What's going on with Russia & Ukraine? Why is it happening? What's the international response, and what are the consequences of intervening? Get all your questions answered about this important issue, and discuss with other people curious about what's going on. The evening will be a combination of presentation, Q&A and open discussion. The overview will be given by Dr.Taras […]
Ever wondered how Facebook guesses the friends in your photos? Have you purchased a suggested item from Amazon? Did you know Uber is already using self-driving cars in Pittsburgh? Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and Machine Learning, vaguely understood or noticed by most, is already amongst us in many forms. From cellphone assistants like Siri, to news articles written by software – […]
Relationships are central to how society works. Researchers are increasingly coming to understand how social connection is woven deeply into the fabric of the human experience. Recently more attention has been paid to modern relationships, changing dating landscapes thanks to technology, and even to the phenomenon of singlehood-driven anxiety. Many people from Aziz Ansari to Helen Fisher and Esther Perel […]
What’s this Bank of Canada rate hike about? How does it affect me? The Fed? What’s the Fed? Why is everyone in the finance world always talking about the Fed? I want me a house. Fixed vs. Variable interest rates? What’s the difference? Credit Card interest rates be crazy? Why they be so crazy? Credit Investing: lending money to governments […]
What's up for discussion at Toronto's first 2018 event? Society’s bizarre relationship with facts What do you mean? In case you missed it, this happened in the last two years: We came up with a term for made up stuff: Alternative Facts Countries meddled with each other's elections through: Fake News The combination of the two are said to have […]
Did you know that... Languages are disappearing every day in the world and Canada is no exception? Civic Series takes a closer look We invite you to think about: What is Canada's history and present situation with respect to Indigenous languages? What advantages and disadvantages come with being an Indigenous language speaker in Canada? What is language erosion and does […]
There are digital eyes and ears trying to track the physical world the way we track the digital one. Cameras, microphones, lasers, and antennas are claimed to make our lives better and more efficient. These sensors are getting smaller, cheaper, ever-more powerful, and are making it possible to track things we could never track before at unprecedented scales. Did you know that… Facial recognition […]
Canadian privacy, protected since the 70s... right? Real-time electronic surveillance in Canada is, since laws passed in the 1970s, supposed to be subject to strict accountability standards. Today, government agencies use a range of technologies to conduct mass surveillance that just a few decades ago would seem like science fiction: phones can be invisibly tracked in real-time; our location histories are […]
For over 100 years, the world has come together to celebrate athletic competition in the modern Olympic Games. The best competitors on the planet face each other in a variety of disciplines, in a mostly peaceful clash of nations. At the same time, the dynamics within and between countries have often been reflected in the Games over the decades. Did […]