Doug's Blogger Blog (OTR Backup)

What it takes to kill bad guys This free app is a simpler version of Office 365 No accounts or subscriptions required to run LibreOffice Tech got more expensive in 2026 — this is the setup I'm using to get by You don't need to spend thousands on tech in 2026 Mozilla Rolls Out Built-In VPN on Firefox. How to Check If You Have It | PCMag I cracked open cheap charging gadgets from Temu - and it was worse than I expected | ZDNET Tales from the unraveling of OSAP – The Eyeopener In February, the Ford government drastically lowered the amount of...

The detective-in-chief As always, if � you find value in this work I do, please consider helping me keep it sustainable by joining my weekly newsletter, � Sparky’s List! � You can get it in your inbox or read it on ... Windows vs. macOS vs. Linux vs. ChromeOS: The Ultimate Winner Revealed | PCMag 2,000 happily ever afters: Windsor woman attempts to sell huge collection of Harlequin paperbacks 10 chaotic things that Toronto pedestrians do on the street, from an annoyed local - Narcity A wildlife photographer's hilariously tragic photo of a captured vole went viral. Then it got turned into a movie poster | Creative Bloq ...

Best cartoons from the worst timeline: Trump's oil crisis edition As President Donald Trump’s Iran war rages on , so do gas prices— not that the GOP cares , of course. So while Republicans get ... 5 Android Apps That Are Probably Slowing Down Your Phone Read More: https://www.bgr.com/2126380/android-apps-slowing-down-your-phone/ Why I won't upgrade my ageing Chromebook to a MacBook Neo in 2026 The biggest Android release is right around the corner Destination Ontario: Road-tripping to Grand Bend vs Port Stanley Canada’s largest butter tart festival hits this Ontario town The Ontario Best Butter Tart Festival presented by Ch...

Sinking ship Don't Go to a Protest Without Doing This to Your Phone First | PCMag One billion health questions a day - what Google is doing with them Why Margaret Greville is the most important name in royal jewellery you've never heard of – as Queen Camilla wears her ivy leaf brooches | Tatler Queen Camilla wore Margaret Greville's brooches on the first day of the Nigerian state visit. But who was this remarkable collector? This is why Windows still uses C: drives — and almost never A: or B: The alphabet didn’t start at C for no reason. It’s Their Mon...

Looney Tunes Cartoon Characters Trivia Quiz "Looney Tunes" was literally my entire childhood — I've GOT THIS. If you’ve ever wished you could use OpenAI’s or Anthropic’s large language models without those companies tracking you—well, now, you can, thanks to Duck.ai If you accidentally go to gail.com instead of gmail.com you’re greeted with something incredible Your next PC will likely run on AI agents | PCWorld Readers say Ontario does this one thing better than the rest of Canada - Narcity 79 Cursed Photos That Make Absolutely Zero Sense But Live Ren...

Baghdad Brendan You're being tracked online - 9 easy ways to stop the surveillance | ZDNET Data Centers Are Military Targets Now With militaries increasingly relying on artificial intelligence, data centers have emerged as new targets for strikes. I use Google’s NotebookLM every day — these 5 tricks completely changed how I create content | Tom's Guide Sheila’s Brush: Irish Folklore Behind Ontario’s March Snow According to legend, Sheila will brush away the remaining winter season with one last storm. Hudson's Bay gets another extension p...

How to Build Practice-Based Learning Activities with AI Steve Nease cartoon, March 17, 2026 My MacBook Neo handled a week of stress better than I did | Macworld I tried to push the MacBook Neo to its limit. All I did was reach mine. Hate writing AI prompts? I tested ways to make it easier — here’s what actually worked | Tom's Guide Yahoo Scout proves AI search can support publishers after all | Mashable Yahoo AI search tools like Yahoo Scout support the open web, unlike a company that rhymes with Schmoogle, writes Mashable's tech editor. 4 Affordable...

Dinosaur Comics - March 16th, 2026 - awesome fun times! this comic... might be the best comic? Firefox teases new logo without iconic fox | Creative Bloq AI now turns your handwriting into a digital font file in minutes, and the results are surprisingly usable — but your writing needs to be legible | TechRadar Judge seizes smartglasses after exposing brazen courtroom scam The bad press keeps on coming for smartglasses Google Gemini could soon let you branch out just like ChatGPT Gemini is working on introducing conversation branching to its app, allowing users to create different branches of the same chat. ...

