There’s actually a striking amount of broad-based consensus around energy
A new artificial-intelligence-powered social media tool is showing that Canadians aren’t as polarized about energy policy and transition as we might imagine. Developed by University of Alberta engineering professor Lianne Lefsrud and an interdisciplinary team of researchers, Ai4Buzz uses targeted keywords to harvest, aggregate and examine Twitter conversations about energy and energy policies. Organized by category into a series…
Consumers used to love to hate these machines. But things have changed
Self-checkouts have long been an unloved tool in the world of retail. In the beginning, nothing worked as it should, especially at the grocery store where an order for 20 items brought a new form of despair. But even if the mere presence of self-checkouts bothered many consumers, Canadians have apparently befriended them in some…
An overview of the extensive training that cloud providers offer to help information professionals
As more and more organizations move applications from their on-premises computing environment to their favourite cloud service provider, information system (IS) professionals need to build their cloud skills. Here’s an overview of the extensive training that the major cloud service providers offer to help IS professionals. It isn’t easy to choose among these excellent, in-depth…
The Truly Ergonomic Keyboard allows you to maximize your typing with less fatigue and strain
Do you seem to forever live behind your keyboard and, more often than not, it’s a painful experience? You might want to give the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard from Cleave a try. It’s designed to allow you to maximize your typing with less fatigue and strain on your hands while improving your posture. The standard keyboard…
While the amount of information available is astounding, it is usually hard to find the answers
When I was a kid, we didn’t have cellphones, the internet or even computers. Facebook, TikTok, Tumblr, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram or myriad other social media platforms didn’t exist. Add to that the many apps that are available to help us learn bird songs or identify everything from plants, mammals and insects to mushrooms, and we…
Maricor Arlos grew up around water, but when she came to Canada she found purpose in sustaining it
Growing up in the Philippines, a country in the western Pacific Ocean made up of 7,107 islands, Maricor Arlos didn’t think much about the water that surrounded her. With no central sewage system, many households in the Philippines have septic tanks or other forms of decentralized waste collection that would be cleared out periodically without…
Windows 10 adds features, visuals and helpful refinements with the latest update, version 20H2
Windows 10 continues to improve, adding features, new visuals and helpful refinements with the latest update, known as version 20H2 to techies. I’ll describe my favourite new and improved features that enhance my Windows experience daily: Search Clipboard history Windows Hello face recognition login OneDrive cloud storage Photo, video, and mixed reality tools Touch screen…
The nurse-patient relationship is being re-shaped by the proliferation of technology
When Gillian Lemermeyer decided at age 17 to become a nurse, she was following in her mother’s footsteps, so she expected her mom to be thrilled when she told her the news. “I was surprised when she grew very serious,” Lemermeyer remembers. “She said, ‘Okay, but do you understand what it means to be looking after…
Pilots, athletes, dementia patients and more could benefit from this brain boost
Imagine putting on a helmet embedded with tiny electrodes that sit on your scalp, delivering a gentle electrical current to certain areas of your brain. After about 10 to 20 minutes, you might find yourself with a better ability to focus, sharper memory and a host of other cognitive benefits. That’s the idea behind a…
The only professor in academia working on deaf education
There is a fierce debate raging in the deaf community. Many audiologists believe sign language is obsolete, recommending instead that deaf children rely exclusively on technology such as cochlear implants and hearing aids. Sign language, they contend, interferes with learning to speak. Joanne Weber argues the whole dispute is absurd and unnecessary. The first Canada Research Chair in…
A new artificial-intelligence-powered social media tool is showing that Canadians aren’t as polarized about energy policy and transition as we might imagine. Developed by University of Alberta engineering professor Lianne Lefsrud and an interdisciplinary team of researchers, Ai4Buzz uses targeted keywords to harvest, aggregate and examine Twitter conversations about energy and energy policies. Organized by category into a series…
