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Nicholas Hune-Brown: How to die on Facebook

When you’re dead, your Facebook page becomes a permanent digital gravestone, and your family and friends (and quite possibly some strangers) will indulge in a free-for-all of trivializing hagiography. The perils of online legacies
By Nicholas Hune-Brown

It was 11 in the morning on a warm Friday in September when a 16-year-old boy named Akash Wadhwa plunged from the Mavis Road overpass onto the busy 401. Shortly afterward, Peel police found the slain body of his classmate Kiranjit Nijjar in a nearby ravine.

At Mississauga Secondary School, what had begun as a series of horrific rumours solidified, piece by piece, into a single, devastating murder-suicide story. According to reports, Wadhwa, a depressed and troubled Grade 12 student, had strangled his 17-year-old friend Nijjar and then jumped onto the highway. Before he leapt, Wadhwa had left a last message on Facebook: “SUICIDE/MURDER NOTE: Three things I learned in life. What goes around comes around. KARMA is the biggest bitch. You should NEVER CHANGE on people who love and care for you… My one main reason I did this is that life let me down way too much.”

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The Hype

Telling Tales

December 1, 2011 | 2:59 pm

2 Comments

Paulina Gretzky to flaunt her Great Ones on Twitter no longer

Paulina Gretzky (Image: Twitter)

Paulina Gretzky, daughter of Wayne, triggered lamentations from 24,000 slavering horndogs followers this weekend when she shut down her racy Twitter account. Gretzky is apparently Internet-famous for posting sexy photos of herself—and holy mackinaw, there are some spicy shots. Rumour has it that Daddy was behind the account’s demise—we were particularly tickled by the Toronto Star headline “Too Sexy for Gretzky?” Shortly before posting her farewell message on Saturday, the 22-year-old tweeted, “Having a nice sit-down dinner with my dad about social media..haha #SIKEEE.” The buxom dame has done some professional modelling as well, making the cover of Flare in 2005 and landing roles in 2009’s Fame and this year’s Guns, Girls and Gambling. She also produced a single called “Collecting Dust,” which was featured on MTV’s Laguna Beach. For some choice shots of her better-known work (including three pics of her planking), check out the gallery after the jump.

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The Informer

From the Print Edition

December 1, 2011 | 11:30 am

21 Comments

Toronto writer Alexandra Molotkow shares the secrets of her cybersexual education

I’m among the first generation to come of age on the Internet. By 13, I was an expert at chat room sex, spotting cyber-pervs and hiding my secret life from my parents
By Alexandra Molotkow | Illustrations by Dave Lapp

In 1997, when I was in Grade 6, my friends and I sat at the back of the classroom and talked about sex. We would speculate on what it felt like and place bets on how old we’d be when we finally lost our virginity. We would make fun of the way orgasms sounded in movies and imagine what celebrities’ sex lives involved. Later, at home, we’d reconvene on ICQ, one of the Internet’s first major instant messaging systems, which allowed us to have conversations we wouldn’t want our parents overhearing. That was what the Internet was to us: pretty much what a tree house would have been a few years earlier.

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The Dish

Aprons & Icons

November 17, 2011 | 10:20 am

5 Comments

QUOTED: Jamie Oliver declares last night’s meal at Buca the best he’s had all year

The once Naked Chef was in town last night for a speaking engagement at Roy Thomson Hall to promote Jamie Oliver’s Food Escapes, his new show that’s a somewhat less potty-mouthed version of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Judging by a tweet from this morning, he was more than a little impressed with the food he ate last night at King West rustic Italian restaurant Buca:

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The Informer

From the Print Edition

November 8, 2011 | 10:35 am

2 Comments

The Q&A: Why the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs Janice Gross Stein won’t be our friend on Facebook

By Malcolm Johnston | Photograph by Daniel Ehrenworth

One of the essays in your new book argues that privacy has become an endangered species. Can you explain?
Threats to our privacy have proliferated. The Citizen Lab here at the Munk School discovered a group operating through servers in China that was able to remotely access people’s webcams. Think about that. As we’re sitting here, someone is hacking into your computer. When you go back to transcribe this interview, they will have a picture of you and a record of everything you have done.