Trump and Hegseth’s deadly dog-and-pony show Little-known Google Maps competitor is actually turning into a real rival with feature users say could make them switch Leamington hopes muncipally run coffee shop will set standard for waterfront plaza I'm a Brit living in Canada — here are 7 things Toronto does better than London - Narcity Lake Ontario > River Thames? I'm finally reading long-form articles on my phone without squinting I've finally started enjoying it I got tired of Windows laptops and made the obvious switch Hint: it's no...

Best cartoons from the worst timeline: Iran war edition ... again Gemini in Google Drive: AI Search, Docs, Sheets, Slides - Geeky Gadgets New Google Gemini updates bring NotebookLM quiz resume, EPUB uploads, and new infographic styles, plus AI search with citations in Drive. Q&A: Meet University of Waterloo's new president, Dr. Bill Rosehart For the best ever butter tart, this Canadian food writer swears by these easy tricks anyone can use when baking these treats - Yahoo Style Canada Butter tarts are quintessentially Canadian, but what's the secret behind these two-bite desserts? Here, Ontario-based cookbook author Tara O'Brady shares her baking insights. ...

Fireside Chats – Two Party Opera Google’s Pi Day 2026 Doodle honors Archimedes and his 96-sided polygon trick 6 Powerful Free Al Tools Every Researcher Should Be Using in 2026 7 AI mistakes I wish someone had told me about when I started I moved to Toronto in the bleak winter and wish someone had warned me about these 7 things I found a to-do app that's actually faster than a piece of paper The tool that's reshaping how we get things done. Linux finally catches up to windo...

Cartoon: Trump's other dolls 'Drunk people doing fun stuff': Students on St. Patrick's Day deterrents Students are preparing for another year of St. Patrick's Day street parties, whether they plan on participating or not. How Are Greenland And The Faroe Islands Connected? Spot 27 Geography Links | Bored Panda What is the connection between Greenland and the Faroe Islands? We’re about to see if you can answer this and 26 other questions on geography. Curiosities Are You a Visual Learner? Claude Can Now Explain Things With Charts, Diagrams | PCMag Why Friday the 13th is a mathematical inevitability | Scientific American ...

Most people can’t score 10/10 on this AI quiz — can you? | Tom's Guide Can you trust AI with your medical history? I asked a doctor to weigh in | ZDNET University of Waterloo prepares for students raised on GenAI The university is launching a new project to find practical ways for faculty to use GenAI in their teaching — from course and program design to delivery and assessment A storm is forecast to drop up to 20 cm of snow in southern Ontario by this weekend - Narcity How well does the new MacBook Neo handle gaming? Andrew Tsai tested 10 games to find out - 9to5Mac From AAA games to Windows to Switch emulated game...

Cartoon: Kitty on the Moon (apol. to Gil-Scott Heron) This Ubuntu-based distro might be the easiest Windows escape route yet Seamless Windows transition with Ubuntu stability and familiar interface. Windows 12 could be the tipping point that finally pushes you to Linux - here's why | ZDNET YouTube Just Made Your TV Experience Worse On Purpose Read More: https://www.bgr.com/2121456/youtube-tv-experience-worse-unskippable-ads/ Windows desperately needs its own MacBook Neo, but it seems impossible to build - Digital Trends The MacBook Neo isn't just a new Mac, it's a reminder of how badly Windows laptop miss the low-cos...

Web Rewind An interactive journey through 30 years of the web “A Nation Of Idiots!”: 65 Funny Posts Exposing How Uncultured And Ignorant Americans Can Be | Bored Panda We are in danger of becoming a nation of idiots! the creator of the group America's Cultural Decline Into Idiocy proclaims in its description. According to them, idiocy is all around us nowadays: on TV, in advertising, and even in signage all across America. So, these pictures are for naming and shaming the idiots who proclaim their ignorance loud and proud, and the group's hope is to make America smart again. Fails, Funny Fake Gemini AI Chatbot Promotes ‘Google Coin’ in New Crypto Scam ChatGPT Tracks More Than You Think: 8 Ways to Lock Down Your ...

