes the fourth Canadian province to ban cell phones in the hands of its drivers after Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
In what was initially thought to be an act of vandalism, a police investigation has found that an SUV in Grimsby, Ontario, was in fact struck by a small fragment of a meteorite.
The vehicle’s owners, the Garchinski family, found that it’s windshield had been cracked and that the offending stone had damaged the hood and the garage door on it’s downward trajectory, and the residents initially assumed that it had been thrown by a vandal, prompting a call to police.
“I thought it was vandalism for sure,” Tony told a phalanx of reporters crowded onto the driveway of his Leawood Dr. home yesterday. “Who thinks a meteorite is going to crash-land on your car?”
However, the stone was very unusual in it’s immense density and odd coloring, prompting the Garchinskis to save it as a curiosity.
Several days after the car was damaged, Ms. Garchinski saw a news broadcast on a recent meteorite event in which a particularly large rock in space had entered the atmosphere over the Ontario sky and largely burned up, however local scientists still hoped to find small fragments of the rock in the Grimsby area. Ms. Ms. Garchinski noticed that the meteorites presented in the broadcast were very similar in appearance and physical properties to the rock which had struck her vehicle.
“They’re probably the oldest rocks that you or I or just about anyone else will ever hold,” said a grinning McCausland, carefully gripping black-coated space pebble in a gloved hand. “We’re talking 4.6 billion years old.”
This also helped to explain the large amount of damage done by the rock, which seemed to indicate that it was traveling much faster than anyone might be able to throw.
She called the University of Western Ontario, and just from the description of the rock the University felt that it was worth sending out an investigative team of researchers to inspect the stone and the damage it had caused.
The researchers had no difficulty determining that it was a meteorite, as it’s composition was unlike any rock on earth and extremely similar to known meteorites.
Because it landed on their property, the meteorite belongs to the Garchinskis, however they have lent it to the University of Western Ontario for several weeks to permit it to be studied.
It has already become one of the world’s most extensively studied meteorites, as scientists carefully pick and probe at it with the most advanced devices available, eager to gather as much data as possible while they still can.
The data gathered is so extensive that scientists have already narrowed down it’s most likely orbit.
The Garchinskis are unsure what they will do with the meteorite when it is returned, however, it’s small size (45g) indicates that it will only be worth a few hundred dollars if sold.
Keanu Reeves has taken a DNA test to confirm that he is not the father of at least one of Karen Sala’s children.
Reeves has adamantly denied even knowing Sala let along fathering her children.
The DNA test results are in and it has been confirmed that he is not the father.
Sala wants to dispute the test so the story will continue.
Reeves’ lawyer Lorne Wolfson said in a statement “If [Sala] wants to challenge it, let her go right ahead. But we are confident that the DNA testing was done properly and that the results are sound.”
Sala was looking for child support payments of $150,000 per month retroactive to 1988 of her four children who are now all adults and spousal support of $3 million per month dating back to 2006.
At a time when Ontario is trying to attract tourists, surfers from around the world can now sail the streets of several cities in southern Ontario from their personal computers with Google Street View.
Google’s Street View feature for Google Maps, enables users to see certain parts of several big cities through panoramic images,
Google Street View is available in many Ontario cities including, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa.
In Canada, almost 50 000 kilometers of streets can be virtually furrowed: in addition to Ontario cities, the service covers the cities of Vancouver, Whistler, Squamish, Banff, Calgary, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax.
The launch was done in conjunction with various tourism agencies and property, as Heritage Toronto, Montreal and Tourism Tourism British Columbia.
Google promises that other Canadian cities will soon be added to its service.
When it comes up on a Google Map, users need only click a character yellow and drag to the place he wants to see. A photo of the street at 360 degrees, appears.
In response to concerns in regard to privacy, Google said that the faces of people in these pictures are blurred.
Google began in 2007 to take images of the Canadian cities placed online Wednesday.
Google Street View is currently available in 14 countries: Australia, Canada, Spain, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Portugal, Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Taiwan.
York University, Canada–A recent ruling by the Ontario Superior Court has set new limits on the right of e-mail account holders to remain anonymous. It is not their right to freedom of speech that has been limited, but the upholding of the rights of citizens to be protected from slanderous statements.
In this case, involving the appointment of the new Dean of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York University, an anonymous e-mail was sent to the president of the university. This e-mail claimed that the new dean had misrepresented his credentials, and that the president of the university had committed academic fraud. It turns out that the statements in the e-mail were not slanderous, yet to protect the right of the individual to pursue litigation in circumstances that could possibly be slanderous, the court ruled in favor of the university.
The court ordered Google, as well as two other large telecommunications companies to reveal the identities of the individuals that had access to the e-mail account. The e-mail was not even entirely anonymous. One professor, David Noble was listed in the e-mail as a contact person for a group of concerned faculty. It is clear that the university could have targeted Professor Noble in court for libel. Instead, they pursued all people connected with the e-mail account. Professor Noble contends that the university was using this legal action to keep the faculty in check.
Megan Fox, the sexy star of “Transformers,” has a new role to add to her “body” of work.
“Jennifer’s Body” opened at the Toronto International Film Festival this week to rave reviews. In it, Fox plays a sexy, satanic high school vixen that hungers for male flesh. Her hunger leads to many gory, but strangely seductive, scenes of Fox/Jennifer devouring her male prey.
But Fox downplays the sexual aspects of the film. At a press conference yesterday at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Toronto, Fox told reporters that “Jennifer’s Body” is not about sex, but sex is what draws attention.
