Notices by AskPippa🇨🇦 (askpippa@c.im)

@jbz How about having devices designed specifically for kids? No internet access but they can get calls and texts on phones, and off-line only laptops can run the programs they need to do homework and play non-online games. Then, when they're old enough they can own grown-up devices. They have to be of a certain age before they can drive a car or buy alcohol... (Not a real suggestion, but maybe a start for another way to think about the issues?)

It’s impossible to take a bad photo of the gorgeous radio telescope dish at Parkes. #Australia
#space

Canada' PM Mark Carney will speak to the #Artemis crew tonight.

#space #Canada
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/mark-carney-to-speak-with-jeremy-hansen-artemis-ii-crew-tonight/article_84548fa4-9848-45e8-bfc1-8f91d11a8424.html

Meanwhile, in #Cuba.
https://globalnews.ca/news/11741199/canadians-on-humanitarian-mission-in-cuba-say-residents-tired-amid-blackouts/

If you are a US citizen and plan to vote, now is the time to get a passport. A copy of your US birth certificate is a good idea too. Or, you might not be able to register and #vote.

#elections #USelections

https://apnews.com/article/save-act-documents-requirements-citizenship-voting-congress-dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-ca

Turns out Project 2025 has now been replaced with Project 2026.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-project-2026-heritage-foundation-b2894824.html

I've been saying for years that public health agencies need to work together and hire a big marketing agency to help them develop better communication tools to get messages across to the their various audiences more effectively. I think #environment / #climate agencies need to do the same thing.
Government comms are too unimaginative and rigid. They need to find ways to break out of overly formal ways of communicating information.
Marketing/advertising firms try messages out in focus groups, know how to target messages to different audiences and use #marketing #psychology techniques (yes that's a field of study), know how to use social media effectively, how to counter bad information, etc. They have all sort of interesting tools they work with. https://theconversation.com/climate-misinformation-is-becoming-a-national-security-threat-canada-isnt-ready-for-it-271588

I still haven't solved my problem with @Libreoffice. Each time I try to open a document, there is a delay with a "waiting for printer" message appearing, which I have to cancel before the document will open. Looking online, it turns out it's been an issue for at least a couple of years. Something possible with printer or Windows settings? Can anyone walk me through a fix? (Pretty please)
And yes, I updated LibreOffice.

So, why is it every time I launch LibreOffice, a black window appears saying "Waiting for printer to respond" and won't go away until I hit Cancel. And then the document finally opens?
If there is a setting to change, I don't know how to find it. Hints welcome.

Ha!

Canada shares a land border with Denmark on Hans Island. Also, a maritime border with France (at Saint Pierre and Miquelon). Plus, a lot of us speak at least some French as well as English, and we have British royalty on our currency. So, we must be part of Europe. Maybe worth signing up for the wait list to join the EU? (It would give us a stronger currency)

Several years ago, my Swiss army knife went missing from checked luggage. When I mentioned it on social media, loads of people described things that went missing from their checked luggage. In this article, this woman not only found several items missing but things not belonging to her were added.
When my knife went missing, I contacted the transportation authority to say what had happened -- because I was concerned if something can be removed, something can be added to your luggage. Something I consider a security and safety risk.
Years ago a woman travelled from Melbourne Australia to Thailand. A luggage handler in Melbourne added a bag of dope into her luggage which a partner in Sydney was supposed to remove. He missed it. Thailand has zero tolerance for drugs -- and locked her up with a life sentence. They didn't care how it got into her luggage.
If people write this CBC reporter with their concerns about things being added or removed from luggage, maybe this topic will get the attention I think it deserves. Someday, it could be an explosive.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/air-canada-mystery-baggage-1.7592756

EV #battery recycler in #Ontario goes under because "the market can't sustain the industry without proper government regulation providing incentives and structure."
From @cbc_top_stories
#EV #recycle #Canada #energy #cars
https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/ev-battery-recycling-regulation-1.7547790

If Canada is taken over economically or otherwise - no other election issues will matter. We'll lose control over things like heath care, various rights, etc. Don't assume you know the results. Polls can be wrong. Please VOTE.
#CanadaVotes #election2025

This explains why the US has an #egg shortage and other countries don't. It's about bird flu, and the size of egg-laying farms. When massive US farms are hit with flu, it means huge numbers of egg-laying chickens die - resulting in far fewer eggs.
Other countries tend to have much smaller chicken farms. So when one is hit with bird flu, it doesn't really impact the overall supply.

#eggs #birdflu

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/18/nx-s1-5330454/egg-shortages-record-prices-usda-canada

#Ontario is seeing a big surge in measles mostly among unvaccinated people. 372 total cases (including 7 pregnant people) and 31 hospitalizations.
The #measles #vaccine has a long track record of being safe, and of preventing disease (breakthrough infections are rare). It's a great way to avoid getting sick in the first place. I mean, who wants to get even a little bit sick?

#health #medical #medmastodon @medmastodon
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/03/13/ontario-measles-cases-double-outbreak/

Anyone else starting to think that maybe the goal is global domination? And you can't really play by the rules and expect to do well against people who don't play by the rules.

Home Depot, Lowes and even Rona are all US owned companies (Rona used to be Canadian but was bought out). To buy Canadian, look at #HomeHardware, local building supply places, independent locally owned hardware stores and #CanadianTire.
While the US-owned stores employ a lot of people, bigger demand in Canadian-owned placed means they'll have a chance to expand -- and hire more people. Not overnight, but if demand shifts it would happen.
Then, look to see where products come from. A lot of stuff isn't made in Canada, but the US isn't the only place that makes these things.

#buyCanadian #shopCanadian #Canada

@libreoffice @aquarianoak1 I started using it a couple months ago and am impressed with how smoothly it works. I'm recommending it to other writer friends.
2 features I would *like* to see in the word processor: embedding links in words; a comments mode.

Who needs American alcohol when we can buy awesome strong beers in #Canada by Unibroue? What made-in-Canada stuff are you getting? #buyCanadian #tariffs