Cartoon: War and pedophiles I tried replacing all Google apps with Samsung's defaults — only 2 were worth keeping The Samsung apps that finally beat Google How to Check if Your Home Address Shows Up Online - CNET Your current address may be more public than you know: Modern tools give you a way to find out and reinforce your privacy. I connected Gemini with these 4 apps and it's productivity on steroids The Gemini power-stack The good, bad, and ugly of AI healthcare, according to a doctor who uses AI | ZDNET 'His Brain Is Broken': Critics Torch '...

In maps: Strikes across Iran and the Middle East Israel has continued strikes across Iran and Lebanon and the Iranian regime has carried out more attacks, as the war continues for a tenth day. Best cartoons from the worst timeline: Iran war edition I wouldn’t install Linux on these laptops (here’s why) Linux isn’t the problem—these laptops are. Apple now has a MacBook for everyone, and that should worry Google and Microsoft Ontarians are getting a government benefit payment this week | News Money incoming I'm an audiophile now: Why Spotify's latest update a...

Comic - do you like your job? Comics about work. Made with love and lots of coffee. Want AI Certification? Anthropic’s Claude Courses Are Now Free - Tech Anthropic introduces free AI academy Garry Marr: Why your house is still costing you, even if you've paid it off Don't ask me if I've retired I haven’t retired. I still work. And frankly, I resent anyone thinking otherwise. Beer Store Closures: Brampton, Hamilton, London & Etobicoke The Beer Store has been managing Ontario’s alcohol deposit return program through retail stores and return depots since 2007. ...

30 Hilarious Comics From Laughing Hippo Studio That Explain What Your Cat Is Really Thinking | Bored Panda If you’ve ever woken up at 3:00 AM to the sound of a glass slowly sliding off a nightstand while your cat maintains unblinking eye contact, then Doug Hill’s latest collection is for you. The creative mind behind Laughing Hippo Studio has a knack for distilling the chaotic energy of feline "logic" into. Comics, Funny As the U.S. wages war with Iran, social media users face worsening disinformation | Mashable Experts describe a web of viral disinformation campaigns and AI-manipulated videos trying to sway public opinion on the U.S.-Iran conflict. BEFORE YOU BUY A MACBOOK NEO, YOU NEED TO KNOW THESE 5 THINGS Read More: https://www.slashgear.com/2115960/macbook-neo-buyers-guide-what-need-...

Daylight Saving Time – doug — off the record I thought this was kind of big news yesterday. B.C. officially ends time changes and adopts single time zone TL;DR from the B.C. website. B.C. will adopt permanent, year-round daylight saving time … Weekly Cartoon: Altatude #11 Issue 34 This week’s Sunday funny comes to us from cartoonist Kyle Bravo. This high-severity Chrome Gemini vulnerability lets malicious extensions spy on your PC | ZDNET The boring tech upgrade that actually made my browsing experience better There's a few ways to get around RAM issues University of Waterloo students will strike over OSAP funding On...

“Goodbye Eyelashes”: 50 Of The Funniest Pictures That Are Worth More Than A Thousand Words | Bored Panda Grandma covered in flour mid-baking, a security guard tumbling up the stairs of a bus as a raccoon hightails it out, or a simple set of tiny pawprints that sends the internet into a collective fit of hysterics. One photograph. Infinite laughter. Here's a list of pictures that tell a better story than words ever could - even if we have to fill in some of the blanks ourselves. Funny Honor, Hoping to Stand Out, Debuts a Robot-Like Phone and More at MWC | PCMag Claude Overtakes ChatGPT, Gemini on the App Store Following Trump's Ban Anthropic's Claude is now the top downloaded app on the Apple App Store, beating the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini. ...

Today Cartoon | Ripley's Believe It or Not! | Aquariums, Attractions, Museums An Android rival to the iPad Pro is here, and it looks just like the iPad Pro - Digital Trends The Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro launches as a premium Android tablet offering a laptop-like keyboard, a pro stylus, and flagship performance designed to challenge the iPad Pro directly. This is why you see ads for things you only talked about Is it online surveillance, or are algorithms for targeted ads simply that much better nowadays? 10 Most Dangerous Cities to Drive in Ontario | 2026 Rankings A new MyChoice study reveals the most dangerous and safest places to drive in Ontario. See where places like Barrie, Toronto and Burlington rank for accid...