Fox should know.
A few months ago, topless pictures of Fox (as Jennifer) were leaked to the Internet. The photos attracted a lot of attention to Fox—and to “Jennifer’s Body.”
But the 23-Year-old Fox says that she wants to expand her career beyond the sex symbol label. Karyn Kusama, who directed “Jennifer’s Body,” thinks that this film may help her to do just that. At the press conference, she told reporters that Fox showed her acting range in “Jennifer’s Body.”
“Jennifer’s Body,” is slated for national release next Friday.
Megan Fox caused a frenzy on the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) red carpet last night for the premiere of her new horror movie Jennifer’s Body.
The actor has been in Toronto for a few days now.
What has she been up to while in the city?
“Um, I went to Holt Refrew and yeah, I had some good sushi and some italian food, and I’ve been eating a lot, and uh, just sort of sightseeing,” Fox said in an interview with Much Music.
As for Jennifer’s Body, Megan said she couldn’t really relate to her character as the most popular girl in high school.
“I wasn’t popular, I didn’t have a lot of friends, I was kind of an outcast,” she told us. “A rebel, perhaps. Sort of, yeah, definitely that.”
Megan is often vocal about liking both guys and girls, adding: “Igo both ways.”
But according to her, she felt no attraction to her co-star Amanda Seyfried though.
“We were just friends and it was not ever like that at all,” said Fox.
Speaking of Ms. Seyfriend, she and Megan share a passionate kiss in the flick. But Amanda doesn’t have the fondest memories of her moment with Megan.
“Yeah it’s interesting, I mean a girl-on-girl kiss, you know, I mean we both used our tongues … but it was uncomfortable,” Amanda said.
The movie’s writer Diablo Cody – who also wrote Juno – says that Jennifer’s Body isn’t reflective of her own time in high school.
“I had a nice time,” Diablo said. “I didn’t sink my teeth into anyone’s carotid artery, huhuh.”
More Ontario kids receive failing grades for poor eating, exercise and lifestyle habits, and they may lessen their overall lifespan. The Heart and Stroke Foundation reports that today’s children need quick intervention to ward off shortened lifespan due to poor heart health caused by current body maintenance habits.
Foundation spokesperson Dr. Robert Hegele, who is also a University of Western Ontario researcher and professor warned parents and others that children need a “wake-up call” now or they will be doomed to future experiences with heart disease, overweight, and related illness. He cited disappointment in findings that children are consuming high fat snacks and fewer vegetables even with the existing knowledge of the potential for harm caused by poor eating. Lack of exercise and couch potato lifestyles add to the mix of problems.
Looking at the study of 6 to 12 year olds, predictions are that this generation will not outlive their parents based on a continued lifestyle of poor eating, lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyles. Higher prices for healthy food and cheap junk food availability at low prices are cited as possible contributory factors. Dr. Hegele said at a London conference that physical activity and eating habits had not improved as was expected. He advised parents to look closely at their children’s habits, and to guide them towards better lifestyle activities all year around. The recent 2009 study of Ontario children showed just one out of eight children was eating properly, despite knowledge of the dangers of poor nutrition.
Catholic high schools across Toronto and the GTA have had enough with girls hiking up their kilts.
Bruce Campbell with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board where only six of 25 high schools still allow kilts to be worn says the kilts lack modesty and morality.
The board started phasing them out several years ago after some girls refused to obey rules to keep hemlines near their knees. Principals and teachers have been left in playing the role of fashion police and Campbell says education should be the first priority and not time enforcing uniform rules.
In the Halton region alone, eight Catholic high schools have already banned kilts, while two other schools are in the process of removing them.
Instead most schools will now require girls to wear pants.
Toronto-based school uniform supplier R.J. McCarthy have come up with a kilt-and-pants hybrid for students in schools that haven’t banned skirts outright. It’s called the X-Kilt – a “traditional kilt with built-in shorts” – and has surpassed traditional kilts in popularity since being introduced in 2003.
Southern Ontario was affected by severe thunderstorms on Thursday, causing widespread damage and killing at least one person.
The string of storms, which included several suspected tornadoes, moved from east to west at a destructive pace causing Environment Canada to advise citizens to take shelter in basements or other secure areas.
One fatality has been reported. An eleven year old boy who was camping with his family at the Durham Conservation Area campground has died due to the storms.
Durham is one of the sites of suspected tornado activity.
Other major damage in Durham includes a printing facility which was destroyed and a fitness center which had its roof torn off. The area is under a state of emergency today.
Vaughan, Ont., located just north of Toronto is also under a state of emergency and at least one tornado is thought to have touched down in the area. Millions of dollars of damage have been reported by Vaughan Mayor Linda Jackson. Estimates are that upwards of 175 houses in the town have sustained serious structural damage.
Environment Canada is deploying crews to several communities in southern Ontario today to assess damage and determine if sightings of funnel clouds were tornadoes.
More than 20,000 Hydro One customers remain without power in the affected areas, which also include Milton, Newmarket and Markdale. Toronto authorities fielded hundreds of call of downed trees and flooded roadways, but the most extensive destruction seems to have occurred to the north of the city.
The intense storm activity was attributed to a deep trough of low pressure west of the Great Lakes combined with a warm, humid air mass over southern Ontario and wind sheer.
Prime Minster Stephen Harper announce that the federal government will assist provincial and municipal authorities in addressing the aftermath of the storms.