That’s mildly terrifying. But it doesn’t appear that the general public is too concerned. We post every conceivable detail of our lives on Facebook and Twitter.
Well, that’s the really interesting contradiction. Threats to our privacy abound, and yet people voluntarily share intimate details through social media and email.

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The Informer

Election Whoas

September 28, 2011 | 4:35 pm

2 Comments

Dalton McGuinty’s hands finally give the provincial election campaign the excitement we’ve been waiting for

(Image: Daniel Dale)

Dalton McGuinty’s erratic movements and hand gestures at last night’s provincial election debate should provide good political fodder for his allies and enemies. The Progressive Conservatives could paint the premier as an elitist who had one too many espressos before the debate. The Liberals could say he moves like a heavyweight fighter, bobbing and weaving in the face of his opponents. And everyone on the Internet could pile on and make jokes at poor McGuinty’s expense—which is exactly what they did. Some of our favourites, after the jump.

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The Informer

From the Print Edition

September 27, 2011 | 11:35 am

5 Comments

My Digital Sabbath: how one writer learned to stop checking Facebook and love life offline

I can’t say specifically which fabulous new technology made me decide I needed a break from all fabulous new technologies. For years I had been blissfully work-playing and play-working in the miasma of plugged-in life, writing magazine columns while live-streaming baseball games and listening to music and IMing and playing online chess and checking my email every two minutes, and not worrying whether performing five or six tasks simultaneously might limit my ability to perform any of them adequately. Maybe it was the iPad, a device designed, as far as I can tell, to allow you to watch television while you’re watching television. A friend told me about trying to talk to her teenage son while he was on his iPhone. “Why are you always looking at that thing when I’m trying to talk to you?” she asked. He answered: “Where do you think I learned it from, Mom?”

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The Informer

Quibbling Rivalries

September 21, 2011 | 4:44 pm

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Margaret Atwood meets Doug Ford in person; universe refuses to explode

If you’re tired of reading stories about big idea man Doug Ford and literary nobody Margaret Atwood, you can thank Councillor Michael Thompson for writing what should be the final chapter on their public spat when he introduced the pair to one another at a party earlier this week. According to Thompson, “They were warm and charming and relaxed together.” Atwood took to Twitter to register her excitement in the form of a just-intelligible tweet where she channels her inner pre-teen to eerie effect: “T-pals, UnBLeevAbul! I just met D. Ford! At a NotTimmies Arts Party! (He knows what I look like now! :D) Sez #librarieswill not be cut! :D” Thank you, Councillor Thompson. Thank you. See the entire story, including an unforgettable photo [Toronto Star] »

The Informer

The New Normal

September 19, 2011 | 4:00 pm

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Six city hall observers worth following on Twitter in order to keep up with today’s executive committee meeting at city hall

(Image: Robert Scarth)

Mayor Rob Ford and his executive committee are in the early stages of what we assume is the political equivalent of a root canal. Some 300-odd concerned Toronto citizens have signed up to give deputations on city manager Joe Pennachetti’s proposed service cuts, and the process could very well turn into an all nighter (just like the one we saw earlier this summer). So far, there have been reports of children singing “Old MacDonald” and much chiding of the mayor’s mispronunciation of the word “library” (in Ford-speak, apparently, “lie-berry”). For those that are in it for the long haul, we present a list of six city hall observers that can help you better understand the proceedings and follow along with the day’s action (heck, you might even laugh, or, you know, learn something).

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 11, 2011 | 2:25 pm

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SPOTTED: Every famous person ever (well, almost) at Grey Goose Soho House last night

Apparently, David Cronenberg knows how to throw a party: pretty much every celebrity currently in town for TIFF attended the Canadian director’s party at Grey Goose Soho House last night in honour of his new film, A Dangerous Method (click here to see our photo gallery). The list of bold-faced names included: Cronenberg, George Clooney, Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Bono, Stacy Keibler, Keira Knightley, James Righton, Evan Rachel Wood, Emily Blunt, Kate Mara, Max Minghella, Adam Scott, Richard Kelly, Jonah Hill, Chris Pratt, Anna Faris, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt, Justin Long, Scott Porter, Jimmy Kimmel, Guillermo Diaz, Ewan McGregor, Kirsten Dunst, Emile Hirsch, Michelle Monaghan, Gina Gershon, Dave Matthews, Morgan Spurlock and Paz de la Huerta. Also, the Twitter machine provided a running commentary for the evening. Check out the highlights, after the jump.

