Woman battles through Crohn’s to medal at power lifting championship
‘This is just the mountaintop’ Arlene Van Diepen, from the tiny community of Green Meadows near the North Shore of Prince Edward Island, only started competitive powerlifting last year and she already has world championship medals to show for it. The 60-year-old battled through serious health issues on her way to the International Powerlifting Federation […]
How one woman worked for 30 years to help an endangered plant species
South of Weymouth, N.S., there’s an island in a lake with no official name. Mary Guptill has spent the last 30 years buying it up, parcel by parcel. She’s done it all for a plant — the endangered sweet pepperbush. “I decided that it should continue to exist and that I would do my best […]
DiverseCity celebrates differences, brings people together
‘We are all basically the same’ The first of three DiverseCity multicultural street festivals scheduled for this year on P.E.I. was in Charlottetown Sunday. The cultural event closed down part of the downtown to traffic and had vendors and exhibitors set up in the street. P.E.I. groups and people with different cultural backgrounds set up […]
Quebec teen raises $6.9K for mental health patients at Montreal Children’s Hospital
For some of the 20 per cent of Canadian teens who have reported suicidal thoughts in the past year, getting treatment isn’t always a walk in the park. That’s what 17-year-old Simone Aslan noticed when, last November, she was admitted to the Montreal Children’s Hospital for clinical depression. She said she saw lower-income patients who […]
Google Lens is now available as a stand-alone app or inside Google Camera
If you’re looking for an easier way to access Google Lens, look no further than the new shortcut app now available in the Google Play Store and, for Pixel and Nexus Devices, the Google Camera app. The stand-alone app allows folks to take advantage of the relatively new feature, even if your existing Android device […]
Microsoft improves facial recognition across skin tones, gender
Facial recognition is everywhere. The technology is used in China to make kids pay attention and in California to order burgers. You can of course use your face to unlock your iPhone, but the tech also has the potential to screen passengers at US airports and recognize criminals. These last two uses are problematic, as […]
Pepper the robot gets a job at HSBC Bank in New York
Starting today, customers at HSBC’s New York City flagship will be greeted by a friendly humanoid face. The bank’s Fifth Avenue location is employing Pepper, the customer service ‘bot that has become the face of Softbank’s growing robotics wing in recent years. In the few years it’s been available, Pepper has held a veritable factotum […]
Instagram now lets you 4-way group video chat as you browse
Instagram’s latest assault on Snapchat, FaceTime and Houseparty launches today. TechCrunch scooped back in March that Instagram would launch video calling, and the feature was officially announced at F8 in May. Now it’s actually rolling out to everyone on iOS and Android, allowing up to four friends to group video call together through Instagram Direct. […]
Why General Electric Stock Popped 8%
What happened Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) stock are reacting positively to a Form 8-K filing with the SEC this morning. As GE explained in its filing, the company plans to “focus on Aviation, Power and Renewable Energy” and spin off both GE Healthcare and its Baker Hughes oil field services company. GE shares are […]
Better Buy: Visa Inc. vs. PayPal
One of the hottest sectors in the stock market the past few years has been the payments industry, as credit card networks, payment platforms, and payment processing companies have outpaced the market. This group is exemplified by companies such as Visa Inc (NYSE:V) and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), whose shares have gained 42% and 64%, […]