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The Informer

Ford Focus

September 7, 2011 | 6:15 pm

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Twitter doesn’t like Rob Ford (and we’re guessing he doesn’t love Twitter either)

The Toronto Star is reporting that jabs at Rob Ford on Twitter and other social media sites rose significantly in the wake of his Pride Parade snub, his bizarre comments on graffiti and his brother’s recent spat with Margaret Atwood. In other words, the Star is telling us something we’ve known for a long time: the Internet doesn’t like Rob Ford, especially when he makes polarizing decisions or says, you know, crazy things (although it did show up for his Ford Fest barbecue this weekend). One political science professor told the Star that the numbers support the belief that Ford’s honeymoon period is over, and although Ford’s actual approval rating (not his Twitter approval rating) has dropped since April, we’re not sure the news of the “honeymoon” ever reached the social networking site (but, really, a honeymoon with legions of micro-bloggers who hate your guts doesn’t sound like a very nice trip anyway). Of course, we’re also guessing that Ford probably doesn’t care. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

The Informer

Ford Focus

September 7, 2011 | 1:05 pm

Comments

Reaction roundup: city hall reporters journeyed to Etobicoke to take in Ford Fest—then, they tweeted about it

What’s a good ol' BBQ without burgers? (Image: Neil T)

Last Friday, Jonathan Goldsbie tweeted, “When we reach the ‘1500 Royal York’ bus stop, the bus driver announces ‘Stop for Rob Ford.’ Half the passengers on the crowded bus disembark.” And so began an evening of dispatches from Ford Fest, a late summer gathering in the backyard of Doug and Rob Ford’s mother. The event attracted the mayor’s supporters, critics and people who were just there for the beer and food. Undeterred—or perhaps fuelled—by the hamburgers, Toronto’s city hall observers expressed their amazement with the Fords’ vast backyard and the treasures within. We’ve rounded up some of our favourite tweets and broken them down into categories—because here’s another case where the reporting on Twitter outdid the old-timey fare (except for maybe this piece)—after the jump.

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The Informer

The New Normal

August 23, 2011 | 2:05 pm

110 Comments

EARTHQUAKE! Once again, Toronto hit by a lunchtime summer tremor

Office workers mill around after evacuating a building in Arlington, Virginia (Image: Mrs. Gemstone)

If the hundreds of reports on Twitter are to be believed (and the reports of about half of the Toronto Life office), Toronto just experienced this summer’s lunchtime earthquake (last June, we had a similar tremor). According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Virginia was at the epicentre of a 5.9 magnitude quake about 10 minutes ago. We wonder how long it’ll be before the inevitable ironic commemorations begin.

UPDATE: MSNBC reports that parts of the Pentagon and the White House were evacuated following the quake.

UPDATE 2: Well, that was fast. The “committed capitalists” over at Spacing have already mocked up some commemorative buttons »

Did you feel the earthquake where you were? Let us know in the comments.

The Informer

RIP

August 23, 2011 | 12:30 pm

26 Comments

Christie Blatchford is unimpressed with the media’s reaction to Layton’s death; frankly, we’re rather unimpressed with her reaction

Apparently, National Post columnist Christie Blatchford is ticked that Jack Layton’s death has become a “thoroughly public spectacle” (which we find a little rich considering she’s something of a thoroughly public spectacle herself). In an article that went online roughly 10 hours after Layton’s death was announced, Blatchford blasted television anchors for appearing sombre and reminded readers that the reaction to Layton’s death was anything but unique: remember, people mourned Princess Diana’s death with spontaneous memorials, too (thanks for the timely and sensitive remarks, Christie). Mostly, though, Blatchford was shocked that a dying politician might use his final farewell to rally the troops. Of course, we can’t say that we’re surprised: not only because Blatchford wasn’t exactly Layton’s biggest fan, but also because pissing people off is what Blatchford is paid to do. She’s certainly succeeded here. Many observers on Twitter are refusing to link to her piece, but it’s online at the Post’s website. Read the entire story [The National Post] »

All stories relating to Twitter

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